Meeting Minutes for August 2023

Meeting Minutes from the Bemis Park Neighborhood Association meeting for August 8, 2023

A total of 12 people attended tonight’s meeting at Augustana Lutheran Church.

The current budget is $28,660.55, but $24,000 of that money came in from grants for the Walnut Hill Reservoir baseball diamond, and will to soon be paid out for the work completed.

The glass tolls for thee

Neighborhood resident Joe W. was invited to come speak about his Glassman Recycling & Repurposing, which is in essence a service that comes and picks up your empty glass bottles and jars for $20 a trip, plus a $35 annual registration fee. You can have them visit each month, or as little as you need. You can find all the details at https://glassmanrandr.com/ or call 402.578.4204. One reason he started the business was because glass for a variety of reasons is not easy to recycle. His business sells the glass he collects to larger glass recyclers, or they turn it into fiberglass insulation or a kind of sand landscapers like to use, he said.

Stepping back into the forest

The club decided to explore an idea from Ben K who lives across from the stairs leading into Bemis Park, to transform the area back into more of a natural, forested setting, which is something Ben’s company focuses on. If the idea was accepted, the club would probably pursue a grant to pay for the work.

Speaking of grants

Vicki P suggested perhaps next year a grant could go toward training neighborhood kids to shovel lawns and rake the leaves of elderly residents. She was going to connect with InCommon, to see if they know of teens who would like to take part in the program.

Mailing for more

In order to boost interest in the neighborhood, the club also discussed updating the neighborhood database to send out a postcard soon, potentially this fall, timed to also promote the fall cleanup.

Meeting notes submitted by BPNA Secretary Patrick Garmoe