Forest Park Civic Association Meeting

Date: 14 May 2024

Location: Epworth United Methodist Church

Meeting called to order @ 7:05 PM by Ed Vanasdale 

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Attendance was taken via roll call.

OFFICER REPORTS

President Ed Vanasdale – ed1vanasdale@gmail.com

1. Cheryl Lutman was thanked (by S.Biggs) for the outstanding work she has done thru the April/May time period–Tax season, mulch sale, and membership–Whew!! Thank you, Cheryl. 
2. Andrea and Laura were again applauded as FPCA Volunteer of the Year! They were honored at the NCC banquet last month.

Guest Speaker:  Alex Abrokway-Clottey (CEO), INPREM Holistic Community Resource Center (5757 Karl Rd./Hempwood Dr. is the cross street)

This is Alex’s 2nd time at the FPCA meeting. The purpose is to bring services and access to the basic needs of immigrants, refugees, and people of FP. They are open 7 days a week. They have served 321 zip codes since their inception in 2013. They served 65,000 families in 2023. Northland has been identified as a food desert. There are no major grocery stores on the 161 corridor. The cost of living, and cost of groceries is going up in the Northland area. The library is no longer providing lunch for kids this summer. There is a large need for families this summer. They are looking to improve and increase their services that they provide: health care, day care, after-school care, computer lab, etc. They are looking for a place to house their future services. To contact Alex for volunteer opportunities check out their website https://inprem.org/

Vice President Trevor Secord – tsecord@une.edu

No Report/See NCC Report

Secretary Lou Bernard – loubernard3@gmail.com

1. Attendance:

• Officers/Committee Chairs Present: EV, TS, LB, CL,RW, DVM, KVM, SL, CA, EM, AP, KG, SB
• Officers/Committee Chairs Absent: MS, LH, DP
• Area Reps in Attendance: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13
• Area Reps Absent: 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14 (Area 14 remains vacant )
• Total meeting attendance: 31

1. Reviewed minutes from April, a change was made to make sure the name of Schoedinger states the correct name of Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services by Schoedinger-North; minutes were approved and entered into the official records.
2. Attendance Sheet thru May are available here.

Treasurer Cheryl Lutman – cllutman17@gmail.com

1. April was a busy month! Still busily processing incoming memberships, but here’s where we are at the end of April: 167 household memberships, 1 business membership – Yellow Umbrella – Thanks, Andrea!
2. The mulch sale raised $5,950.  Expenses were the mulch purchase of $4,126.20 and printing the order forms was another $320. Profit to date is $1,503.80. (plus $478 was delivered at the meeting from S. Biggs.)
3. The annual mailing and permit fees were $2,195, and pizza for the stuffing party was $98.25. Mike Stone is owed an additional $200 due to a bank error.
4. Rita bought bags for $870.75 and Ed purchased NCC banquet tickets for $159.40.
5. Memberships keep rolling in, though at a slower pace. If your check hasn’t cleared your bank yet, please bear with us! Cheryl probably has another 70-80 to work through.

Public Relations Mary Sguerra –  marysguerra@howardhanna.com

1. Saturday, May 18th is the Forest Park Community Garage Sale. If you want to participate please have your entry form turned in by Wednesday, May 15th. We are looking for 2 volunteers to hand out the Garage Sale List at the Forest Park East and Forest Park West islands at Karl Rd & Sandalwood from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. If you can help out please contact Mary Sguerra at  614-506-7540. An ad was paid for and placed in the Columbus Dispatch for the Garage Sale and it will run Thursday, Friday & Saturday. The charge was $51.96 and the invoice was emailed to Cheryl Lutman, Treasurer.
2. Mary rec’d a phone call from a very concerned resident on Satinwood regarding the constant speeders on that street. He wanted to know what we could do about it and could we get speed bumps. (Erin will contact Patrick to see where he is with the speed bump committee.)
3. Daniel Purdy (who helped with mulch delivery) will maintain the grass and mulch spreading on the Forest Park east and west islands. We may need some additional mulch.

Forester Editor Rita Woeste – forester_ed@fpcivic.org

1. Articles and pictures for June Forester need to be to Rita by May 17th, for delivery around May 26th or 27th. 
2. Articles and pictures for July Forester need to be to Rita by June 14th, for delivery around June 23rd or 24th.
3. Looking for more volunteers to help with Forester – please contact Rita at the above email address.

Supplemental Security Daryl Van Mercetta – dvanmercetta@gmail.com, 

Katie Van Mercetta – kvanmercetta@gmail.com, 

Dan Yandrich (CPD Liaison Officer) – dyandrich@columbuspolice.org 614.645.1418

See report in the Forester.

Business Representative Sheridan Landon – slandon52@gmail.com  Cynthia Alkire – 1classicyn@gmail.com

No Report

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Welcome Committee Chair Laura Hayes – hayeslaura2@gmail.com

1. 3 houses sold in April, in area 2 and area 11. 2 homes were purchased by a company and may be rentals, and not sure if someone will be living in them yet. 
2. Thank you to the FPCA board for allocating funds to the welcome committee! We have approximately 150 folders still, and don’t think we’ll need to order more this year. The funds will go towards adding additional materials to the folder and looking into hosting an event for new neighbors.

Volunteer Coordinator Erin Materu – volunteerfpca@gmail.com

Thank you to all who volunteered at the Mulch Sale. Scott did an amazing job and it was a huge success!  I am getting guest speakers lined up for our meetings. If you have any suggestions or requests please let me know. I also have 2 thank you cards for us to sign for 2 of our long time volunteer members.

Membership Coordinator  Mike Stone – msto0103@yahoo.com

Please remind your neighbors about becoming members. We need to blast the membership on social media! Mike will start to tally area rankings and advertise that on social media and in the Forester. Let’s staff those food truck events to get more members. We will continue to raise membership awareness in the future months.

Social Activities Andrea Philipsen – andrea@yellowumbrellahomes.com

1. Thank you to all who attended the first social event of the year on 5/1 at North YMCA featuring The Peach Cobbler Factory. Next events on May 16th and June 11th! A tent with tables and chairs to be set up at each event so you can enjoy in the shade!
2. Financial Literacy course on May 29th,10am at North YMCA with State Bank!
3. Get ready for International Fest July 27th, 2-5p – mark your calendars now – live entertainment (two dance troupes!) and foods to be sampled from across the world! @ North YMCA
4. Accepting candy donations for 4th of July parade and Trunk or Treat. All donations to Andrea Philipsen, please.
5. FPCA t-shirts were designed and ordered for all FPCA officers, committee chairs, area reps, and Forester delivery people. We will have extras available for purchase as local FPCA events this summer.

NCC Representatives Ken Gilbert – kgilbert78@att.net, Trevor Secord – tsecord@une.edu

1. NCC is looking for volunteers for the 4th of July parade. Look for info in this Forester or show up at Casa Mezcal on the 3rd Tues. of each month from 7-8 pm.
2. Columbus Police – we had a small rise in gun shootings and car jacking in the area
3. Nat’l Night Out – Aug. 6th. We are registered with the YMCA to host. Trevor is applying for grant money for us.
4. May is National Bike Month – get out and ride.
5. The CEO from the Columbus Library system is retiring after 30 years. They are doing a national search to replace him.
6. Northland HS completed a STEM competition in Atlanta, and represented the area and the school system extremely well. Congratulations Vikings! 

NCC Development Representative Ed Vanasdale – ed1vanasdale@gmail.com

April 24, 2024 meeting. 2 cases were heard, but neither were in the immediate FP area.

Website Administrators Scott Biggs – sbiggsmail@yahoo.com  Dave Paul – dwpaul@fpcivic.org  

The website continues to be updated with monthly events. Typically, these are also shared on our official FPCA Facebook page and then shared on the Forest Park Neighborhood page. Andrea Philipsen continues to promote FPCA events on Facebook. Ashley Howard has volunteered to help us with social media, including our Instagram account which is not currently updated.

OLD BUSINESS

• Scott Biggs (Area 5 Rep, Mulchmaster) FPCA Mulch Sale Report – May 2024

1. 1. 1. The 2024 Mulch Sale was a success. We sold 1,140 bags of black mulch and 240 bags of brown mulch. This includes 100 extra bags of black and 50 extra bags of brown that were ordered on delivery day in addition to the online and mailed pre-orders.
      2. Bags were purchased from Ohio Mulch for $2.99 and sold for $5 a bag, which included delivery to Forest Park homes on May 4, 2024.
      3. A lot of people paid the extra PayPal fees online, and some people gave tips or additional contributions.
      4. We ordered 50 extra brown bags and had 30 left over. After a week of slow sales, the last 21 brown bags were sold at a discount to clear the inventory.
      5. In 2025, we will order more extra black bags and fewer extra brown bags.
      6. Special thanks to the people who delivered the mulch and those who used their vehicles to do so. We would like to see more people involved next year.
      7. Thank you to Sequoia Pro Bowl for allowing us to use its parking lot for mulch storage and delivery headquarters.
      8. Thank you to Mary Sguerra who bought 130 bags of mulch and donated them to the FPCA to mulch the landscaped Welcome Islands at Karl Rd. and Sandalwood Blvd.
      9. Thank you to Forest Park east residents Homer and Sandra Santos of Martin’s Dumpster Hauling Services for again donating their time, muscle and large trailer.
      10. Thank you to Forest Park West resident Justin Moegling and his assistant Mike of Moegling Home Remodeling. His large trailer was in use at a job site so he rented a trailer from U-Haul with his own money and they worked all day delivering. He declined reimbursement and said was happy to help.

• Laura Hayes – Grant Research Committee 

1. 1. During the budget meeting our president Ed asked if anyone was willing to research grants.
   2. I have found a few people interested in looking into grants we may be eligible for. If anyone else is interested in being involved please text/email me (614-736-8812). We will find a day in June to get together for a few hours to discuss grants. Thanks.
   3. Forest Park Night sponsored by Gabby’s – June 8th, Saturday, 6:00 pm -??, bring a dish to share with people.

NEW BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS/IDEAS

1. Ashley Howard (Satinwood) Helping out with social media. Looking to expand our SM presence (esp. Instagram)
2. Bob Hinebaugh is so excited and proud to see the young people stepping into all of the FPCA positions, and Bob says, “They are SAVING Forest Park!”

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM

Meeting minutes submitted by Lou Bernard, Secretary, FPCA