Important news and notes for this week

A few items of news and note for this week:

• The Esplanade HOA's Finance Committee is looking for additional members. The committee's function is to give advice to the HOA board on all matters of budgets and finance. Any HOA members who have any interest or experience in financial matters, and can contribute to the committee's purpose in a positive and helpful fashion, are encouraged to help out. A meeting is scheduled for this evening (Feb. 8). Contact board member David Rodenbach at davidr760@gmail.com or committee member Shoko Yoshikawa at shoko62@hotmail.com for the time and place of tonight's meeting, and/or for more information about serving on the committee.

• The annual HOA meeting for all condo owners is this Thursday, February 11. At this meeting the association will vote to ratify the 2016 HOA budget (the budget will ratify automatically unless a majority votes against it). The meeting will also feature the election of two residential board members and one board member representing the building's commercial units.
  
  Again for 2016, "The Esplanade News" has set up a special web page devoted to our HOA election. Information about running for the board, as well as electoral procedures and statements from the candidates can be found on this page. Click HERE to go to the election page.
  
  Any owner who would like to run for a board position is encouraged to contact the board or contact Property Manager Matt Brown as soon as possible. It is necessary that 40 votes are cast, either in person or by proxy, to elect new board members. HOA members are strongly encouraged to attend this Thursday's meeting or give a proxy form to a neighbor. Proxy forms are available HERE.

• The Esplanade Book Club met last week and set their reading schedule for the next six months. The club meets the first Thursday of every month in the lobby community room; all are welcome! The books for the next six months are:
• March:  Kate Atkinson, Life After Life
• April:  Timothy Egan, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher
• May:  Paula McLain, Circling the Sun
• June:  David Mitchell, Slade House
• July:  Paul Theroux, Deep South
• August:  Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

• Metro Parks and the Foss Waterway Development Authority are developing plans for Foss Waterway Park and Central Park. The public is invited to participate in one more meeting, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 17, at Metro Parks headquarters, 4702 S. 19th St., to present final designs and get additional comment.
  
  Foss Central Park will be located just north of The Esplanade, past the Fish Peddler and the two parking lots. Metro Parks is currently working on two possible designs for this park, the "Plank Road" design and the "Steam Hill" design. Click on the drawings below to enlarge, or click HERE for much more information and additional drawings.
  
  Waterway park will encompass all the land from the corner of Dock Street and D Street, all the way to the 509 Bridge - the area currently occupied by the scaffolding company. Esplanade residents clearly have an interest in the development and design of these two parks, and are encouraged to give input at next week's meeting.