Meeting Location: 52 Mill Cove Road
Neighbors Present: Dick & Donna W., Cheryl L. & Alan G., JWS (aka Bill), Marc & Pauline G., Tricia A., Sandra C., Julie R., Josi D., Pat & Dave W., Linda H., David W., Bill & Maureen B.
Meeting came to order at approx. 6:55 PM
Old Business:
A verbal summary of the gist of RVIA’s “2022” Stockholders Meeting, held in February 2023 at Iggy’s Boardwalk, was presented. Refer to the Stockholders Meeting Minutes for an outline and discussion comments/feedback from attending members.
The need for more neighborhood participation and the buoying of general interest is ongoing. Let’s not allow RVIA to sink!
New stockholder nominations approved at the Stockholders Meeting were mentioned. The President has sent “invitation” letters to (14) Riverview residents who are general members. This is a larger number than typical and was done so to try to encourage greater participation.
President, David Woisard, recognized and thanked Iggy’s for providing RVIA their porch area for the Stockholders Meeting. Attendees enjoyed beverages & appetizers. RVIA generously tipped the Iggy’s staff as a gesture of appreciation. (I think they might let us back in the future).
Lippitt Park Seawall Repair?:
Ugh! Need I say more… Masonry Ninja will probably get this repaired before the City of Warwick will. If you see flashlights and hear some mixing & scraping sounds in the dark of night, it could be “Us”. Check this out:
On Dec 12, 2022, at 2:47 PM, Mayor Frank J. Picozzi <frank.j.picozzi@warwickri.gov> wrote:Thank you for that offer David but we can’t go that route [I.E. Fixing this myself a year ago]. It would be a liability issue for the city and more importantly you. This will be taken care of in early Spring [2023] when the weather breaks. However, if you have knowledge of a good method of repair, please pass it on to me and I’ll run it by the engineers.
That was the last of several emails I’ve had with both the Mayor and our Ward 5 Councilman. Feel free to shoot Mayor Picozzi an email reminding him of his “projection” to get this fixed. Let’s get something done in Riverview besides digging up our roads again & again LOL!
New Business:
Membership & Dues:
It’s time to pay annual membership that runs from January 1 – December 31. Single/Household membership is now $20.00 per calendar year (up from $15.00). Instructions for paying dues are posted on https://MyRVIA.org. Click on “Join or Pay”.
[An online Membership Tool will be available in the future. Payments will be able to be made via credit card ($21.00 includes a processing cost) or a check can still be mailed. Cash payments are accepted in person at all meetings and events too].Treasurer’s Report:
RVIA is solvent with decent returns on our long-term investments. The President is to formalize a spending budget for upcoming activities & charities.
Primary Meeting Topic:
The President is concerned about the future of RVIA and posed the following questions both here at the meeting and also in an e-Newsletter to all of those signed up in our Contact List (104 households are sent e-Newsletters).
Questions:
1st & Foremost:
What is RVIA to you? What in your mind, is RVIA’s purpose? What are your ideas for activities & charities?
Meetings, Communications & Volunteering Related:
- What day of the week is best for Open Neighborhood Meetings?
- Do you look at the MyRVIA.org website and Calendar of Events page?
- Do you read the RVIA e-Newsletter emailed directly to the account you provided to us?
Note: GMAIL users need to check their “Promotions” and should create a “sorting folder” called RVIA News (or something like that) to be sure you see incoming news. - Do you follow RVIA’s Facebook page? Have you joined the MyRVIA.org Facebook Group?
- Do you follow RVIA’s Instagram postings?
- Did you know that all “Posts” on the MyRVIA.org website are open for Commenting? And that you can comment and post photos on our Facebook presence?
- Would you volunteer to be part of an RVIA Social Committee (help plan the Annual Block Party and Charity Fundraisers amongst other activities)?
- Would you volunteer to be part of an RVIA Landscape/Beautification Committee (to help with Lippitt Ave. Park, upkeep of the ends of our streets, holiday decorating, etc.)?
Good news: We have several volunteers for Social Committee and a few of us on the Landscaping Committee. Thank you all!
Sandra C. is heading up the Social Committe. David W. is the lead on Landscaping along with Marc G. Our 1st goal is to get Cady Ave’s years of overgrowth trimmed back & maintained properly.
Please contact RVIA with YOUR RESPONSES and ideas to the above at: web-admin@myrvia.org
Thank you very much!
Other Business & News:
This marks the start of a Tribute/Memorial Brick Campaign.
Order a brick for Lippitt Park now (or as soon as possible) during April and early May so that it can be engraved and installed before Memorial Day 2023. The area by “The Cady Rock” is filling up. Get in there before it filled. (6 new bricks will be installed in the next few upcoming weeks as time permits. The President thanks those who ordered for their patience. He will get them installed soon!)
To order your Brick go to RVIA’s website. Click on the “ABOUT US” menu item and then on “Order a Tribute Brick“.
- Print the form and follow the instructions.
- Mail or bring the completed form to David Woisard, 52 Mill Cove Road.
Make checks payable to David Woisard (he pays the engraver at time of order and also buys the blank bricks).
Parting Thoughts and Comments:
As neighborbors Pat & Dave W. put it:
It was nice to see many new faces at this meeting. A pretty good turnout.
From the President:
I wish more of the longtime members & Stockholders could (or would attend). I’d love to hear from them. I’ve posed the question about what day of the week is best for our meetings. Maybe changing the day, possibly every other meeting, might allow more to come. Everybody is busy with their own activities and involvement with other organizations. We have an active community!
Remember: RVIA has many means to stay involved. See the list above, and there’s always via my email: david.woisard@myrvia.org
If you can’t attend our Open Meetings held approximately every other month (Check the Calendar of Events), check in. Let your voice and ideas be heard in YOUR neighborhood. No texting yet! That would be a bit much (but it is possible. Hummmm…).
One last note: We aren’t a political organization. I’ve heard several people have stayed away because of “too much politics”. Our meetings TRY TO BE more about our core purpose of bringing neighbors together – not adding fuel to move them apart. Politics is hard to avoid, and we do address local issues with the City of Warwick. I try to keep those discussions to a minimum during the Meetings since we all deal with those issues/frustrations day-to-day.
Meeting Adjourned at approx. 8:00 PM
Note: The next open Neighborhood Meeting is scheduled for June 13th @ 6:45 pm.
These Meeting Minutes have been respectfully created, reviewed and posted by David Woisard, President, Riverview Improvement Association. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Oh wait… You can comment right below on this webpage! 🙂
David Woisard, Web & Social Media Admin
July 2, 2023 7:13 AMSadly, no one has ever commented on my “Questions”, “Meeting Preferred Day of the Week”, etc. All I hear are crickets. I think part of the lack of commenting is created by the use of phones as many a person’s new “desktop”. It’s hard to see all of the pages that look great on a tablet or monitor on a small phone screen. Such is the challenge of this age. Attention span (particularly for those on a mobile device) is about 3 – 4 seconds. So, capturing even our own Riverview audience is challenging. I see more things about cats & dogs passed around than interest in RVIA. Not always – but often. Carry on!