Riverview Neighborhood Association

If you don’t know, tonight at 6:00p.m., there is a meeting with the City Engineers regarding a large street rehabilitation project. The meeting will be at the Aaronson Auditorium at the Downtown Library. I urge neighbors to attend.

As we understand it, the City is preparing to resurface several streets in our neighborhood: 1) Denver Avenue from Riverside and Denver north to 13th Street; 2) Baltimore from 15th to 18th Streets; 3) 17th and 18th Streets from Baltimore heading East; and 4) 16th Place between Denver Avenue and Carson Avenue. The Ass’n has taken a position with respect to the part of the project, that being Denver Avenue from Riverside north to 13th.

We have heard several complaints that the speed of traffic in that stretch makes bicycle and pedestrian use of this area, particularly crossing Denver Avenue, difficult and dangerous. If it’s unfriendly to normal activity use by families, families will not find our neighborhood as appealing. Several of our neighbors have proposed to City Engineers and our Councilor changes in the design of Denver Avenue which would slow traffic down and encourage commercial growth, specifically moving to three lanes, having a center turn lane, wider sidewalks, and enhanced crossing areas. Think of a small area in our neighborhood similar to the Brookside or Cherry Street commercial districts. Certainly, there would be an aesthetic enhancement, consistent with the historic beauty of our neighborhood.

We believe our neighbors’ suggestions are well reasoned and would tend to encourage individual and family use as well as positive commercial activity in our neighborhood, which, in turn, would assist in resolving the undesirable activity we have seen in just that area over the last several years. In other words, at least from our perspective, we can get a lot of bang for the buck in being creative with this roadwork. Some years ago, our former Councilor told us at a Crime and Safety meeting that our problems would be solved when commercial activity grew in our neighborhood. Well, we think this would tend to help.

Our interaction with the City and it’s professionals has been positive, and our attitude toward them remains positive. We understand they have done traffic analyses, and presumably other analyses; although we really don’t know much about their findings.

It appears the City is preparing to resurface Denver Avenue as it is now, with no changes in design. They may well answer questions as to why tonight. We urge neighbors to come, get information and ask questions. If, after a full discussion, it still seems that a reconfiguration of Denver Avenue makes sense, we urge neighbors to voice their opinions. The City can’t know what we think if we don’t articulate our views.

I look forward to seeing you. Rick Eagleton, President.

Riverview friends and Friends of Riverview friends, your mostly incognito Association Board is at it again planning another riveting Association Meeting for tomorrow night at Baxters Interurban, 7th and Houston at 6:00pm.

Might you ask… Will there be ponies again? You might.

Might you ask… How will he get a ladder truck from Station 4 in Baxter’s conference room again? You might.

Might you ask… If we just keep falling back and never spring forward, in a few years will it be dark all day? And if so, will everyone else (not just me) feel like sleeping all day? You might.

Or you might ask… When are we planning the Association Holiday Party??? Right you would be to ask. We’re doing that tomorrow. I suppose I’ll give an update or two on what’s going on with the City, such as with it’s Downtown Housing Study stuff project webpage, but mostly I’d like to talk about the party.

Instead of all that planning ahead that responsible people do for parties, like checking to make sure Ariana Grande is not in town before picking the date, or getting people to commit to bring food so one or two don’t get stuck with all the cooking, or calling the Treasurer to see if we even have money to do this thing, we’re throwing caution to the wind and winging it tomorrow.

So, you can help save us from ourselves, please come and be involved in planning. It really is a fun event and a great opportunity to meet your neighbors.

Rick Eagleton, President (maybe not for long)

We’re not going to have a meeting tonight, but I wanted to give the neighbors an update on our meetings with city officials about crime and safety issues. As I have mentioned in Association meetings, Our District Councilor, Kara Joy McKee, has been very active in exploring ways to improve our situation. As the Association President and as a neighbor, I very much appreciate her attention and interest. I’ve now had so many meetings and contacts with her and her staff during her short tenure in office that I have lost count. This is good for our neighborhood. When you see her next, I urge you to thank her.

While our work is not done and The Councilor is still actively engaged in our problem, she has secured a change for us which I believe may be the start to improvement. Downtown has a program called “the Public Safety Ambassador” program which, as I understand it, works directly and quickly with businesses and to an extent residents to identify and deal with crime and safety issues as they develop. They are authorized to make some contact with those creating a problem and when appropriate contact law enforcement for immediate assistance. I understand there are four full time Ambassadors who are charged with patrolling designated areas downtown, and their area of attention has now been extended to Riverview. I am learning more about the program and expect to report back to you at our November meeting with details, but right now, it is my intention to contact the Ambassadors and assist them in creating a route which will cover our most obvious trouble spots, such as 13th to 17th and Denver and give them some contact information for some of our most engaged residents.

Feel free to get in touch with me to talk about this more or just come to the November 13th meeting. Again, we very much appreciate Councilor McKee’s attention and interest.

Rick Eagleton, President.

We’re meeting tomorrow at 6:00pm at Baxters (7th and Houston), but not in the normal meeting room. We’ll just grab tables. We plan to give an update on the meetings we’ve had with the City on safety and on the renovations to South Denver Avenue, from the river heading north. We’ll also talk about Alert Neighbors, a neighborhood get together and anything else on your mind. We’d also like to talk about getting our welcoming committee and a newsletter off the ground and hope someone might be interested in helping.  See you at 6:00.

Our regular meeting has been rescheduled to September 18, 2019, at Baxter’s Interurban at 6:00pm. If you forget and show tomorrow, order the boneless hot wings and a beer and say hi to Baxter for the Association.

Remember tonight is Kara Joy McKee’s Town Hall meeting at Central Library’s Aaronson Auditorium (6:00pm). Don’t miss this opportunity to meet your councilor and discuss issues important to our neighborhood.

Also, our next meeting is Wednesday at 6:00 at Baxters. Please come and talk neighborhood shop. We need block chairpersons for the Alert Neighbors program. This isn’t a great commitment, but it sure will pay dividends for all our neighbors. Come ask questions and we’ll tell you all about it. Also, we’re going to discuss a block party for this Fall. My goodness, we need to celebrate once we break this heat wave. Maybe scheduling a party will help bring on Fall.

From 6:00pm to 8:00pm, on August 12, 2019, District 4 Councilor, Kara Joy McKee, will host a Town Hall at the Central LIbrary, Aaronson Auditorium. She has been reaching out to neighborhoods in her district to hear from us and let our voices be a part of policy making. This would be an excellent time for all residents of Riverview to be heard. We know she is focusing on crime and safety issues, and I welcome all residents to lend their voices on this and other important issues. We can’t complain if we don’t join in to help make positive change. Rick Eagleton, Pres.

After taking the month off to catch a breath after Cry Baby Hill, the Association is re-energized and ready to meet and report. We will, of course, have a debriefing of the Tulsa Tough day of fun, along with a report from our treasurer as to our finances after hosting the VIP Tent. We’ll also give an update on safety issues and hear from you all as to what’s on your mind. We look forward to seeing you. Baxters at 6:00. Rick.

The Association is tired. We’re taking June off after Cry Baby Hill. No meeting. Thanks to all who attended the VIP Party.