Here’s what happened

Hello Menlo!

Here’s a quick recap of the Neighborhood Association meeting last Thursday, along with a couple upcoming things that might be of interest to you.

Tucson 2030 District – The Tucson 2030 District is a private-public-nonprofit collaborative working to create groundbreaking high performance building districts in Tucson that aim to dramatically reduce energy and water consumption as well as climate-changing emissions from transportation. Over the last few months the Menlo Park executive board and I have been working with representatives from the District on becoming the first residential application of any District in the U.S (there are over 20+ 2030 Districts around the country). Last Thursday, the Neighborhood passed a motion to embark on a partnership that will help pilot sustainability practices neighbors can use to save money and create resilient communities at the same time. This is key progress on our Water and Sustainability goals (see Nuts and Bolts attachment). Innovation begins in our neighborhoods and communities!

Menlo Park Historic Preservation Plan – Helen Erickson, a professor at the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture is harnessing a group of graduate and undergraduate UA students to develop a Menlo Park historic asset map and historic preservation plan we can use as the Westside changes rapidly. See the attached proposal that was presented on Thursday. The students did a walking tour of the Neighborhood with David Walker on Saturday.

Garden of Gethsemane security – a private donor has been in discussion with the Ward 1 office about putting in security cameras and devices to better protect the Garden from vandalism. Ward 1 wanted Menlo Park community input and support of this, first. The Neighborhood passed a motion to accept the generous offer of beefed up security, but contingent on a clearer idea of what the security components would be, and upon Parks and Rec agreeing to do a more thorough job of securing the Garden day-to-day.

Later this week, look for a President’s Report updating you on exciting news and progress related to the Nuts and Bolts goals we agreed to work on accomplishing 2018/2019!

NOTE: Brush and Bulky will be expanding their services this spring to include much more than just brush and bulky, including POTHOLES! Please read the attachment, and send along any areas you see as high priority to me at menloparktucson@gmail.com and gene.einfrank@gmail.com from the Clean and Beautiful committee.

NOTE: Bonita Park has been undergoing some improvements, and they’re finished! CM Regina Romero and Parks and Rec will be holding a small ceremony with a few words about the playground improvement at 1:30pm today, there. Neighbors are invited to participate and share a few words if you’d like about the value of this improvement!