Moran Prairie Residents Forming Neighborhood Council

Much of Moran Prairie may be outside the city limits, but residents living in the area want to organize a city neighborhood council.

Leaders of the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association will hold a meeting tonight to talk about joining the city’s 14 other organized neighborhoods.

The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Moran Prairie Grange.

Neighbors must approve bylaws and elect officers before the City Council will officially recognize the neighborhood.

This won’t be the first time a city-county neighborhood has joined the city’s program to encourage grass-roots decision-making. The Five Mile Prairie and Indian Trail neighborhoods have formed city-county neighborhood councils, too.

In the case of Moran Prairie, a sizable chunk of the neighborhood will be outside city limits, but annexations some day could draw more of the area into the city.

Greg Sweeney, a neighborhood leader, said the tentative boundaries are 37th Avenue to the north, Glenrose Road to the east, 72nd Avenue to the south and Perry to the west.

Once the neighborhood is recognized by the City Council, it can send a representative to the city’s Community Assembly of Neighborhoods.

Also, the neighborhood representative can participate in other citywide meetings of the neighborhood representatives.

Elsewhere on the South Side, the Manito and Latah Creek neighborhoods are also seeking recognition by the City Council.

Molly Myers, director of neighborhood services, said a majority of city neighborhoods are formally organized into councils now.

However, the Lincoln Heights and Comstock areas have yet to form councils.

, DataTimes