Draft WECAN Board meeting minutes June 2022

WECAN Board Meeting Minutes June 2, 2022 Virtual meeting via Zoom at MHO @ 6:30 pm

 Board Members present: Joe Fioccola, Rebecca Lance, Rachel Larson, Sylvia Organ, Rich Peterson, Carrie Pettler and Pattiy Torno

Board Members not present: Byron Ballard, Stephanie El-Hajj, Mike Kenton, Brittany Wager, Davina Weirich and Suzanne Willis. 

Also present: Brian and Swann Lander, Lesa Peterson, Kristina Israel, Neighborhood and Community Engagement Manager; Lucy Crown, COA Transportation; Mike Sule, Asheville on Bikes; Rev.Brian Combs; McKenzie Dillingham and April Nance HSCD Board;

 CALL TO ORDER: Rebecca called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm.

 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Pattiy moved and Rebecca seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the May 5 Meeting as distributed and corrected. The motion passed.

 TREASURER’S REPORT: Pattiy did not update the previous balance of $1717.23

 BLOCK JESSIES: REBECCA brought up the issue of an Air B&B at 24 Jefferson that was renting all 3 units and may have violated the city rules—in order to rent your home for less than 30 days, you must have a ‘homestay’ permit, allowing for the rental of up to two rooms on a short-term basis as long as the owners or caretaker also lives in the house. Some rules have recently been changed by the state. PATTIY updated on Owens-Bell Park that Parks and Rec completed the work of installing timbers to line the path and mulching that looks great. She has a bid from Royce Tree service to remove the Bradford pear and trim one of the mulberries but the maintenance agreement needs to be amended and Suzanna Horton is working on that. She also noted that a new supply of wood chips has arrived at the end of Park Ave today. JOE removed knotweed and trash from the Melk Drive (6 hrs) and from ‘short’ Hilliard (1 hour).  He tries to work on Sunday mornings when there isn’t a lot of traffic or rain. The city has an agreement with the NCDOT and WECAN has an agreement with the city to maintain and clear the site before any planting can begin. PATTIY also observed that the Edible Triangle needs a lot of weeding but the blueberries are doing well. Also that Jessie Coleman celebrated her 84^th birthday last weekend.

 CLOSE THE GAP:  Lucy Crown showed a map of the GAP (Greenway/ADA/Pedestrian) Study showing Pedestrian Network Components in the WECAN area. There was some confusion about lines representing sidewalks or proposed sidewalks on West Haywood, Club/Trade and Roberts Street and whether sidewalks were even possible due to steep, hilly and narrow streets. One effort is to make the East Patton Study more functional and to slow down traffic to share the roadbeds. Rachel asked about the Steps to the Hillcrest walkover and ADA efforts there and the utility easement between Club/Trade and West Haywood. Sylvia is also concerned about truck traffic-- not so much delivery trucks but semis that often get stuck. Pattiy will connect Lucy with Sylvia and Brian for a walk through.

 UNPAVED SURFACES INITIATIVES Mike Sule showed a map of several areas for consideration: French Broad River West, Bacoate Branch, Mountainside Park, River Ridge and Azalea Park/Highland Brewing. The goal of Asheville On Bikes is to develop natural surface trails that are either multi-use or bicycle only for mountain biking. Bacoate Branch is a proposed Greenway in WECAN and he showed a section from Merritt Street behind Asheville Middle School down to Lyman Street that due to the costs involved might even precede the actual Greenway. He requested a letter of support confirming it would be a valuable asset and that we approve. He offered to bring maps to our General membership meeting in July. There was a question about connecting to the middle school but it is a security issue. Mike asked if there might be a WECAN resident interested in being the AOB liaison and Rich agreed to do so as he is an AOB member 

HAYWOOD STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES: Carrie introduced McKenzie Dillingham from the HSCD Board who is a general contractor but not the project builder. She explained that HSCD has received nothing in writing yet from Givens. Any issues from WECAN will go to the HSCD Board and they will address them with the management. A question about staffing was explained by Brian. Usually 80-100 units are needed to support full time staff. The Board is straddling multiple responsibilities. They expect to hire a full time Director of Housing. Their revenue equals what is left after the mortgage is paid. They have a staff of 30 at Haywood Street Church that supports their goal of relational management which includes the Mercy League and aspirationally a Director of Frivolity. The other question was about compliance. There are some non-negotiables in complying with the Fair Housing Laws. The board hires people to complete their contract but does not handle day to day activity. The HSCD Board is ultimately responsible—not Givens. It is a stretch for Givens who focuses on elderly housing but since there are no complex Federal fund reporting requirements in this project they agreed to take on the minor compliance issues. They are also looking into mowing the property as soon as they can after no-mow-May (for pollinators.) Sylvia wanted to note that recent construction in WECAN has been traumatic with traffic and pedestrian sidewalks blocked off. The arson fire at the Hilliard construction site also caused much damage to the surrounding parts of the neighborhood. Ground-breaking is still planned for August 2022. It was also suggested that subcontractor parking should be considered and be mindful and good neighbors. Brian also noted that Haywood Street has stopped the steady collective needle distribution at the church. It is still on Wednesdays but not there.

 SUMMER EVENTS:

4^th of July party hosted by Suzanne on Rector Street: There was talk of not having a Monday July 4 Party and a regular Board meeting on Thursday July 7 in the same week and of combining both before the fireworks which may even be on Saturday July 2. No action taken until a confirmation of when there will be fireworks.

 ART MEETING: Sylvia, Kristina Lee and Rebecca met and the minutes of that meeting are attached. Kristina addressed the noise issues which were of two kinds: Electric bus chargers and the money vacuum. Grania will try to reschedule a sound level check between 9 and 11 pm when the vacuum happens. Sound barriers may be a consideration for the workstation also chargers such as acoustic blankets which can cost as much as $13,000. Capacity is limited and grants may be applied to cover some costs.

 COMMUNITY GARDEN: Joe reported that Pollinator Certification was received from GreenWorks and a new grant was awarded through Bountiful Cities.

 WELCOME WAGON: Lesa reported that Rachel provided a list of recent home sales and Ranse has made a half a dozen ‘welcome wagon’ deliveries, and he has also created a tracking spreadsheet.

 ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m.            

 Next WECAN Board meeting July TBA, 2022

Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola  

 ART SUBCOMMITTEE MINUTES:  Lee Lance

1. Noise - chargers: A new CoA noise ordinance went into effect in September '21, and new noise readings were taken at both the charges and at the houses along Park. The noise readings are within the limits allowed per the noise ordinance. Report attached. However, a recommendation was made that fencing and/or landscaping between the ART facility and the houses on Park could be improved.
   NEXT STEP: Kristina to find out what the appropriate path is with CoA to request that a plan be put in place to explore this suggestion
   
   

2. Noise - bus noise at night (9-11PM): The noise from the ART facility is loudest in the evening when most of the buses are returning from routes (~12 or so buses at a time).
   NEXT STEP: Grainne offered to coordinate with ART to come back in that time window to check the noise readings, as documented in an email exchange between Grainne and Barry on 5/20.
   
   

3. Noise - shuttle cars, employees, idling buses: We discussed exploring whether the beep-at-lock could be disabled in the white shuttle cars; general noise from employee stereos/loud trucks and motorcycles; idling buses.
   NEXT STEP: Barry indicated that the staff is continuously reminded about being courteous to neighbors and will continue to ensure this is the case; John is exploring whether the lock beep can be disabled in the shuttle cars.
   
   

4. Speed of buses/Redlights on Hilliard, at intersection of Hilliard/Clingman: Barry indicated that all buses (and shuttle cars) are equipped with Smart Drive, a behavior modification tool that allows staff to review events and provide ongoing coaching to improve driving behavior. Barry indicated that it is very difficult to see pedestrians/cyclists crossing Clingman on Hilliard headed east and urged caution / illumination. He emphasized continued direction to drivers about being cautious at this (and all) intersections.
   NEXT STEP: N/A
   
   Landscaping/property maintenance: WECAN thanked ART team for consistently taking care of the property, and for the positive interactions with ART employees performing the work.
   NEXT STEP: John will look into why the entire bank along Jefferson is not trimmed.
   
   

5. Community garden water catchment: The fence is CoA property so if WECAN wants to attach water catchment to the fence, that's a CoA question. ART offered to the WECAN community garden a used/empty 330-gallon container used to deliver diesel treatment. MSDS attached.
   NEXT STEP: WECAN to let Barry know if there is interest in one of these containers.
   
   

6. Community Garden Dinner this summer: - ART team invited to join the dinner.
   NEXT STEP: WECAN to let ART know when this is scheduled, possibly provide info for staff break room.