March 2025 Meeting Minutes

March 17, 2025 Meeting Minutes | Call to Order: 7:00PM
Attendance: George Heeren, Amy Hall-Haney, Denise Klemp, Nicole Schroeder, Lt. Matt Welsh

• CRPD Update - Lt. Welsh - Overall, crime is down over the five-year average. The Police department is hiring.  There are currently 20 applicants that are having their backgrounds checked.  Of these 20, 6 are already certified and will not have to receive further training before they can be hired. Hopefully, these applicants can be hired by May 2025. Shots fired in the city are down by 85% from the five-year average and down 50% from last year.  There have been five incidents of shots fired so far in 2025. The overflow shelter will be closing on March 30, 2025.
  
• Treasurer's Report - Amy Hall-Haney - There is currently $3,849 in checking.  There are no outstanding bills, and there are no reimbursements from Cedar Rapids due at this time.
  
• Easter Egg Hunt 4/19/25 at 10AM at Cleveland Park - Amy Hall-Haney - The annual Easter Egg hunt is scheduled for April 19 at Cleveland Park.  Nicole made a motion to allow Amy Haney to spend up to $300 on items needed for this egg hunt.  There was a second by George Heeren, and the motion passed.  Denise Klemp suggested that games for the children participants could be added after the egg hunt to give them more time to enjoy the event. The Central Church of Christ will again be helping with this event.
  
• Idea Queen Marketing Services/Postcard Mailers - George Heeren - In addition to CANA hiring Idea Queen Marketing for email marketing, social media marketing, live streaming operations, and website design assistance, Idea Queen Marketing will help coordinate the Wellness and Safety Fair at no cost to CANA and assist with upcoming postcard mailers. In past meetings, it was approved that CANA would send out quarterly postcards to the neighborhood to let residents know more about CANA and the events and programs that were being planned.  A postcard mailing is being planned for the first half of April to let neighborhood residents know when monthly meetings and events will be taking place. This will hopefullyl encourage more neighborhood involvement in CANA, as there has been very low attendance at meetings.  For CANA to continue to offer/sponsor/support the events and programs that they have been offered in the past, more involvement, including volunteering, from the CANA community is greatly needed. If more support is not forthcoming, such events and programs may make it impossible for these events and programs to continue.
  
• Trees Forever Update - Denise Klemp - Denise is working with Trees Forever to purchase trees for the CANA neighborhood tree purchasing that was approved previously.  There are 800 addresses in the CANA neighborhood. Unfortunately, only a limited number of trees can be purchased.  Some neighbors have received letters from the city regarding this, but the entire CANA neighborhood is eligible to receive trees.  The trees from Trees Forever will be smaller and will be in a bucket filled with mulch.  Neighbors must sign up by May 14 to receive a tree that will be distributed on May 29. Vouchers of $100 or $250 are available for a tree.  Vouchers will need to be redeemed at one of the six designated nurseries aligned with the program.  Participants will need to attend an informational meeting to receive a voucher. Another tree distribution will occur at Collins Aerospace on May 3rd.  Participants need to sign up on the Trees Forever website and are eligible to get up to 5 small trees. For more information about Trees Forever, check out their website. It offers many informational videos and links to other sites with tree information. 
  
  
• CANA Community Wellness & Safety Fair 6/21/25 from 10AM until 1PM at Cleveland Park - Nicole Schroeder - Invitations will be sent to community organizations and potential sponsors for this in the next two weeks. Social media marketing will begin soon. An event will be published on Facebook and local event calendars to start. The City special event permit and Block ‘N Roll trailer application will need to be completed by April 21st. Nicole will work on this and provide an update to George and Amy by email. 
  
• Other Business 
  
  • George Heeren, the current CANA president, announced that due to other commitments, he will be stepping down from his office as of June 30. This means that CANA is looking for a new person to take over this position. CANA is also looking for a person to take over the role of secretary after the resignation of Nicole Schroeder back in July 2024. 
    
  • Save the Date: National Night Out - Tuesday 8/6/25
    

Meeting adjourned at 8:15pm. 

Next Meeting: Monday, April 21, 2025, at 7:00pm (no live stream)

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS/LINKS TO REVIEW

• ​Property owners may reserve up to five low-cost trees
• Tree voucher program
• TreeKeeper online classes

• Neighborhood News
• CRPD Report (coming soon)
• SAFE-CR Report
• Easter Egg Hunt Facebook Event