March 21, 2023 Meeting Minutes

1.     Call to order.  Linda LeDuc, President pro-tempore called the meeting to order at 7:10PM on Zoom.

Agenda:

1.     Election of AMCA president

2.    Report on Arlington Civil Federation

3.    Update on Arlington Mill survey

4.    Update on Tyrol Hill park tree planting

5.    Letter re: mural on Palazzo Condo wall

6.    Report on Pike shootings and drugs

·   Ms. LeDuc welcomed everyone.

·   Election of AMCA President.   Ms. LeDuc was nominated and elected by the attendees to be the new President of the Arlington Mill Civic Association. There was no other nomination, and the vote was unanimous for Ms. LeDuc.

·   Mr. Choun Vice-President of the Arlington Mill Civic Association attended the Civic Federation Meeting on behalf of the neighbors. It was held on March 14, 2023. He invites the neighbors to read the reports of the meetings in our local news, Arl Now and Sun Gazette, that covered the meeting and the seven-page resolution that was sent to Arlington County Board. (Please see link below from Arl Now.)

https://www.arlnow.com/2023/03/15/local-naacp-leaves-civfed-amid-fallout-over-resolution-to-improve-confidence-in-county-government/

·   The neighborhood survey was translated into Spanish and sent out on Survey Monkey in English. We only received 11 responses and we also realized that this platform will charge us if we continue to use it for this purpose. Ms. LeDuc got one of our neighbors to help us with the survey, he did a new link, and we will send it again. We hope that more people can participate. We are still working on the possibility to also do the survey in Spanish to capture more responses. 

·   Here is the new link to share with neighbors and residents of Arlington Mill.

https://onthepikenetworks.com/arlington-mill-civic-association-neighborhood-survey/?

·   The manager of South Arlington Parks, Mr. Kasey Spriggs, contacted Ms. LeDuc to inform her that the donation of 25 trees for Tyrol Hill Park will be planted on March 25, 2023. Some pictures were taken; they will be shared in our social media. Also, it is important to create awareness among youth to take care of the young trees and signs of our local park.

·   Ms.  Bolanos reported that she always posts the upcoming meetings using the Next-Door app and our Facebook Page.  Also, the minutes are available in our website www.arlingtonmill.org for neighbors unable to attend to the meetings.

·   Wall mural at Palazzo.  Ms. LeDuc provided background information on a quest to install a mural at the Palazzo Condo retaining wall facing Columbia Pike.  Ms. LeDuc met with Takis Karontonis, Arlington county board member and the president of the Condo Association at Palazzo and they are very supportive of the mural. Ms. LeDuc wrote and sent a letter to the Arlington County Manager, Mr. Schwartz, to explain the petition from the neighbors and ask for criteria for the mural—it should be something that represents our community.

·   Ms. Bolanos reported on the meeting she attended at the Arlington Pike’s Presidents association with the County Police representatives. She reported a summary of the events that happened in the county last month.

·   A shooting in a restaurant that had only one person injured at that time is under investigation.

·   The second incident was an overdose of a student from Wakefield HS that tragically died the day of the incident. Both incidents were a concern for the participants attending the meeting and the police believe there is an increase in crime in this area. Nevertheless, Arlington Police are still working expeditiously to prevent more incidents and coordinate events with Civic Associations, Arlington Public Schools, and Non-profit organizations to prevent incidents and inform the public.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

·   Arlington Mill Civic Association (AMCA) Board will be working on a survey that it will send out to the neighborhood in English and Spanish to get to know our neighbors, their interests, and increase participation.

·   AMCA also will start to prepare a proposal for the grant offered by Arlington County, to have funds and organize a Neighborhood Event in Arlington Mill early September 2023.

Our next meeting will be on May 16, 2023 at 7:00 pm. We hope to see you.

This meeting was adjourned by Linda LeDuc at 8:10 pm.