2008-2010 Meeting Minutes                

Printed with permission as a Partner with the Census Bureau

For a preview of the 2010 Census form

If you didn't make it out to Lindo Park on October 17, 2009 you missed a lot of fun.

B Shift from Station #39 stopped by with their Fire Truck.  A big hit with the youngsters.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Health Safari Bus - dental checks for the kids (free toothpaste/toothbrush) - blood pressure checks for adults.

Target Reps with giveaways and projects for the kids.

Watermill Express provided plenty of cold water for hydration.

Tapestry provided literature about their group.

KPHO donated Red Badge Emergency Packs

Meth cooks are getting the propane tanks from the exchanges at Wal-Mart, Kroger, etc. and emptying them of the propane.  Then, they are filling them with anhydrous ammonia (which they now have a recipe for by the way). After they are finished with the propane tanks, they return them to the store. They are then refilled with propane and sent back for you and me to buy.   Anhydrous ammonia is very corrosive and weakens the structure of the tank. It can be very dangerous when mixed with propane and hooked up to our grills, etc.

You should inspect the propane tank for any blue or greenish residue around the valve areas. If it is present, refuse to purchase that one.

      Cartoon-shaped drugs hit Kansas City Streets

Children younger than age 7 are more vulnerable to smoke and flames in a fire, less likely to wake up if a smoke alarm sounds while they're sleeping and have a hard time escaping a burning home by themselves.  Learn more about teaching children how to escape a home fire at Safe Kids

Test your knowledge -

Do you know what these items are?          How about this one?  

   Looks are deceiving.    How about this?       Or this?   

  Not everything is as innocent as it appears at first glance.

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Block Watch Meeting 08-29-09

  Call to order by Rita Jensen- 8:00 am

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Block Watch Meeting 06-27-09

  Call to order by Rita Jensen- 9:00 am

Financials - Report from Treasurer

Old Business -    

                                Laveen Summit                 Suggestions for Retail Stores - S 27th & Baseline/ S 35th & Southern                                       

                                FUN Night - Sport Night - Thank you to HOA for sports equipment donation                       

  New Business -

                                Laveen Summit                 Suggestions for Retail Stores - S 27th & Baseline/ S 35th & Southern

                                SRP canal at S 23rd having erosion issues (repairs set for end of year)

                                Streets & Transportation results from speeding through community (S 24th & W Chipman)

                                Grant Funds Application for 2009 results - Funds approved - not yet received

                                Blight issues on W Roeser Road & S 27th Avenue - being addressed again

                                Blight Busters Volunteer Program, William R Hogans, Neighborhood Program Coordinator                                                                   

                        Registration & legal papers kept in cars

                        Tags & Graffiti - Volunteers needed

                        Drop Houses

                                Officer Mario Ancich      

                                Monthly Newsletter - Electronic

                                Resident Security Tips topic - Legal papers in cars and ID safety

                                Legal Article topic -

                                Kids Korner topic -

 Resident Discussion -

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Block Watch Meeting 05-13-09

  Call to order by Rita Jensen- 6:00 pm

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Block Watch Meeting 04-22-09

  Call to order by Rita Jensen- 6:00 pm

Financials - Report from Treasurer

Old Business -    

                                More Shade for meetings -

                                Lights - One light installed, second light pends

                                Suggestions for Retail Stores - S 27th & Baseline/ S 35th & Southern    

                                    Exercise - yoga;  Wendy's;  nice restaurant;  Outback;  bowling alley                   

New Business -

                                Arizona Lutheran Academy on May 13, 2009 - do yard work

                                Used/New Sports Equipment - 2 basketballs so far

                                Sports Night

                                Monthly Newsletter - Electronic

                                Resident Security Tips topic - Home Depot discount on security doors with coupon

                                Legal Article topic - Reconstruction Loan

                                Kids Korner topic -

                                Rewards

Resident Discussion -

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Block Watch Meeting 03-21-09

  Call to order by Rita Jensen- 9:00 am

Financials - Report from Treasurer

Old Business - Eliminate trespassers -

                    More Shade for meetings -

                    Lights -

                    Green went brown

New Business - Retail Stores - S 27th & Baseline / S 35th & Baseline

                     Manzanita Speedway Closes April 11, 2009

                            Crane company, Southwest Industrial Rigging ($10-20Mill)

                            County had two pages of complaints (dust/noise) against them.

                       Easement - MRM Investments

                               Melvin & Robert Martin

                        Voting Center - April 8  11am meeting

                        Monthly Newsletter - Electronic

                        Resident Security Tips topic - close garage doors and lock windows

                        Legal Article topic - New Plant, S 27th & Broadway - Tower - working at night - creating dust, environmental issue

                        Kids Korner topic - Supervise kids at bus stop

                        Rewards

Resident Discussion - See last 3 topics above.

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Block Watch Meeting 02-21-09

  Call to order by Rita Jensen- 9:00 am

Attempted Installation of No Trespassing Signs.

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Block Watch Meeting 01-17-09

  Call to order by Rita Jensen- 10:00 am

Financials - Report from Treasurer

Old Business - Speed Test

                    2008 Grant Funds

                    Eliminate trespassers -

                    More Shade for meetings -

                    Lights -

                    Gated Entries -

                    Monthly Newsletter

                    Resident Security Tips - Lock Bumping - Security doors modified for back doors.  Lowe's and Home Depot

                    Legal Article - Domestic Violence

                    Kids Korner - Bike safety & puzzle

  New Business - Green Day

                     City of Phoenix Budget Hearings, Tuesday January 20, 2009 6:00pm Cesar Chavez Library

                    HOA Legislation - Learn about potential legislation that could impact HOAs, 6-8PM Phoenix City Hall February 6, 2009 (call 602-534-8444 to register)

                    HOA and 2009 Grant Funds

                    Eliminate trespassers -

                    More Shade for meetings -

                    Lights -

                    Monthly Newsletter

                    Resident Security Tips topic

                    Legal Article topic

                    Kids Korner topic

Resident Discussion -

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Block Watch Meeting 10-18-08

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Block Watch Meeting 9-20-08

Call to order by Rita Jensen- 9:00 am

Renee Patterson- We are pleased to inform you that we have some new "Block Watch Members". I was able to hand out 10 more Block watch signs to our neighbors in the rear of the community, got their name and email addresses so we can keep everyone informed of what is happening in the front of the community. We also had some "newbies" at this meeting and had them sign up as well! We are actually doing this folks it IS happening we are all doing our share with participation and volunteering! I am soooo proud of us! Ultimately our goal is to have a block watch sign on (at the very least) every other home in the residence.

We signed up five more Block watch Captains! All together I believe we have 10 or eleven. Our goal is to have about 15 one for each section of our community. If you are interested please contact Renee Patterson via email

pattersonren@yahoo.com.

Financial statement given by our treasurer- Joe

New members of Phoenix neighborhood patrol certificates of achievements’ given. (if u took the class but were not present at today’s meeting please contact Rita for your certificate).

Certificates of appreciation given to those that volunteered their time with block watch.

Management report- Rita Jensen

Old business- Rita Jensen

New business-

RESIDENT DISCUSSION;

One of our neighbors lives near the basketball courts and is appalled by the use of the foul language the kids are using. Please monitor your children. Foul mouths are not welcomed in our community. Talk to your preteen/teenagers, respect our community as well as our neighbors.

Thank you for your time, and participation.

Together we will accomplish our goals, and create a safer community for each other.

NEXT MEETING OCTOBER 18, 2008

Don’t miss it!

RYP

Renee Y Patterson

Weston Park Block Watch Secretary      

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Block Watch Meeting 8-16-08

We made some more new friends and had another nice group this morning.

Topics discussed were:

Lighting

Gracie with S. Mountain Post Office came out and we did visual of all mailbox locations in our community in relation to street lights.  It was determined though the Post Office was willing to move the mailboxes free of charge, there were no adequate spots available.  She suggested we look at another community and their solution.

Community off of 16th Street has solar motion sensor floodlights - Tonie to check out and advise contact person and price of unit at next meeting.

Are all street lights working?

Vandalized House

Bids being obtained for boarding up windows.

Crime Prevention

Padlocks suggestion repeated for gate and electrical panel.

Catalina Homes - Cage structure over hose bibs.  Joe offered to check and report.

Phoenix Neighborhood Patrol (see Classes for more details)

6-8 hour training program - Class scheduled for Saturday August 30, 2008

Watch Your Car program (see Brochures for more details)

C.P.T.E.D. (see Brochures for more details)  Howard offered to do survey of our community and report at next meeting.  If you would like to do the same survey, here is the form.  They suggest doing the survey once during the day and once at night.

Other Blocks/HOAs

LAHOA - Laveen Home Owners Association - meet 3rd Wednesday each month 6:30pm Cesar Chavez HS Cafeteria.  They represent several communities in our area.

Illegal Dumping/Graffiti

Insurance Auto Auctions - wall and area still cleaned.  Thank you!

Roeser Road - Ongoing clean up.

Easement - Still motivating.

Graffiti

Graffiti Painters Sprayer class - Saturday September 13, 2008 8:00am to 10:00am. 

Speedsters

Need more team members.

G.A.I.N.

GETTING ARIZONA INVOLVED IN NEIGHBORHOODS

    Saturday October 18^th from 2pm to 7pm

    Asking for a donation from HOA possibly as a yearly occurrence.

  DONATIONS

We applied for a grant from PRIDE which is a Non-Profit associated with our HOA.  To date, no funds have been received.

HOA

Discussion of HOA issues

PHX PD

Words from Officer Mario

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Block Watch Meeting 7-19-08

We made some new friends and had another very nice group this morning.

Topics discussed were:

Lighting

Since we can not obtain more street lights to light the mailbox areas, we are going an alternate route.  Our friends at the South Mountain Post Office have agreed to come out and walk the area with me.  We will check for utilities already established and determine if it is feasible to move the mailbox pads closer to existing street lights.   We will need signed forms from property owners whose property is chosen for the new locations.

Vandalized Houses

One of the two houses considered to be "Unsafe" (to get help from the City) has had the window replaced.

The second house is taking a little longer due to title issues

 Crime Prevention

It is acceptable with the Police Department, Fire Department and our electrical company SRP to have a padlock on our electrical panel.

Another suggestion is putting a padlock on your gate.

Doggie Bags 

Checked several places for slug operated doggie bag dispensers for common areas.  No luck.

Doggie bag dispensers were brought up at last HOA meeting.  HOA is checking on more waste baskets instead.

Camera Surveillance

Idemudia will report on this topic at next meeting.

Other Blocks/HOAs

Contacted Kachina Management for Barcelona, the development with Providence.  Have heard nothing back.

Spoke with Kevin from R&R Property Management for the Grayson Square development for Richmond.  He is in touch with several other Block Watch and HOA groups and will get me information concerning both.

Illegal Dumping/Graffiti

Nothing new to report regarding W Roeser Road and intersection with S 27th Avenue.  Have been trying since before June to contact owner of field south of us.  Working with Carlessa at Streets and Transportation and Larry at Parks District.  The Liberty development has had several names and does not respond to our communications.

Spoke with the owner of the property north of us.  He also owns the property east of us.  He was very forthcoming.  Both he and the Assistant Branch Manager of the business east of us have been working to correct the graffiti and trash issues.

Rectangular easement exists between our property and that north of us.  I am currently working to get that cleaned up.

A woman in a dark blue Chevrolet S10 truck with license 760 HDB was dumping her recycles in various bins of ours.  Crime stop 602-262-6151 if she returns.

Five boxes of assorted items and sizes and a sealed envelope were dumped on one of our streets.  Crime stop was called.

Graffiti

Pat will report on this topic at next meeting.

Speedsters

Kevin reported on finding cheaper Speed Humps that we could install ourselves if that was decided.

We need more volunteers for the Team for a good representation of pros and cons.

Donations

We received grading results of our Grant application to the City.  We did not receive Grant this year.

Per IRS - we are a Non-Profit.

Per State - We have the Weston Park Block Watch name reserved for 120 days with the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Submitting Non-Profit Certificate of Disclosure and also our Articles of Incorporation of a Tax-Exempt.

Officer Mario's Report

June 2010 - Laveen Precinct should be live and will increase the response time but unfortunately not number of officers.

Lighting - not as much a deterrent as safety measure.  Good light aids ID of possible suspects.  City does not help with lighting.

Street Humps - on city streets there is a gradual incline and decline.  Other options to consider are redesign area, tickets and taking personal responsibility.

City offers free training for citizens in use of radar guns for use in their communities to cut down on speeding.

Grants - need to show definite and valid need and how it is to be used exactly.

Illegal Dumping - South Mountain Village Clean and Beautiful

Graffiti - kids capable to graffiti also.  Willful damage to other's property - call 9-1-1

Get youth involved.  Invite kids to next meeting.

Contact City Prosecutor's office regarding barking dogs.

Dirt Bikes, etc on dirt road beside W Roeser Road, call Crime Stop 602-262-6151.  Officer Mario can run plate.

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Block Watch Meeting 6-22-08

We had a very nice turn out.  Some familiar faces and some new ones.  Welcome!

Topics discussed were:

Commitment

Let's all pitch in and help our community.

Volunteers to clean up greenbelt for week of June 22

Thank you Robyn, Jon and Carlos

Lights at mailboxes 

The  City says the streetlights should be approximately 200 feet apart from each other and intersections must be lit.

Unfortunately they will not be installing additional as we meet their street lighting policy. 

It was suggested we move the mailboxes.  More info to come.

Speeders

Speed humps/bumps run approximately $1,200.00 for 25mph.  Each block would need to make their own decision with a 70 percent acceptance.

Some other factors to consider are noise and emergency response time increased by number of speed humps/bumps.

See  for more information on this topic.

Dumping - It's illegal

Call 911 if in progress.  Call Crime Stop at 602-262-6151

Letters have been sent to owners of our adjacent properties requesting their help in keeping these areas maintained.

Larry Polk with the Parks Department is coming out to survey the different areas (shoulders, back road, drains and ditches) and advise which department handles which area for our future reference.

The shoulder along Roeser Road is one big dumping ground and is over-grown with weeds.  This does little for our property values and invites crime. 

It also creates a traffic issue for those wishing to turn left out of the community.

The area behind us is not any better.     

Electrical Panels

Previously we mentioned it is a good idea to have a padlock on our electrical panels to slow down criminals.

It was brought up at our meeting that there may be some misinformation.  I am waiting to hear back from the Fire Codes and Fire Prevention Department.  More info to come.

Leash Laws

Per Maricopa County Animal Care & Control

Maricopa County’s leash law prohibits you from allowing your dog to run at large outside your property at any time. Your dog must be confined to your home or property, either inside the home or within an enclosed yard. When you take your dog outside of its confined area, it must be restrained on a leash that is no longer than six feet in length. Keeping your dog on a leash also makes good sense. Your dog will be safer and less likely to be hit by a car.

A reminder - If you take your dog(s) for a walk, please take a baggie with you.

Graffiti

We now have an 8 person Graffiti Painters Team.  They will be removing graffiti from our fences, sidewalks and basketball court very shortly.   Signed permission forms (good until they are revoked in writing) are being obtained from owners of corner lots.  That way we can remove graffiti as it occurs without contacting the owners each time.  Have not signed one yet?  Contact us at mailto:W_P_BlockWatch@cox.net and we will get one to you.

Security Screen Doors

There were booklets with photographs of door samples from Titan®

There were also 2 representatives from Security First with a door sample and catalogue.

Water Issue

I think we may have determined our water issue could be the result of PSI being to high and not vandals as previously thought.

Donation

Safeway was kind enough to donate a $20.00 Gift Card to the Weston Park Block Watch.

We purchased two cases of bottled water (much needed at our meeting in the 113 heat) a large jar of Red Vines and a large jar of Sour Punch Twists for the children.  We will be bringing the rest of those to the next meeting.

THANK YOU SAFEWAY!

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June 01, 2008 update       

We had a fantastic show of support at our meeting on Saturday May 31st.  We told about crime on our street and learned about that of our neighbors.  Our neighbors include every person living here.  This is not the HOA restricted to owners.  This pertains to everyone.  We all know there has been an increase in the number of break-ins.  One new member of our community was just barely moved in when his home became a statistic.   Some other owners have had to file their second police report.  But as unfortunate as that is for a family, that's not all.  We also were notified a sexual assault took place in our community.  Our children are out of school, we may want to revisit how they answer the phone or the door.  We found one house that had 4 shattered windows and softball size holes in the stucco.  Another home a block away had a shattered window and pieces gouged out of the stucco.  Several other houses in the community also had battle scars.  Seems cars drive through and rocks or beer bottles are thrown out and our homes are used for targets.  We heard of trying to stop suspicious activity and looking at the wrong end of a gun.  We heard about some groups using our greenbelt area as a shortcut.  We heard about some residents having drug issues.  We heard of a vehicle broken into and only paperwork stolen.  We heard of copper pipes being stolen from hose bibs.  We heard about rocks being thrown in swimming pools.  We heard about plants, flowers and ornamentals being taken or vandalized in yards.  We heard about children defacing the postal boxes either by words, food or gravel.  Should we just sit back and let this keep happening?

I think you started answering this question when you showed up for the Block Watch meeting.  It was just that.  A Start.  We want more of our neighbors to get involved.  It takes a community working together.  Some of these break-ins have taken place in broad daylight.   Right under our nose.  So we didn't just complain.  We started coming up with ideas on how to fix our problem.  And there were some really great suggestions.  A lot of them.  Quite a few I would never have thought of.  But by working together we have quite an impressive list. 

Besides the regular scenarios of:

Your neighbors work during the day.  You hear or see something suspicious.  Is a "repairman" carrying out stereo or electronic equipment?  Did you hear something in their backyard but you know they are not home?  We might have a solution for that.  Several ideas were suggested such as a placard in the repairman's vehicle's window.   So we would know at a glance if they belonged or not.  Or if you have company visiting, give them the placard during their stay.  More info to come.

You see someone walking down the street.  How do you know that person belongs here?  First off it was suggested we get out more.  We mean out.  Off the couch and out the door.  Socialize.  Remember how our parents and grandparents used to say hi to their neighbors?  We want to try that.  I know.  It's scary.  But it was suggested that if we had some identifying feature as a resident it wouldn't be so scary.  Like if we had a hat we could slip on before we took our walk.  That others living here would be wearing too.  More info to come.

Have you seen a vehicle just hanging around the neighborhood?  Call our local police department and report that activity.   Don't think someone else will call them.  You are that someone else.  But you say you don't know if it belongs here or not.  We have a solution for that too.  It was suggested we have a clear sticker with some sort of a number assigned to each home.  But not our lot number or house number as that would be too easy to copy.  Then if a car you don't recognize is parked somewhere for a length of time and does not have a sticker...  More info to come.

When you are home and tempted not to answer the door because it might be a solicitor, think again.  Did you know that could be a ruse to see if anyone is there.  Prior to breaking into your home.  Just yelling through the door that you are not interested might be enough to send them on their way.

Crooks are getting clever.  We can be too.  On the following pages are some more of the great ideas we have come up with so far.  But we know you might have some also.  So there is a COMMENTS section.  Or come to our next meeting.

We are smarter.  We are becoming aware what is going on around us.  We are becoming involved.  We still need more ideas and we still need more help.  We need to hear from you.  We need volunteers to help work on our Newsletter.  We need volunteers to help distribute the Newsletter each month.