Dearborn Federation of Neighborhood Associations

I. Welcome and Introductions
President Petlichkoff called to order the regular meeting of the Dearborn Federation of Neighborhood Association at 7:35pm on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 in the Mayor’s Conference Room. The Following members were in attendance:

II. Approval of 12/01/10Minutes
The DFNA minutes for December, 2010 passed with unanimity.

III. Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Nikodem furnished two reports; The Balance as of December 31st on the December reports totaled $644.43. He also provided a Treasurer’s report summarizing the full year’s activity as well.

IV. New Year’s Resolutions
President Petlichkoff announced the following guidelines and also gave an overview of 2011’s program.
An emphasis will be placed on keeping the momentum of the meetings productive. One of the ways to do this is to have each month’s
meeting scheduled with a guest speaker from the city for up to a year. This allows the members to prepare for the topic and ask questions before the meeting in an attempt to shape its content to the needs and concerns of the membership.

V. Mayor’s DFNA Liaison
Nick Siroskey the Director of Residential Services representing Mayor John B. O’Reilly, provided an overview and update on Dearborn
Matters and Projects.

 He spoke about the importance of legal rentals as an important component to maintaining or improving the stability of
Dearborn’s neighborhoods and that legal rentals and communicated the link to the city’s website on the registration program.

 He provided an overview of the increase in registering rentals across the city and the improvements that have been achieved as
far as updating computer systems and streamlining processes.

 He informed the group that this rental property registration distinguishes between owner-occupied and non-owner occupied
property.

 He addressed all the many good questions and concerns of the DFNA membership.

VI. Old Business
President Petlichkoff indicated that the DFNA surveys have been distributed and that the subcommittee is working on a by-law mission
statement regarding what we view our role to be, what is our sole purpose, what are the tools we need to help our neighbors, and what can
we do to maximize having a community conversation. A robust discussion spanning many topics included a suggestion to upgrade to the
website, review the contact list, get rid of holiday party expenses and redistribute the savings to go toward marketing the DFNA
organization, and to possibly explore grant opportunities, too.

Then, there was a discussion on the comparison of individual programs from various neighborhood associations, a favorite topic under old business given the capacity to appreciate the efforts and successes of each neighborhood’s unique, yearly events.

VII. New Business & Neighborhood News
The DFNA was inquiring about the return of John Cascardo, the Assistant Director of Residential Services for the City of Dearborn.
The DFNA requested an update and/or a report on the sewer overflow project.
Ned Nikodem discussed the importance of the DFNA plugging into the city’s emergency preparedness initiative.

The motion was approved to adjourn at 9:14pm

Minutes submitted by: Jane Ahern on Friday, January 28, 2011
Minutes approved by: To be Determined

http://www.dfna.org