WECAN Board Meeting on Thursday June 2, 2011 at Merritt Park Meeting Room
Members present: Byron Ballard, Jeff Carnivale, Jessie Coleman, Joe Fioccola, AnnaBeth Hardcastle, Yuri Koslen, and Pattiy Torno. Members not present were: Bret Frk, Tom Gibson, Mike Kenton, Geraldine Melendez, Luke W. Perry and Jose Ruiz.
Also present were: Marsha Stickford and Officers Coward, Hernandez and Stepp.
Pattiy called the meeting to order at 6:32. After introductions the May meeting minutes were approved as distributed.
Crime Issues: No news. Issue of people sleeping in a shed with a port-a-potty guarding the Silver Dollar which was broken into. Everyone is encouraged to keep reporting campsites due to the positive response by D.O.T. Jeff reported that the turn around area at the end of Jefferson was overgrown with kudzu and weeds. Marsha will check with her D.O.T. contacts to see if maintenance is on their list or if it is a city responsibility. Neighbors have cut back the overgrowth in the past. Quarterly Adopt-A Highway Litter Pickup was set for Wednesday June 15 at 9 am. (followed by a weeding ‘party’ at Owens Bell Park at 6 p.m.) (Rain date July 16)
AnnaBeth and Yuri have volunteered to serve as a D.O.T Contact Committee to initiate a conversation about their many properties in WECAN. Marsha said identifying problem properties—even non-D.O.T. properties—helps the police know where patrols are needed. There has been a lot of interest focused on the East of Riverway or RADTIP areas identifying problems. D.O.T is still working on fabricating fencing around the pedestrian bridge. Jackie reported only one call in the last month there. Evan reported that Mr. Crisp at 344 W Haywood St had a lot of things taken from his yard. Luke sent an email from Africa with thanks for the new LED Lighting.
Neighborhood Watch Block Captains: Joe passed around a copy of the block captain areas from 2005. Yuri emphasized that he wanted more than just safety and security of property. He wanted contacts from all parts of the neighborhood and across the community--even by email if people don’t ever come to meetings. Yuri volunteered to serve on the Block Captain Sub-Committee with Jeff and come to the next meeting with a time frame and strategy to ‘volunteer’ (i.e. identify and recruit) likely candidates for block captains.
East of Riverway Survey Results: Pattiy reported that she has received the raw data including all the comments(without identifying information) from the 55 surveys received in March. Some question about who maintains weeds and plantings. RAD had a garden club they like to use to build community. Jeff reported that the turn around area at the end of Jefferson was overgrown with kudzu and weeds. Marsha will check with her D.O.T. contacts to see if maintenance is on their list or if it is a city responsibility. Neighbors have cut back the overgrowth in the past.
Pattiy reported a statistic that she heard that for Census Tract 9 an area from the French Broad River east to McDowell St/Biltmore Ave between I240 to Meadow Rd. (which includes WECAN) the population has increased from 2500-3500.
Pattiy reported that AMP the Asheville Mural Project was planning to create a mural at Hillcrest on June 11, 2011. Coordinated by Ian Wickerson from Arts to People. They have a studio at Riverview Station. This group is responsible for the murals at the old Club Del Cardo on Eagle St and the I240 bridge over N. Lexington Ave.
Clingman Avenue Streetscape: Marsha advised that the $250,000 approved by Council paid for the section along the traffic circle in Phase one and that moving the utilities has been more expensive than expected. However progress continues and the bike lanes are now expected to be open by the end of summer. No time frame for the bulb outs, cross walks and ‘ped heads’ but Yuri will update us and Marsha and Pattiy will keep us posted on developments.
LED Streetlights in WECAN: Byron reported a problem with one of the new lights to Marsha. It was tested with a light meter and refocused off the house. Some people feel they are still too bright, even if they are more energy efficient. Pattiy alerted all to watch for ‘snipe signs’ at the bases of the new light’s poles labeled ‘AVL LED ^.’
Reid Center: Pattiy reported that th3 W.C.Reid Center was awarded a $4 million HUD grant to rehab the building at 1333 Livingston St into a job training center. Credit to David Nash from Ashveille Housing Authority for pursuing this. There will be a community input meeting at the Reid Center on Tuesday June 7 at 6 p.m. for residents and interested parties from surrounding neighborhoods such as S French Broad, Erskine, Livingston, WECAN, etc. Marsha will ask for a more formal invitation to publish.
WECAN Garden Club: Sunny Cultural Garden needs urgent weeding. Quarterly Adopt-A Highway Litter Pickup was set for Wednesday June 15 at 9 am. (followed by a weeding ‘party’ at Owens Bell Park at 6 p.m.) (Rain date July 16.)
Pattiy celebrated several restaurants in WECAN including (in no particular order) Silver Dollar, 12Bones, Ruth’s at the Wedge, Clingman Café, Deborahs Stockyard Café, Burger Bar, the Junction at the Pink Dog, Magnetic Field and the White Duck Taco Shop.
General Membership Meeting: Do we need to have 2 a year? Yes, according to the by-laws. It was acceptable to hold the general Membership meeting concurrent with the regular monthly board meeting. The date has been set for Thursday September 1. Anna Beth volunteered to draft a change to the by-laws that would only require one general membership meeting a year to elect new board members. She will present it at the July Board meeting.
Byron volunteered to take over responsibility for the WECAN News Blog.
Announcements: Jeff reported for the Aston Gateway Community Board that the additional fencing for the basketball court should be in. Tai-Chi classes Wednesday mornings at 10:30 were very popular. Sophia will be leading a meditation class is on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. beginning soon. They are still looking for a Yoga instructor to have classes on another day or evening. There is some funding available. ($18 per class for 20 weeks/ flexible schedule.) The grant will be completed on June 30 with no money left over. Jeff reported that 25-30 people attended the Open House on Saturday May 21. The Aston Gateway Community Board will continue to meet quarterly. There is a feeling that there is room for more in the park such as a piece of art even though some think there is too much already and don’t want anything else. It was also noted that throughout the city there are very few historic markers or monuments other than war memorials. Rebecca is in the process of rewriting the text of the historic marker and will publish for input when the draft is ready—no timeframe set yet.
AnnaBeth announced an end to construction at her house and an informal Jefferson Block Party on Saturday starting at 3 with Sangria and Mojitos and grilling.
Meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola.
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