Minutes from the February 19, 2003 Meeting of The Friends of Dicken Woods
The Friends met at 7pm, at the Dicken Elementary School Media Center.
After everyone introduced themselves, the meeting was started by Erik
giving an update on his most recent conversation with Alexis at the
Planning Department. He spoke with her that afternoon and she stated
that thus far Crosswinds had not indicated a future plan for this
development. Erik then reviewed the steps in the process based on
Crosswinds submitting another project or if they choose to withdraw. He
then asked individuals who have been working in different areas to share
their progress with the group.
Tom Ivacko - Tom reviewed the webpage he started for our group. It
follows the format of the handout we all received at the meeting. He
discussed each section stating what information was already on the
website and asked for any input others would like to include.
Michael Anthony - Mike brought up the possibility of buying the land
with a loan or through amortization instead of trying to fundraise all
the monies needed first.
Jim Boyd - Jim has contacted the Diocese; however, they are unable to
speak with us while under contract with Crosswinds. Once we know the
outcome with Crosswinds, Jim plans to contact them again to arrange a
meeting to discuss our plans. We do not know how long the Diocese has
owned the property, but we do know they pay taxes. Merle Johnson will
look this up at City Hall.
Naela Jenkins - Naela spoke about her work with the Parks and Rec
Department. She spoke with many people in various departments about the
property in order to make them aware of our goal to fundraise and the
hope of a joint purchase. Also, a letter was submitted to the Director,
Ron Olson that was distributed to the Park Advisory Commission. In
addition, Naela attended their monthly business meeting in December and
discussed the properties features and the goal of a joint purchase.
Erik Stalhandske - Erik informed the group that a professor from EMU
is willing to do an environmental study of the land. He will be charging
for this service and we will work out details of payment in the future.
The tentative date for this is Sunday the 23rd at 10:00am. Jim Boyd to
call Diocese for permission to be on the land, and he and Naela will
assist with the walk through.
Next, there was open discussion among the group about the Planning
Commission meetings, and many people offered helpful information on a
variety of topics from water issues to information about other
Crosswinds developments.Erik then asked people to raise hands if they
would like to be part of the steering committee, and the following
people raised their hands: Debbie Johnson, Stephanie Hunter, Beth
Loesch, Debra Norbotten, Tom Ivacko, Bob Palmer, Tim Kennedy, Jim Boyd,
Erik Stalhandske, and Naela Jenkins.
The group then decided to establish a priority list of actions to
proceed with as well as a list of topics to be discussed at the next
Planning Commission meeting.
Action List
- Digital pictures of property = Beth Loesch
- Digital Pictures of traffic = Tim Kennedy
- Investigation of our Association as a non-profit = Stephanie Hunter and Deb Norbotten
- Door to Door Survey about water issues = Stephanie Hunter and Deb Norbotten
- Checking on who owns condo property = Diane Imredy
- Contacts at Dicken School = Heidi
- Bird Inventory = Stephanie Hunter and Beth Loesch
- Frog Count = Debbie and Merle Johnson
- Call Township about property value = Jim Boyd
- Review meetings and minutes from previous Planning Commission meetings—Jim Boyd for mtg #1, ? for mtg #2
Priority List
- Talk about West Side Master Plan (I have purchased a copy if anyone would like to borrow)
- Justification to veer from Master Plan
- Voice of people
- Allen’s Creek
- Water issues, flooding on Dicken
- Natural features, wetlands and woodlands, frog count, slopes, cont development into woods
- Dicken as a through street
- Homogenization of the city, height and proximity of buildings and other features of the Crosswinds plan
- Similar models, Thurston Nature Center
- Amortization
The meeting ended at 9:00pm and it was decided we would meet again in one month.
