Contributions to the ENA are continuing, which is good. The primary expenditures are for communication within the neighborhood, so the more contributions received, the more flexibility there is in how your elected representatives can keep you informed. We also discussed changing the bookkeeping to a fiscal year beginning July 1 (we now begin our year January 1.) At our annual meeting in June, I always find it confusing when our annual expenses and the new budget are presented. It seems as though it would make more sense to coordinate the budget with the annual meeting. Let a board member know if you have a preference or see a problem with such a change
Meetings. There are several upcoming meetings of particular importance to our neighborhood. The regular CCFPD meeting will be held December 12th at the Fairhaven Library at 7:00 pm. In addition, a joint hearing of the City Council and the Chuckanut Community Forest Park District board will be held December 16th in City Council chambers at 7:00. Public comment will be taken, and it may be the last opportunity for input before a final agreement.
As a matter of general interest, the Padden Creek Estuary Habitat Enhancement Project will have an open house at the Fairhaven Library Room December 11th from 7 to 8 pm.
We shared experiences and suggestions about security systems, cameras, monitoring, lighting, and I learned some things.
We have been fortunate over the past few months to have Bellingham police officers Jeremy Harper and Kevin Bean at many of our meetings. They are members of the Anti-Crime Task Force, and their focus is on dealing with patterns of crime. When you call the police department to report a break-in, these are not the officers who do the immediate response. Rather, they do the followup and investigation when the same type of crime is being committed repeatedly. During our meetings, they have heard us talk about Edgemoor Nextdoor, have been impressed with the communication it provides regarding crime in the neighborhood, and have expressed an interest in joining. Not only could they become aware of multiple incidents in the neighborhood more quickly, but they could also post information that might be of help to us. They are not able to join our Nextdoor site on their own, but we could make access available to them. The board discussed the pros and cons at the meeting and decided it would be appropriate and beneficial to give them access to the site. Before we do so, we would like feedback from the neighborhood. Those currently using the site seem to be comfortable knowing the access to the site is limited, and we do not want to do anything to create hesitation in using it. Please send me an email with your comments and I will share them with the board.
Thanks to Dr. Bob Gibb, we also had a last minute speaker, Vanessa Osage, who has started a very interesting program for young people ages 11 to 15. She is working in partnership with WSU Extension 4-H to provide Coming of Age Programs for young men & women. She is also a new member of our neighborhood, providing Dr. Gibb with support in his home.
Remember we will not be having a meeting in January. Our next meeting will be February 4th at the Fairhaven Middle School Library.
Hope your holidays are wonderful!
Lylene