Thursday, April 7, 2011

WECAN April 2011 Board Meeting Minutes • Draft


WECAN Board Meeting on Thursday April 7, 2011 at Merritt Park Meeting Room
Members present: Jessie Coleman, Joe Fioccola, AnnaBeth Hardcastle, and Pattiy Torno.
Members not present were: Byron Ballard, Jeff Carnivale, Bret Frk, Tom Gibson, Yuri Koslen, Geraldine Melendez, Luke W. Perry and Jose Ruiz.
Also present were: Mike Kenton, Marsha Stickford and Officer Billy Brittain. 
Pattiy called the meeting to order at 6:33. The March minutes were approved as distributed.
Board Vacancy: Pattiy moved and Jessie seconded to Appoint Mike Kenton as an At-large member of the WECAN Board.  Motion passed and his term shall be until the Annual General Membership meeting in the Fall when he can be nominated as a resident Board member.
Neighborhood Watch:  We were expecting a map from Yuri. Marsha will bring a large map with property owners and addresses to the May meeting. It will take more work to divide blocks and develop Captains. Mike volunteered to be a block captain in his area. Once identified the block captains should meet to learn best practices about making contacts and who to report to.
Succession: Pattiy is looking for someone to  maintain the email and address list when she rotates of the board in 2012.
Crime Issues: 411 W Haywood St was broken into. A scooter taken from Jefferson Dr was recovered. Thanks to Zac who reported seeing it and Officer Coward for recovering it. On 3/14 the Silver Dollar was broken into.   Unknown whether any of these can be related to the opening of the pedestrian walkway to Hillcrest. Homeless campsites have been appearing with the warmer weather in the wooded ravine east of Clingman Ave. The City has a protocol working with service providers to advise people that setting up campsites is not legal or healthy and what options are available. Let Jackie Stepp or Marsha know if you see any.
Arbor Day:  Pattiy received an email from Susan Roderick announcing Asheville’s Arbor day Celebration on Saturday April 9,2011 at Aston Park. 1:00 Asheville’s 31st Tree City USA Presentation. 12:00 Dig holes and plant 11 Shade Trees at Aston Park. 1:00 refreshments, enjoy the beautiful park and “There will be prizes and fun for the whole family.”
For more information call Asheville Greenworks at 254-1776 or visit www.ashevillegreenworks.org.
Not to be confused with the YWCA Service project spreading mulch and cleaning playground equipment at Aston Park on April 16 from 9:00 to Noon. (Contact Lindsey Simerly at 280-3333 or Lindsey@HeathShuler.com.
Stand Against Racism: YWCA’s event will be on Friday April 29 at the Glen Rock Depot more information at www.ywcaofasheville.org Aston Gateway Community Board will hold their event on Saturday April 30 at Aston Park documenting stories about Aston Park.
Networking with other neighborhoods: Luke emailed Pattiy that no progress on Hillcrest connection, but thanks for the sidewalk repairs, lighting still needed.  DOT has not vetoed any uses of the area under the Smokey Park Bridges and may consider recommendations to city council from the AARDC concerning DOT rights of way. There is better fencing but Officer Britain reported anecdotally that some people are still crossing the interstate. Marsha reported the problems encountered in getting lighting and cameras placed at Hillcrest. Council wants a twilight walkthrough after all the lights are installed.
COA East of Riverway: Pattiy was advised that raw data from the door to door survey will be made available to us. 140 surveys were received from WECAN, S French Broad, Livingston and Hillcrest neighborhoods. 49 came from WECAN alone 12 of which were received on-line.  
Clingman Avenue Streetscape: Pattiy talked to Greg Shuler who is “disappointed with our utility partners.” Still waiting on AT&T and Cablevision to move their lines so the old utility poles can be removed and the project completed. Still shooting for a completion date for a parade from Hilliard to Roberts possibly on June 9th.
LED Streetlights: The city will begin placing and replacing 500 led streetlights in the WECAN area but not on any state roads(i.e. Clingman Ave or Patton Ave.) Pattiy suggested creative ways of celebrating the energy saving lights such as decorating the poles with recycled paper decorations.
AARDC Between the Bridges : Some idea drawings were made to help property owners see potential development ideas for properties such as the Stockyards, the Ice House and the Buncombe County School Maintenance areas. They can be viewed at the Asheville Design Center Office on College at 14 College St. There are no immediate plan for the Dave Steel property and perhaps environmental unknowns.
Joe attended the Community Land Trust meeting at the ADC. This came out of a desire from the Burton Street Community to preserve community gardens and affordable housing. There are no current mechanisms or entities to create a land trust. And some problems  in keeping housing affordable and avoiding gentrification with open green spaces. More meetings will follow.
Announcements: two new restaurants opening soon: The Taco Shop at the Hatchery Building will open as soon as they get a C.O. with 45 seats inside and 45 outside in the fenced area. The Junction will also open in the Pink Dog Creative Building on Depot St.   
Curve Studios will have an open house on Friday April 27 from 5-8 p.m.
Jessie Nell Coleman was nominated and selected to be honored this month as one of the first group of Asheville’s Living Treasures. Congratulations! Thanks and well done, Jessie.
Meeting adjourned at 7:52 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola.


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

NeXT WECAN monthly Board Meeting

This Thursday April 7, 2011 @ 6:30pm @ 64 Clingman Avenue, MHO's first floor Conference Room!! BE THERE!

WECAN Board Meeting Minutes 4January 2024