York Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, October 17,2007
7:07-9:15 pm
Garden Street United Methodist Church
Present: Anne Mackie, Barbara Davenport, Carolyn Mulder, Tom Scott, Jeff Bates, Carol Dixon, Helen Jackson and Libby Stark. George Liepart and Seth Cool indicated they would not be present.
Guests: David Camp (Planning Committee member and Transportation Sub-Committee Chair)
Announcements: Libby Stark announced that cards are being circulated for Seth Cool (recently married), Jeff and Sarah Bates (new baby) and Jessica Bandstra (recently relocated temporarily). As no donations have been collected it was decided not to give gifts. Tom Scott announced that the WWU email system has been filtering out some YNA emails; Tom anticipates the problem to be resolved later this week. David Camp is the new transportation liaison to the COB and will be receiving the updates.
Approval of minutes: Helen Jackson made a motion to approve the minutes from the September board meeting. Jeff Bates seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
I. Current issues with an upcoming deadline:
- General meeting review from 10/10: Board members shared their thoughts on how the meeting went. Jeff noted that it wasn’t made clear about signing up to participate in these new work groups. Carol Dixon felt it was a positive meeting with new faces. Helen noted that Chris Koch did a great job of outlining objectives. For the next planning committee meeting Anne Mackie will invite the residents along Samish Way as the topic will be the proposed Samish Way urban village concept. This meeting will be held jointly with Sehome.
- Date change of November meeting: Libby suggested the date be changed to Tuesday, November 20. It appears most board members in attendance would be able to make it.
- York RATS, new committee: York RATS (Recycling and Trash Services) is a new group headed by Evan Stark. The goal of this group is to pick up litter and recyclables throughout York every other Saturday (next meeting date is 10/27). York RATS will also coordinate Dumpster Day and provide opportunities foryoung adults charged with community service in York. Anne made a motion to approve this group as a new committee. Jeff seconded and it passed unanimously.
- Parking permits for York and BHA apartment complex: The Bellingham Housing Authority’s new building will not have the required number of parking spaces. Anne provided some information on the pros and cons of Residential Parking Zone permits for York. Several other neighborhoods in Bellingham have RPZ from 8 am - 5 pm. The triangle area of York will be especially impacted as downtown continues to grow. At the next planning committee meeting it was suggested that the issue of parking be brought up. Barbara Davenport had questions if the city would even be able to adequately enforce RPZ. Tom Scott made a motion for further study of RPZ in the transportation sub-committee of the planning committee. Anne seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
- School reunion and picnic 9/22: Anne reported that 150 people were in attendance. There will be follow-up with a memory book and pictures are still needed. The event was quite successful.
- Agenda format: Seth Cool was not in attendance however Libby and Anne attempted to paraphrase Seth’s concerns. Those present do read the emailed committee reports (provided they have email) and Libby brings a printed copy for those that don’t have email or for guests. Tom is working on a new option for the York website regarding posting of minutes, etc.
- Upcoming planning grant: Anne reported there is $2500 from the COB for the plan update. There is an additional $1000 grant that can be used for the “common good.” The $1000 grant needs to be spent by the end of the year; the $2500 grant will carry forward into 2008. Given several recent expenditures Helen Jackson is unsure if there will be any leftover money from the $1000 grant.
- Sign repair: Anne reported that the sign company said a completely new sign would need to be purchased (~ $2500) given the extent of the damage. The sign was damaged again over this past weekend. Lighting with a possible motion detector was mentioned as one option. Questions were raised regarding possible business donations and if the city should increase lighting on the comer of Ellis and Magnolia. Funding for the lighting is of concern. Tom will look into the police report to see why the vandals are not paying for the damage they caused.
II. Committee reports:
- Planning Committee: See attached provided by Anne. Anne also notes that she will announce upcoming meetings in the Herald. Beginning in January there will be a mailing to all residents and property owners soliciting input.
- Disaster Preparedness Committee: See attached provided by Libby.
- Historic Preservation Committee: See attached provided by Barbara. Barbara also mentioned an historic tree slideshow at Bellingham Public Library on 10/30 from 7 - 8 pm. Barbara has contacted the Department of Health regarding the tear-down at 506 Potter Street. Barbara has also called the board of clean air. Anne hasn’t heard back from the city regarding the letter she mailed on the big-leaf maple tree that is also slated to be removed.
- Rock Hill Park Steward: George was not in attendance; however there is mulch that needs to be spread.
- Franklin Park Committee: See attached provided by Helen. Helen also reported there are 6 WWU Service Learning students who will be working with her on the survey.
- Garden Club: See attached provided by Carol Dixon.
- Quality Committee: Lesley Keenholts is chairing. Anne notes that this committee has been responding to noisy houses. Tom will see if Lesley is interested in having her email attached to all board emails.
- Treasurer: See attached provided by Helen. Given the many advertisements we have the newsletter will need to be 8 pages long.
III. Current Issues
- Tree planting: Nick Hartrich will be back in the country in November. Tom notes a Boy Scout is interested in assisting with this project.
- Site plan of Franklin Park: Helen and Jeff brought in plans for Franklin Park.
- New board member recruitment: Anne has a potential WWU student who may be interested in joining the board. Jim Kling, Ivy Yap, Jeremy Nunnikhoven, Stina Olson were all identified as possible board members. Jim has already volunteered to be the newsletter editor and Jeremy the webmaster. Board elections will occur in January 2008.
- Let’s Talk Forum: Anne was one of three or so York residents who attended the WWU CCC Let’s Talk Forum. There were 50 people in attendance. The new format of the Let’s Talk Forum (of being out in the neighborhoods) is working well. Regarding the WWU Late Night Shuttle nobody has responded to Anne. The noise is a disturbance. Rider-ship is high between downtown and WWU, however low when the bus comes through the residential section of York. Carolyn Mulder will write a letter to WWU requesting a timeline of reassessment of this shuttle bus.
Topics for next board meeting: holiday caroling and wagon ride, January board meeting agenda, board elections.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15.
Submitted by Libby Stark
York Planning Committee Report
October 17, 2007
Submitted by committee chair, Anne Mackie
Accomplishments this month:
- Hosted first general neighborhood meeting for the York Plan Update project: City Planner Chris Koch was guest speaker; 30 people attended; four work groups formed with leaders:
- Neighborhood Design (Stina),
- Parks, Recreation, Open Space (Helen),
- Transportation/traffic (David & Tom),
- Housing (Libby)
All have set follow-up meetings.
- The neighborhood assessment survey is continuing, and a group of WWU students have been recruited to conduct door-to-door surveys of residents who have not submitted a survey. Helen is coordinating this effort.
- A joint Sehome/York meeting is set for Monday, Nov. 5 at the Methodist Church, room B, 7:00p.m. to discuss the Samish Way Urban Village concept. A special letter of invitation will be mailed to business owners and residents within or near the York section. (See the attached letter of invitation and copy of Bellingham Herald article.)
Disaster Preparedness Meeting Notes
Monday, October 15, 2007
7:00-8:45
Attendees: Carol Dixon, Ivy Yap, Kirsten Shore, Libby Stark
- Review of YN picnic and new volunteers: Lucy and Jon have been identified as potential block captains. Carol notes that a lot of information was handed out at the picnic. Don Davis from the COB attended.
- Train-the-trainer with LuAnn Johnson review: Both Carol and Kirsten attended and state that the process is coming together after the training last month. The goal is to have block captains organize their neighbors to get together and then have a trainer (Carol or Kirsten) come and deliver the 90 minute presentation.
- Any more block captains? More structure to MYN block boundaries? It was decided that Ivy’s block, 1600 Grant, would be a good block to act as a guinea pig since there are currently two interested block captains and there is only one side to the street. Other potential block captains are Dale and Kirsten ( 1300 Humboldt), Marguerite and Libby (1400 Iron), Jennifer (1400 James), 1300 and 1400 Ellis (Carol), 1300 Franklin (also Carol, but she will check with Lynn and Ray).
Block captains will be given the sorted list of owner v rental properties and will be encouraged to include the cross streets (i.e. Potter, Gladstone, etc). Block captains are to use discretion when asking neighbors to participate. Ivy volunteered to design a postcard-type flier that can be given to neighbors when block captains are organizing to announce the upcoming event.
- Review list of owner v. renter occupied houses: Libby still needs to sort the list and will email it out the DP committee and any block captains.
- Other items and schedule of next meeting: Libby will email out a reminder for the 11/6 meeting at the COB (City Hall) where other neighborhoods share what they have been doing. Next meeting will be Monday, 11/12 at 7 pm at Carol’s.
Historic Preservation Committee Report
October preservation meeting has been rescheduled from Oct. 16 to Oct. 23, 7:00pm at Nelson’s Market, so no new information. We do not have any WWU Service Learning students to help with house identification. All students are working on the survey for plan update.
Franklin Park Committee Report
• The Work Party on Saturday, October 13, 9am-12pm: Six volunteers, with three coming from Western, worked on the Franklin Street Island project. We accomplished a great deal as we worked toward planting the island late next year, 2008.
• Franklin Park Improvements Grant The Franklin Park Improvements Committee with seven members attending met with Jonathan Schilk and Katie Franks on Monday, October 8, 2007, 5: 15pm-7pm. Jonathan presented a 30% completion- site plan for grant improvements. Members questioned and suggested on elements of the plan. Overall, members were favorable to the elements in the design. Jonathan, also, gave the committee approximate costs. At this point, the grant funds would fall short $65,088.61 from achieving funding for the current site plan. Katie mentioned some ways that we might raise funds and suggested going ahead with the improvements we can presently afford. Prices are such to go up the longer we wait. Decisions will need to be made on priorities and presented to the York Neighborhood Association.
Work Party scheduled for Saturday, October 27, 2007 from 9am-12pm with neighbors and Parks Department volunteers: The Park’s Volunteer Program is bringing volunteers from Western and native plants to plant on the Hillside above Franklin Park where neighborhoods have created a wooded trail. All Board members are invited to join in the fun of this worthwhile project!
Wine and Roses Garden Club Committee Report
The Wine and Roses Garden Club October meeting will be held October 24th at Mary Newman’s home. Items to be discussed will include:
- -The Christmas Progressive Dinner and White Elephant Exchange
- -Fund Raising Possibilities
Quality Committee Report
See above in meeting minutes.
Treasury Report