July 2026

President Brad Williams called the meeting to order at 6:00pm at Gregg and Sarah Hanzel’s house (601 East Jackson Street).  Thank you to Gregg and Sarah for hosting!

Attendance: 13 DGNA members were present at the meeting: Brad Williams, Karen Schmidt, Jim Ulavege, Neil Bailey, Nancy Dauer, Pam Eaton, Herb Eaton, CJ Ledinsky, Susan Rush, Sarah Hanzel, Gregg Hanzel, Jerica Etheridge, and Theresa Necessary. One guest,Thadden Brown from the City of Bloomington’s Community Impact and Enhancement office, was able to join us to talk about the realtor program.  Introductions were made.  

The meeting minutes from May were approved by those in attendance.  

There was no change in the Treasury report balance of $4,046.00.

Old Business/Updates:

A big THANK YOU goes to Kelley Staub for organizing our DGNA Flea Market on June 6th.  If anybody is interested in organizing next year let Brad know.  

Brad Williams and other attending DGNA members shared some discussion from the most recent Neighborhood Chat with the City of Bloomington that took place on June 25th.  Chief of police Jamal Simington, and the engineering department talked about several topics including the 40% increase in DUI arrests, a deficit in nine police officer positions, and new streetscapes planned with the Five-Year Pavement Treatment project.  

The sign project committee is working on the larger “Welcome to Dimmitt’s Grove” signs.  The font and the placement of the larger signs were discussed.  

The water reclamation project ribbon cutting had a great turnout, including a large representation of DGNA members on June 30th.                                                                        

New Business:

The date for our DGNA Bake Sale downtown at the Farmer’s Market has not been set yet at this time.  Theresa Necessary will keep us updated.

The chili cook-off should be sometime in October, possibly at Hanzel Farms.  There was a motion with approval granted to order more screen-printed aprons.  

Thadden Brown spoke about the Counselors of Real Estate and their plans to rehab vacant houses in the area.  The inspectors have found 147 houses as possible candidates.  They work with the city and local organizations such as Brush of Kindness and Habitat for Humanity, where there are skills and give them assistance for an actionable plan, based on their study of the challenges.  He invites us to attend the upcoming meetings on July 14th 5:30-7:30pm and August 4th@9:15am at the Bloomington Public Library to give our input on the overall current health of the neighborhood.

Safety Concerns:  

There was an incident where the police handled the situation poorly.  A letter with more details will be coming soon from neighbor.  

Our next DGNA meeting (and social) will be September 3, 2026@6pm @the Garden of Eaton at Herb and Pam’s house at 512 East Taylor Street.  Bring a dish and/or favorite drink to share for potluck.

Meeting was adjourned by Brad Williams.