February Community Meeting: Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 7:45 p.m.

Please note our new meeting start time: 7:45 p.m.

Location
The Cordero School
Erie Street, between 9th Street and Pavonia Avenue

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MEETING AGENDA

7:45 to 8:00 Crime Report
Police Officer Dina Reilly from the East District Police Department will come to discuss our neighborhood crime concerns. The Jersey City Police Department has a new website, www.njjcpd.org that provides extensive Department Information as well as Preventive Tips. Also please note that the non-emergency police number is (201) 547-5477.

8:00 - 8:15 Councilman Fulop
Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop will give an update on the Hamilton Park Renovation Project and provide a recap on Redevelopment Pay to Play outcome in addition to offering his insights on any future possibilities of reviving that proposed legislation.

8:15 - 8:30 Joshua Parkhurst on Historic Tax Credit
Joshua Parkhurst of the Jersey City Landmarks society will discuss current legislation pending in the New Jersey state Assembly that would provide tax credits for restoration of properties that are either a) on the state and national register of historic places or b) in districts, such as Hamilton Park, that are on the national register of historic places. The credit would be an income tax credit of 25% of any restoration that is in accordance with Secretary of Interior standards. The credit could also be spread over a period of time.

8:30 - 8:40 Andrew Hubsch of CivicJC
Andrew will discuss the purpose and goals of this organization and its mission.

8:40 - 8:50 Cynthia Chovan-Dalton of Downtown Harvest
Downtown Harvest is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Jersey City (a CSA is defined as a group of people who join together to help financially support a small-scale, local farmer in exchange for nutritious and fresh organic produce.) It is sponsored by OLC Church, but open to anyone. Downtown Harvest will open enrollment for the 2007 season on February 8 at OLC with a presentation and a chance to meet the farmer, John Krueger of Starbrite Farm. Cynthia Chovan-Dalton will provide a brief overview and answer questions at this month's HPNA meeting.

8:50 to 9:00 Your Ideas and Suggestions are Welcome
We welcome your ideas, suggestions and concerns and ask that you express them during our meetings. If you cannot make one of our meetings please feel free to contact us via sjsesq@comcast.net with your suggestions. We are also looking for volunteers to help distribute the newsletter. We only ask that a volunteer distribute the newsletter on one block. This helps keep all of our neighbors informed about our activities, community news and draws in more people to share their talents and ideas.

9:00 - 9:30 Neighborhood social time, chat with presenters.

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Volunteers Needed for ESL Program
The HPNA is partnering with the Jersey City Free Public Library to offer an ESL conversation program, which will be kicking off next Wednesday, 2/7, at the Pavonia Branch Library. This program will offer intermediate level students of English an opportunity to practice speaking in a comfortable setting. More volunteers are needed to lead conversational groups. The sessions will be held on Wednesday evenings from 6:45-7:45 p.m. on the eight Wednesday evenings in February and March. Volunteers should be enthusiastic, dependable, and of native or near-native fluency in English. If you are interested, contact HPNA liaison Brigid Cahalan at 201-420-8638 or bcahalan@nypl.org.

HPNA Archiving Project at Pavonia Branch Library
The archiving of neighborhood newsletters, information, and history collected by the HPNA over the past 30 years will take place at the Pavonia Branch Library at 326 8th Street on Saturday, February 10th. Exact time will be announced at Wednesday’s HPNA meeting and on our Yahoo! group list. Please come out and volunteer a couple hours to help us archive!

Please visit the HPNA Website at: www.hamiltonpark.org

To receive our newsletters electronically, please register at our yahoo groups site at: HPNA-JC-Public-subscribe@yahoogroups.com