Aron Baczoni and I attended the first NGLA (Neighborhood Group Leader’s Association) meeting on January 19, 2023. Here is a quick and informal recap of the in-person meeting that took place at Longmont’s Senior Center that I sent to the Landscape Committee and Board:

Good attendance with many new folks attending.  Aron and I were the new reps from HJV.  The agenda was sent out in advance by the City’s Neighborhood Resource Coordinator. Here are meeting highlights and impressions.  The HJV NGLA representatives should also receive meetings notes, I think.  Aron thought he could scan and send out some of the info.  Thanks, Aron.

City Election Wards

City Clerk did a presentation on the new election ward proposals/redistricting relating to the election of public officials.  Longmont is a home rule city and has 3 wards by charter and these must be reviewed every 10 years. (A public vote would be needed to change the number of wards to 4).  The effort centers around how to equitably distribute the population/voting population among the 3 wards.  The needed change is to bring things more into balance which means moving some small districts/areas/neighborhoods from 1 ward to another without dividing existing neighborhoods.  HJV is in Ward 2 and would be unaffected (as far as I can tell) by any of the options shown.  The City is struggling to get this info out for public input and welcomed ideas on how to do this.

NIP Grants & Presentations

Bulk of the evening was on the 2023 NIP - Neighborhood Improvement Program - presentations related to grant applications.  Five neighborhoods presented with power points - particularly addressing the 5 criteria that the grant requires. Perhaps atypically, the number of grants and dollars requested are less than the funds available so that the requests are not competitive this year.   All neighborhoods get to review and score each proposal (except their own, of course); only one vote per neighborhood.  So the NGLA reps from HJ need to provide one collective score.  This will be due very shortly on 2/13.  Very briefly: 1) Hover Park (+55 community) requesting \(for a campus landscape plan.  Their “lawns" water and maintenance represent 40% of their HOA budget.   2) Historic Eastside - requesting\) for historic preservation:  surveys of 40 more homes and to get a “conservation overlay.” 3) Kensington Neighborhood - $$ for Kensington Park (where a teen was shot last summer) to enhance playground/swing set and provide murals near Spring Gulch crossing to increase community welcoming and increase crossing safety. 4)West Point Village - older community requesting cement pads for 2 benches to increase community social interaction. 5) Renaissance - 3 communication stations/message boards and bulletin boards to increase communication among households and renters both.  They are the largest HOA in Longmont with 932 homes.  You’ll find more details and explanations in what is sent out and on the City’s website for NIP.

Take-aways for me: Big emphasis on neighborhood involvement.   Creativity encouraged. Staff is working on a portfolio of previous projects. Great if project benefits not just neighborhood but greater public as well. Phasing projects is welcome….creating a plan can be the project with future years for funding it.

For any proposal that we make, we will be asked how we know that it is what the community wants.  So we need to think about how we gather that info.   Emphasis on enhancing community communication /engagement in general. Seems like our land adjacent to greenway would get “extra points” for greater public good for any project related to it. We should track all volunteer efforts/hours toward the project as that involvement is considered important (as well as $$, and resource contributions, etc.).

Other Announcements

Other announcements;  Councilwoman Susie Hidalgo-Fahring attended.  She said that Councils’ annual retreat is 3/10 from 8-5 and 3/11 from 8-? (unknown at this time), at the Longmont Museum .  It’s open to the public.  They are still working on the almost one million dollar funding that is coming to Longmont from the Bronco’s sale.  It must target youth.  Under consideration is a dome for youth (partly for athletics, still considering uses) or expansion of the children’s section of the Longmont Museum.

Finally, the Neighborhood Excellence Awards applications are due by 1/31.  Not sure what these are but perhaps HJV has done something excellent already.  Would be great to be recognized!

I’ll be out of country from 1/25 to 2/8.  So someone may want to take the lead on the scoring of proposals.  I’m happy to input if around.

I can see some fun projects ahead!

Sandy McCarthy