WECAN Board Meeting October 2, 2014 at 64 Clingman Ave.
Board Members Present were: Byron Ballard, Jessie Nell Coleman, Joe Fioccola, AnnaBeth Hardcastle, Rachel Larson and Luke W. Perry,. Board Members not present were Jeff Carnivale, Tom Gibson, Mike Kenton, Yuri Koslen, JoAnn Skinner ,Pattiy Torno and Suzanne Willis. Also present were: Marsha Stickford, CRO Sean Davis, Rafael Rettig.
Chair Rachel called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.
MINUTES: The Draft September minutes were approved as distributed. The treasurer reported no activity.
BOARD VACANCIES: Joe noted with Brett moving out of the neighborhood there is a board vacancy to be filled also an At Large vacancy. Rachel Nominated Rafael Rettig for the At Large position. It was approved unanimously.
APD/CRO UPDATE: Several homeless campsites were cleared out . There was extensive activity in the area between West Haywood Street and I-240. 17 tents were set up. Several arrests were made that cleared the downtown car break in cases and stolen property was recovered. DOT will clear the area once it is vacated. We need to have a conversation with them about maintenance. Chad Bandy who was with DOT now works for the city. Traffic blocking issues at the construction sites on West Haywood have moved on when contacted. Rachel will get the contact for the owner Bill McCurdie to notify his crews. A homeless man named Fritz with a long beard has been in the area usually seen picking up trash and recycling and is not a threat.
NEIGHBOR/BLOCK JESSIE UPDATES: Karl Daven's tail has been wandering the area. The sink hole at All Souls has been repaired. Marsha says sink holes are a big problem with aging water and sewer systems whose story needs to be told. AnnaBeth reported one on Jefferson. She also thanked the Garden Club (Joe and David Heetderks) for clearing the overgrowth at the end of Jefferson. Luke has received permits for Demo and Electric but not yet for water. New entertainment venue will be going in at the old Asheville Auto Parts on Riverside Drive near Southern States with parking for 400 cars and a Zombie Walk will happen soon at Aston Park. Luke announced that the Reid Center has been renovated and is now called the Eddington Center. Their grand reopening will be on October 18th. Kendra Penland is the interim Green Opportunities Director. The search continues for a new Executive Director.
MULTIGENERATIONAL CONVERSATION ON RACE AND AGE: Joe, Byron and Marsha attended part of the panel discussion at the Grant Center. The conversation overlapped with this WECAN Board meeting. Joe reported that about 30-40 people were there to hear the 6 panelists answer questions about experiences, issues and attitudes about race and age. Part One was sponsored by the Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Council and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNCA. Part Two will be scheduled for sometime in November. Marsha realized that the most important issue is campaign finance reform.
GRANTS/FUNDING: RADTIP was funded by a TIGER II Grant. No one present attended the meeting on Wednesday but this was only the first of more input meetings to come. Funding for the Greenway is still waiting for a decision from the TDA. Marsha announced there will be a meeting at Public Works on Monday from 5-6 pm about Municipal Service Districts and planning has been worked into the 5 year budget with the city's ability to obligate bonds at a low interest rate. Also letters have gone out to residents in the three newly announced Innovation Zones: Charlotte St, South Slope and River Arts District. For more information check the Projects Page on the city website.
STORM WATER ISSUE: Rafael requested more information and when he gets it will send another letter. The problem is that the city was aware of the erosion problem when the plans for the new middle school were approved but they didn't address it. The initial plans lacked drainpipes which were added later but may not address the problem and a lack of cooperation from the school. AnnaBeth noted that until this year there has been no school construction in the city for over fifty years and therefore builders today have a steep learning curve and may not have experience with new problems. Rafael will draft a letter of support for the WECAN Board to discuss and approve.
MASTER PLANNING: The committee needs to reconvene to be ready to answer what our number one priority need is: facilitation? The new Director of Urban Planning may not be hired until January and will be doing some actual planning and not just plan-review. Our plan needs an update. Luke noted that some work has already been done. Joe will compile and distribute the summary committee notes. Marsha encouraged us to be vigilant. It is up to neighborhoods to make neighborhoods important to the city. We need to be part of the process in hiring and when the new director is hired we need to be ready. Our input into hiring should assert that all neighborhoods that desire it will have a neighborhood plan and area plans should include neighborhood vision and land use. Byron noted that the city doesn't have neighborhood strategies only development potential. Marsha noted there is a role here for the Neighborhood Advisory Committee to help.
STREET LIGHTS: Report any street lights out to Marsha with a Pole Number. They may be reported to the Duke Power website but may be State DOT lights. Marsha is working on getting a light at the end of Jefferson.
TROLLEY BRIDGE: The bridge was found to be structurally sound and does not need to be replaced but some work may need to be done with guard rails.
NEW BELGIUM BREWERY: Marsha reported that cement pouring will begin at 4 am on Saturday October 18 and go on all day. Byron noted that their communication with the neighborhoods has been inconsiderate.
COMMUNITY GARDEN: Byron planned to attend the Meeting of the Whole with the Food Policy Council and will contact Agricultural Extension Agent Allison Arnold. Marsha noted we need to recruit allies and put forth the proposal and make it strong with interesting aspects of success. The delays are coming from the city's resistance to manage these projects.
WEST HAYWOOD STONE WALL REPAIR: Joe Byron, Rachel and Marsha visited the storage site for the granite curbstones with Jerry Yates. They are located at a secure site near Azalea Park. Joe and Byron are trying to get an estimate on repairing the wall. Marsha is planning a meeting with DOT and APD about maintaining the Melk site and she will see what they say about the site and stone wall.
CONTACT LISTS: The contact list needs to be updated before the next newsletter goes out in November. Rachel will work on the email, face book, next door, etc lists.
WECAN NEWSLETTER: Suggested articles: Byron: Two Neighborhoods into One; Luke: The history of Yarrow Place; Joe: Adopt a Highway and Garden Club; Rachel: Olympians in WECAN; Other suggestions considered.The copy deadline will be November 10 and the publication date will be November 20. The General Membership meeting will be on December 4.
HALLOWEEN ON JEFFERSON: Jefferson neighbors are organizing some kind of event. We are looking at displaying jack-o-lanterns on the wall past Jefferson on West Haywood Street. AnnaBeth and Yuri should inform the Jefferson Neighbors about the details.
GARDEN CLUB WEDNESDAYS: The projects for the four Wednesdays may include Short Hilliard, Roberts Street, Knoxville Place, Girdwood Street. Look for the new sign with the times on site on Tuesdays.
REVIEW PLANNING NOTES: Joe reviewed the year's Planning goals were: Community Building Activities,( gatherings on Jefferson) Garden Club Tuesdays (changed to Wednesdays), Supplemental Census (started), Master Planning(see above), Mailing List (see above) and Meet with EWANA (pending).
The meeting adjourned at 8:16 p.m.
DRAFT Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola.
November 6 next WECAN Board Meeting 6:30 pm at 64 Clingman Avenue
