Barbara Martin moved and Shirley Masters seconded that the minutes of the May 18, 2006 meeting be approved. The minutes were adopted following a small grammatical correction.

Treasurer's Report:

The NNA balance as of May 31, 2006 was 1950.77. That balance reflects payment for the purchase and printing of the NNA tote bags. Shirley Masters Forwarded an additional $96.00 from the sale of the NNA tote bags to Sara for deposit.

Committee Reports:

Community Relations
HSF will host a “brown bag” lunch at Gypsy Hill Park on July 7th and will lead a tour of the park.

Commercial Properties
Craig Peterson reported that suspected drug sales and their attendant problems are emanating from the Habitat area and that the Newtown Business Guild has been approached to see if it can help. The NBG has decided to have a picnic on the grounds of the Booker T. Washington Community Center as a show of solidarity.

Craig also reported that, although he is making progress, Paul Anderson has not met the deadlines that he proposed and agreed to.

Residential Properties
There are few Newtown properties currently on the market and they seem to be moving quickly.

Old Business:

Garden Walk
The Garden Walk included a mixture of some houses that had been on view before and some new ones. The event did not attract many visitors this year. We will investigate whether the poor attendance was due to the timing, weather, or whether we may be experiencing “burnout” from too many events each year.

Ice Cream Social
Elizabeth Dyjak will host the Ice Cream Social once again in her back yard (208 Fayette Street). It will be held on Saturday, July 15th (Bastille Day plus one) from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Bring your favorite ice cream, topping, or other other sweet. NNA tote bags will be available for purchase. An announcement will be included the next newsletter which Barbara will get to press in a timely manner.

New Business:

Board of Directors Election
It’s that time of year again to nominate a slate of candidates for the NNA board of Directors. Ed asked for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee. Elizabeth Dyjak, Joel Hodson, and Sara Holberg will serve. Elizabeth will Chair.

The Committee is charged with surveying current members for their willingness to serve again and with recruiting new candidates who might have an interest in serving. The Nominating Committee will make their recommendations to the Executive Committee of the Board. The slate will be voted on at the Block Party in September.

Barbara will include a call for candidates in the newsletter.

Block Party
The NNA annual Block Party will be held on Saturday, September 9th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Church Street between Johnson and Beverly Streets. Shirley Masters will do the organizing and will provide hot dogs, barbecue, and buns, etc. All guests should bring a covered dish and a chair (if they wish to sit).

NNA Growth and Boundaries
There was a discussion of what precisely the boundaries for membership in the NNA are and should be. There has been some ambiguity in the past regarding the boundaries for various types of membership.

The highlights of the discussion follow:

• 1) The “Newtown Neighborhood,” as it developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the first area of expansion of Staunton beyond “Old Town.” “Newtown” was bounded by Lewis, Frederick, Jefferson streets and the railroad tracks.
• 2) The city continued to develop over the years and, when Staunton put together its application for Newtown’s inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, some of those additional areas were included within the boundaries (west to Thornrose and north to Allegheny) of the Newtown Historic District.
• 3) When the NNA was organized, the bylaws called for full membership to be extended to all persons living in or owning property in the Newtown Historic District. However, because most of the early membership came from the original “Newtown Neighborhood,” and because this was the area to which flyers could be hand delivered, the NNA boundaries came to be assumed to be those of the old “Newtown Neighborhood” and not those of the Newtown Historic District (as stipulated in the by-laws).
• 4) This ambiguity became problematic as we were recruiting new members and we were unsure of the membership status of those living in “Newtown plus.” The problem became even more clear when we realized that one member of the Board was not living in the original “Newtown Neighborhood.”
• 5) So,..... the boundaries of the NNA being the same as the Newtown Historic District was reaffirmed. Joel Hodson has volunteered to hand deliver newsletters and posters, etc. to “Newtown plus” or “North Newtown.” Welcome, all.
• Some concern was expressed that the NNA might get too large. There was a consensus that it could happen but there was no practical way to avoid growth and that we’d just have to be vigilant.

Police Bike Patrols
Sara Holberg moved and Ed seconded that we write a letter to the police supporting the bike patrols. These have been an effective presence in Newtown in the past. The motion passed.

Recognition:
Ed extended his appreciation to Elisabeth Dyjak for organizing the Garden Walk.

Ed moved and Michael seconded that we include a tribute to Joe Sandlin on the web site. The motion passed. Bob will update the web site.

There will be no meeting in July, The next meeting will be held at The Stonewall Jackson Hotel on August 17th. The details will be confirmed.

Ed adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m.

Bob Craycroft
NNA Secretary