...and so it begins

The first meeting of the (mostly) new Amberley Village council took place on December 12th.  I'm sure it must have been a little bit disconcerting to see six out of seven new bodies sitting at the bench.  I know I was keenly aware of our inexperience, but I think we managed quite well.  Scot Lahrmer, Village Manager, had previously met one-on-one with each of us to make sure we understand how the village works, from council, to administrative staff, to police/fire, to maintenance.  My own meeting was over two hours long!

It's been an incredibly busy month and council passed several ordinances on Monday night. The village treasurer, Rick Kay, was reappointed by Mayor Byar as was the village solicitor, Kevin Franke, and the village prosecutor, Stacey  Lefton.  Stan Cohen was reappointed to the Stormwater commission and my husband, Scott Wolf, was reappointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals.  Council passed the budget without much fanfare.  It is a lean budget. We know the village is in need of new revenue.  There will definitely be a safety levy on the ballot on March 6th.  Public Outreach, which I chair, has recommended a minimum of three "open house" meetings where residents can learn about the roles of our police and fire department and meet the men and women whose job it is to keep our residents safe.  If you aren't aware, all of Amberley's council meetings are televised.  You can view them on cable, or, watch them on your computer by clicking on this link:  http://www.icrctv.com/amberley-village .

As an update to "We Thrive," committees are moving forward with plans for an Amberley community garden.  If the village has your email address, you should be receiving an email shortly. If not, we are interested in your input.  Would you be interested in renting a plot? How large? Suggested sizes for plots are 10x30, 10x20, and 10x10.  Yes, the entire area would be fenced to keep the deer and wildlife out.  Please let me or Jim and Mary Lennard know your thoughts.

Finally, Peg Conway is forming the Amberley Women's Forum.  The first meeting will be held on January 16th, from 7-9:00PM at her house.  There are a lot of very talented women in Amberley and we want to hear from them and get them more actively involved in our community.  Peg will be sending out emails soon, but if you want to make sure you are on our list, please make sure I have your email address.  We all have very limited email lists of our own and do not want to use the Village list for our own personal mailings.  However, on that note, the Village only has email addresses for 400 residents.  There are 3400 residents in Amberley Village in 1500 households.  We are barely reaching one-third of our households with important news. Please give your email address to the Village! Communication with residents was consistently identified as being in need of improvement and one way to help is to subscribe to meeting notices and the e-news.  Speaking of the e-news, here is the newest issue:  http://www.amberleyvillage.org/ENewsDecember2011.cfm .  Even I didn't receive it in my email and I'm subscribed to everything! At least I thought I was...

I leave you with a photo from Council's swearing in.  Can you find the "lone Wolf" in this picture?