The Annual General Meeting for NEN was held on November 9th. Five community members agreed to serve. Since that time two board members have resigned and another NEN member has stepped forward. The NEN board currently consists of: Keven Piper (President), Brian Ritskes (Vice President) Stephen Park (Secretary) and Dave Stephens. Further volunteers for the NEN Board are welcome.
The main item of business going forward follows a membership vote to examine the structure of NEN and work to improve it, with an examination of how other neighbourhood associations are structured and suggestions and ideas coming forward from the membership. It is felt that the current corporate structure and bylaws do not work well in bringing the various voices of the neighbourhood together and place too great a burden on NEN Board members. Together this has lead to the decline in the ability to recruit volunteers and work on behalf of the neighbourhood. This process is meant to wrap up in March with recommendations brought back to the membership for voting.
A round table meeting has been set up on Wednesday, February 8th, 2017, with a meet and greet at 6:30 pm and the meeting getting underway at 7 pm sharp at Bennetto Community Centre. The meeting will aim to wrap up at 8:45 pm. Residents and NEN members are also encouraged to send their thoughts and comments to NEN.President@gmail.com prior to February 7th.
Strengthening NEN is important given the challenges facing the neighbourhood. These include construction traffic on John Street for work on Pier 8, changes in the schools, the eight planning exercises underway, the issue of hospital parking, screening of Pier 8 development proposals – all of which need an active, effective voice for the neighbourhood in 2017.
Please also let us know if there are other concerns or issues around the neighbourhood and we will do our best to assist you in addressing them.