March 11: Grupo Pro-Sayulita meeting notes and Fundraiser Annoucement

Please note that a forum discussion of this group is available for view/posts at:

http://sayulita-mexico.com/index.php?showtopic=1924

Save this important date: MARCH 20, 2007!

As most of you know, Preserve Sayulita was disbanded and a new association, Grupo Pro-Sayulita, made up of both Mexican and foreign residents, was created. The purpose of the new organization is to improve the quality of life in Sayulita for everyone. Towards that end, the 2007 goals of the group are the following:

1. Make Sayulita a cleaner town.

2. To change the building code to allow no more than three stores for any structure along the beach.

3. Increase security and reduce thefts.

The focus now is on #1: Make Sayulita a cleaner town and to do this we need your help again.

Lazaro Cardenas Garcia, who lives a Sayulita native and the person in charge of our water and sewage, is now working for the Municipal Government where he was instrumental in bringing bring the new sewage treatment plant to Sayulita. As part of Grupo Pro-Sayulita, Lazaro has reported that the Municipal government will be giving 20 million Pesos to Sayulita to build roads, install new water and sewage lines, construct public toilets, add a police station as well as a recreation hall for Sayulita’s older residents.

These projects will definitely make Sayulita a better place to live and, in that respect, work in tandem with the goals of Pro-Sayulita. But the work of the Municipal is very specific and some things Pro-Sayulita thinks important will have to be accomplished by the town and for that, we need your help!

Before we ask for your financial help, let us explain what happened to the money raised last year for Sayulita’s new sewage treatment plant, which is now processing all the sewage connected to it.

Last year, through donations from individuals, homeowners, tourists and the very successful fundraiser at Don Pedro’s Brisa Mar which overlooks the ocean above Playa Los Muertos, we raised more than $90,000 USD; more than enough to pay the town’s share (12.5%) of the sewage project. That money is still at Lloyds as the government decided that earlier contributions covered the town’s share of the Sewage Treatment plant cost.
While money dedicated to the Sewer Project continues to grow with interest, Pro-Sayulita finds itself without funds to pay for this year’s primary project of making Sayulita a cleaner town.

Several years ago the municipal government donated a garbage truck and funded staff to collect garbage in Sayulita. The truck makes two trips daily to the dump and this has made a huge difference to the cleanliness of Sayulita. But, over time it was seen that there was more that needed to be done if we are going to collect all the garbage in town.

The current garbage truck is not able to reach many of the homes up in the hills and that garbage often ended around the town: in the Plaza, on the beach, along the roads, and other unsuitable locations. It’s not uncommon for the piles to be scavenged and strewn about, making unsightly messes and spreading disease.

At the March 7th Pro-Sayulita meeting, Lazaro arranged for two engineers from the Municipal Government to discuss the garbage project. Following some very positive discussions, a number of decisions were made. The engineers agreed that if Sayulita would buy a diesel-powered pickup and donate it to the Municipal govt., that they would take responsibility for its insurance, maintenance and operation. In addition, the engineers agreed to have the large garbage truck make 4 trips to the dump everyday, instead of 2. The pickup we hope you will help us to buy will be in the Plaza from March 14-21st for all to see. This pickup will gather garbage up all the roads above Sayulita and other locations that the large truck misses. The trucks will say in communication so that loads from the smaller truck can be offloaded as quickly as possible to the large truck.

The second part of the garbage discussion centered on the need for additional garbage containers in the center of town and the village outskirts as well as the ability to hire one or two people to help pickup the garbage around town. Towards that end, Pro-Sayulita has been donated 25 tambos (55 gallon drums) that have been placed where it seemed the town needed large trash containers. Clearly we will need more to make it easy for people to find and use trash containers.

To help make everyone aware of the new containers, Evelyne Boren organized an event with the school to have kids put their handprints on the drums to symbolize that hands are needed to put the trash into trash containers. Along with the hands was a logo designed by Luis Verdin’s son, Luis, who comes down every week from Tepic to participate in the Pro Sayulita meeting. We hope that every time people see this logo they will be reminded to put their trash in the proper receptacle.

The final problem we hope to solve in Sayulita is a natural one that impacts every Mexican village; dust! Sayulita’s dirt roads create air quality and health problems. We think we have a solution to this problem that is both environmentally and effective. We have ordered two products we are hoping to test in the next week and a third that we hope is available in Mexico, a soy byproduct. Regardless of what product is finally chosen, it will have to be applied at least once a year to keep the dust under control. While this will be an annual cost, we hope everyone will agree that it is worth their contribution.

As you can see, our goals are ambitious but they are all doable if everyone makes a small donation to Pro-Sayulita we really can achieve a cleaner Sayulita. We are asking that every homeowner in Sayulita donate $250 to our Sayulimpia fund at Lloyds, account number 259067-7. It will be managed in the same way as the sewage fund, by Cap Sparling and Cyndy Jones and the money will only be used for the items discussed above. If you have a Lloyds account, you can transfer funds easily to this account. Or, you can send a check to Cyndy Jones at 4310 - 148th St SW, Lynwood, Wa 98037 or drop one off at the Gallery Las Hamacas (with the sand floor) or at Choco Bananas next door. Please make checks payable to the Lloyds account number only. Cash is also very much appreciated and it to can be deposited in any of the locations mentioned above.

In addition to this request for a donation, there will also be a raffle with the price being a large painting by Evelyne Boren that she has donated to this project. The tickets are 100 ps each and the winner will be announced at a fiesta to be held March 20th at Don Pedro’s Brisas Mar; the large Palapa above Playa Los Muertos, from 5-9pm. There will be a small admission fee to enter the party that will include a buffet of hors d’oeuvers, beer, wine and soft drinks. There will also be a no-host bar.

Many Sayulita business and local artists have also donated wonderful items to a sold at a silent auction in support of this important project. If you would like to donate something, please contact Micki Cunningham at the following email: mickicunningham@aol.com.

Save this important date: MARCH 20, 2007!

Be Pro-Sayulita and help make