January Minutes
2004 promises to be another exciting year full of interesting and challenging changes. The first meeting of the year brought many new faces and was well attended. Please come and join us, if you haven't already, on the first Monday of each month at 7:00 P.M. at the Hyde Park Methodist church on Speedway and 40th. If you're curious as to what these meeting are all about, you need to drop in, meet some new faces, extend your network and just get involved with what is going on around you.
And if that invitation isn't enticing enough, consider that your
attendance might you a dozen of eggs for free! Ken Alexander and
his daughter Charity Faith came and gave a very interesting
presentation on the operations of their small scale enterprise
called The Alexander Family Farm. "Our animals enjoy fresh air and
sunshine while grazing on good grass and forage each day. Our chickens
get to be real chickens and they taste like it too!" This is certainly
a family affair for them as five of their eight children contribute to
the business. 
The Alexander's offer home-grown chicken, turkey, lamb,
beef and Fresh Pastured eggs. You can even find their eggs at Fresh
Plus in the pink egg cartons. There is quite an operation out on the
Alexander Family Farm, and they welcome tours and kids to come out.
You just need call in advance. Go to their web site for more info,
www.alexanderfamilyfarm.net.
Hyde Park Planning Team Chairwoman Karen McGraw presented members
with the long-awaited first draft of the Hyde Park North Neighborhood
Conservation and Combining District. A draft is planned to make its way
to the city by the end of the month for the northern section of Hyde Park.
This includes the area of Hyde Park north of 45th St. The draft is not
final, but it is necessary to get the ball rolling with the city. You
might have noticed over the last few weeks a small army of
clipboard-toting survey captains armed with pens and forms. They have
been diligently donating their time and experience collecting data on
every home in northern Hyde Park. This information will be plugged into
a database that will be used to support findings and goals. Also present
were planning team members Stan Kozinsky and Sam Wearing (shown
here).
Three issues
that are sure to be key points of focus in the new NCCD are the lack of
off-street parking, height restrictions, and set backs for houses. So
what is the purpose of this NCCD? What's the big picture? Well, the
purpose is to preserve the patterns of the current neighborhood and
avoid the "Wells Branchification of Hyde Park", as one member put it.
In brief, it will be a tool for maintaining the character and
personality of this neighborhood that attracted many of us to live here.
Much praise for Burney Williams of 4111 Speedway for his heroic
rescue of a missing Hyde Park concrete sign. The sign was reported
missing last month and was found in the creek behind Mr. Williams'
condo on Speedway. Stan Kozinsky replaced it back to its original post.
An announcement for all residents: We are looking for homes to feature
at this year's Hyde Park Homes Tour so if you have any recommendations
about potential featured homes, and/or are interested in placing your
home on the Tour, please call Alan Marburger at 459-2261.
That's the news from Hyde Park!
