Greetings Neighbors!

While the dust is still in the air from the State Street and Veterans Park Boulevard road construction, the dust has settled from our recent re-organization. We have recently re- configured the boundaries of The Veterans Park Neighborhood Association so it can better serve the needs of you and your immediate neighbors. Now more than ever, the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association needs you!

In the past, the sheer size of the Veterans Park Neighborhood has made it hard to focus on the issues near at home. However, our new boundaries incorporate only the area west of Veterans Park Boulevard to the Collister Shopping Center, and the River to the south and Taft Street to the north. With the smaller area, we can now focus more on our immediate neighborhood.

VPNA’s mission is to support a unified voice for the community that we live in. Which means, we are here to lobby the city, ACHD, and other local organizations on behalf of our residents, and to have a say in the decisions that affect our neighborhood. We are not a homeowners association, and we are NOT here to collect dues or levy fines for petty code violations. But if you have a concern about things going on in the neighborhood, or potential developments or issues that affect your neighborhood, then this is what we are here for.

But this is where we need you. We need your input on the decisions being made right now that affect our neighborhood. Have an idea for an improvement in our parks and common areas? There may be city grant money available we can apply for. Have an issue affecting us? Bring it to our board! Want to help host an event to help our community? Bring your idea!

We are having a general annual meeting on Tuesday, April 24th at the Collister Community Church at 6:30 PM. If you would like to attend, everyone is invited- there will be free food and beverages. We are also looking for volunteers to be on the board. Our board meets no more than once per month (or as needed) for 45-90 minutes, to discuss issues in our neighborhood and if necessary, vote on a course of action. If you are interested in being involved, then by all means, come to our annual meeting and sign up!

NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES:
With everything going on, we hope to keep neighbors informed as to what is going on and if possible, empower people to be pro-active on things that are happening. Right now, some of the biggest issues we face are:
– The ongoing road project at 36th St, State Street, and Veterans Park Boulevard, which continues to have a negative impact on everyone who lives in and commutes through our area. We hope to be more pro-active and mitigate some of the impacts when future road projects, such as the planned re-design of Collister and State Street, are scheduled to start.
– Protecting community assets, which include our parks, our schools, and the Greenbelt. As we speak, Greenbelt access is shut off at Veterans Park, and many people are keenly aware that it has been nearly 10 years since a person from our neighborhood could ride continuously from Willow Lane to Julia Davis Park without encountering fences and barricades along the path. We hope to work with the city department of Parks and Recreation to protect and preserve Greenbelt access for now and into the future.

JOIN US for our ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
On APRIL 24th 6:30 PM
At the Collister Community Church,
4709 W. State Street

Boise Parks and Recreation is considering converting the 2 existing tennis courts at Willow Lane Park into pickleball courts. This project will entail moving and adding some nets and painting some new lines; but will all occur within the existing footprint of the tennis courts. Pickleball courts are smaller than traditional tennis courts, so they can accommodate 4 pickleball courts within the same area as 2 tennis courts.

MATT MIGNANELLI

Pickleball is a sport that has been steadily growing in our community, and because the existing tennis courts are in need of refurbishment, it presents the City with excellent opportunity to provide for additional pickleball court needs in this area of town. Boise Parks and Recreation is reaching out to you to see if you would like to provide any feedback on their proposal.  If there are no issues, they will look at doing the work this summer.

For any other information, comments, or questions please contact Trevor Kesner at tkesner@cityofboise.org or (208) 608-7624.

On Monday night the new West End Neighborhood Association had its first meeting. If you would like to be added to the West End NA mailing list, please email westendboise@gmail.com.

VPNA is hosting a public meeting to vote on a proposed split of the neighborhood association. The proposal is for the eastern part of the neighborhood to leave the VPNA and become the West End Neighborhood Association. The western part of the current neighborhood association would remain the VPNA. Please join us on Monday, December 4 at 6:30 pm at Davis Park Apartments multi-purpose room.

The VPNA is home to an exciting new summer concert series: Music on the Water! On Saturday, July 22 from 2pm to 9pm, the second of three concerts will take place at Esther Simplot Park.

FYI Quinn’s pond is open; however, the ponds at Esther Simplot Park are still closed due to high levels of E. Coli.

This Saturday, April 29 is the annual Run for Autism at Veteran’s Park. Due to the closure of the greenbelt, the charity run/walk will be going through residential streets in the Veterans Park East neighborhood as well as the Idaho Department of Transportation property. 

The plan for a new Whittier Elementary School and the possible secession of the West End from the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association will be among the topics under discussion at our annual general meeting. The meeting will be held at Whittier Elementary School, 301 N 29th St, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 17. All VPNA residents are urged to attend. We need your energy and your input!

Elections will be held for treasurer and webmaster, and for neighborhood representatives from Pleasanton, Park Davis, Veterans Park East, Heron Hollow, Taft Manor, Independence Park and Quail Glen. Board members attend a meeting the third Monday of every month.

After the successful passage of a $172-million school construction bond last month, the Boise School District now plans to build a new school on the Whittier site. The City of Boise has not yet approved the design for the new school, which will be a defining fixture in our neighborhood for decades, if not a century. We will provide an update on the plan and urge residents to attend the meeting to provide input now, while changes are still being made.

The VPNA board has also been discussing a possible split of our neighborhood association. All the neighborhoods east of Whitewater Boulevard would form a new West End Neighborhood Association. The remaining neighborhoods west of Whitewater Boulevard would remain as the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association. Come hear why the board supports this idea and why it could benefit all of our neighborhoods.

We also hope to have an update on West End business developments from Jay Story, the West End Project Coordinator for the City of Boise and the Capital City Development Corporation.

by Rae Brooks

Before a crowd of hundreds, and to the strains of the Boise High School marching band, Esther Simplot used a giant pair of scissors yesterday to cut a ribbon to officially open the new park along the Boise River that bears her name.

Esther Simplot

Boise City Council President Elaine Clegg called the 55-acre Esther Simplot Park the newest in Boise’s “ribbon of jewels” along the Boise River. The city now has 350 acres of parks along the river, matched by 26 miles of Greenbelt path on each side.

“Esther Simplot is going to be the one that connects us to the water,” said Clegg. She called the park “a new place in the West End” and wondered if it might become “too popular.” Under sunny skies, canoeists and paddle-boards were already enjoying the new Esther’s Pond behind her.

Construction of the multi-million-dollar park began in February 2015. The Simplot family foundation, which footed the construction bill, has not released figures, but Boise Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway said the city had previously estimated building costs at $11 to $12 million.

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter told the crowd that Esther Simplot is likely to be the last park built along the Boise River in the city’s urban core. The new park, he said, has one and a half miles of paths, 630 newly planted trees and 4,000 tons of boulders imported from a ranch in Weiser, Idaho.

“For divers,” he added, “there’s a car, a van and a boat at the bottom of the pond. These are the ones we wanted there, not the ones we didn’t.”

Old vehicles were among the contaminated materials discovered during park excavation. Park builders removed 150,000 cubic yards of petroleum-laced soil and other debris. At the peak of the operation, 45 large dumptrucks an hour were carting off loads to the landfill.

The added removal costs put the park’s design at risk. But the city came up with $4 million for the cleanup, while the Simplot family foundation added an additional $1.5 million.

Scott Simplot

Bieter called the construction of Esther Simplot Park “the toughest project I’ve been involved in in 13 years as mayor.”

Scott Simplot, youngest son of the late J.R. Simplot, told the crowd that the Simplot family wanted the park to harken back to an old-fashioned swimming hole. He recalled fondly how, while growing up in Boise, he would shinny up a tree hanging over a pond, tie a rope to a branch, then climb back down and swing out on the rope into the water.

“I don’t know what we’ll do when one of these trees grows over the pond,” he said. “Maybe, just maybe, we’ll have the world’s greatest swimming hole.”

Idaho Food Bank distributing food at Whittier Elementary School

The Idaho Food Bank will be working in collaboration with the Whittier Communities School. They will be coming to Whittier (301 N 29th St, Boise, ID 83702) the 3rd Thursday of every month for approximately one hour after school (4pm-5pm). On Thursday, October 20th, the Idaho Food Bank will be distributing food at a later time 5:30pm-6:30pm to coincide with Math Night being held at the school.

Whittier Elementary Auctioning Artistic Pumpkins to Raise Funds

Whittier Elementary School is auctioning off festive painted pumpkins to raise funds to send students to McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) in the spring. Bids can be placed on 10 decorated pumpkins at the school main office during school hours until Monday, 10/24.

We’ll be discussing changes to the VPNA bylaws at our October board meeting.

Article IV, Section 1 of the bylaws would be amended to include the Webmaster as an Officer of the Board.

Time: 6:30-8pm
Date: October 17, 2016
Location: Davis Park Apartments multi-purpose room