York Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

7:05 – 8:50 pm

Nelson’s Market

Present: Helen Jackson, Lisa McShane, Elliott Smith, Anne Mackie, Sarah Bates, Jessica Bandstra, Barbara Davenport, Seth Cool, Carol Dixon, George Liepart, Nick Hill, Leslie Hill and Libby Stark.

Announcements:

Ø Elliott Smith announced he will be on the WWU CCC enforcement committee. Elliott is also able to print out copies of our agendas, if needed, at WWU.

Ø Anne Mackie said there is a CCC meeting on 5/4 at 11:45; it was suggested that Jeff Bates attend along with Elliott. Sarah will follow up with Jeff.

Ø Helen Jackson thanked Anne for letting the board use Nelson’s. The board will need to find a new meeting location for the April meeting as Nelson’s is opening its cafe. George Liepart offered the use of his home.

Ø Anne said the Small and Simple grant is completed (two grants, $1200 each). One grant will be for tree planting and the other for the Franklin School reunion. Two committee chairs will be needed for these projects.

Ø The Signs By Tomorrow owners and YN residents are moving out of the neighborhood. A $25 gift card to a local nursery will be given as a thank you gift for their support.

Ø Jessica Bandstra reported that York came in 7^th or 8^th in the PSE Green Energy Challenge.

I. Current issues with an upcoming deadline:

• Traffic Safety: York submitted, along with Sehome Neighborhood, the TIP (Transportation Improvement Project) grant specifically asking for crosswalks on Samish and Lakeway (i.e. “safe pedestrian crossing” in the vicinity of Grant Street). The city is not sure if this is one or two projects. If it counts as one project, the crosswalk on Lakeway would be a priority. The next steps are to wait for a response from the city. If the project is not chosen then we re-group and plan the next step. Elliott said the cost is somewhere between $75,000 and $125,000 for a crosswalk.

• Another grant, the NTSP (Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program) grant, is due 3/31. Unlike the TIP grant, this is not for arterial streets. Several options were discussed: traffic calming on the long blocks of Franklin, Grant and Humboldt (1400 blocks), a speed bump on Whatcom Street at Franklin, traffic calming on Gladstone and a sidewalk on York between Humboldt and Grant. A vote was taken and the top choice was traffic calming on Franklin, Grant and Humboldt. In the grant this will be worded to have the city do a study to see which of the three streets would benefit from traffic calming. The second choice was a speed bump on Whatcom Street. The third choice was a sidewalk on York. If sidewalks are not allowed then traffic calming on Gladstone will replace it.

II. Committee Reports:

• Historic Preservation: The last meeting was 3/13. WWU interns have been inventorying houses and one student completed a video history project on neighborhood residents. The Franklin School reunion will be held on September 22. Barbara Davenport said that the latest from the city is that the fee for local historic designation would be $360 for the entire neighborhood. Most fees are $25 – 50. Barbara said that the one lot / one vote issue would have to go before City Council to get changed. The next meeting will be 4/10.

• Rock Hill Park Steward: George is the new park steward. He has been working with the Parks Department to try and get a bench for the park for 9 months. The park is still too wet for a work party. George will follow up with Rae Edwards of the Parks Department regarding trash cans.

• Franklin Park Committee Chair: See attached notes provided by Helen.

• Garden Club Chair: Carol Dixon is the new chair of this committee. She has been in touch with the Master Gardener program and is planning field trips to other gardens.

• Treasurer: Helen provided the treasury report indicating we have $918.37 in our checking account. See attached.

• Planning Committee: Two meetings have been held so far to discuss the Neighborhood Plan Update process. The next meeting will be 4/2 (first Monday of every month). Currently the committee is recruiting more people to the committee. At the next meeting an overview will be done of the update process and the timeline. The update will be done in 2008. A training / meeting on 4/3 from 4:30 – 6 will be sponsored by the Planning Department. It was decided that Tom Scott, Helen, Jeff and Seth Cool should attend.

III. Current issues:

• Holly Street construction project: Anne reported there was an announcement in the Herald the day of the meeting with Public Works. Anne attended along with Alan, Sehome Neighborhood president. This project is supposed to cost $1 million and will be from April – September of this year. This project begins at the intersection of Ellis and Lakeway down to State Street. In order to repave Holly the old trolley tracks will need to be ripped up. Apparently the businesses along Holly received a flyer announcing the upcoming construction. Anne will follow up with Alan regarding the lack of communication between Public Works and the neighborhoods. There is also concern about the types of street lighting to be used and traffic detouring through the neighborhood.

• 4-plex apartment at 506 Potter: A COB design review team has met with Arneson to discuss the historical compatibility of his proposed 4-plex. The hearing will be held in May. Katie Franks, COB, has been involved in the design review process. Yorkers will need to meet before the May hearing. Barbara will be emailing Darby Galligan, COB, to keep us updated.

• Newsletter: will be published in mid to late May to publicize Dumpster Day. George will continue getting ads.

Topics for next board meeting: grant writing, newsletter, planning committee.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50.

Submitted by Libby Stark