WECAN Board Meeting Minutes
October 6, 2016
Board Members present: Joe Fioccola and Rebecca Lance.
Members not present: Byron Ballard, Jessie Nell Coleman Tom Gibson, Mike Kenton, Rachel
Larson, Floree Lowery, Luke
Perry, JoAnn Skinner, Pattiy
Torno and Suzanne Willis.
Also
Present: APD Officer Sean Davis and Marsha Stickford.
Secretary
Joe Fioccola called the meeting to order
at 6:35 pm.
MINUTES: Joe moved and Rebecca seconded
a motion to approve the minutes of the September meeting as distributed and one
correction to the August minutes (that the date said July). The motion passed. There was no treasurer’s report just that Rebecca is
working with the bank to get control of the account but she was able to make a
deposit.
APD/CRO UPDATE: Officer Sean Davis worked with the PACT Team about
someone sleeping outside the Clingman Lofts was complicated by a resident
supposedly giving permission. He noted several break and entering throughout
the city especially of vehicles. A vehicle on Jefferson was one and the suspect
was caught. A vehicle on Rector had a GPS and MP3 taken and no leads. A
homeless camp off Knoxville Place was cleared and ongoing vigilance on the hill
behind the Boy Scouts Building. Marsha emphasized that the Asheville App should
not be used for several police responses since it is only monitored during
business hours. If there is a need for more urgent police response you should
use the non emergency number 252-1110 or if it is an emergency use 911. Joe
noted that Chief Hooper is on the cover of the Mountain Xpress this week which
published a good interview.
BLOCK JESSIES: Luke reported a new light was placed on Hilliard across from
Rector Street. Rebecca reported meeting a new neighbor Danny with four dogs.
She also is hosting four hens and will go to animal control for permits.
WECAN NEWS: Joe has drafted about a
half dozen articles for the annual newsletter: Plan on a Page, Clingman
Triangle, Queen Carson Garden, New Neighbors, 20th anniversary year,
Owens Bell Park. There is room for more but the deadline will be the next Board
Meeting on November 3 for distribution before Thanksgiving.
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE/EMAIL
LIST: Joe
noted that with all the comings and goings in the neighborhood there is a need
to update the email list and maybe do a door-to-door membership drive. Rebecca
asked about a door-to-door distribution of the newsletter to curb postage costs
but mailboxes can’t be used. This should happen in November.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE: There is a need to identify
potential board members for the class of 2019. As noted in last month’s minutes
both Joe and Jessie must rotate off the board next year and both AnnaBeth and
Jeff have moved out of WECAN. This committee can met separately to make a list
or we can take time from the November meeting to brainstorm names.
OWENS-BELL PARK TENTH ANNIVERSARY REPORT: Joe reported that 5 people came out to note the
tenth anniversary. Four hardy mums were planted at the park sign. (and a
neighbor offered to keep watering them.) The original program was on view. And
some memories of the area that became the park from Floree and Joe. He did
speak to Gloria Howard Free she didn’t know where the original banner was nor the
original photos but said she would talk to Parks and Rec about it. He also
observed the stream that was flowing albeit not very strong. Also that the “w”
was missing from the kiosk was reported to Pattiy.
GARDEN CLUB:
On Sept 7 the sign garden hedge was trimmed and the garden weeded and some
volunteer hedges moved. The regular workday was changed from Wednesday to
Mondays for the rest of the year.
MELK LOT:
New ‘No Trespassing’ signs have been posted by NCDOT. However their assertion
of ownership does not excuse their irresponsible neglect of maintenance of the
invasive kudzu flowing into the street.
COMMUNITY GARDEN REPORT: On October 4 the invasion
of the micro ‘maters and macro cucuzzi monsters was substantially repelled. Strawberries
were also planted –thanks to the Sand Hill Community Garden. Marsha noted that
Food Policy was moving to Sustainability and our contract with the
pollinator/blueberry amendment would need to be renewed and revised. The final
report on the pilot program should be submitted when the season is done. She
also encouraged us to invite Amber Weaver to a future meeting. She also had
been in touch with Transit about mowing the pollinators and they told her it
looked like grass to them which indicates that there need to be boundaries such
as large rocks set to let them know where the grass ends.
CLINGMAN TRIANGLE
PLANTING:
Joe asked about the trees that have been cut between the circle and All Souls
Pizza. Marsha explained that it was not NCDOT nor the city but Duke who did the
work in relation to their power lines. She will contact the new NCDOT people
about the planting.
GRAIL MOVIE HOUSE: Luke found the cost to use
the facility and the need to have permission for public performance and
decision whether to charge a nominal admission or ask for donations.
MEEHAN FACILITY REPORT: Joe noted the city
approved Tribute as developer of the facility at 338 Hilliard Ave. into
affordable housing. Marsha advised that Parks and Rec had until March 2017 to
vacate the property. Joe asked about seeing the designs before then. She
suggested emailing Jeff Staudinger and/or Heather Dillingham for that. Joe
asked about Clingman Forest Greenway construction and Marsha answered that we
should invite Lucy Crown to a future meeting to talk about the greenway plans.
OPEN CITY HALL: Joe noted that it was open
for comments on the Haywood Street/Page Avenue Planning, and Transit planning
and for the Comp Plan Update even though the survey deadline has passed.
ASHEVILLE COMPREHENSIVE
PLAN PUBLIC WORKSHOP: Rescheduled for Monday October 10th from 6-8 pm at the
Collider at 1 Haywood Street( in the Wells Fargo Building.) There will be a
compilation of all the survey results.
BOND ISSUE PUBLIC MEETING: Central Asheville - 7 p.m. Wednesday Oct 12 at the City of Asheville Public Works Building, 161 S. Charlotte St. In August, Asheville City Council approved a general obligation bond referendum that would generate $74 million for public improvements financed by the bonds. The public improvements are divided into three categories: Housing Affordability, $25 million, Parks & Recreation, $17 million , Streets, Sidewalks and Bike Lanes, $32 million. Voters will vote separately on each category. For those unable to attend the Bond Expos, the City has educational material online. The City launched a bond referendum information Webpage <http://www.ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CommunityRelations/Asheville2016BondReferendumInformation.aspx> that provides detailed information how bonds work, what the impact could be on taxes and other information. The webpage features an interactive Proposed 2016 Bond Referendum Story Map <https://avl.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=069bbb5b4bdb4a10a6b4a723f8a92cdd>
guides voters through some examples of projects included in the proposed bond package.
HALLOWEEN SOCIAL: Monday October 31 with potluck at 5:30 and trick or treating between 6 and 6:30 or until dark. Rebecca will repeat the notifications she used last year. Joe agreed to build another kiddy maze.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT: There needs to be some planning if there is to be an event
and time is running short to do something to mark either anniversary date:
October 27 or November 5.
FESTIVAL OF
NEIGHBORHOODS WORKSHOPS: Joe reported that the Neighborhood Advisory Committee was putting on
four workshops on Sunday November 13 from 2-5 pm. They are Social Media,
Visioning/Neighborhood Engagement, Circle Forward Dynamic Governance and Crime
Prevention/Neighborhood Watch/Safety.
Marsha noted that a request for neighborhood registration has been sent
out and the map on the neighborhood services page was up and the info would
pull in from the registrations.
Meeting adjourned at 7:37
pm
Minutes submitted by Joe
Fioccola
Mark Your Calendars for upcoming
WECAN dates:
Oct 10 6-8
pm Asheville Comprehensive Plan Update Workshop at the Collider
Oct 14 New
Belgium Sustainability Tour
Nov 3 6:30
WECAN Board
Nov 8 Election
Day ( Not a WECAN Event)
Nov 13 Festival
of Neighborhoods workshops 2-430 AB Tech
Nov 19 Saturday
at the Grant Center Placement of Historic Markers
