First meeting of the Northwood Town Watch
Northwood Town Watch First Meeting
A weekend distribution of fliers throughout Northwood brought about 30 people to the initial organizational meeting of the Northwood Town Watch at St. James Lutheran Church at 6PM prior to the regular Civic meeting. An hour was spent on discussion of the role of the Town Watch, discussion of the proposed bylaws and election of temporary officers. A second organizational meeting is scheduled for Saturday, May 19th at 9 AM at the Knights of Columbus at 5323 Oxford Avenue. Anyone who is interested in participating in Town Watch in any capacity is encouraged to attend. Future Town Watch meeting will precede the Northwood Civic Association meetings.
At the Northwood Civic Association meeting,
the minutes of the last meeting were read. A verbal treasurers reports was made. A member questioned whether the new Treasurer has audited the previous Treasurer’s records. No audit has been done and the member asked that future reports be printed and made public. The Treasurer said that she would take that under advisement to the Board.
Frank Bennett VP and Joe Krause President of Northwood Civic
Members approved a motion to fund start up costs of the newly formed Town Watch with $300 to cover the cost of printing fliers, etc. Members questioned if the Town Watch will be funded in the future. Vice President Bennett said that the Town Watch would fund itself. This expenditure is to help get it off the ground.
A new member spoke about vandalism in the area of Kenwyn and Horrocks. Young people are breaking windows. A discussion followed about what is the most effective way to report this type of issue to the police. Some recommend making it a roll call item and others say the best thing to do is to attend a PSA meeting and talk to the Lt. directly. Town Watch members were present and will follow up on this issue.
Committees were formed to deal with Vacant Properties, Deed Restriction Issues and Zoning. Volunteers for the committees met after the meeting to provide contact information to communicate at a later time.
James Clay, Democratic party candidate for State Representative in the 179th district spoke to the membership and answered questions.
James Clay
The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association is scheduled for June 19 at 7 PM at St. James Lutheran Church.
Commenting here as a resident of Northwood; a big hand shake to Frank Bennett for all the time and effort he put forth into motivating the residents to come out. A group like we had on Tuesday evening is exactly what every neighborhood needs; everyone voicing their own concerns and everyone willing to work together to get the issues resolved. I hope everyone left the meeting with a new sense of pride in this neighborhood, a respect for its great history, and a new sense of hope for its future. Forming these committees is essential in keeping everyone involved in what goes on in this neighborhood, what makes it great, and what needs to be fixed. They will strengthen the communication between residents and give the civic the much needed information it needs to go forward and resolve the issues that have been slowly taking away from the character of our neighborhood. Renee, Gina, and Lou have been with the BOD’s for years and spend many nights at meetings throughout the area staying informed about what is happening. Whether it be schools, town hall meetings, police meetings; someone from the civic is almost always there. There is a lot of work to be done going forward and we have the dedicated people to maintain a beautiful neighborhood for decades to come. Working with other civics such as Frankford and Juniata will hopefully be beneficial not just for Northwood; but for those and other neighborhoods as well. Excellent job by all; but this is just the beginning.