WECAN Board Meeting December 3, 2015 at 64 Clingman Ave
Board Members Present were: Byron Ballard, Jessie Nell Coleman,
Joe Fioccola, Rebecca Lance, Rachel Larson and Luke W. Perry. Board Members
not present were Tom Gibson, AnnaBeth Hardcastle, Mike Kenton, Yuri
Koslen, Floree Lowery, Rafael Rettig, Marc Schieferstein, JoAnn Skinner,
Suzanne Willis and Pattiy Torno. Also present were: CRO Lucas Lovelace and
Marsha Stickford.. Chair Rachel called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. MINUTES:
Byron moved and Luke seconded a motion to approve the draft minutes from
November 5 as distributed. The motion passed. There was some activity on the
treasurer's report. Reimbursement has been submitted for the postage and
printing of the WECAN News. APD/CRO UPDATE: Rachel reported an I-pad
stolen from an unlocked vehicle which was not reported to the police. Lucas
said that it should be reported because items like that are sometimes recovered
and can be returned. He noted that there have been 25 hours of extra patrols
and 15 hours on Jefferson Drive. He reported that a motorcycle was taken from
Hunter Volvo and has not been recovered and that 2 homeless camps along the
river had been moved. He also explained that 'Code Purple" was a situation
when the temperature is below 32 degrees a shelter will accept someone even if
they have been drinking or barred for other reasons if an officer brings
them. The parking problem at the end of Clingman Place has been resolved. The River
Arts District is being hit with a lot of graffiti and in response special
operations are in place. He had no further information to share about the
murder investigation. He will forward information about car break ins and
holiday packages and advises to keep reporting because it helps. BLOCK
JESSIE UPDATES: Byron remembered the old tradition of welcoming new
neighbors with a 'Welcome Wagon" small gift basket with food, coupons,
important phone numbers, etc. With the turnover in WECAN we often don't get to
meet new neighbors when they move in. She wants to restart the tradition and
will propose something next month. Also that the designated Block Jessies
should update the mail or email list throughout the year but especially in
September for the annual newsletter. She also reported that the mother of
past WECAN Chair Pattiy Torno had passed away. Byron will get a card to send
from WECAN. Finally, Byron has been thinking about past WECAN Chair Geraldine.
She has not been very active lately in WECAN but was an important part of
the community and needs to be acknowledged in these difficult times for her
family. Byron volunteered to send am appropriate and helpful card. Marsha
announced that final street paving on Craven Street to raise it to grade will
take place this weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Smith Bridge will be
closed. Joe remarked that it is such a waste to put in curbing just to be torn
out when the second bridge goes in with the RADTIP improvements. Marsha
explained that federal funds have to be spent as plans are submitted and it
would be too expensive to resubmit revised plans. He admitted that they are
getting better about the streets, water and utilities working together when
there are street projects., but they are obviously not there yet. Luke
announced that the pad for the bus stop at Haywood Road and Craven Street would
be poured soon and in January the Asheville Design Center would be
seeking public input online at their website. This may be a model for
other bus stops in the city. He also has been in contact with Mr. Poliak who
owns the house next to his and several other properties and is not wanting to
sell at this time. 2015 ACTIVITY REPORT: Joe reported the activity
for 2015 as follows: Jan: Luke and Floree elected for 1 year renewable
term as At-Large Members. Feb first meeting of Community Garden Group. Mar:
Community Garden Agreement signed, Festival of Neighborhoods Workshops
Asheville in Motion and Garden Club Wednesdays. Apr: Spring
Fling/Community Garden installation and City Wide Cleanup May: Settled
Community Garden Funding Issue. Jun: General Membership Meeting, RAD
Form Based Code, Ice Cream Social, Community Garden Assessment, Equitable
Development Forum. Aug: Corn Feast, Watch for Me Campaign, Patton Place
Apartments announced, National Night Out, Sep: Livingston complete
Streets; Oct: Mayor's State of the City, Halloween Social, Nov:
Neighborhood Plans Workshop, I-26 Connector hearing. Whew! I-26 CONNECTOR
PUBLIC HEARING: NCDOT is accepting comments on the I-26 Connector until
December 16. Luke pointed out there are aspects that directly affect WECAN but
there is almost too much information in the 9 potential plans. Some have a
direct connection to Hillcrest and Montford, some have a greenway starting on
Trade Street, several will have an affect on highway noise that cannot be
corrected by sound barrier walls. Some people are also concerned with
highway air pollution and its affect on heart disease. Some people do not
believe the projected traffic counts and others are concerned with other
neighborhoods such as Burton Street which will be sacrificed to eight
unnecessary lanes through West Asheville. Citizens are encouraged to comment.
It was suggested that a loose alliance be formed with Burton Street, Montford
and EWANA to comment together. Luke will start a document. The full Draft
Environmental Impact Statement, video with animations, detailed design maps,
and other info are available on line at http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/i26connector/
CLINGMAN AVENUE EXTENSION ONE WAY: Rachel reported that this will not
happen. Regarding a needed sidewalk on Roberts Street, it was noted that a
recently elected City Council member lives there and perhaps all new city
councilors should be invited to a future WECAN meeting. Byron volunteered to
invite the councilors. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING WORKSHOP: Joe gave a
rock star presentation.. There have been requests to see the power point he
used. Marsha noted that all the presentations were recorded and will be placed
on the city website. The new city Comprehensive plan will begin in January with
the choice of the consultant. Then in the next 18 months there will be events
to get input. In the mean time WECAN can continue efforts to update the
Citizens Master Plan (2001) or work on a small area plan (aka plan on a page)
The comprehensive plan is for 'big picture' planning and the plan on a page is
for Planning and Zoning to have guidance for development. RAD FORM BASED
CODE: The draft report is available on the City’s Projects Page. Comments
and feedback are still being accepted. The collected feedback will go to
Planning and Zoning and then to council for approval. Luke would like for
future budgets to include compensation for getting feedback. NEWSLETTER:
It went out on schedule and so far no returns. Just some bad email addresses
and a few 'unsubscribe' requests from residents who moved have been
received. ADOPT A HIGHWAY The quarterly litter pickup will be
scheduled for some time in January. GARDEN CLUB WEDNESDAYS: The 'group'
cleaned out the community garden and due to rain and cold not much else this
month. COMMUNITY GARDEN: Joe submitted the annual report (see attached.)
VACANT LOT ANALYSIS: Rachel received a request for a place to locate a
storage building and found out there are a lot of vacant lots in WECAN. Jessie
has also received requests for properties on Knoxville Place. GENTRIFICATION:
Rachel and Byron have been contacted by a student at Warren Wilson College
doing a report on gentrification. They will meet at Clingman Café on Sunday
December 6 at 1 pm. others with opinions on gentrification are welcome. NOMINATIONS:
Joe nominated Byron, Yuri, Rachel and Pattiy to serve a second three year
term. Byron seconded and motion passed. Welcome back. ISSUES and GOALS for
2016: Some things mentioned included: Welcome Wagon, Social Events, More
Communication, Retaining Luke, Reactivating Block Jessies with a welcome wagon,
Continuing Community Garden, compiling info from Simplicity into a single place
with phone and email info. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. DRAFT Minutes
submitted by Joe Fioccola.
