WECAN Meeting Minutes October 3, 2019

WECAN Meeting Minutes October 3, 2019

64 Clingman Avenue Meeting room 6:30 pm

Board Members present: Joe Fioccola, Lynn Hall, and Rebecca Lance 

Members not present Danny Aull, Sherrod Barnes-Ginifer, Lesa Peterson, Rich Peterson, Sandi Sox, and Shelly Schenker. 

Also present:  Amanda Paffrath, Gerald Harbinson, Sylvia Organ, Patricia Oran and APD CRO Justin Wilson. 

CALL TO ORDER:  

Lynn called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm with a round of introductions and two get-well cards for residents on Jefferson Drive.

  

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  

Rebecca moved and Joe seconded a motion to approve the draft minutes from August and September. The motion passed.

APD CRO UPDATE:  

Sandy’s Requested Discussion: Crime is on an uptick. What is APD doing to combat it? And what can we do in conjunction with APD and individually to better protect our neighborhood and property?

           Justin reported daytime break in at 11 Park Avenue North front door glass broken and jewelry box taken. Also an evening break in window screen cut and window pushed in leather bag and some change taken and last month in the 400 block of West Haywood St. For each there were no leads: (no witnesses, no evidence or attempts to pawn items.) He advised that what is most helpful are cameras, alarms, securing items properly. Asked about the amount of patrols in WECAN—it is difficult to track. He offered prevention tips: well kept property, visible from the street, lighting. He also reported that beginning in January 2020 the department will begin redistricting making 3 districts into 4. WECAN will be with South Slope, RAD and downtown roughly from Meadow Road to I-240. He will keep us posted on updates. Other activity reported: DOT cleaned up homeless camp, a tire slasher in the north area also on Clingman, a vehicle stolen from a business on Roberts Street (keys taken from a desk), smash and grab purse from a vehicle near the boat ramp. Lyn reported a homeless camp under the Smith Bridge.

NEIGHBOR/BLOCK JESSIE UPDATES: 

Joe reported that the dedication of a tennis court to the memory of Lewis Isaac, (retired long time city employee and resident on Owens Bell Lane) was postponed from October 24 to November 5 at 6 pm.

Rebecca reported that Pete Basset-long time resident of Jefferson was in an accident and can’t drive any more. Some neighbors were bringing him meals. She also reported that 31 Jefferson was finally occupied. Lyn found that building was not beginning at the end of Jefferson. There was mention of a person living in a camper vehicle on Jefferson.

TREASURER’S REPORT:

 Rebecca reported a balance of $1725.45 (with a $650 payment waiting an invoice from LEAF.)

OLD BUSINESS: UPDATES:

SAFE STREETS: 

Rich received the following plan from the Transportation director:
As a follow-up to our previous meeting, this email summarizes our action plan going forward:

• City Transportation Department Staff will complete the following by the end of October:
• install all-way stop control at intersection of W Haywood St and Green St due to limited visibility
• install a "Road Narrows" sign with a supplemental "Be Prepared to Stop" plaque at each end of W Haywood St between Roberts St and Park Ave N.
• coordinate with Public Works staff to pursue some grass trimming in the northeast and southeast corners of the Roberts St and W Haywood St intersection
• install "No Parking" signage on W Haywood St from the north side of #409's driveway to the Club St intersection.
• Reducing the size of this area was evaluated; however, due to proximity to the intersection and its stop sign, driveway spacing, and the presence of fire hydrant there is not sufficient room for a parked vehicle.
• City Transportation Department Staff will pursue City Council action on the following within the next couple months
• codify 20mph speed limit on W Haywood St between Park Ave N and Roberts St. Once codified, corresponding speed limit signs will be installed. 
• codify 25mph speed limit on Hilliard Ave/W Haywood St between Clingman Ave and Park Ave N. Once codified, corresponding speed limit signs will be installed and radar speed feedback signs to be rotated temporarily to the area.
• Neighborhood to provide input on the City Pedestrian, Greenway, and ADA Transition Plans to be updated soon. These plans help guide City policy development and sidewalk projects
• In the future if the sidewalk along W Haywood St extends south to the Hilliard Avenue intersection and ADA ramps installed, we will be happy to consider the installation of crosswalk markings and corresponding signage at the intersection.

After the action steps identified above have been in place for a while (~6 months), we will be happy to collect updated counts to measure their impact and evaluate additional neighborhood requests. At this time, an all-way stop is not warranted at the W Haywood St/Hilliard Avenue intersection or the W Haywood St/Roberts St intersection. 

Thank you, Andrew Andrew Cibor, PE, PTOE

RADTIP UPDATE: 

 Joe relayed information from the Neighborhood Leaders Roundtable: Work on the Five Points Roundabout is beginning. Detours are to be expected beginning on March for about 4 months. There will be an all way stop at the Grey Eagle intersection then. Completion date for RADTIP is August 2020. The Stone Yard development will begin work in October with a completion date of spring 2021 when way-finding signs are also expected. November 9 and 10 are the dates for the Studio Stroll. Curve Studios  at 3,5 &7 River Arts Place will celebrate 30 years on October 12 with extended hours from 10 am to 6 pm. 2 pm Artist Talk, 4-6 pm Happy Hour in the garden, 4:30 Chair Arch unveiling and 5 pm Birthday cake cutting.

BOARD RECRUITMENT:

 Lyn submitted his resignation by email on September 23,2019 as Chair of WECAN Board effective December 31 and that he could not attend the November or December meetings. Rebecca asked for clarification who is the vice chair and will they move to Chair? Lynn will ask Lesa to chair the meetings in November and December. Eligible to serve on the board include:  Matthew, Byron, Mike, Rachel, Sylvia, Amanda, Lynn, JoAnne, Pattiy and Suzanne.  

REDUCING MEETING FREQUENCY: 

A board email discussion suggested: “Perhaps WECAN consider meeting every other month or even quarterly if monthly participation is waning.” Joe explained some reasons for meeting monthly. One reason is the by-laws. Another is that things come up each month and we are ready to hear them. The CRO and Liaison come monthly to respond to issues. Issues get worse when they are held for 2 or 3 months and having a regular meeting place and time is easier to remember than which month do we meet and also for general members to know when the board meets. It is also critical that we meet and get to know our neighbors face to face rather than in a virtual online community. No action was taken. 

HALLOWEEN PARTY: 

Wednesday Oct. 31 at 5:30 pm behind the WECAN Queen Carson Community Garden. Rebecca has the laminated signs to post. This is a Pot Luck Social gathering with costumes optional. Gerald offered to provide name tags to get to know neighbors. Some discussion about a WECAN story board, what’s going on, and social media signups: Face Book, Meeting info, CTO contacts, email etc.  Sylvia offered to create a scavenger hunt/bingo activity collecting names of people you didn’t know, favorite costume, etc.

NEWSLETTER PLANNING:

 Joe set the copy deadline for Monday October 21. Pattiy offered to write up Curve 30th Anniversary, River Arts Place and maybe RADTIP and remembering Lewis Isaacs; Charlie will submit a comic; Rebecca will write up about offering the WECAN Tiles for sale; Byron offered to write about Pattiy’s Tree; Rich may write about Traffic and street safety; Sherrod may write about the community garden;  (Other topics to consider: Kudzu Hill, Duke, Encroachment agreement, I-26 Connector and the Kassinger Hilliard development—if anyone feels inspired.) Rebecca will lead the delivery team during the second week in November.

REQUEST TO ACT AS PASS THROUGH: 

Background: Pattiy was offered a donation of beer from New Belgium for the Curve Studios 30th anniversary party. They requested the donation go through WECAN for tax purposes. Some board members were uncomfortable about that and asked for a professional opinion. An opinion was offered that characterized the request as fiscal sponsorship and offered a way for cash donations to be solicited in return for the beer. Added to that were requirements for insurance and paid professional bar staff and a proposal was made by email to the WECAN Board. Four board members approved the proposal by email (Lynn, Lesa, Rich, Rebecca.) Four made no comment (Joe, Sandi, Sherrod and Danny). 

Discussion: Joe thought the proposal was unnecessary because the professional opinion assumed it was a cash donation and did not consider that it would be an in-kind donation for a community use going to a business (and not an individual.)He found nothing in IRS pub 526 Charitable Contributions to conflict with this.

A heated discussion followed which also covered whether motions and votes can be taken by email. Finally Rebecca moved to adopt the following proposal and Lynn seconded.

To accept a donation from New Belgium Brewery of approximately 5 cases of beer with a retail value of $150 and make the beverages available for the Curve 30th anniversary party where WECAN will ask patrons to donate money to WECAN in exchange for the beverages. Further, WECAN understands that professional bartenders hired by Curve will serve the beer and take responsibility for monitoring consumption and that Curve has liability insurance covering the event that extends to WECAN. Lastly, WECAN will separately adopt a policy resolution covering the subject fund raising activity that details fair and measurable criteria which affords WECAN residents and businesses equal access to similar sponsored fund raising activities.  The motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm

Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola, Secretary 

Mark your Calendars for upcoming events, volunteer opportunities and meetings:

October 6   5 pm         Kudzu Hill

October 13        5 pm Melk Encroachment workday

October 12        10-5       Second Saturday at the RAD: LEAF Easel Rider 

October 12       30 Anniversary at Curve Studios

October 13                         Greenworks Tree Giveaway

October 20       5 pm Melk Encroachment workday

October 21       Newsletter copy deadline

October 27       5 pm Kudzu Hill

October 31        5:30 pm Halloween Pot Luck Social

November 3                       Daylight Savings Time ends

November 3     5 pm Kudzu Hill workday

November 5                       Election Day

November 5     6 pm Dedication of Lewis Isaac Tennis Court

November 7     6:30pm WECAN Board Meeting