SJVGreens Minutes

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Minutes of St. Joe Valley Greens

December 9, 2002, Kathleen Kaiser, Recorder

PRESENT: Kathleen Kaiser, Lance Howard, Don Brubaker, Trina Robinson, Victoria Webb, Judith Robert, Tom Brown, David Kaiser

Guest Speaker: Judith Roberts, coordinator for the River Trail/Darden Road Parkway committee, gave a brief presentation on the city-county bike trail. She requested that group members write letters of support for funding of this project to Carl Littrell, city engineer.

Guest Speaker: Trina Robinson, recent candidate for South Bend school board and president-elect of the local chapter of the NAACP spoke to the group regarding her experience as a candidate for office. Also expressed hope for coordination between the NAACP and efforts with the Greens on future issues.

1. OPENING AND CALL TO ORDER - David Kaiser called the business meeting to order at 7:30 PM after our guest speakers finished.

2. READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Waived reading as Kathleen did not bring a copy of the minutes. Nobody had changes or additions.

Minutes are always available on the chapter web site. Kathleen sends the minutes to Tom after each chapter meeting. Tom posts them on the web site for all to read.

3. TREASURER REPORT

Lance gave the report:

Lance suggested switching our funds to TCU so SJVG could offer new Green members eligibility for a TCU account as an incentive. The group would need to apply for a tax ID number and incorporate to do so. Consensus was switching banks is not practical at this time.

4. REPORTS OF DELEGATES AND OFFICERS

a. Vicki had requested WNDU to post chapter meeting announcements on their website, but nothing came of it. She will follow up.

b. Kathleen reported no membership changes or updates.

5. OLD BUSINESS

CSO issue - The Common Council vote on the water/sewer rate hike, scheduled for November 25, was postponed until the January 13 Common Council meeting.

Vicki has requested a WNDU reporter to interview a Green spokesperson (David Kaiser) at the Common Council on January 13.

The group discussed preparing a sound bite for David to use.

Don expressed concern regarding a SLAPP suit should a Green spokesperson say something disagreeable to any of the large sewage users.

Tom noted that a law was passed by the state of Indiana around 1999 which prohibits SLAPP lawsuits. Tom volunteered to look this information up and send it to the officers.

Round table discussion came to a general agreement for 3 points to make in the sound bite:

  1. All sewage treatment users, large and small, must pay the same unit price.
  2. Rates should be increased to pay for capital improvements rather than borrowing money for improvements.
  3. At least $1,000,000 per year must be set aside to address Combined Sewer Overflow problems.

Area Plan Commission - to be presented at the next meeting

Precinct Committee positions - to be presented at the next meeting

6. PLANNED ACTIONS - attend the Common Council meeting on January 13, 2003, to speak in support of sewage rate increase.

7. NEXT MEETING - SJVGs will attend the Common Council meeting on the second Monday in January in lieu of our regular meeting. (The coordinators later decided to find another night for the chapter to meet in January and will announce it.)

 St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN