Meeting: Bypass, Grants, Forestry, Curitiba

7-9 pm First United Church on 3rd St.

Agenda
Meeting 7:00–7:45 pm

• Efforts to engage with the bypass project
  
• “Aging-In Place” community forming here
• Small and Simple Grant and sign toppers
• Neighborhood Improvement Grant topics
  
• SPEA graduate “urban forest” project for Green Acres
  

Featured Program: 8 – 9 p.m.
DVD presentation of “A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curatiba Brazil”

Attending
Ann Kreilkamp, Georgia Schaich, Al Ruesink, Kathy Ruesink, Jessica Gaus, John Gaus, Jelene Campbell, Kevin Polk; Special guests Vickie Provine and Jo Stong from Housing And Neighborhood Development (HAND) and IU Urban Forestry students Kendra Vorenkamp, Sarah Sutton and Gavin Vandergriff.

The Process
Ann began with a report on various efforts to engage with the bypass project. Ed Hartke has agreed to go to the MPO meeting on the bypass (held, by amazing coincidence, on the same night each month as the GANA meeting), and said he would contact Ann and give an update. (Look for it here!) Also Tim Mayer is working on it.

Ann also discussed a new “Aging-In Place” community that has been meeting for six months here in Bloomington. It is interested in helping people who want to grow older in their own homes find ways to do this, and to make Bloomington a “liveable community” for all ages. They meet once a month, and Ann will attend their meetings.

Next came a discussion of grants. Kevin announced that he had turned in the small and simple grant proposal for the sign-toppers, and Vickie announced that it was accepted!

Two more grant deadlines are pending: Letters of Intent for another round of Neighborhood Improvement Grants are due March 7, and the application for a Neighborhood Clean-Up Grant is due on March 17. Kevin agreed to prepare these proposals, too. In both cases, however we will need volunteer participation!

For the Neighborhood Improvement Grant, we would place a permanent sign at a prominent neighborhood entrance where meeting and event announcements can be posted. So we need volunteers to visit and talk with neighbors at potential sign locations, work on the design, solicit bids/donations, and help build it.

For the cleanup grant, Jo explained that if approved, the city would bring heavy equipment and dumpsters to the neighborhood for 4 hours on a Saturday (probably mid-May) to dispose of bulky items including tires, as well as some hazardous substances (NOT wet latex paint, however! To get rid of this, you need to pour it out on a flat sheet and let it dry, or treat it with a hardener often available at hardware stores). A shredder will be available for heavy yard waste (tree trimmings), and neighbors will be most welcome to keep the mulch if they wish.

Next, we heard from three students from Burney Fischer's Urban Forest Management Class, who spoke about what they might do in Green Acres for a Term Project. Kendra had read our Neighborhood Plan and thought a brochure on sustainable yards or on the advantages of planting trees would address one of our objectives. Sarah asked if there were any historically significant trees in the neighborhood, and Ann said the Plan actually mentions one on the grounds of the Raintree House. This might be a focal point in the brochure. Another option involved planting trees. Gavin passed around an SPEA survey of trees in Green Acres that showed 33 spots where trees could be planted on the public right-of-way. Georgia pointed out that Lee Huss with the City of Bloomington had recently committed to getting us mature trees if we provide the labor. Ann noticed that many of the plantable areas are near rental houses. "How do we contact the landlords?" Vickie said she can get a list from HAND, though it may take awhile to generate. In the end, it looked like the students may provide us with both a short, custom brochure and some tree plantings. Hooray!

We adjourned for refreshments at 8:00 pm and began watching A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curatiba Brazil. It told the story of how a land-locked city in Brazil took a pro-active design approach to traffic, trash/recycling, housing, poverty and parks as its population swelled to 2 million people. (A 15-minute online talk by Curatiba's three-time Mayor, Jaime Lerner, also touches on some of the points in the video).

For traffic, the Mayor declared major areas of the inner city car-free zones. Shop keepers threatened to sue, but when the changes took effect, increased pedestrian traffic improved business so much that neighboring areas petitioned to become car-free, too. To get people into and out of the city, planners used dedicated bus lanes and one-way streets to move people rapidly through the city. To keep the articulated buses moving, architects designed shelters where people bought fares before boarding. These were elevated, with wheelchair access, so the buses would not need to lower special ramps for handicapped passengers. The result: a transit system as efficient as a subway for less than 1/100 the price.

Trash/recycling improvements began when planners noticed that the poor were dumping their trash in their own neighborhoods. They could not afford city services. So the city began buying bags of trash from them in exchange for bus tokens (the buses were paid by the mile, not by the rider, so it cost the city no money and greatly improved the mobility of the poor). Very quickly, the poor neighborhoods spruced up. When planners pushed for city-wide recycling, they had no budget and everybody said that Brazilians would never recycle. So they came up with a "trash that isn't trash" publicity campaign for the schools and painted the slogan on the side of the collection trucks. Volunteer labor built the sorting facility on city land. The volunteers, many of them poor and illiterate, were "paid" in bus tokens and literacy and job training. Within a year (this was 1988), Curitiba had become the first major city where everybody recycled.

Rather than build uniformly depressing low-income housing at the outskirts of the city, Curitiba chose to develop compact, visually varied mixed-use villages along the major transportation and utility corridors. There people rent-to-own apartments directly above their own businesses (the application process and fees include entrepreneurship classes).

Curitiba faced the threat of flooding from thin rivers that ran through it. Rather than channelize these with concrete structures as so many other cities have done, the Brazilians took a far less expensive approach: they bought out and relocated the people living in the flood zones. Then they built parks that would act as flood basins, using such sustainable maintenance techniques as grazing sheep to keep the grass trimmed.

At this point (perhaps 5 minutes before the end), the DVD froze up, so we called it a night. But it was very inspiring to see how even a huge city chose not to roll over for the blind pressures of growth, traffic and economic swings. In each case, creative thinking and a refusal to give up led to greater abundance, humanity and security for everyone in Curitiba.

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Neighborhood Plan and Capital Improvements

GANA Speaker Series
Bob Wolford, Program Manager
Nate Nickel, Senior Long Range Planner
City of Bloomington

TOPIC: Follow-up to last year's Neighborhood Plan and introduction to the Capital Improvement Fund and other resources to help achieve GANA's goals.

Nate and Bob brought GIS and aerial maps of the neighborhood and spoke to us about the upcoming sidewalk project from Hillsdale to the end of 5th and the bypass. They also discussed the widening of the bypass, and how the City's new Neighborhood Capital Improvement Fund can be used to start implementing some of the objectives found in the Green Acres Neighborhood Plan. Four neighborhoods including Green Acres are eligible to participate in this fund, which is about $250,000.

Some possibilities discussed: sidewalks on 3rd to connect with the new Sahara Mart, evening out the street pavement (which is causing bicycle accidents—Bob suggested a call to public works, where Susie Johnson maintains a paving list, Nate recommended the Alternative Transportation Greenways Group), better street lighting, trees along major streets such as Hillsdale (no changes likely until current drainage work is done—see below), as well as gateway features, traffic calming/city repair and pocket parks.

A $450,000 project to install sidewalks and storm drains will begin in a few weeks on the East end of 5th Street, working its way over to Jefferson Street.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), a citizen's advisory group, will be holding hearings regarding the forthcoming 45/46 bypass widening. Bob and Nate stressed how important it is for neighborhood representation at these meetings. Unfortunately, they are scheduled for the last Wednesday of the month—exactly when GANA's regular meetings are held! Options: send a volunteer to represent us to MPO, or change our own meeting date and descend en masse on the MPO from here on out. Ed Hartke will attend in February and let us know what's happening.

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Olympus Properties

GANA Speaker Series
Brett Smith
Leasing Agent, Olympus Properties

February 28, 2007, 8-9 p.m.

TOPIC: How to enhance sustainability by increasing interconnections between stakeholders and residents in Green Acres neighborhood.

That’s a mouthful, and we may not even realize that this is what we were doing during the brainstorming discussion we held with Brett Smith, but as stated in the Foreward to the Green Acres Neighborhood Plan, one of the best ways to heal an ecosystem is to "connect it with more parts of itself." Stakeholders such as landlords and rental agencies and absentee owners are included in and have a great impact on the Green Acres ecosystem.

Family-owned Olympus Properties is a management company chosen by property owners that currently oversees around two hundred rental properties in the Bloomington area. Six of these properties are in Green Acres. They include 208 and 218 Hillsdale, and 2401, 217, 213, and 218 Clark Street, with a seventh property on Hillsdale rumored soon to be theirs to lease as well.

Brett began by saying that GANA and Olympus Properties have "common goals;" that they want to help us "choose our neighbors" by enlisting our input into this effort. He handed out his cards, asking us to give them to possible renters whom we would like to have as neighbors. However, he stressed, he has to follow the law in being very careful to not discriminate, for example, on the basis of age, and so can't directly ask a possible renter how old they are. Since many of the issues faced in Green Acres (as well as the rest of college town Bloomington) have directly to do with the preponderance of temporary undergraduate student renters and their tendency in some cases to litter, over-occupy houses, park cars on lawns, and hold loud, long parties, this legal stricture not to discriminate on the basis of age is a tricky one.

Not only is it in our neighborhood's interest, but Brett says it is also in the interest of the property management company to have long-term responsible renters who follow the laws on parking and occupancy, are considerate of their neighbor’s needs, clean up after themselves, and, of course, pay their rents on time.

According to Brett, their client-owners set rental parameters for the management company to work within, and that one way they screen potential renters is to list a rent higher than market value. For example, one of the properties on Hillsdale is offered for $2000 per month, which automatically discourages undergraduates from applying, since the management company also checks credit ratings. When they find a renter that they think will be responsible, they can negotiate a lower rent with them. After all, he says, if we offer it at $1200, we’ll easily be able to rent it, but we may not end up with the renters we want. So that is the reason, he says, why posted rents are often higher than the market rate. They're used as a filter to skirt the non-discrimination issue.

Olympus actively goes after the kinds of renters they want, posting notices in graduate school departments, for example. He said that one of their properties on Clark St. has long been occupied by music graduate students who keep each other informed of when it is available. Olympus courts responsible renters—taking them out to dinner, and/or offering bonuses for referrals.

We had many questions for him, some of which he answered to our satisfaction, and others left us wondering. For example, we asked about the "For Rent" signs that seem to be up all year long and, he agreed, lend a trashy, temporary feel to the neighborhood. "Olympus takes them down as soon as a property is newly occupied" in August, he said—and then added, "we have to put them up again, so that prospective renters will know they’re available."

"When do you put them up again?"

He hesitated, before answering, "October."

"So the signs are down for only two months of the year?"

At this deduction he looked embarrassed, but added again, "we have to let people know they're for rent!" But one wonders if this is really necessary, since, at least for the Clark Street houses, as he said, several times, "they rent themselves" (presumably through internal music department referrals).

After the meeting, Georgia and Ann decided investigate the laws around signage, and see if something can be done about signs that are up just about all year long. If you wish to help with this project, please let them know and otherwise, stay tuned!

At times, during this discussion, we segued to our ever-pressing concerns, especially over-occupancy. John Gaus wondered if we could get a list of properties that have been grandfathered for over-occupancy, so that we will know which ones we can’t call HAND about. And yet, we want to be cautious about calling HAND, because we realize that some renters are wonderful neighbors even when they’re over-occupied, and others, who stay within the legal limits, are inconsiderate. As Nathan Harman succinctly put it, "It's better to have more good neighbors than fewer bad ones."

According to Brett, there are hefty fines for such things as garbage left out and cars on lawns, and that they are levied against both the renters and the owners. However, he said, don't call owners to complain about their renters, or you could be open to a charge of harassment! Better to call the property management agency, he said. Olympus, for one, wants responsible renters, and, when warnings are not heeded, will not hesitate to evict.

It may take us awhile to digest what went on in this meeting and what we learned from it. We did agree that it would be good for us to post rental and for sale notices in places like SPEA that would be likely to catch the eye of people interested in sustainability.

Ann Kreilkamp GANA scribe

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The UDO (Unified Development Ordinance)

GANA Speaker Series
Tim Mayer and Michael Diekoff
City Council Members

January 31, 2007, 8:00 – 9:00 p.m.

TOPIC: Impacts of the new Bloomington Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) on Green Acres and other issues that affect Green Acres

The UDO
Mike and Tim came armed with the 1.5 inch thick UDO document which they said, though formidable in appearance, was easy to use once one understood the format. This document can be found at
www.bloomington.in.gov and is due to go into effect on February 12, governing land use and development throughout the city of Bloomington. They asked that we call to thank members of the Planning Commission who each spent hundreds of hours poring over details, fine-tuning this document.

Tim said the process started five or six years ago with the Growth Policies Plan (GPP) as a guiding document for community growth. City planning staff went into neighborhoods all over the city and talked with them and other stakeholders about their vision for the way the city should grow. Three or four years later, the same process began for the UDO, which took the GPP and undergirds it with codes that meet state statutes. Unlike zoning ordinances which just say what you can build on a particular piece of property, this document covers what is allowed to develop in entire zones.

The Green Acres Neighborhood is zoned "core residential" (RC), called "core" because of its proximity to the center. The city looks at RC-zoned neighborhoods differently because they are challenged, in our case by the dominance of student rentals. Green Acres is now, as those of us who have been attending the monthly workshops know, in the process of developing its own "sub-area plan" for the city.

Most of what applies to Green Acres can be found in the sections of the UDO identified as 20.02.090, and 20.05. I have copied the parts of those sections applicable to zone RC into the attached word doc. (Be warned: I did it quickly, and possibly inaccurately.)

Tim and Mike say that "Granny Flats" are not allowed in the UDO, at least in RC zones, though I couldn’t find that wording there, nor in any of the amendments. You might want to peruse the document yourself. Especially interesting and heartening to me is the section called "Green Development Initiatives."

5th and Hillsdale, Overhill
After many years of attempts to get a sidewalk that runs down 5th Street from Union to Overhill, Tim (who lives in Green Acres) finally got part of this item funded and on the city’s agenda for 2007. The biggest problem with sidewalks in Green Acres has been that drainage issues have to be addressed first, and the usual high-tech solution to these problems is extremely expensive. However, after consulting with both GANA representatives (Georgia, Kevin and Ann) and permaculturists Peter Bane and Keith Johnson, the city has decided to address the problem in part through green techniques to reduce the amount of water that gets to the end of the street.

The intersections of 5th with Hillsdale and Overhill are places where the worst flooding occurs. Construction will begin this summer on 5th Street, from Hillsdale to Overhill and Overhill to the end of 5th. The block from Hillsdale to Overhill will have a sidewalk as well as drainage amelioration; the block from Overhill to the end of 5th will have a new sewer line (because ground water gets into it), and perhaps a new water line, plus drainage amelioration, but no sidewalk since it’s a dead-end with only local traffic.

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HAND staff: Rental Issues

GANA Speaker Series (no regular meeting)
Wednesday, October 25, 2006, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
First Christian Church on 3rd Street

TOPIC: RENTAL ISSUES Ordinances and Compliance Procedures for Over-occupancy, Weeds and Trash.
With Carol Jack, Lisa Abbott, and Vickie Provine of the city office of Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND)

Seventeen people present, including several from Elm Heights and East Side Neighborhood Associations

Summary
Carol Jack, the HAND Compliance Officer, described the ordinances for both over-occupancy and weeds and trash, detailing the numbers of citations between August 1 and October 25, this year. Vickie Provine stressed the importance of communication, both between neighbors and between neighborhood associations and city offices. Carol, Vickie and Lisa, the Director of HAND, those took questions and those present got into a vigorous discussion.

The Process
This was a meeting with a lot of technical information. Please bear with me, as it is all interesting and gives food for thought.

Compliance Officer Carol Jack began by showing us a map of Bloomington with four color-coded zones. Five HAND people rotate through these zones every three months, one person per zone, with the fifth person rotating off. Between August 1 and October 25,388 tickets were issued for trash, and 116 tickets for weeds. Twenty-four complaints were filed for over-occupancy, with eight determined not valid and sixteen ongoing.

As of 1985, over-occupancy zoning changed from five to three unrelated persons (and any dependents), except for grandfathered rental units, which continue to have a five-occupant limit, even if the ownership of the structure changes hands. The occupancy limit for a particular rental unit is governed by the zoning ordinance and the property maintenance codes (based on the number of square feet of bedrooms), and is supposed to be posted somewhere inside the house. If the occupancy load on the lease is three people, then the tenants can purchase parking permits for three cars plus one car for visitors.

The procedure to determine over-occupancy can be long, involved and difficult to prove. HAND staff first needs to interview the tenants, and may have to make six or seven visits to the home before they even find anyone there. Tenants almost always answer the questions, though sometimes the landlord has coached the renters as to what questions HAND will ask.

HAND then sends a letter to the landlord asking for a copy of the lease and the occupancy load. If HAND determines that there are too many people living in a rental unit, and the situation is not corrected, HAND requests permission from the Board of Public Works to go on to the property to abate the situation. If still not corrected, a memo is sent to the Director of HAND (Lisa Abbott), who then passes it on to the city for suit against both landlord and tenants in small claims court. As of January 1, 2007, the fine for a first offence will be $2500 and for a second offence $7500.

There are 21,562 registered rental units within city limits. Each unit is inspected for conformity to the property maintenance code once every three, four or five years. This year 1,592 inspections have been done to date.

Triggers for complaints are usually parties, trash, cars and noise. Complaints can be made anonymously, though if you want to know the result, then you need to leave your name, which does then enter the system.

Though some long-term landlords coach renters, new landlords are not usually a problem, and some old ones have been fined enough that they’ve stopped renting to too many people.

In terms of defining over-occupancy, if someone is living in a place and not on the deed and not a dependent, then even if that person is not paying rent, that place is still counted as a rental and must be registered. In some neighborhoods 50% of new sales are to parents who buy them for their college age kids; these are also considered rentals and must be registered. It costs $62 to register a rental, and that money goes for an inspection for the permit plus one re-inspection. It’s easier to prove a rental is unregistered than to prove it over-occupied.

The discussion that followed brought up a host of examples of problems relating to compliance with these ordinances. For example, one person in Green Acres counted 32 cars at the end of Roosevelt and Clark one weekend. The problem is compounded by the fact that parking is not enforced on weekends.

Another Green Acres resident said that this semester the rental house next door to him has loud parties every Friday and Saturday nights that can last until 5 A.M. So far not even a call to the police has produced results.

Several suggestions were made, all of which involved the point that Vickie Provine stressed in her presentation. Communicate! Lots of suggestions from participants, to wit:

• Meet your new neighbors when they move in, hand them the city regulations on quiet nights, trash days, etc. Welcome them to the neighborhood! They may not have any idea that they are actually in a neighborhood where people that don’t go to college actually live until you let them know. Give them a gift.
• Ask a young neighbor to help you with a small task, with the idea that everybody loves to feel useful.
• Invite them to neighborhood meetings and events.
• When a loud party goes on too long, walk over there in your pajamas! One man even takes his pillow, asks "Can I sleep here, since I can’t sleep at home . . ."
• Do a neighborhood intervention in the middle of the night—all of you at their door in pajamas!

The point is with all of these ways of dealing with parties—it helps to establish communication with students. Once we resort to the police, we’ve lost the chance for creating a greater sense of neighborliness in the place we live.

Though situations involving how to work with the wild, unfocussed energy of student renters occupied most of the discussion, some time was also spent on the issue of "naturalized" lawns. In Lisa Abbott’s opinion, if you want to have grass over eight inches high, or a messy yard, then go live in the country rather than the city. This was countered by the idea that some in Green Acres would like to work with nature in a way that involves less grass and more gardening—with a corresponding drop in noise and fumes from gas mowers.

All HAND staff agreed that people take the state of their lawns very personally, and said they have been threatened by people who didn’t want anyone telling them what to do with their property!

According to Lisa Abbott, a "naturalized" lawn should look intentional and planned, not just trashy and messy. But of course one person’s mess may be another person’s permaculture garden.

In order to address this issue the city will soon launch a pilot project, details still to be worked out. The thrust of it: if you wish to have a naturalized lawn you will need to contact HAND or the Environmental Commission and let them know your intent.

There was lots more, but hopefully at least this information can help us work constructively with renters and landlords.

Thanks to HAND staff for agreeing to spend the evening with us. One final note: they and other city officials are there for us if we need them. Ideally however, they are the court of last resort, rarely needed if we can communicate with each other in a truly neighborly fashion.

Ann Kreilkamp GANA scribe

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Backyard Wildlife Habitat

GANA Speaker Series
Lucille Bertuccio
Director of Bloomington's Center for Sustainable
Living 8:00 – 9:15 p.m., May 31, 2006
(after our monthly meeting, see meeting report)

Summary
Lucille introduced us to the concept of a "Backyard Wildlife Habitat" and its benefits.

The Process
The Center for Sustainable Living has endorsed the National Wildlife Federation concept of wildlife habitats in people's yards as a part of a nationwide movement to encourage natural surroundings for birds and butterflies. At this point, the city of Bloomington itself has been registered but not certified as a wildlife habitat. So far, 140 Bloomington homes have had their yards certified, and we need 60 more for the 200 yards required for Bloomington to be officially certified. To get certified, backyards must provide food, water, shelter, and places for birds and butterflies to raise their young.

The certification process is not difficult. See www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/

Lucille presented a number of slides to show what backyard habitats can look like, and described their benefits to birds and butterflies. Two keys:

• Work with different levels (canopy trees, understory trees, bushes and shrubs, plants, moss)—so that the critters can have a diversity of places to shelter and nourish themselves.
• Work with native plants that are adapted to this environment (including its insects). This eliminates the need for water, chemical fertilizer and pesticides.

The point is, she says, "we need to work with nature rather than against her."And "when we increase biodiversity, we heal the fabric of nature." Monocultures, for example, large green lawns with but a single tree, are wastelands to wild creatures, take up huge amounts of resources (including gas for terrifically polluting lawnmowers), and poison the earth’s soil, air and water supply. Instead, Lucille says, rather than call it a "weedy lawn," rename it "flowery mead"!

Lucille brought up a number of details that few of us know. Like the fact that certain creatures require a single plant for a certain function: for example, the zebra swallowtail butterfly eats only the paw paw leaves and the monarch butterfly larvae can only live on the swamp milkweed. So it’s good to know which native plants are necessary if you want to attract certain species of butterfly.

Most birds need cavities or holes to raise their young. So build birdhouses (which need to be species-specific), and keep those old trees with holes in them. Also, if you want birds, then don’t deadhead your plants, as birds eat their seeds.

Lucille told us of packets of seedlings sold by the Department of Natural Resources specially designed to attract certain species. (Google DNR to get more info on these inexpensive packets that neighbors of which could share the cost: 50 each of 4 species of your choice, all for $90. Nathan Harmon agreed to spearhead this idea in Green Acres.)

In conclusion, Lucille told us that as time goes on, fewer and fewer butterflies have been visiting her yard. She implored us to help her own backyard habitat by creating habitats in Green Acres so that the butterflies won’t have as far to fly from one nourishing spot to another.

Ann Kreilkamp
GANA scribe

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Emergency Preparedness

GANA Speaker Series
Mark Brostoff
Chair, Monroe County Citizens Corps Council

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. April 28, 2006 (after our monthly meeting, see meeting report)

Summary
Mark described the history and purpose of the Citizens Corps Council and its CERT training for emergency preparedness in neighborhoods.

The Process
"CERT" means Community Emergency Response Team. Mark wants to put these teams in place in every Bloomington neighborhood, with Green Acres as the first neighborhood to model this idea in action.

Citizens Corps (with its motto, "Uniting communities, preparing the nation") was instituted in the wake of 9/11 by the newly formed Homeland Security Department as a way to bring emergency preparedness to cities and neighborhoods. Monroe County has received $50,000 for this purpose over the past three years. Its most popular program is CERT, started in 1985 in LA after the Mexico City earthquake when 100 rescuers died because they weren't trained.

The CERT mission is to "do the greatest good for the greatest number." CERT training prepares regular citizens to work during the first 72 hours of a disaster, before professional first responders (EMT, police and firemen) arrive.

Certified CERT teams work in pairs; they wear special gloves, helmet, vest and backpack full of first-aid and other needed equipment (like a big wrench and a crowbar) and go door-to-door to ascertain the condition of each home and its occupants. (Their equipment comes at no cost, via Homeland Security Department.) They identify who needs help, administer basic first aid, turn off gas, put out small fires, and are trained to help psychologically with people in shock and otherwise suffering. CERT teams do not self-deploy, but respond when called upon by the local CERT captain.

Google CERT to find out more information about this program that can help us help each other during any emergency.

As Mark presented the CERT program, one by one he removed all the equipment from a CERT backpack (besides crow bar, wrench, first aid, also a mask, goggles, space blanket, and so on). The training takes 21 hours, can be done in a variety of time frames, and concludes with a simulated disaster.

Mark has trained three local teams so far, two for IU, and one for a local company. Green Acres would be the first neighborhood to have a CERT team in place. To get our imaginations going, we discussed what, for example, might happen if a train full of toxic gas derailed in Green Acres.

Fifteen people are needed for a training, in our case about ten people from Green Acres and Mark would fill in the rest with others on a CERT training waiting list. He stressed that Citizens Corps prefer intergenerational teams, to include older people and even teenagers. By the time he was done, and we asked for a show of hands, to our surprise seven people wanted to sign up: Georgia Schaich, Kim Fernandez, John Gaus, Betty Byrne, Julia Jackson, Nathan Harmon, and Ann Kreilkamp. Even this many, Mark says, is probably enough for him to fill out a team, but I hope that there are a few teenagers in the neighborhood who would like to do this with us! Anyone out there?

We decided that the best way for us is to do the 21-hour training in one weekend plus another half-weekend, sometime in October. He will let us know what dates are possible.

If you wish to be a member of this team—learn a valuable skill, bond with your neighbors, be on call to help the rest of your neighbors, sport a spiffy CERT backpack and vest and helmet that remains in your possession unless and until you move out of Monroe County, let me know. Thanks.

And thanks, Mark, for arousing us to appreciate the necessity and availability of this timely training. I, for one, was stunned to realize that I wanted to join the Green Acres CERT team.

Ann Kreilkamp
GANA scribe

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Prospect Hill

GANA Speaker Series
Bill Sturbaum
Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. April 26, 2006 (after our monthly meeting, see meeting report)

Summary
Bill, who moved to Prospect Hill in 1964, inspired us with his story of how Prospect Hill evolved into a vital, flourishing, highly-sought-after neighborhood.

The Process
Bill began by passing around a photo of a pretentious two-story house on a tiny lot amidst modest bungalows. His neighborhood, Bill says, faces this very real possibility right now, and the outcome of the current situation in Prospect Hill may set a precedent for all of Bloomington.

The background
A house was sold to someone who wanted to demolish the house according to a plan that would have a new house in character with the existing neighborhood. Then it was sold to another owner who wants a new plan with a 70-foot-long, two-story house on a block where all the existing houses are one-story. In order to do this he will need a variance. Prospect Hill has invited the new owner to meet with them, and on the basis of what happens at that meeting will decide to support or fight this project. In any case, they will all converge at the next Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting on May 18th where a decision will be made.

Besides the precedent-setting character of this situation, Bill wanted to emphasize that his neighborhood is quite familiar with and used to the idea of working with city officials—the Mayor’s office, City Council, HAND, to the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Traffic Commission, the Planning Office—whichever office appropriate for whatever they need done. Given their experiences over the past 20 years, they “have a lot of confidence” he said, that they can make things happen when they work with the city. And by the way, he added, we need to realize that we are very fortunate to live Bloomington where the city government is so very responsive.

In this and every issue that comes up, Prospect Hill proceeds as follows: the executive committee meets, comes up with two or three suggested solutions to the problem at hand, and then gives it to the whole group to debate, with whoever serves as a facilitator taking no position on the issue. One of those suggestions may be taken, or some other solution entirely may emerge. They follow Roberts Rules of Order, and “in a gentle way, keep to the topic.” If an issue continues to be contentious, they table it for later.

Prospect Hill got going in 1987, in response to a mayoralty campaign in which one candidate wanted to put an east-west corridor through 3rd St. They discovered that if they could get their neighborhood designated “historic,” then there would have to be a study before the government released the money. This indirect approach to the problem at hand proved successful. In three years they had gotten national, state, and finally, local designation as a “historic district.”

There used to be 500 semi-trucks a day going up Prospect Hill, (loaded with TVs from Mexico!). In order to get that stopped, they had the ingenuity to measure the decibels which, it turned out, were equivalent to an airplane taking off! So they just took that fact to the city and got the truck traffic stopped

Many times now, Bill has bought and rehabbed old houses—seventeen in all—“never,” he says, “with the intent of making money, but of changing the neighborhood.” He bought the first house with a credit line from his own home, and just kept going. He rents the houses until he finds a renter that he wants to sell to, and at times has offered the house to them at below the appraised value and/or carried the contract on the mortgage himself. Through the years, he says, he has “come out even” financially in these neighborhood-enhancing ventures.

After the original three-year push to form an “historic district,” Prospect Hill residents realized that they had learned to work together. Meanwhile, other people got wind that something special was going on in Prospect Hill and wanted into the neighborhood. (Plus, at that time, big old houses there could be had for very little money.) Their neighborhood association is now 20 years old, and keeps a waiting list of people who want to buy into the neighborhood. They are organized into “block captains,” who, among other things, keep track of when a home owner is going to leave town, and report in at every meeting. They call and ask the seller to hook up to a willing buyer before the realtors can list it, thus saving both seller and buyer realtor fees.

Bill suggests that in order to begin to do the same thing in Green Acres, we need to think of money “as a tool, not and end.”

“For any vacancy,” he says, “find out who the owner is, and then offer a three to six month option (for $500 to $1500). During that time, take care of the property, paint and clean it up, and then sell it to a new home owner.” And, he adds, “if an owner doesn’t appear in that time, then buy it!”—since you can deduct the interest on the mortgage, plus insurance, depreciation, and any repairs. He suggests these three ways of getting capital: 1) Bloomington Restoration—BRI will lend money interest-free for six months (beyond that, you must pay interest and have the loan paid back in three years); 2) Investment Groups: these invest in contracts and will lend money— find or form one of your own; 3) a home equity loan on your home; and finally, 4) refinancing your home.

Many of the Prospect Hill homes have front porches, which fosters neighborliness, and many of the blocks are very narrow, through which cars must move slowly. This neighborhood is also close to downtown, another drawing card.

Over the years, Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association has moved reached out to the streets with tiny houses that were not part of the original Victorian milieu, and their email list (it used to be a snail mail newsletter) goes out to hundreds of people. Like Green Acres, Prospect Hill also includes about 400 homes.

Both Bill Sturbaum’s long-time vision of Prospect Hill as a caring, close-knit neighborhood and his courtly, gracious manner has, no doubt, helped ease their way forward through any number of difficult issues. We thank him for giving us so much food for thought as we ponder how to help Green Acres Neighborhood Association grow into its own unique maturity as a model of urban sustainability.

Ann Kreilkamp
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Permaculture

GANA Speaker Series
Peter Bane and Keith Johnson
Long-time permaculture teachers
Newly relocated to Bloomington

8:00 – 9:15 p.m., March 29, 2006 (after our monthly meeting, see meeting report)

Summary
Peter and Keith introduced us to the concept, philosophy and practice of “permaculture.” The group then discussed permaculture in the context of neighborhood concerns — trees and voles.

The Process
Lucille Bertuccio, of Bloomington’s Center for Sustainable Living and our scheduled speaker, unfortunately called to say she was ill. However, it just so happened that Peter Bane and Keith Johnson were in town briefly to sign closing documents for their new home. I had invited the two men to my house for tea, and when they arrived, asked if they would substitute for our friend Lucille. They graciously agreed. (We will schedule Lucille for a later date.)

And what a wonderful synchronicity, to have two knowledgeable and well-known permaculture teachers speak to us just as we begin to get a grip on what it means to envision our fair neighborhood as a sustainable village within the greater Bloomington area. For “permaculture,” as Peter said by way of introduction, or “perma-culture,” means “permanent culture,” i.e., culture that can sustain itself over time. Permaculture, he told us, is “applied ecology.” As we learn to understand the complexity and diversity of natural systems we can put this knowledge into practice to design systems that mimic, utilize and enhance natural laws to encourage abundance for all.

Peter Bane has been a permaculture teacher for over 15 years and publishes the national magazine, “Permaculture Activist” (www.permacultureactivist.net), now in its 21st year. Keith Johnson has been designing and constructing natural gardens for over 30 years. They now relocate to Bloomington from Earthhaven, an intentional community in North Carolina. Let us welcome them!

The first principle of permaculture, says Peter, is to “observe and interact.” As an example, he spoke of this area of the country as “a former mosaic of prairie and forest” with a vast diversity of native plants. So, in our neighborhood, he suggests, plant fruit and nut and berry bushes and trees, since they naturally grow well here and create food for us and other creatures. He also suggested that as we think about places for the city to plant trees in our neighborhood that we consider locations that will also be people-oriented in some way — for example, where a tree could serve as a gathering place.

Peter mentioned that, since it floods, Green Acres was originally a seasonal wetlands, and that instead of trying to funnel water into expensive storm drains and even more expensive sewage treatment plants, we could start imagining ways to utilize rain water in our neighborhood. Like catchment systems for rain off roofs for gardens and washing needs. Like shared backyard ponds and other water features to attract birds and wildlife.

Over and over the two men talked about how in nature waste for one species becomes food for another, and how we can design systems that take advantage of this fact. Species like to live with one another, said Keith, rather than apart (like in formal gardens), because when together they nourish each other.

And they talked about how, in permacultural understanding, “the edges are where the action is.” Edges — where two or more plant or animal species or ecosystems collide — generate conflict, dynamic unrest, and this in turn attracts new species to create more diversity, and thus stability. So, with a pond, for example, design it to have fingers. That will give it more “edge” and thus encourage nature to allow in more plant and animal species.

Likewise with human culture. Let us design systems in our neighborhood to encourage “edge,” through interactions and exchange of our diverse ages, backgrounds, skills and knowledge. To create stability, encourage diversity. Humans are part of nature. Permaculture principles permeate our lives too, or they can.

At about this point, I looked around the room to see everybody’s jaws dropping, as we began to take in the first glimmers if this new (and very, very ancient) way of understanding the natural world and our place as creators inside it who can use our native intelligence to experiment with different ways to work with nature in order to enhance her capacity to feed and shelter us and all her creatures.

Then Diane Dormant dropped a bomb. “What about voles? she asked, sheepish. As if she felt terrible for bringing us all down to this nagging pesky problem that we all share. Their tunnels create spongy, uneven lawns that are hard to mow and those who are frail or elderly have trouble walking on them without stumbling. What’s more, they eat certain plants from underneath leaving them sitting on air. Diane said she’s tried everything, and nothing works. After $400 of time, energy, and worthless remedies, her little creatures have become bolder, actually running over her feet!

Keith reeled off a number of alternative ways to work with voles. These include planting daffodils to circle plants the critters like; encouraging friendly snakes and shrews that will eat them (no need to bring snakes and shrews in, just allow them when they appear); and laying gravel, about six inches worth, in the primary root zone of their favorite plants (their tender little paws have trouble digging through gravel).

Peter added that, as with anything in nature, we need to start our investigation of how to deal with moles and voles by asking “what is the yield?” i.e., what do these species give us? What is their purpose in nature? And our response to that question can then be the first step towards designing a system that will both include them and help us.

I must admit here to being a total convert to permaculture, since last November when I took the first half of their two week long course. In its breathtakingly philosophical attitude and nitty-gritty practical approach, and in its challenge to use our long-dormant inventive imaginations, I feel that permaculture offers real hope for the future, in that it can galvanize us to re-make our world. In my view, permaculture should be adopted as the curriculum for all U.S. schools — just as it has now been embraced by some Indian tribes for their schools as “Native American science.” What better way to ensure our children’s future? What better way to galvanize the children than for them to realize their own actions can make a huge difference?

I would love you to join us for the second week of the Peter and Keith’s Permaculture Design Practicum, to be held in Spencer, Indiana, May 5-13. Contact: ed.painter@gmail.com or call 317-259-4417 or 812-336-4486.

I close with a quote from the Permaculture Activist website by one of the founders of permaculture in the '70s, Australian Bill Mollison:

“The ultimate end to a growth economy is the same as an analagous growth: cancer. But for national economies, the victims are nature, soils, forests, people, water, and quality of life. There is one, and only one, solution, and we have almost no time to try it. We must turn all our resources to repairing the natural world, and train all our young people to help. They want to. We need to give them this last chance to create forests, soils, clean waters, clean energies, secure communities, stable regions, and to know how to do it from hands-on experience.”

Go GANA!

Ann Kreilkamp
GANA scribe

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The Sustainability Commission

GANA Speaker Series
George Huntington
Bloomingfoods General Manager
Member of Bloomington Sustainability Commission

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. February 22, 2006 (after our monthly meeting, see meeting report)

Summary
George brought us up-to-date on the initial stages of the newly formed Bloomington Sustainability Commission, sent around numerous pieces of paper that documented their process and responded to our questions.

The Process
George Huntington has lived in Bloomington all his life, “within an eight-block area,” he says, centered in Green Acres. Now on East Gate, he began on Edwards Row, when that street was literally the end of town, before the by-pass. He and his friends used to play in fields where the Travel Lodge and Jiffy Lube and Red Lobster are now. He remembers 50 kids living and playing on the streets and lawns of Green Acres when he was small. “When I graduated from I.U.,” he says, I decided I had a decision to make. What was my most important value? Would I base my life on how much money I could make? On my profession? Or on where I lived? I chose to base my life on where I lived.”

He wanted to focus his talk to us on the beginnings of this first, development year of the Sustainability Commission, and warned us that, since its members are still structuring their identity and educating themselves as to what sustainability is all about, that we can’t expect actual results yet! In fact, he was amazed and impressed that GANA already wanted input from the commission, since the commission is just now deciding the kinds of presentations that will benefit the public. And he was pleased to recognize that Green Acres intends to serve as a model neighborhood for sustainability in this city and beyond.

History of the Sustainability Commission: in May 2005 City Councilman Dave Rollo introduced an ordinance to the city council with a mission “to educate, monitor and recommend initiatives on sustainability to the community.” The ordinance passed and was signed by the mayor.

For the next three months, potential candidates for one- and two-year terms were interviewed, with six each chosen by the mayor and the city council. Due to the city’s concern for balanced representation to ensure the commission’s credibility, the ultimate makeup of the commission includes members from the business and professional sectors, the development and real estate sectors, the academic sector, and the arts and non-profit sectors.

The first official monthly meeting was held in October 2005 with the task to develop an official mission statement. He said that though both “gratifying and interesting,” the process was also “like herding cats, with many fifteen-minute discussions on single words!” Finally, he and another member volunteered to try to synththesize what everybody was saying and invited them all to email him their versions of the mission statement. Their submissions, he said, were “amazingly similar” and all included what they call “the three “E’s”— Environmental, Economic, and (social) Equity for current and future generations as core values.

Since that meeting they have set up two committees: the Indicators Committee and the Education Committee, and are in the process of forming two more: the Partnership and Resources Committee and the Initiatives Committee.

The Indicators Committee: creates indicators to measure sustainable methodologies and will report on an annual basis. Some examples of indicators identified so far:

• in the area of resource conservation, one indicator is solid waste generation, measured through per capita solid waste sent to landfills.
• in the area of environmental health, one indicator is vehicle miles traveled, measured through vehicle miles per capita.
• in the area of public health and safety, one indicator is infant health, measured through mortality rates.
• in the area of transportation, one indicator is use of public transportation, measured through local surveys.
• in the area of economic development, one indicator is economic diversity, measured through growth of industry sectors and manufacturing.
• in the area of land use, one indicator is tree cover, measured by percentage of city under tree canopy.
• in the area of civic participation, one indicator is philanthropic donations, measured through donations, demographics, organizations in community.
• in the area of human dignity, one indicator is economic self-sufficiency, measured through percentage for savings and percentage for basic needs.
• in the area of education, one indicator is adult literacy education, measured through literacy programs, public library.

The Education Committee: seeks to educate themselves about sustainability issues as well as the public — through a speaker program, through focus groups at the library (two sessions each on February 27 and March 1 — please call ahead to reserve your spot; some are already “full,” but they’ve decided to move the venue to accommodate everyone), and eventually through classes of various kinds (for example, on retrofitting an older home for passive solar).

The Partnership and Resource Committee: seeks to identify and foster resources, partnerships and networks with various individuals, groups and institutions in the community to amplify sustainability initiatives. An example of this is the resource manual a SPEA class put together at IU to help commission members familiarize themselves with sustainability issues.

The Initiatives Committee: will decide on which sustainability initiatives to put before the mayor for his possible signature into law.

Besides his long term commitment to healthy food grown and sold locally and his two-year term on the Bloomington Sustainability Commission, George sits on the boards of five or six other non-profits as well. We are very grateful for his exemplary citizenship as he serves and brings his food expertise to many sectors of his beloved hometown community. And we thank him for his generosity in sharing the commission’s mandate with us at this early stage in its development.

You can learn more about the Bloomington Sustainability Commission online at the city website, www.bloomington.in.gov.

Ann Kreilkamp
GANA scribe

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Susie Johonson, Director of Hand

GANA Speaker Series
Susie Johnson
HAND Director

7:00 pm, January 25, 2006

Summary
Susie Johnson, Director of HAND (Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development), handed out brochures and told us about a number of programs for which some Green Acres residents might qualify. The following four programs are all possible through a direct entitlement from HUD (Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development). They offer grants and loans for housing initiatives to people whose income falls within current HUD guidelines to sustain and develop neighborhoods within Bloomington city limits.

Purchase Rehabilitation Program: A loan program that helps people purchase homes in need of repair. HAND will offer down payment and closing cost assistance up to $5,000. For rehabs, they will help determine what needs to be done, receive bids and select a contractor, and work with the project from start to finish. They will also assist financially by providing a deferred second mortgage with no payment or interest if the owner stays 15 years.

HAND offers a regularly scheduled 14-hour class called Home Buyers Club that teaches people how to purchase a home. Income-eligible graduates may be able to access up to $3000 in down payment and closing cost assistance (for the next class, see schedule on their website: www.bloomington.in.gov/hand).

Owner-Occupied Home Rehabilitation Program: two types of grants of up to $7,500: 1) the Emergency Home Repair Program for emergency repairs that includes, for example, roof leaks, an inoperable or unsafe furnace, electrical malfunctions, roof leaks; and 2) Home Modifications for Accessible Living, for example, ramps, doorway ad hallway widening, handles and grip bars in bathrooms, additional lighting in kitchens.

So, if you know of an elderly or otherwise handicapped neighbor who might need HAND's help, please talk with them about this program that helps them be able to stay in their own homes as long as possible.

HAND also has a Rental Rehab Program for owners who rent their homes, a $1 for $1 loan, if the owner rents to a low-income family for five years.

(Unfortunately, HAND's HUD allocation for 2006 includes a $102,000 cut from 2005 (about 10%).)

HAND also

• has a Rental Inspection Program: registered rentals are inspected every three to five years.
• works with tenant complaints against landlords and landlord complaints against tenants (though they advocate people solving their disputes themselves, if possible).
• issues weed and trash tickets (contact Jo Stong: stong@bloomington.in.gov).
• provides staff support to Bloomington Historic Preservation Committee.
• provides Clean-Up grants.
• provides Small and Simple grants (one of which Georgia Schaich and Sabrina Grossman will be attempting to get for GANA by the March due date).

Ann Kreilkamp
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New Speaker Series in 2006

GANA will sponsor a Speaker Series starting with the first meeting of 2006, January 25, at 7 p.m., at the First United Church, 2420 E. 3rd. St.

Our official meeting will be preceded by the first speaker in our new Speaker Series, Suzie Johnson, the director of Bloomington’s H.A.N.D. (Housing and Neighborhood Development), who will inform us about home and neighborhood improvement grants as well as owner/rental registration. After her talk and time for questions we will enjoy a short break with refreshments and hold a short meeting where we will discuss future possible speakers, summarize the results of our recent neighborhood survey, and finally, set up and sign up for committees based on interest-groups as found in the survey.

Until further notice, we will meet monthly on the last Wednesday of each month at the First United Church, at 7 pm, and, except for the first speaker, our speakers will follow the meeting and start at 8 pm.

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