Held via Zoom, started at 7 p.m.
Present: Julie Jones, Joe Brown, Brian Luckett, Anthony Eschmann, Stephen Haedicke, Molly Henderson, Tyler Harwood
Julie introduced us to new prospective board member Molly Henderson, and other candidates were discussed. The election for board members is supposed to be in March, which means it would be Ash Wednesday. There is also the question of whether voting would be better at an in-person meeting or if it can be done online somehow given the continuing pandemic. It was agreed to postpone until April in hopes of meeting in person.
The February general meeting will be February 2nd and will need to be another virtual one. Street construction was brought up as a potential topic, as was the recent proliferation of car-jackings in the area. Then the topic of the ongoing problems associated with the blighted Naval Support Activity (NSA) property came up. Neighbors near the property are getting more and more fed up and another recent homicide that is possibly linked to a “resident” has added to the stress, as has a loose aggressive dog. We met with former council member Palmer about issues at the property several times in the past but there was little to no progress. The possibility of distributing a petition and organizing protests was discussed. Brian contacted HUD to see if he could get an update from them and was told the developers “have been invited to submit pre-application”. He read the letter to the group and it seems HUD had productive meetings with the developers and likes their plan. Meanwhile squatters discovered they could remove large sections of security fencing by fastening it to a passing train.
It was agreed to make the NSA the topic of our next meeting to update neighbors, raise awareness, and maybe even get some answers. We should invite NOPD, the fire department, New District C Council Member Freddie King, and see if there are social workers or homeless outreach that may be interested. Partnering with the BNA in some capacity was discussed. A joint meeting could probably get a good turnout and maybe even some results. An in-person meeting would be preferred. Molly volunteered to contact someone from the BNA. Joe volunteered to make some flyers to post once plans solidify.
The meeting ended at 7:55 p.m.
Submitted by Tyler Harwood, secretary