Dean Park Historic District, Inc.
ANNUAL MEETING
7 pm, Wednesday, November 17, 2021 – VIA ZOOM
Board of Directors: Caitie Eck, Donna Ellswick, Artis Henderson, Rick Janis, Terry Leary, Ann Martindale, Michelle Nugent and Sheila Pastor
Present: Donna Ellswick, Caitie Eck, Cathryn Eck, Gary Eck, Lewis Fort, Sara Goldstein, Artis Henderson, Rick Janis, Sara Keilty, Tanner Keilty, Terry Leary, Ann Martindale, Michelle Nugent, Sheila Pastor, Lynn Stewart
AGENDA:
1. Call to Order by the President – Michelle Nugent
2. Report of the Nominating Committee – Ann Martindale & Sheila Pastor: (a) Proposed Directors: Caitlin Eck, Donna Ellswick, Artis Henderson, Rick Janis, Sara Keilty, Ann Martindale, Michelle Nugent and Sheila Pastor. (b) Proposed Officers: President-Michelle Nugent, Vice President-Sheila Pastor, Secretary-Artis Henderson, Treasurer-Ann Martindale. (c) Proposed Honorary Directors: Tom Veal, Jordan Parrott, Terry Leary.
3. Election of Directors for 2021-2022 – Ann moved that we elect the slate of eight directors nominated by Sheila; seconded; all in favor, no opposition.
4. Election of Officers for 2021-2022 by Newly Elected Board of Directors – Ann moved that the newly elected Board of Directors elect the officers; seconded; all in favor, no opposition.
5. Election of Honorary Directors for 2021-2022 by Newly Elected Board of Directors – Ann moved that the newly elected Board of Directors elect the honorary directors; seconded; all in favor, no opposition.
6. Approval of minutes of meeting of last meeting (Oct. 6, 2021) – Approved.
7. President’s Report – Michelle Nugent: Michelle received word that there will be a rezoning and Dean Park will be in a different ward; this means Johnny Streets will no longer be the councilman for Dean Park.
- Treasurer’s Report – Ann Martindale: Expenses for FY Sept. 1, 2020 – Aug. 31, 2021: $9,600.09, including $4,260 palms; 1,854.48 holiday lights; $1085.95 kiosk; $565 walking tour brochure. Income for FY 2020-2021: $3,475.00 (47 donations). Checking account balance as of 11-17-21: $662.82; Savings account balance as of 11-17-21: $509.35; PayPal account balance as of 11-17-21: $446.71; Total funds on hand 11-11-21: $1,618.88.
- Historic Preservation Commission Representative: Brad McGrath, the Dean Park HPC representative, passed away this summer; Dean Park needs to send a new representative; Brian Murphy might be interested; Lynn Stewart also volunteered to put her hat in the ring; we will wait to hear back from Brian on his decision before seeking another resident interested in representing Dean Park on the HPC.
10. Beautification Committee – Paul Barnett, Chair (not present; Michelle gave the update): (a) Update on palm tree project: 50 trees planted on Michigan, Palm and Cranford at a cost of $4,260.00; the palms were purchased out of the Dean Park treasury, the city of Fort Myers provided the manpower and is watering the trees for a year. (b) “Adopt a Palm” program to raise funds for Phase 2 (50 more palms) projected for next year; Lynn volunteered to be added to the beautification committee on the “Adopt a Palm” program project; Ann suggested we start motivating donors for a spring planting; the project will consider budgeting for fertilizer. (c) Status – New Park on 1.8-acre parcel at Michigan & Seaboard; Sara Goldstein said there’s a possibility the city will turn that parcel into a traffic circle instead of a park. (d) Neighborhood maintenance issues – questions and concerns raised about overgrowth in the alleys; the city won’t trim and maintain the plants in the alleyways; reminder: property owners must maintain the alleyways associated with their property
- Old Business: (a) House Tour, tentatively scheduled for March 19, 2022 – Sheila: the tour is ready to go but it’s all Covid-dependent; a decision will be made January 1 if Dean Park will hold the tour in 2022; at least six homeowners have to agree to go forward with the tour; at this moment, three of the original ten have dropped out; we’ll watch the holiday house tours at Edison and Burrough homes to see what the turnout is. (b) Construction project on First and Second Streets: the project is moving along; Ann will send out updates to the neighborhood as they come in. (c) Organization of Neighborhood Watch group for Dean Park – Donna: several people expressed interest in organizing and joining, but when Donna reached out she only received one response (from Tanner); her experience is that for a neighborhood watch to work, there needs to be a committed group of people; Michelle suggested that a meeting be held with the community officers, and that way people can find out what the neighborhood watch is about. (d) Protection of the “Triangle” for “park purposes” – Michelle & Ann: Gary Eck was able to buy the parcel of land adjacent to his property, even though it was designated for “park purposes”; Ann discussed whether the City would be willing to grant Dean Park Historic District, Inc. the right to enforce the “park purposes” restriction on our Triangle; she suggested discussing this issue further in the future. (e) Memorial for Brad McGrath – Artis will draw up a proposal with several types of trees, possible locations and cost of a plaque; Lewis suggested putting the tree in the new park at Michigan & Seabord; it’s possible that the city might contribute some money since Brad was part of the HPC for so long.
- New Business: (a) Dean Park Facebook Group – Sara Keilty: there are roughly 18 members now; a few postings have appeared, mainly about lost animals; Sara posted about the annual meeting; Sara will send Ann information to send out to the neighborhood.
- Upcoming Events – Artis
December 4, 2021: Triangle Decorating (9 am) Organizer – Rick Janis
January 22, 2022: Progressive Dinner Organizer – Michelle
(will look into disposable cups instead of the custom cups like previous years)
February 2022: Florida Friendly Landscaping Organizer – Sara Goldstein
March 19, 2022: Dean Park House Tour Organizer – Sheila Pastor
April 23, 2022: BBQ & Blues Organizer – Donna Ellswick
12. Proposed Budget for 2021-2022: Tabled.
13. Other New Business: Do we promote the holiday walking tour? Last time we had 1,000 brochures printed; right now we have about 600 brochures.
14. Next Board Meeting: January 12, 2022, 7 p.m. location TBD..
15. Adjournment