East Mountain Neighborhood Association
Our Lady of Lebanon Church
8 Hamilton Avenue
Waterbury, CT 06706
Minutes of October 15, 2008
40 Attended
The meeting was started and the pledge of allegiance was led by Patrick Norton.
Our Guest Speaker was Andrew Martelli from Waterbury Development Corporation
Currently the Waterbury Development Corporation holds our grant funds for the park.
We are currently in Phase 2 our park renovation. That includes the fencing, dog waste stations, a new sign and the flagpole. A question was asked whether the funds could be used for rugs and furniture for the East Mountain ClubHouse at the Golf Course. Andrew said that the short answer is NO. The grant is specific. If the funds are going to be used for something else the grant needs to be re written. However, it cannot be rewritten without the organization’ approval. Waterbury Development Corporation is a nonprofit. The funds must be held by a non-profit having 5013C status. The park has a 33 item checklist that must be met. Ned Mencio brought up about the timeframe for the funds to be spent by the clubhouse. Andrew said that the Office of Personnel Management must sign off on it as well as the East Mountain Neighborhood Association must sign off on it. The funds have a time frame of about May or June 09. Mike Guisto brought up whether the funds could be allocated to the East Mountain Athletic Association. Andrew said the grant would need to be rewritten and approved by both OPM and EMNA before any funds could be expended. Also Andrew said that the funds could not be carried forward year to year for mulch for example. Patrick Norton has drafted a letter Jim Nemec stating that we must approve any funds to be distributed to the golf course before any funds are expended.
Nancy Ptak gave the secretary report. The new neighbors for this month are:
Catherine Diana 11 Skyline Drive
Mark and Carlene Pelletier 102 East Mountain Road
Sreymom and Somnang Hap 32 Westport Drive
Melissa and James Burns 141 Pineridge Road
Sympathy Card was sent to the Evelyn Santovasi Family 281 Prospect Road
Jean Guisto gave the treasurers report. Deposits were made for $ 2,140.00 Expenses were made for $ 192.69 for a balance of about $ 7,720.48 without deductions for future expenses for the scholarship ($ 500.00) and bricks $ 1,200.00). After her report Jean presented Patrick Norton with a gavel to be used to maintain order for future meetings.
Joe Padua our community officer gave his report. He said there was a female driving a white van was apprehended for break ins in the area. Seven cars were recently broken into in the neighborhood stealing GPS systems and loose change. He reiterated to please lock your cars. Patrick Norton asked if windows were smashed and Joe said only one window was smashed. He warned if you are shopping at the mall please be aware of your surroundings, have your key in your hand and if you see something suspicious report it to mall security. There were also a lot of break ins at Lydia Street. Michael Ptak brought up the fact that two officers were walking the neighborhood with a dog last Friday evening about 6:00 PM Joe would look into it for us. Tony Loechner brought up about an 18 wheeler parked on the street. Joe also said he would look into it. Michael Ptak asked whether Joe Padua knew anything about the security cameras we might be able to acquire to monitor the park. Joe will look into it.
Mike Guisto gave a report from the Nomination Committee. He said they met and since there were no names given to the group Turner Langdon volunteered to become vice president and Jean Guisto volunteered to continue as Treasurer.
Michael Ptak suggested we develop a committee for the grand reopening of the park. A sign up sheet was passed around for people interested in volunteering for the event. Michael Ptak volunteered to be the chairperson of the committee. We can install the park sign, dog-waste stations, and litter signs.
Michael is looking into providing a band, possibly food from Frankie’s, ribbon cutting etc. Anyone having any more ideas contact Michael Ptak.
Michael Ptak also gave an update on the Park renovation status. Workers have been in the park diligently working in the past week. The basketball court has been done, the retaining wall has been built, and the area for the spray pool has been dug. The area where the flag pole and the entrance with two walkways have been dug. Michael suggests we closely monitor their progress with three representatives from the East Mountain Neighborhood Association as well as three representatives from the East Mountain Athletic Association to ensure the park is progressing the way we envisioned it to be. Stacey Kearney asked about bathrooms. Michael responded by saying we thought about bathrooms but because of the attraction to vandalism, we decided against it. We instead will have portapottys that will be emptied by the city.
Nancy Ptak gave an update on the bricks. The way the plans have been laid out. There will be four areas around the flagpole where the bricks will be laid. There will also be four large Granite stones. One for John Keane (the fireman who died) One for the coaches of East Mountain past and present. One for our Veterans past and present and One for the kids who played in East Mountain past and present. Nancy received a quote from Mr. O’ Donnell for the cost of large granite stone. He said about $ 248.00 each with an additional $ 25.00 to $ 50.00 for each stone for any artwork. He sends that job out to another company. He said he would also give us a 10% discount since it was for the East Mountain Neighborhood Association. Mike Guisto made a motion to spend $ 600.00 for two stones. (The John Keane stone was donated by Mr. O’Donnell) and the last stone Mike Guistio said he might be able to get the East Mountain Athletic Association to pay for the one for the coaches. June seconded the motion. Vote was taken. Motion carried. (Patrick banged his gavel proudly). Nancy said that to date we have sold 56 bricks large and small. To date we received $ 3,700.00 our expenses to date are $ 1,211.16 and we have $ 2,488.84 in profit from the bricks so far. Since we have spaces for approximately 900 bricks. We have plenty of bricks to sell so please spread the word that bricks are available and if anyone needs a form it can be downloaded from the website or contact Nancy Ptak. Erin Norton asked if the grant funds could be used for the purchase of the granite stones. Andrew Martelli said it could be done but the grant would have to be rewritten and we would have to ask for approval.
Patrick Norton asked about anyone interested in giving a donation to the Gaspari crew since he clears our streets in the winter. In the past we have given them $10.00 per man for a total of $ 200.00. Jean Guisto made a motion to spend $ 200.00 to Mr. Gaspari and his crew. Michael seconded the motion. Vote was taken motion carried.
Ned Mencio gave an update on the Country Breakfast. The distributions of tickets are done by Nancy and Michael Ptak. They are in stacks of six. They are $ 8.00 for adults and children under 10 $ 4.00 children under 5 are free. The breakfast includes pancakes, eggs,sausage,ham,bacon,fresh fruit,juice, milk and coffee. The due date for tickets to be returned is October 25,2008. On October 31, 2008 at 3:00 PM we will be setting up at the church. On November 1,2008 at 7:00 am we will need to be at the church. So that the same people do not work for the entire morning, you could sign up for an hour to serve, or cook. Patrick Norton is ready since his lesson last year by Ned Mencio in pancake flipping.
Michael Ptak gave an overview about the grant funds. The East Mountain Athletic Association applied for the grant for the park for $ 500k in approximately 1995. The grant was approved and the funds were issued to the city but because the funds were not spent timely, the funds had to be returned to the State.
When the East Mountain Neighborhood Association was started, Dave Fortier from the East Mountain Athletic Association reapplied for the grant. With the aid of Tom Conway, the grant was approved for $ 750k and then reduced by 100k due to the lighting cost being removed. In order to get it approved, in negotiating with then Governor John Rowland and Marc Ryan it had to be reduced again by 50k. Netting 600k for approval. We as an association requested 400k from the city of Waterbury with the understanding that if we received more funds from the state, the 400k will be returned to the city. This allowed the East Mountain Neighborhood Association to retain all the items we envisioned for our new park. Then David Aldarando went back to the state to request $ 750k. The grant was approved for $ 750k. Since this covered all our costs for the park, the $ 400k given to us by the city was returned. In the end we have $ 950,000.00 to cover all our expensed requested items including: Wider Walking path, Gazebo, Spray Pool, Basketball court, Playscape, Tee Ball field, Two Baseball fields, irigation,wrought iron fence along the street side of the park. 2 water fountains, an electrical outlet and a water spigot.
David Aldarondo also applied for an additional $ 25,000.00 from Jim Amaan (speaker of the house) from his discretionary fund. This money was earmarked for Dog Waste stations, and the East Mountain Park Sign. Waterbury Development Corporation holds these funds.
Our third grant money came from Anthony D’Amelio for $ 1,250.00 to be used for a bench in honor of John Keane and for the grand reopening expensed for the park.
The next hospitality members are Cathy Filippone and Barbara Stere. Please contact each other about what job each will do for the next meeting. Our cabinet has a combination lock now. The code is 101 for anyone on hospitality.
June asked if anyone is interested in donating coffee beans to the troops stationed in Iraq. Prospect is collection donations. June will obtain more information about this event.
The meeting was ajourned with a motion from Tony Loechner and seconded by June