Saturday, December 18, 2010

Upland City Officials Under Investigation

In case you were wondering why Upland's City Hall was raided by the FBI, among other agencies, this summer in June - there is an excellent detailed article written in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on what prompted the investigation and what was uncovered. A number of our city officials are implicated and it is sad to see how far reaching the corruption goes. Feel free to leave comments.



https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4FXv9IMwB4xOThmZDBjYTAtYWVhMS00MzFiLWJjNWQtY2IzNzgxMjRhZTJh&hl=en

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

At the Planning Commission meeting tonight there was open discussion in regards to drafting a policy on historic stone curb repair, removal and replacement. There were many concerned residents present with apprehensions that the commission would allow for the Public Works department to replace the stone curbs in our neighborhood, specifically along Arrow Highway, with modern concrete curbs that would be half the cost.

Our fears were realized when the Board voted to not create a policy to preserve the stone curbs due to the increased cost, and one Board member remarked on how selfish it was of us to make this request in preserving our historic neighborhood curbs during this economic downturn. The stimulus money has already been allocated for this project - yet many Board members agreed that the money could be used for better purposes elsewhere.

If you are concerned about this - please visit the link below. Pasted below are the details. Please forward this to all that you think might share your concerns and contact the Upland Public Works Department and your local officials.
Thank you -
Pleasant View Neighbors Group

    Protecting Places in a Stimulus Environment

Medium-sized image unavailable for this photo.
Section 106 allows local citizens to participate in planning meetings as consulting parties when federal funding or actions impact historic places.

Will historic properties be subject to existing environmental reviews under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?

The answer is yes. According to Section 1.6 of the Initial Implementation Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, "the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and related statutes, including requirements for plans and projects to be reviewed and documented in accordance with those processes."

The National Historic Preservation Act protects the rights and values of private property owners, local officials and citizens across the United States, giving them a place at the table when the actions of federal agencies threaten to affect historic properties. Section 106 of the act provides a process that requires those agencies to "take into account" the effects of their decisions and their projects on historic properties, as well as to work with states, tribes and local communities to seek ways to lessen the effects of those projects.

Section 106 requires a process, not an outcome. The goal is not to save every historic site, but to make sure that they are considered and that their value is weighed against other public values. Section 106 helps to prevent governmental agencies from running roughshod over the rights of citizens, private property owners, and local and tribal governments when it comes to the protection of our history.

Section 106 reviews are divided into four basic steps:

      • Identify the project, its location and whether any historical or archeological resources are located within the project area. If the project area has not yet been surveyed for resources, the applicant is responsible for identifying resources.
      • The federal agency and state historic preservation office review the findings and determine whether the project will have an effect on identified resources.
      • If there is an effect, the two agencies determine whether the effect is adverse, and if so, whether the adverse effect can be avoided, minimized or mitigated.
      • If the adverse effects cannot be avoided or minimized, the agencies work with the applicant to create a mitigation package to address the adverse impacts.

For more information on Section 106, please visit the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to readProtecting Historic Properties: A Citizen's Guide to Section 106 Review and their new Q&A briefing paper, Coordination of Section 106 for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Programs and Activities.

http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/public-policy/perfect-storm/protecting-places.html

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

October Updates

Hello All -

Our group will need to begin meeting again if we want to keep momentum. This weekend - Sunday, November 7th at 3 pm there will be a meeting for the group on the Bike Trail at Washington and 8th. This will be the last meeting before the winter holidays commence. At the meeting we need to vote on a meeting schedule for the new year - quarterly has been suggested. We also need to find a local indoor place to meet when the seasons are too hot or too cold. If you would like to volunteer your home please let us know. We also need to go over the group objectives for the year. A beautification project has been mentioned many times - maybe we can concentrate our efforts there. So bring you ideas, opinions, sense of humor, a neighbor, and goodies to share with the group.
Email pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com if you have questions.

______NEWS___________________
It's been quite a while since we had an update. But there is some news for our group. As many of you know the City of Upland asked our group for an official letter of request for a crosswalk at the Bike Trail and Campus. Rene Guerrero wanted to include this project in the bid for the improvements to Arrow Highway. Below is a copy of the letter.

Rene Guerrero, Principal Engineer

City of Upland, Public Works Department

Engineering Division

1370 N. Benson Avenue

Upland, CA 91786

RE: Needed Crosswalk at Campus Avenue and Bike Trail

Friday, October 15, 2010

On behalf of the Pleasant View Neighbors Group I am making a formal request for a marked crosswalk, preferably with illuminated traffic signals and warning signs of pedestrian and bicycle crossing, at the intersection of Campus Ave and the Bicycle Trail. This letter complements the oral presentation made by our group at the May 24, 2010 City Council Meeting.

Campus Avenue is a heavily traveled street. Daily many children cross Campus Avenue at the Bicycle Trail on their way too and from school. They range in age from kindergarten age to high school age. Most cross without adult assistance. In addition many adults who use the Bicycle Trail for recreational purposes also cross Campus Avenue.

Campus Avenue is the only heavily traveled North South street between Claremont and Rancho Cucamonga which does not have a marked and controlled crossing at the Bicycle trail. Aside from the risk of injury to a pedestrian crossing Campus Avenue the city is potentially at risk for allowing a dangerous situation to arise.

Please visit our website if you need further information about our involvement with this topic.

Respectfully,

Members of the Pleasant View Neighbors Group

pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com

http://www.pleasantviewneighbors.blogspot.com


Rene also mentioned that there will be many traffic detours due to the construction on Arrow Highway - so be expecting an influx of traffic down our less travelled streets. I asked if this would give cause to have the city provide additional street lighting down our darker streets to increase safety - if you would like to see this happen please contact him by phone and tell him your concerns. _____________________


Other news in the neighborhood is that there is FINALLY a new owner of the burned down property on Washington Blvd. Code enforcement's Sandi Bare reported that the owner in a construction contractor and is filing all the paperwork for demolition. It's been a long 4 years looking at those remains - let's hope this demo goes according to plan. If you see this person or his crew working at the property - please stop to say hello and thank him for his efforts. Invite him to join our group, or suggest contacting us if he needs volunteer help. _________


Other news is that the Upland Heritage Historic Home Christmas Tour is coming up December 19th. There are probably many volunteer opportunities if you are interested. Or simply save the date and go enjoy the tour yourself. ________________________________



Monday, July 5, 2010

June Updates

On May 24th many members of our group showed up to the Upland city council meeting to introduce our group and our concerns to the officials. The two main concerns that were addressed were the need for a crosswalk on the bike path at Campus, and a plea for the city to step in and get involved with the demolition of the burned down home at 936 Washington Blvd.

If you would like to do something to support the group's campaign
for a crosswalk on the Bike Trail and Campus - please contact
Rene Guerrero rguerrero@ci.upland.ca.us (909) 931-4235 (calling is better)
Ask him when he intends to call for a Street Safety Advisory Committee meeting with City Council members regarding crosswalk. Our group asked for this action to be followed through at the city council meeting earlier this month.

About the burned down house - everyone we have contacted through the city seems to be in agreement that their is nothing that can be done by the powers that be to speed up the demolition of the house. On September 15th, the right of redemption period will be over, where the owner of the foreclosed home has the right to buy back the house. If you have questions regarding this issue please direct them to
Dan Peelman City Attorney Info: Tel: (909) 815-6133.

Also in May our group had a write up story in the Inland Empire Weekly.

We are working on a Contractor Referral page for this site so if you would like to recommend someone that you personally have had a good experience with and who does quality work - please visit the link on the right. Stuff to include:

Company Name, Contractor Name, Contact Info - phone, email, website
Type of Work - Specialty
Price - cheap, fair, expensive
Was estimate given and more or less in end
Length/time of repairs.
Photos of work done if you want
Was work subbed out -
Specialty licensing - historical home experience?
And anything else you want to include
Any complaints

And lastly we are trying to create a co-op of sorts for community/neighborhood shared equipment. Our first and most requested item we are trying to obtain is a community push lawnmower in good condition. Until we can get one donated, many neighbors wrote in that they had a lawnmower that they are happy to lend out if needed. Thank you! So if you need to borrow one please send in an email - (pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com) & we will send you contact info for who has one to lend. Or if you have something you wish to donate - wheel barrow, edger, hole digger, shovel, compost, hoses, paint, brushes, fencing - please contact us.

We would like to get more contributors to the website, please make comments, add to the contractor referral page, or volunteer to head up a section of the site if you have the time.

Friday, May 7, 2010

May - the Garden Month

The city of Upland is having a Western Landscape Contest that encourages the use of xeriscaping and drought tolerant foliage. Awards of $500, $750 & $1000 for winners. See link below for details if you would like to enter or nominate someone.
http://www.westernlandscapecontest.com/

As for our own little neighborhood group - we would like to have a front yard landscaping contest as well. If you plan to distribute fliers in the neighborhood please send in one to two nominations from the area you distribute in - email in the addresses. Or if you would like to nominate your own front yard or a neighbors that is encouraged as well. If you have photos to share we encourage you to post on our shutterfly account - the link is under
How to Get Involved
Photos and Calendar
As for prizes - we will have to see what our resources are - but winners can definitely expect a high five and a pat on the back - and pride and prestige amongst your neighbors. Maybe you can teach some of us not so green thumbie people what we are doing wrong as well. We will try to get some sort of award together for the winners. We will go over details at next meeting on the 23rd - and put a deadline of the last day of May to enter contest. Winners will be announced at June Meeting.

As for the May meeting coming up on Sunday the 23rd at 5 - 6:30 pm - we will have a xeriscaping workshop to accompany our garden/plant exchange. So if you have something from your garden that seems to thrive and you have extra to give - please dig some up and bring it to the meeting to share/exchange for something new. If you bring something to share please provide name, light conditions you had it in, and watering frequency.
Mark your calendars because we plan to collectively attend the City Council meeting the following night, Monday May 24th at City Hall. The more people that we have to represent our group, the more likely our concerns will be heard.

Fliers for meeting announcements are ready for delivery. Please send in your address if you signed up, and let us know if you will be needing an area map. Two garden contest nomination forms will be included to leave at houses you wish to nominate. Email in the addresses you leave them at, so we can follow up.

Lots of info. Email in if you have questions.
pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com

Hope to see you at next meeting.

Friday, April 30, 2010

May meeting scheduled one week early.

Our group will meet next on Sunday, May 23rd 5:00 - 6:30 pm.
We made this change to prevent scheduling conflicts with Memorial Day weekend.
Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

3rd Meeting Notes

Meeting: 4/28/10, 5pm Washington & 8th Ave

  1. Burned home on Washington
    1. Per Code enforcement (Sandi Bare SBare@uplandpd.org) - bank has been given a deadline to tear the property down by May 28, 2010, but enforcement concerned that this will not happen. Also learned that owner (the bank) must replace the property with the same type home
      1. What is the next step if not torn down?
      2. Resend email via website to contact bank manager
  2. Additional Street Lighting
    1. Per Julie project on E Arrow Hwy this year but will be quite some time before we see far reaching results. Some cities/property owners are required to pay for their street lights via assessment. Contact Bob Critchfield BCritchfield@ci.upland.ca.us
      1. Sign Petition
      2. Contact public works regarding specific, homes with issues etc. Anthony La ala@ci.upland.ca.us or
      3. Schedule a time (next meeting) to go door to door for petition signatures and present at a Upland city meeting
      4. Residents notify Edison on non-working street lights - note pole #
  3. Campus Bike Trail Crosswalk
    1. Julie discussed conversation that she had with Rene, not giving any inkling of change in the near future. Rene Guerrero rguerrero@ci.upland.ca.us (909) 931-4235
      1. Send email contact and telephone number for official above, so we can contact him as well
      2. Possible PTA involvement based on the close proximity of Upland Junior High and Elementary School, may assist in getting some additional attention
  4. Curb Repair
    1. The group agreed to contact the city with specific addresses or problem areas, this seems to yield the best result - Anthony La ala@ci.upland.ca.us
      1. Need to plan to repair Moniques curb
  5. Fundraising Efforts
    1. On hold until need is identified
  6. Foreclosed Homes
    1. Amanda created spreadsheet of current homes with realtor signs but agreed that there are several abandoned homes with no signage -
    2. Email pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com with property addresses for sale or vacant
      1. Julie reference good website to review foreclosed homes, should send via email again TRULIA.COM
    3. Group agreed we need to contact appropriate parties for specific issues, including police as well as realtors
    4. Also discussed taking it upon ourselves to clean up yards, pick up trash etc.
      1. Possible volunteer opportunity?
    5. Discussed ideas for possible notifications about our group to realtors
  7. New Projects
    1. Need to attend Upland city meeting with petition results
    2. Incentives/Awards to create community
      1. Plant Exchange scheduled for next meeting
      2. Yard of the Month
      3. Plant Exchange
      4. Once a month workshop - May workshop on zero scaping easements
      5. Volunteer project or property
  8. Flyer Distribution
    1. Red-Ida
    2. Blue-Amanda
    3. Green-Monique
    4. Yellow-Irma & George
    5. Purple and White-Jay and Lou
    6. Orange-Jeanne
    7. Turquoise-Julie

Friday, April 16, 2010

3rd Meeting April 25th 5 - 6 pm

Our third meeting is coming up, and we hope we draw as big a crowd as last time. It will be the last night of the Lemon Festival, but we hope you can take some time out to come see what is going on with the group. We will meet at 5 - 6 pm at the Bike Trail Tables on Washington Blvd & 8th Ave. If you want to help distribute fliers please contact us at address below. Some of the things we will go over are the status of
  • Demolition of the burned down home on Washington email campaign
  • Status of Public Works surveys for crosswalks on Bike Trail at Campus & speed control or extra lighting at the fork of E Arrow Hwy & San Bernardino
  • Stone Curb self repair workshop - need location & date
  • Emergency Preparedness/Safety Workshop ideas
One of the things we have been busy with is getting a petition online for the Historic Stone Curbs and Street Lights, since these two issues were the most prominent among attendees at the last meeting. Please click on the Petition link to the right to read, sign and comment. When we get 300 signatures we will present the petition to city council members and Public Works. If you know others that live in the area, use the bike trail, have a downtown business, or just simply a concern for the historic appearance and upkeep of our neighborhood - please forward them the petition. We are currently looking for a business location where we can leave a hardcopy of the petition for people without internet access to be able to sign.
We hope you can make it & bring something easy to share for the potluck. We recommend bringing your own chair and an umbrella for shade - hopefully it won't be so hot this time. If you have questions send an email to
pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com.

Monday, March 29, 2010

26 Strong at 2nd Meeting!

Thank you everyone for making it to the second meeting! And thank you to the neighbors that helped distribute the fliers - we tripled our numbers and couldn't have done it without you. Honestly I am a little blown away that so many of us have the same concerns and a willingness to get involved - it's great and I don't want to loose the momentum.

So since we had 26 attendees I came up with 26 things that you personally can do to help out this group. If you want to volunteer for something send an email & I will mark you down - especially if it is for materials or to offer skills, and post your name next to the item.

I am adding another meeting to the month, specifically for group project events. Jim graciously offered to teach us how to repair our historic stone curbs ourselves as a first project - so even if you don't feel like shoveling you can come learn how it is done and bring the people who are shoveling something to drink or tell us jokes. These project meetings will take place the 2nd Sunday of the month, we will have to determine a good month for this project - TBA. We will need supplies, volunteers, location, and photos to get it done. The meetings on the last Sunday will be for open forum discussions.

Since our first project has been to do something about the burned down home at 936 Washington - I would like to follow up our efforts in this by an email letter campaign to the President of the bank that took over ownership of the property in Sept. 2009. This project is on the list below - click it and it will link you to the copy of the letter I sent. You can copy and paste if you wish - but please add something to make your voice distinctive and make sure to change the name.

26 Ways to Help Out in Our Group/Community

Distribute fliers for next meeting
Turn your porch lights on at night
Check your street for lights that need to be fixed – contact Edison with pole #
Count number of lights your street has compared to the # on 2nd street
Materials needed for first project - bags of cement, shovels, wheelbarrows, rocks
Location for first project, send in photos of your curbs ASAP (no high traffic streets)
Homeowner to contact city to repair their stone curb – comparison
Photo of burned down home on Washington
Call Graffiti hotline when you see it
Check out district map and history links on website - New
Photo of Pleasant View Historic sign (close-up)
Contact city about Earth Day Event – shade tree for meeting spot anyone??
Join Arbor Foundation for $10 – get 10 free flowering trees as gift
Submit photos to Shutterfly photo site – help with event planning calendar
Suggestions for group: projects, areas of concern, local events
Neighborhood Watch volunteers
Walking Group coordinator
Note taker at meetings
Need Street Lighting map – can get through Jeff Starkley (909) 930-8483 - $13
Become a member of our website and email list
BYOU – bring your own umbrella & chair to next meeting
Potluck at meetings – bring something easy to share with neighbors
Code enforcement education
Ideas for dealing with rising # of empty homes in area
Find better way for us to interact on the web – Facebook not an option

pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Come to Our Next Meeting!

Welcome to the site - it is still under construction, but you can get an idea of what this group is about from the below posts. We plan to have monthly meetings the last Sunday of each month - the next one will be
Sunday, March 28th 2010
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Bike Trail Tables at Washington and 8th Avenue
Bring something easy to share with your your neighbors and get acquainted. If you plan to come you can send me an email and I will send you the evite invitation so that you can see who all is coming and what they are bringing. Hope to see you there!
Email: pleasantviewneighbors@gmail.com

Some issues we will go over are:
Crime Watch - Safety
Gardening Group - local beautification projects with landscaping - flower boxes
Food Drive - work with Treasure Box organization to help community
Neighborhood Photo Scrapbook Collection - contribute photos of what you like about this neighborhood - can be architecture, landscaping, shops and so on
Home Improvement Projects - code enforcement might be good source for ideas
Local Schools in area - Box Top Drive contribution and other ideas
Anonymous Concerns - give neighbors way to voice legitimate concerns to group without revealing their identity
And anything else people want to look into to help our neighborhood

Hopefully we can figure out who should head up some of these functions and areas within the group and how we can rotate activities among them and how to prioritize.

First Meeting a Success!

I want to thank all the neighbors for coming to the first meeting, and if you weren’t able to make it – here are the notes about what we discussed. TEXT IN BLUE SHOWS ACTION TAKEN OR PROGRESS

Things that we would like to work on –

Safety

Increase Road Safety

Bike Path intersection at Campus and Washington

No crosswalk/Pedestrian signal or warning lights to oncoming cars –

Would like similar warning signs with flashing lights as located on Bike Path intersection with East Arrow Hwy – right before Cherokee Lumber

Safety Investigation to be conducted now by Rene Gurierro 931-4235 Monthly Traffic Safety Advisor Committee Mtg Discussed the best type of warning signal - might conduct monthly mtg with other officials to figure out solutions

East Arrow Hwy and San Bernardino fork

Very dangerous intersection

Cars need more warning, or speed bumps installed

Safety Investigation to be conducted now by Rene Gurierro 931-4235 Monthly Traffic Safety Advisor Committee Mtg Discussed various ways traffic might be slowed such as issuing more patrols to monitor speeds, increase street lighting so bend in the road in more obvious - Speed Bump are out because they cause issues for emergency vehicles

Increase Street Lighting

Research process to follow through city and Edison

Might need to get petition going or signatures for households 500 ft. from installation sites

Would like to be provided with historical looking lighting to match downtown

Historic type lighting is a redevelopment issue that might lack money to support from general fund

Bike Parking

Lack of parking area for bicycles downtown

Community Group Projects

Neighbor Home Improvement Outreach - Exterior

Educate community about city and county programs available Most are incoming qualifying or require equity

House Focus - Burned house at 936 Washington between 9th and 10th – Can group help with Demolition or encourage owner to so something

contacted Code Enforcement - Sandi Bare 946-3613, quotes from her email follow: I don't want to paraphrase this "The address for this property is 936 Washington. I took the owner to court almost a year ago and got a guilty verdict regarding the neglect of this property. Unfortunately, he appealed the verdict and his appeal keeps getting passed around to different attorneys which delays compliance. In the meantime, the owner has gone through a judicial foreclosure, so now I am sending notices of violation to the lender that repossessed the property. He informs us that because it was a “judicial” foreclosure, his attorney has advised him to do nothing with the property for the one year period that the court gives the previous owner to reclaim the property. I wish you could do something to help, but unfortunately the legal process has tied our hands. I will be meeting with the Community Development Director on Wednesday to discuss other options and hopefully there is something more we can do besides wait for the court

Community garden – beautification projects 1 Flower Box Gifting idea, find city owned locations that might work in neigborhood with water

Create forum to discuss projects on –

Neighbor can post problem or home improvement project they need help with

Create a tool and skills set collective for community so we can evaluate proposed

projects realistically in relation to our abilities and available equipment

Will need to come up with a fair way of choosing projects –

Jay proposed follow model of Habitat for Humanity

Tool Share – if large tool rented can maybe split price with a neighbors working

on same project (ie – tiller, stump grinder, rotor rooter, paint sprayer)

Heritage Home Street/District Tour

Divide tours by historic districts/seasons – to promote walking tours – smaller more frequent

Monday, February 22, 2010

Join Us for Our First Meeting!

We plan to have our first informal meeting on this

Sunday, February 28th, 2010.
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Bike Trail Tables
Washington and 8th Intersection

We will discuss what we would like to achieve with this group, ways to go about it, who wants to do what, and get to know our neighbors in the process. Please look over the website and you will get some ideas of how you can get involved - suggest your own too!

If you plan to come please bring something to share for the potluck!

Look forward to meeting you.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Welcome to the Neighborhood Group!

First off let me thank you for your interest in your fellow neighbors and your community as a whole. Secondly - let me make it clear that I have never done this before - I am probably going to make some mistakes, I hope they will be small. I would really like to make this a combined effort and function as a group - so no one person is overwhelmed. I am not appointing myself the head of the group, but I will head it up until we have enough members to possibly vote on positions that people would like to have. I also think for safety reasons we should plan to meet in public places, at least until this group is a little cohesive.
I have had some response to the 40 fliers I distributed the other day. Two new households want to participate, so along with my neighbor across the street our numbers doubled overnight! I am hoping more will want to be involved - and the first thing to do if you would like to help out is to help distribute fliers to other households in the area. I have been doing research and have some of the areas I am looking into below. I want to hear ideas on inner organization - if you have them. Whether it is volunteers pick the area of involvement that interests them, or work one project at a time collectively assigning various tasks to everyone - I haven't got this all figured out. Anyway below are some things I am working on setting up, that will need further follow through.

Home Improvement Programs

  • Upland City Housing Improvement Program
  • Provides loans up to $75,000 to lower income households to bring homes up to code

  • Upland Pride Paint Program – pamphlet ; Provide a max of $4000

  • Upland Housing Rehabilitation
  • Emergency Repairs Program - pamphlet
  • Can be structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and code violation
  • Provide a max of $5000

  • Historic Home Rehabilitation Program
  • Provides deferred loans to rehab significant properties
  • Max loan $50,000
  • San Bernardino County Utility Help
  • Income qualifying discounts for monthly gas & electric bills
  • Weatherization program - help with insulation, old windows, inefficient appliances, ect.

Other Areas to Look Into

  • Easement Improvement Resources
  • Water Conservation Incentives
  • Solar Power
  • Gardening Store Involvement
  • Hardware Store Involvement


Emergency Preparedness

  • Emergency, Food, Shelter & Services
  • Research Resources and Programs through the city – pamphlet

  • Homeowner’s Guide to Earthquake Safety – pamphlet
  • What should every homeowner do for house and individual safety after earthquake?
  • The Gas Company – call to see about emergency shut off instructions

  • San Antonio Hospital – what they might need from first responders
  • What does a first responder do?


BUSINESS/COMMERCIAL INTERESTS

TO CONTACT TO REQUEST PARTICIPATION IN GROUP –

I think we should have a clear plan put together prior to contacting commercial interests for their involvement. Might need to register as a non-profit and find out legalities for things like soliciting assistance, and liability issues.


PUBLICITY FOR GROUP SUCCESS

I am considering the option of making a documentary of this process, since I am a freelance videographer. This might help us get more official and business involvement down the line. Those not wanting to be on camera can opt out, but please still be part of the group.

________________

Please leave me your comments. This site might have to be reworked a couple of times - so it might be a little disorganized in the beginning. I am just running with it. Also if you want to take on a certain area of involvement - let me know - and it's yours. I am hoping for those who show interest in the group, that we can meet up in person in maybe a few weeks for coffee and to go over what we would like to focus on.


Thanks again!

Julie