WECAN Board Meeting Minutes April 5, 2018
Board Members present: Joe Fioccola, Jared Fischer, Rebecca Lance,
Caroline Mullis and Pattiy Torno. Members not present: Danny Aull, Byron
Ballard, Jessie Coleman, Lynn Hall, Rachel Larson and Luke Perry. Also
Present: APD Officer Justin Wilson, Brenda Mills, Neighborhood
Communication Manager.
INTROS: Joe called the meeting to order at 6:36 pm.
APD/CRO Update: Justin reported recent crimes in March included a bicycle
theft by a BM 5’-8” dreadlocks from a porch on Jefferson, the theft of two
chained mopeds taken from a yard on Jefferson. Follow up on the Jefferson
turn around area were three calls of suspicious activity: two were for
prostitution but they left before officers arrived and the third found
someone claimed picking nettles for a restaurant. 130 Roberts St, Cypress
Creek had a grab of a cell phone from the desk. A house was broken into on
W Haywood Street through an unlocked ground floor window and a TV and
jewelry was taken. He also showed a snapshot comparison of the locations
of property crimes in March 2017 compared to March 2018. Rebecca asked
about pre-packaged advice for crime prevention. Justin will try to locate
a current pdf notice. Pattiy asked about a traffic incident where cars
parked on Clingman were hit by a blue truck. It was witnessed and drug
related and the driver was charged.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT: Brenda urged WECAN to prepare and think about what we
want to do. NNO is on August 7 and is an opportunity for neighbors to
interact with police and get to know each other. In the past WECAN has
gathered at Aston Park with a cookout and luminaria. In other years there
was a more concentrated event in city-county plaza or Carrier Park with
prizes and hot dogs provided by Target. Last year WECAN opted out and it
also rained heavily. This year a more dispersed observance in
neighborhoods is encouraged. Brenda will send out information and ideas
from other neighborhoods by next week. There is no fee for a city
permit and applications should be received by late June. We may want to
contact Target directly about sponsorships.
MINUTES: Joe read an amendment to the minutes:
WECAN HISTORY FLASHBACK FROM MARCH 1998: WECAN residents motivate County
officials to initiate a $30,000 cleanup of a 25-year old dumping site at
the intersection of West Haywood and Club/Trade Street. WECAN Board
members meet with the Asheville Greenway Plan consultants to encourage
neighborhood ravine as possible route for greenway connector from downtown
to the French Broad River, which leads to consultants’ recommendation of
this site. Letter sent to (and meetings with) Parks and Recreation halts
expansion plans for maintenance facility that is incompatible with WECAN
Neighborhood 2010 Plan WECAN Board appoints members to meet with
Hillcrest Community to discuss working together on problems affecting both
neighborhoods concerning the bypass walkover bridge. WECAN adopts
Clingman Avenue through the Adopt a Highway program. Jared moved and
Pattiy seconded a motion to approve the draft WECAN minutes from March 1
as emailed. The motion passed.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Rebecca reported the March 30 balance was $1072.42.
Following up on the revoked tax-exempt status she noted there are two
options. The first is called a postmark reinstatement which will cost $275
is easy to file with IRS and just reinstates the status from the date of
the postmark going forward but also needs more notifications to donors.
The second is a full retroactive reinstatement when revocations are older
than 15 months and which may cost $600. Pattiy offered to pay the
difference between the $275 and $600 and do the extra paperwork in order
to do the right thing. After discussion it was the unanimous opinion of
those present and 3 absentees to go for the second. There is a deadline of
May 15 to submit the application and a subcommittee of Rebecca, Pattiy and
Joe will meet on Sunday to begin the 6 month application process.
NCDOT ENCROACHMENT: Brenda has talked to Ken Putnam about the neighborhood
maintaining what we call the Melk Garden across from the bus garage and an
agreement with the city is needed like the one the city had for the mural
on N Lexington under the I-240 bridge. The city is the intermediary
between WECAN and NCDOT but NCDOT has a rule against planting on their
right-of-ways. There was some confusion about what the main goal was
(planting vegetables or keeping it clear of campsites.) Brenda will check
with him later this week about current vegetation and Transportation will
begin to draft the agreement with NCDOT and it shouldn’t take long for the
one between the city and WECAN. Rachel noted that NCDOT reneged on
removing trash they buried. Joe noted that Eric at Asheville Green Works
plans to follow up on the illegal process they used but will wait until
after WECAN has our encroachment agreement. [**Joe observed that NCDOT did
clean up the buried debris on April 6**]
DUKE RIGHT OF WAY: Duke’s power pole installation has begun. Some trees
have been removed from the Trade Street ravine others saved and only
trimmed. . Jason had offered wood chips for the community garden and Joe
met with the crew leader on Thursday March 29th and showed him where to
leave a load of wood chips but as late as Tuesday April 3 none were
delivered. Joe ran into Jason on Tuesday and he said he would follow up on
it. Jared was called by Kyra Thompson 828 279-0083 what kind of trees he
would like to be replaced there. He will ask for a medium height native
evergreen tree from their approved list to visually block sight of the
power lines.
MSD NEW LINE: Pattiy noted that MSD has mulched the top at the end of Park
Avenue and noted that trees cannot be replanted within ten feet of the
sewer line on either side. She is in touch with Shane Meadows from MSD
about the replanted Duke tree along Clingman.
RADTIP: April-June road closures: Pattiy reported that starting April 21
the section of Riverside between Craven Street and Hill Street will be
reduced to one lane under the railroad trestle for about six weeks with an
unmanned traffic signal that is triggered when a vehicle approaches from
the north or south.
OWENS-BELL PARK: Joe observed that the lyriope around the metal Owens-Bell
Park sign had been mowed just like the mulch and the mums that were
planted there before. Pattiy offered some corrugated metal that could
serve as a barrier to mowers.
QUEEN CARSON COMMUNITY GARDEN: Rebecca noted that there is still room
available for others interested in participating. The regular meeting day
is Tuesday at 6 pm. Byron received three water funnel kits ( like the one
in the garden now.) for a community garden that went defunct To complete
use as water catchment we need trash cans and cement blocks. Pattiy moved
and Jared seconded a motion to authorize spending around $50 to complete
them. The motion passed.
CENTRAL AREA MEETING: Joe attended the Neighborhood Advisory Committee
area meeting on Monday March 19. Only five neighborhood representatives
attended from two central neighborhood groups. Joe was disappointed that
the WECAN Chair didn’t show up. He offered that issues of a Duke Energy
substation proceeding in WECAN and three or four large scale apartment
complexes on Clingman Avenue between Hilliard to Patton that when complete
will double or triple the current resident population. A single family
house near his is being listed for almost a half million dollars. When
people pay that much for a house they come with expectations and community
is often not one of them. When gentrification comes-- like it has here, it
destroys community. It increases property taxes and only benefits
residents if they chose to leave and cash out. The next area meeting is in
North area in May. A brief discussion of purpose of meetings for input
rather than from organized group meetings followed.
COALITION OF ASHEVILLE NEIGHBORHOODS (CAN): Joe read an invitation from
CAN to attend their monthly meeting on Monday April 9. They have decided
to waive their 2018 membership fees to encourage participation. Their
meeting will cover neighborhood concerns, election of officers, future
meeting sites, new website and visioning. Pattiy’s experience is that CAN
is not an effective organization. Joe has issues with their membership
fees and they are struggling with their organization. The difference and
overlap between CAN and NAC leads to confusion. Controversial issues
brought to CAN and NAC include noise from businesses affecting residential
neighborhoods, and the road diet for Merrimon Avenue.
ADOPT A HIGHWAY: Last cleanup was on March 13 the next litter pickup will
be in June.
KUDZU HILLWORKDAY: The first was set for Sunday May 6 at 5 pm to keep the
invasive plants off the new hawthorn trees. Green Works will be asked for
use of the tool trailer.
AT-LARGE BOARD MEMBERS: Joe noted the WECAN By-Laws call for two classes
of membership. The first are Resident Members and the second are At-large
members. Up to 15 may serve in the 60/40 proportion. That means that with
9 current board members there should be 5 At-large members. Pattiy moved
and Jared seconded a motion to appoint Floree and Rafael back as At-Large
Board members. The motion passed Pattiy will ask Joe Faffy if he is
interested in serving.
RAD BANNERS: Pattiy explained a MOU between the city, RADA and RADBA which
allocates $25,000 to maintain vitality in the River Arts District during
the construction on RADTIP. Enthusiastic response was shown for 114
way-finding pole banners color-coded to the guide map with different
images and sponsors. They will go up in the next two weeks. Some of
Riverside should be done by June and due to loss of some parking at Jean
Webb Park there will be more parking under the Bowen Bridges and some
detours when apartments are constructed.
DUKE SUBSTATION: Pattiy heard from Jason that he is ready to reconvene the
working group which hasn’t met since September. Some progress has been
made on Knoxville Place with assurances that they are ‘looking after the
residents’ and had made contact with Mr. Harrison and expect to close by
August. Duke is ready to move forward.
BLOCK JESSIES: Jared’s neighbor gave up on dealing with the damage to his
house from the broken fire hydrant. Joe observed that it was 23 years ago
this day that fire destroyed the Asheville Cotton Mill and Chesterfield
Mill. Also that tree removal had begun on Girdwood Street next to the
Davens. With all the trees removes he considered changing the street name
to “Gird.” Pattiy explained that when RADTIP is complete her road would
be renamed River Arts Row and be one way north bound and need new
addressing for Curve Studios and 14 Riverside Drive. There will also be
artist housing north of Curve Studios and some realignment of Riverside
Drive by the Old Wood Co.
Meeting adjourned at 8:32 pm
Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola, Secretary
Important Upcoming Dates:
April 9 CAN Meeting 7 pm
April 17 Opioid Crisis-A Call To Action @Dr Wesly Grant Cntr 285
Livingston St 6-8 pm
April 20 NH leaders Roundtable 8:30 @ Riverlink
May 3 Next WECAN Board Meeting Thursday 6:30 pm
May 6 Kudzu Hill workday-5 pm
LIVING ASHEVILLE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The final draft is published and
there are several public meetings scheduled before it goes to City Council
for adoption in May.
