WECAN Board meeting minutes APRIL 2022

 

WECAN Board Meeting Minutes April 7, 2022 meeting masked at MHO @ 6:30 pm

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

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

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Rebecca moved and Sylvia seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the March 3 Meeting as distributed and corrected. The motion passed.

 TREASURER’S REPORT: Pattiy reported the balance is $1648.83.The Neighborhood Matching Grant first quarter report was completed. About $1200 of the $2500 grant has been spent on the Community Garden so far. After discussion it was settled that WECAN shall request one reimbursement from the city and disburse that to the ones who made the purchases.

 BLOCK JESSIES: RACHEL reported a Park Square cat lost a leg to cancer. REBECCA noted seeing a bear out and about and that their bear-box was working. They also got sanitation stickers instructing residents on Jefferson that and trash and recycle containers left for collection on the street must be 5 feet apart. PATTIY heard that another house on Jefferson may come on the market this year after their son graduates from High School.

 HAYWOOD STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES Carrie Pettler forwarded a request for permission to rescue the yuccas and tulips on the HSCF site.

The March 21 HSCD meeting is focusing mostly on financial matters. Due Diligence period ended on March 24 and ownership of the land will be official on April 24. She corrected a statement she made last month that groundbreaking will begin in August of 2022 BUT residents are expected to will move in by August 2023. The HSCD website will be revised to have a more fundraising focus. Givens is working on a Letter of Intent-their first for a property they do not own and also working on obtaining a license as a broker. They also need to change their Articles of Incorporation to change ‘elderly’ to ‘all.’ Their Board will vote to approve the change on April 22. A Management Agreement is expected by May. Until then Policies and Document are developing about Property Management and the exact wording and intent of a Management Agreement (whether ‘on behalf of’ rather than ‘for.’)

     She noted several aspects that WECAN could have some input.

1-The Management Plan between HSCD and Givens is open to WECAN input( Teresa will be invited to the May WECAN meeting.  

2-The Operations Document will include the Scoring Matrix, Transition of Management and Occupancy Maximums.

 3-Lease Addendums are like Home Owner Association Rules. 

4- Still in conversation about an audit process. Since no Federal money is involved there is no set audit process.  The City may request an Audit as may the other funders. There will be an internal systems audit but because of confidential information may need a third party Compliance Audit to confirm affordability, behavior and the scoring Matrix for WECAN that may not be required by the funders. WECAN requested a process to address issues that may arise. Sylvia requested copies of sample leases (Rachel suggested asking MHO) for research in what can be included in them, what you can and are allowed to ask. It was also suggested that WECAN receive a copy of HSCD’s annual financial statement. Regarding the small yellow house the current resident requested an extended lease. Future use will be storage and office space. Regarding Naming Brian Combs will return from sabbatical this month and is expected to shift naming towards more fund raising opportunities. There is enough money already to begin construction but fund raising continues. Carrie reaffirmed that any qualified person should be able to live here and added that without the $1.3m left to raise the design of the apartments may be at risk along with the activities provided on site.  She included that anyone can be on the Fundraising Committee—not just Board Members. Pattiy will follow up with some leads she may have. There is a John Boyle article in the Citizen Times that says it may be time for YIMBYISM.

 GARDEN GRANTS: Phase one is almost complete. Demo, site prep, fencing, compost bins and 9 new beds were built and filled. An issue with ground cloth covering with chip mulch was settled. There was extended discussion about organization and potential next steps. Joe wants there to be clear rules for participants. There should be more accessible communication besides Face Book such as signage and labeling. He wants to take the opportunity we have for community events such as ribbon cutting, dedication, group photos, garden bed lottery, harvest celebrations, social events and community building not just ‘this is just my garden space’ and ignoring everyone else. Others have a more informal or ‘loosey-goosey’ attitude about rules so anyone can do whatever they like. Some feel that participation should come first and we can build on that and maybe that’s as good as we can expect. Pattiy feels we have already achieved a lot in what we have done so far and ripples are being felt throughout the neighborhood and also that it is a year long process. Posting rules and a map might help. Lynn has been very good at keeping things moving. She has already let some people pick out beds and make signs. Sylvia is interested in there being a meeting space. Rebecca wants to keep the traditional meeting time (Thursdays at 6 pm.)  Other parts of the grant are for Owen Bell Park and Pattiy met with Suzanna Horton and the City will fix the George Inge metal sculptural sign and switch the Park Rules and Photo signs. They are considering lining the sinuous path to the bridge with railroad ties (to hold a mulched path covering) and adding steps down from Rector Street

 ART Subcommittee will meet in the next month.

 ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 7:52 p.m.            

 Next WECAN Board meeting May 5, 2022 @ 6:30 pm

Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola       

WECAN Board meeting minutes March 2022

 

WECAN Board Meeting Minutes March 3, 2022 meeting on Zoom @ 6:30 pm

 Board Members present: Byron Ballard, Joe Fioccola, Rebecca Lance, Sylvia Organ, Carrie Pettler, Pattiy Torno and Suzanne Willis. 

Board Members not present: Stephanie El-Hajj, Mike Kenton, Rachel Larson, Rich Peterson, Brittany Wager and Davina Weirich.

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Pattiy moved and Byron seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the February 3 Meeting as distributed and corrected. The motion passed.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Pattiy received and paid the receipts for the Haunted Trail decorations at $103.65. The balance is $1648.83. She also submitted the annual 990-N e-postcard report to the IRS. She also accepted a very useful binder that holds all the Treasurer’s papers from Mr. Bacoate.

A recording of the meeting began at 6:31 pm 

BLOCK JESSIES: JP is moving to Charlotte. SUZANNE and daughter Zellie met with JoAnne and her daughter Robin who is staying with her.  JoAnne has pneumonia last week but is back and would love to see visitors. In short they are healthy and in good spirits. JOE asked when we can get back to in-person meetings. Several are okay with it. The consensus was to try to meet outside behind the Community Garden on April 7. Rebecca will check with MHO for availability of their community room as a rain location. PATTIY noted several break-ins at the Glass Center and Odyssey Clays. Only cash was taken and they left people feeling very unsettled. No updates on Pat Crisp or Pete Bassett. JOE heard that Sandi and Gerald were planning on moving away. Sylvia heard that their house was going on the market tomorrow. 

HAYWOOD STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES Carrie Pettler had five things to update.  1-Rebecca invited Theresa Stevens from the Givens Estates to our next meeting regarding property management of HSCD. Carrie encouraged people to visit Givens as they are now the official property manager.

               2-Pattiy suggested some more names for the project. Researching Mrs. Foster was turning up blank and in an effort to honor the heart of the neighborhood she suggested the names of someone we know and knew and love: Jessie Nell(Mama Nell) Coleman and Jessie Mae Jones. They represent the heart of the neighborhood. These two matriarchs of the neighborhood she suggested should be honored by naming the building after Mama Nell and the Community Room after Jessie Mae who worked many years preparing meals for people.

               3- The primary siding color was finalized: “Deep Ocean”

               4-Brian Combs was taking a well deserved sabbatical until Easter (April 17.)

               5- On February 22 the majority of City Council voted to approve the purchase of the land and the conditional zoning. The project is now shovel-ready. Carrie laid out the probable timeline: Breaking ground by August 2022. Construction estimated time to complete is one year (August 2023). Then it is planned to train staff for an additional year (August 2024) before admitting tenants.

DISCUSSION: Rebecca asked if the oak trees in front could not be saved, when they might go and if they could be used to make benches. Carrie noted that funding was in place sufficient to begin construction but another $1million is also needed and if anyone wants to help or get involved with the fund raising committee reach out to her.

MELK: Carrie also expressed a concern about the Melk Property which is in between her house and the Haywood Street Project. It is NCDOT property and the City has an agreement with them and WECAN has a maintenance agreement with the City. It is very challenging and there is a lot of debris and needles. She is looking for a purpose for that area to be expressed. Maybe WECAN and HSCD can define what the purpose should be. What might be planted there and can benefit the neighborhood but not be abused. The current goal is to cut back brush to increase visibility and deter camping and other lawlessness.

GARDEN GRANTS: Pattiy reported that the agreement is signed and is going through the process of getting all the other signatures and should be ready by next week. She explained that we had to do a pivot since we only have signed agreements for the Community Garden, Owens-Bell Park and the Melk Property it was holding up the process waiting for the other agreements to come through. So, our focus will be on those three. The Community Garden is the strongest community building vehicle in WECAN and will be the biggest part of the budget, but it is flexible and can also be used for the Haunted Trail next October. This spring we focus on the Community Garden and next fall on planting in Owens-Bell Park. She noted that John repaired the WECAN sign. She has spoken to Ken Putnam and McCrae Coated and they both agree that our agreements should and eventually will happen, but no estimate on when.

 COMMUNITY GARDEN WORKDAY:

The first workdays were set for Friday March 4 and Saturday March 5. Joe, Lynn, Zack, Swann, Brian and Mitch all expressed interest. Lynn and Joe have prepared the site by removing the old rotted wood fence and privets and Joe picked up T-posts and ground cloth and they organized the tasks into 3 teams: Fence Team, Ground Team and Wood cleaning Team. Lyn created a face book event staring at 9 on Friday and 10 on Saturday. We have a white board with tasks to check off and it will be a lot of fun.

  SUBCOMMITTEES

 ART AND SPRING MEETING: Rebecca explained the commitment to meet two times a year to keep communication open and build rapport and not just complaints. She is expecting the next meeting in April or May and asked if there was any interest in attending. Sylvia wants to attend. Rebecca met Ben Woody, Development Director for the City who happens to be in charge of enforcing the new Noise Ordinance. He told her that decibel readings were taken and recommended action. He will also be at the ART meeting.

WELCOME WAGON: Lesa wants to continue but needs someone else to look at realtor records for new arrivals. Rachel might be interested but Ranse offered to check with his landlord who already does monthly checks.  A Go-Local card was suggested as a gift instead of a small plant. The cost is $20 or 10 for $180. They do have a shelf life so a bulk purchase may not work.

 COUNCIL COMMITTEES: Joe explained the City’s move to consolidate her 30-odd advisory boards into just four aligned with the City’s Living Asheville Comprehensive Plan. There are several public input sessions set in the next few weeks: March 3 from 5-7 (Too late! missed that one) Monday March 7 (12:30-2:30), Wednesday March 9 (3-7) and Friday March 11 (9-11.) For more information see restructurepilot@ publicinput.com/C1401.

 COALITION OF ASHEVILLE NEIGHBORHOODS: Byron reported that the City is working on changes to an Open Space Amendment and a work session is set for Tuesday March 8 from 2-4 pm. Joe explained that it had to do with development rules for projects over one acre and had to do with  affordable housing, tree preservation fee in lieu and other ways of avoiding it.

  OTHER BUSINESS:

Rebecca expressed her conflicted feelings and disappointment about the ongoing criticism of the board by a few on FB, and not wanting that to go unanswered. She appreciates all of us and our neighbors.

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

 Next WECAN Board meeting April 7, 2022 @ 6:30 pm tentatively set as in-person at the field behind the Community Garden

Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola       

Email pattiytorno@gmail.com for a link to the recording of the zoom meeting. 

WECAN board meeting minutes February 3, 2022

WECAN Board Meeting Minutes February 3, 2022 meeting on Zoom @ 6:30 pm

 Board Members present: Byron Ballard, Joe Fioccola, Rebecca Lance, Sylvia Organ, Carrie Pettler, Pattiy Torno and Suzanne Willis. 

Board Members not present: Stephanie El-Hajj, Mike Kenton, Rachel Larson, Rich Peterson, Brittany Wager and Davina Weirich.

Also Present: Swann Lander, Patrick Pearson.

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Byron moved and Pattiy seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the January 6 Meeting as distributed and corrected. The motion passed.

 TREASURER’S REPORT: Pattiy reported the balance is $1752.45. She is still waiting for receipts for Halloween decorations and is set to submit the annual 990 postcard report to the IRS.

 A recording of the meeting began at 6:31 pm

 APD/NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES

 BLOCK JESSIES: Joe noted that Mr Bacoate’s 92^nd birthday is next week. Pattiy shared a story about getting his first driver’s license. She also reported that JoAnne is doing well with her girls taking care of her. She also gave high marks for Haywood Appliance, who did a great job installing Jessie’s microwave. Suzanne asked how we could find out when snow will be cleared from our streets. Some streets never get plowed or salted. Neighborhood Coordinator Jeremy Lett left his job with the city for some other dream job. Joe noted that his department head, Dawa Hitch, staffed the last NAC meeting. Joe observed a lean-to tent back at the Melk property even though the new City policy of moving campers after 48 hours. A male with a bicycle has been there for two weeks. When Sanitation cleared the trash and brush in the fall they stopped part way because it was beyond what they do. Darlene in Sanitation called NCDOT and they came. There is a question about who to call since Jeremy is gone. Neighborhood Services, Parking Services, Neighborhood Community Engagement, Homeward Bound but email works best.

 HAYWOOD STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES Carrie Pettler had four things to update.

      1-Municipal process: Buncombe County voted unanimously to approve $749,000 (of the $2 million requested) to fund HSCD. Next step is a formal meeting on Feb 11 with HCD( Housing and Community Development) to get on the City Council Agenda for their February 22 meeting. At that point a 3 part vote will happen to 1 Approve/deny the conditional zoning to CBII; Approve $1.3M to purchase the land; and Approve $3M for construction costs.

      2-Scoring Matrix: Carrie asked for input for prioritizing acceptance of Section 8 vouchers to live in the development. For equity and fairness no group should be excluded.  HCSD has a great group of people involved and working on it. She asked: what does the neighborhood want? Pattiy suggested recommendation from local support system, or from someone in the neighborhood. She gave an example of Jo Anne’s granddaughter who has a voucher and takes care of her but has no place to use it.Walter Hadden’s daughter also needs a place. Single parents with children should be helped since we are close to Isaac Dickson Elementary and Aston Park. City employees, first responders or people who work close to the area was also mentioned. Length of residence in Buncombe County or western NC might also be a consideration.

      3-Naming: Brian offered for consideration the name of Laura Jo Foster as a local heroine. She was active in several organizations in the community like the ‘Y’ and ran a guest house/hotel listed in the ‘Green Book’ Negro Traveler’s Guide at ‘88 Clangman Avenue.’ Her husband was active in the Pullman Porters Union. Another name to consider is Queen Carson who was the first female principal of the Park Avenue School. It was later named for her.  Ida Jolly Crawley was a nationally known painter who left her house at 31 Park Avenue as a museum to the City of Asheville. It later became Hangar Hall.

https://mountainx.com/news/asheville-archives-ida-jolly-crawley-launches-her-magical-museum-1919/ Also mentioned for consideration was Leona Shope Bassett 1894-1992. She lived at 17 Girdwood Street and was related to several families in the West End.

      4-Color choice: several siding colors were shown from jameshardie.com. No decision needed yet.

The next HSCD Board meeting will be February 21.

.DEVELOPMENT UPDATES: Pattiy gave updates on 4 projects:

1- The River Arts Apartments at 146 Roberts Street (the old Dave Steel site) will begin construction March 1. There was an issue with their request to close Roberts Street for twelve months from the Carolina Glass south to the Depot traffic circle. This brought up the related issues of parking on Clingman Avenue Extension near the Odyssey Studio and one-way traffic on Roberts and Clingman Extension. There are historic problems with one way streets for businesses, bicyclists and tourists.

2-The Radical Hotel: 95-97 Roberts Street already approved clearing the lost across the street has already begun.

3-The Artful Way above the Grey eagle goes to TRC on Monday. It is also designed by-right with public comment only @ Design Review Committee and no need for approval from P&Z or City Council.                      

4-Not Named yet 159 Riverside Drive has been approved and should start construction this year.

Pattiy shared that a RADBA group called the RadPack has been involved and has seen presentations of these proposals.

 5- The Avery at Clingman and Hilliard was approved and P+Z and added entrances like brownstone on the Clingman side. Also 5% of this project will be affordable (9 units) and 5 of those units will accept housing vouchers, out of the 196. Suzanne asked if the city could require affordable units on developments. Rebecca suggested asking at HCD. This also brought up a discussion of the fact the Asheville is subject to Dillon’s Rule which means that municipalities exist at the pleasure of the state legislature which can revoke any or all city powers any time they choose.

 GARDEN GRANTS: Pattiy reported that Tom Downing is now keeping up with the process. Last month she asked for help in renewing our expired agreements with the City for maintaining Owens-Bell Park(Suzanne Horton  at Parks and Rec) and the WECAN Queen Carson Community Garden (?). Swann volunteered to take on that task and adventure into city government. Pattiy is still trying to get all our agreements in one place so that personnel turnovers and retirements don’t cancel them. She is keeping up with Ken Putnam on the NCDOT agreements.

     The Community Garden (at Jefferson and West Haywood) Joe noted that Lynn Player has ideas for improving the raised beds, the rain barrel bases and more effective compost area.  She asked for help on repairing/replacing the rotting fencing.

     The Sign Garden (at Clingman and Hilliard) needs sign fence repair and replanting in front of the hedge and removal of the overgrown Japanese hollies. Pattiy recommended lantanas (a low floral shrub) and colorful, lively and more welcoming flowers.

     Owens-Bell Park Sunny Cultural Garden (next to the bus stop) since 2006 has become a shady garden. She suggested moving the cannas and rose to sunnier locations and replacing them with azaleas, rhododendrons and hellebores, and think about enhancing the photo signs and dogwood.

     Clingman Edible Triangle (at the Grey Eagle) since only 8 of the 18 blueberries survived need to infil also mulch and possibly other edibles.

     Kudzu Hill needs clearing to the trail in phases and will have a carefully marked test patch to control or eliminate the kudzu but keep nettles.

     Melk wall (across from ART on W Haywood) the contract here is current. Pattiy is asking McCrae about clearing the site so we can plant or a put a playground or an orchard there.

     Other areas of concern are ivy removal at Owens-Bell and Short Hilliard, clearing Rector triangle, maybe something at the traffic circle.

OTHER BUSINESS:
      Swann said she reached out to several WECAN members and hasn’t heard how she can help. She requested direction for information to help get projects going.

       Joe observed that on February 1 1997, twenty five years ago, was the first meeting at Riverlink of the West End Clingman Neighborhood.

     Pattiy needs to make a plant order soon and asked for help in selecting plants. Native plants and bird and pollinator-friendly and  a persimmon were suggested.

 ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.            

 Next WECAN Board meeting March 3, 2022 @ 6:30 pm

Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola       

Email pattiytorno@gmail.com for a link to the recording of the zoom meeting.  

WECAN board (draft) minutes January 2022

WECAN Board Meeting Minutes January 6, 2022 meeting on Zoom @ 6:30 pm

 

Board Members present: Byron Ballard, Joe Fioccola, Rebecca Lance, Rachel Larson, Sylvia Organ,

Carrie Pettler, Pattiy Torno and Suzanne Willis. 

Board Members not present: Stephanie El-Hajj, Mike Kenton, Rich Peterson, Brittany Wager and

Davina Weirich.

Also Present: JP Chalarca, Lesa Peterson, Hildy Teegan and Ranse.

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Rebecca moved and Pattiy seconded a motion to approve the minutes of

the December 2 General membership Meeting as distributed and corrected. The motion passed.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT: Pattiy reported the balance is $1752.45. She is still waiting for receipts for

Halloween decorations and is set to submit the annual 990 postcard report to the IRS.

 

A recording of the meeting began at 6:34 pm

HAYWOOD STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES Carrie Pettler offered to

respond to questions or concerns and not approval or disapproval of the project. She had several updates

to report:

1—Turqoise and pink stakes have been placed on the site marking the placement of the building

2---January 9, 2022 at 1 pm Brian Combs and HSCD Board members will have their last scheduled on-

site meeting to answer questions with drawing printouts.

3---The group is seeking suggestions for architectural details to give a unique look but not increase the

cost. Some ideas already heard are grid pattern on windows, mix of vertical and horizontal siding, core

ten (material that rusts over time such as on the Duke power distribution poles) detail on the bump-out

section, brick-laying technique such as used on Trade Street houses, different sizes of horizontal siding

like on cottage mill homes, {Byron pointed out that it was not a style choice to use materials in an

interesting way but only poor housing for poor people who had no choice.} and color choices. The overall

effort is to be part of the fabric of WECAN by focusing on the historic details of the working class /poor

homes.

4--- They requested suggestions for a naming convention to commemorate black members of the

community. One of our oldest residents—Mr. Bacoate, will be asked for suggestions.

5---Their next Board meeting will be later this month.

6---Last night P&Z met and unanimously approved the Conditional Zoning variance. Pattiy explained

one additional change of the word ‘reserved” for vouchers. That Commission is appointed by the City

Council and is quasi-judicial. On January 25 the request goes to the City Council for their final approval.

There will be three votes: Approve/deny the conditional zoning to CBII; Approve $1.3M to purchase the

land; and Approve $3M for construction costs.

7---At that meeting the question was asked whether there would be a need for 55 parking spaces for the

46 apartments. Some could be used for staff, guests even for a bike storage area. That percentage is not

unusual and may even be required by lenders.

8---Next steps: Invite someone from Givens to the next WECAN Board Meeting; Consider suggestions

on details, color and suggest who to connect with in the neighborhood about naming.

DISCUSSION:

Rebecca thanked Rachel for her efforts in seeking consensus and would like the conversation to continue

outside these board meetings. Pattiy appreciated the efforts and input generated by Leslie Meyers.

Discussion mediator Rob Thomas was also thanked and an appropriate gift idea for him was sought. His

goal was to further the conversation on equity, diversity and racial justice. Rachel will reach out and ask if

he wants to come to another meeting and perhaps facilitate the naming process. JP saw a red flag thinking

that anyone with a stake must not take part in the conversation lest they open the process to criticism of

bias, suspicion, taint, self-serving, dishonest, illegitimate, trap and rebranding other than what was

intended. Hildy observed an incredible and rare opportunity by the developer to get all neighbors in the

conversation and to head off issues. Pattiy noted that it is better not to wait for the inevitable to give input

and engage. We will still be neighbors and have to find how to recreate the community again. Sylvia

looks for how it could be good for us and improve our lives. She wants to put that idea out there and find

how to get to yes. She has best wishes for the project and the region. JP asserted the need to reduce the

opportunity to be perceived as biased since we will never get full acceptance. Pattiy noted that this threat

has actually helped get people involved and participating and could actually be a benefit to WECAN.

NEIGHBORHOOD ADVISORY COMMITTEE: JP is the member appointed from the 28801 zip

code. He explained that NAC meets monthly to discuss perspectives of neighborhoods for input on what’s

going on in the city. It advises a neighborhood position on topics and is a voice to help on decisions with

P&Z decisions. They have little power and their duties include Developing rules and by-laws; Creating

plans to communicate with neighborhoods; Developing standards and benchmarks to measure progress

and Take on special projects as assigned. A lot of recent time has been spent in rehashing things, a

process that has been very slow moving and not helped by the open-meetings rules and as a result nothing

significant has been done in the last four months. They are either the first to know or get the wrap-up

version of city issues such as greenway plans, noise ordinance, open space regulations. Please contact him

with city/neighborhood questions or issues.

 ELECTION OF OFFICERS:

Pattiy moved a slate of officers for 2022 as follows: Chair: Rebecca, Vice Chair: Sylvia, Treasurer: Pattiy

and Secretary: Joe. Joe seconded and the motion passed.

TRAFFIC INFRASTRUCTURE: Pattiy reported on a meeting with Transportation Director Ken

Putnam; He is aware of the issue at Hilliard and Clingman and will bring it to his regular meeting with

NCDOT suggesting a prioritized left turn for eastbound traffic and limiting right turns for westbound

traffic. The future easement on the west side of Clingman between Patton and Hilliard will present a

challenge to route 3 lanes into 2 but will follow up next year. He is also working on

WECAN/NCDOT/COA maintenance agreements adding short Hilliard, Jefferson/Park Trail, Sign

Garden, Clingman Streetscape and the Edible Triangle to the Melk Agreement. Owens-Bell Park and the

Community Garden are agreements that have to be renewed and kept with the City. We are looking for

someone to take on this task! Other issues are no parking on W Haywood past Hilliard and no through

trucks signage.

GARDEN GRANTS: Joe reported that we originally asked for $5000 for goats on Kudzu hill. After

reflection we questioned whether it was a permanent solution and so much in the second half of the year

and revised the grant request to $1,000 focusing on 5 WECAN gardens: The Sign Garden, The Edible

Triangle, Owens-Bell garden Queen Carson Community Garden and the Melk Wall and Right-of-way.

The goal is to repair, replace and mend fences and infill and replant the gardens. We were granted $2500.

What remains to be done is to get permissions in writing, finalize the budget, plan monthly activities,

schedule plantings, schedule volunteer matching hours and get waivers signed. And we have one year to

get it all done. That’s all. We need to have a conversation with the neighborhood about what these spaces

need and how people can get involved.

ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m. Rebecca observed that we all love and appreciate our

neighbors. Be encouraged that you are all appreciated.  

            

 Next WECAN Board meeting February 3, 2022 @ 6:30 pm Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola  

 Email pattiytorno@gmail.com for a link to the recording of the zoom meeting.

WECAN Board Meeting Minutes December 2, 2021

 WECAN Board Meeting Minutes December 2, 2021 meeting on Zoom @ 6:30 pm

 

Board Members present: Byron Ballard, Sherrod Barnes-Ginifer, Joe Fioccola, Rebecca Lance, Rachel Larson, and Pattiy Torno.  

Board Members not present: Stephanie El-Hajj, Mike Kenton, and Rich Peterson. 

Also Present: Gerald Harbison, Walter Hartheimer, Leslie Meyers, Sylvia Organ, Carrie Pettler, Bruce Sales, Sandi Sox and Suzanne Willis,  

 

CALL TO ORDER: Rebecca called the meeting to order at 6:31 pm.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Byron moved, and Pattiy seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the November 4, 2021 meeting as distributed and corrected. The motion passed.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT: Pattiy reported the balance is $1752.45. She is still waiting for receipts for Halloween decorations. 

 

A recording of the meeting began at 6:31 pm

APD/NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: Not present. Joe listened to the NAC meeting of November 29, 2021 and expressed his personal opinion that the minutes were very disappointing. Instead of detailed minutes which should have documented deliberations of the October meeting, for example they summarized one agenda item as ‘heard report.’ These were called ‘Action minutes” and could not be used to reconstruct or understand what happened at the meeting (other than by playing back the recording of the Zoom meeting.) While this type of summary may be legally acceptable when submitted with a recording, in his personal opinion (and without in any way representing the opinion of any other WECAN Board member or WECAN as an organization) those minutes are useless and utterly unacceptable. It was a waste of their communications potential and he will personally ask the NAC representative for 28801 to oppose those kinds of insufficient minutes in the future.

He also reported that the Neighborhood Matching Grants received over 20 applications and the approved grants are supposed to be announced by the end of this week. 

 

BLOCK JESSIES: Suzanne hasn’t seen neighbor Deedee in a while with a medical issue. She will reach out to Regina and see if a meal train might be needed also JoAnne’s car is gone and she has also had medical issues. Joe noted the impressive decorations at the Haddens at 39 Rector Street for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Rebecca announced that she and her team delivered all the newsletters. Pattiy observed that a P&Z notice was up at Pete’s house on Jefferson to change the set back from 15 feet to 13 inches. Byron noted that the front end of a Honda was left at Green and Girdwood Streets while the rest of the car was found on Roberts Street. Ricky Brown’s parked truck which was hit hadn’t moved an inch and wasn’t damaged by the 3 am crash. Carrie noted there was also a fire yesterday at Sly Grog on Haywood Street but the extent of the damage wasn’t clear. Rebecca announced that there will be no Caroling again this year due to COVID —even though many will miss it.

 

WECAN ACTIVITY: Joe read the activity of WECAN in 2021:

 In January, Mr. Crisp died. The Board discussed the WECAN Budget and Owens-Bell Park Signage changes. In February Byron reported on Homeward Bound, we heard about brewery plans for Clingman Avenue and JP moved into WECAN. In March we were introduced to Jeremy Lett, the new Neighborhood Services Coordinator and heard about the City Budget process. Trucks were getting stuck on Girdwood Street. The Neighborhood Sign garden was being damaged. We reviewed the purpose of WECAN and heard about 144-159 Riverside Drive. In April, Mr. Bacoate was inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine-the highest civilian honor in North Carolina. RADBA purchased 16 trees for the new greenway. WECAN sponsored Chalk Art for the RADTIP grand opening. The damage to the sign garden was stopped but all our maintenance agreements needed to be updated. In May there were brief updates on homeless, sidewalk opening and CAN. In June Owens-Bell Park signage was completed and Mr. Bacoate shared his ideas about reparations. The July General membership meeting was rained out but a social gathering happened in place of the August meeting and the new compost tumbler was   revealed. In September we discussed Homelessness as a safety concern and Brian Combs introduced the Haywood Street proposal for affordable housing in WECAN. In October, Scott Dedman from Mountain Housing Opportunities answered questions about affordable housing. Newsletter assignments were made and a Matching Grant proposal was submitted. A haunted Halloween trail was enjoyed and there were discussions and meetings about the Haywood Street proposal. In November City staff answered questions about affordable housing.

 

BOARD ELECTION:  Joe reviewed and corrected the current Board terms. Class of 2021: Mike and Sherrod; Class of 2022: Byron, Pattiy, Rachel and Rich; Class of 2023: Rebecca, Joe, Stephanie; The Board size can be from 9 to15 resident members. There are 4 open seats for 2024, and 1 for 2023. After discussion Rebecca nominated and Byron seconded five neighbors: for 2023-Brittainy Wager; for 2024 Sylvia Organ, Carrie Pettler, Davina Weirich and Suzanne Willis. The motion passed and all were welcomed aboard.

 

INFRASTRUCTURE CONVERSATION: There is an issue concerning traffic at the intersection of Hilliard and Clingman and the future potential widening of Clingman between Hilliard and Patton. Pattiy and Rebecca attended the Technical Review Committee meeting for the Patton II—now called The Avery and found that a traffic impact assessment was required. Rebecca asked how WECAN can keep up with the results of traffic studies. Pattiy noted that the Haywood Street Community Development proposal goes before TRC on Monday December 6 at 2 pm. Joe heard that a new Traffic Engineer has been hired but he didn’t hear a name. Rebecca wants to know what the city does with traffic study information. Pattiy heard that a traffic employee wanted to reroute the bike lane on Hilliard. Rich Peterson and Lynn Player have been interested in being involved. 

 

HAYWOOD STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES: A house on West Haywood Street being used as a business has been offered to HSCD for construction, administrative staff and storage. HSCD was requested to show survey lines of building placement on site. Their November 15 meeting reported there would be deep seismic borings during Thanksgiving week. There would be a cost associated with marking the site but since the borings are planned for the corners of the building flagging them would be sufficient to show the placement of the building on the site. Carrie will follow up with that. She raised the issue of leftover green space: they are in discussion with the neighborhood and considering something for kids or a designated smoking area. Rebecca wondered whether we can get the city to commit to keeping the community garden space and the field beyond as green space for the neighborhood. Carrie is still considering ways to reach out to neighbors to poll support for various issues. The TRC meeting is Monday December 6 at 1 pm and the documents are available at https://haywoodstreet.org/transparency-ticker/  

            A discussion ensued whether to devote time during WECAN meetings to discuss these issues. Rebecca wanted the benefit of a facilitated discussion but it should be open to all neighbors. Carrie asserted that WECAN Board meetings are the optimal space because they are open, accessible, are documented with minutes and recorded and also have a civil diplomatic process and where decisions are ultimately made. Sandi questioned how to meet for difficult discussions and even how to get people to come to any meetings. Bruce expressed his opposition to the project. Leslie opposes it because there is no consensus and strong opposition and many people don’t Facebook or Insta-gram and are left out of discussions on those platforms. Pattiy noted that there is place to subscribe on the WECAN Blogspot:  www.wecannews.blogspot.com/ to add oneself to the WECAN email list. Leslie repeated her concerns about the location, the developer and the project as proposed. She feels left out because opposing letters were not published to the ticker. Pattiy advised to notify City Clerk Maggie Burleson about posting letters. Rebecca observed that WECAN’s strength is in our knowledge of city processes and personnel. She wants us to focus on areas where we can find common ground. She offered to provide time at WECAN 90 minute meetings of 30 minutes to air concerns and get input to the HSCD board. If that is not enough time then a subcommittee can be formed. Sylvia agreed that communication about meetings may be imperfect but the information on how to get connected with WECAN went to every home in the neighborhood in the recent newsletter. Carrie agreed that 30 mediated minutes were good and that we may not have consensus but we can have representation. Pattiy asked Carrie to report back to Brian to stop representing that ‘all WECAN’ is behind this project. Leslie claimed that she is aware that at least 30 people oppose the project. She claimed that affordability in perpetuity was only a marketing claim and expires in 30 years anyway and the process feels closed to people in the community. Rachel looks for consensus on any area of concern from supporters and opponents that can be addressed in the discussion. How we use our power to improve this project can make the neighborhood stronger to address core concerns we all share. Rebecca welcomed the continued conversation with Brian and the Mayor. They continue at 1 pm on site on Sundays December 5 and January 9.

            HSCD requested a representative from WECAN for their board as a liaison. Carrie Pettler volunteered to serve. Rebecca nominated and Sandi seconded the appointment. Pattiy noted support from other neighbors in emails. The motion passed.

            Sandi asked for some common concerns to kick off our meeting discussions but they should keep focused. Rachel did not feel confident of her facilitation skill but will talk to Rob Thomas and about writing down stated concerns and keeping focused on what issues are timely for HSCD to hear.

            Pattiy noted that if there are any consensus points they should be made before the P+Z meeting on January 5, 2022.  One such issue is the setback position of the building and preservation of the 3 large trees there and setting the sidewalk behind them. These ‘asks’ need to go to city staff soon. Leslie doubts that that request could happen because the density is needed for potential HUD grants and ADA compliance and therefore a cost issue.  If it passes P&Z it goes to the City Council then they have to raise more money to comply with federal regulations. Leslie cannot agree to any kind of consensus because it’s not about just trees. Rachel suggested that no on-street parking might be something that could find general agreement and asked if the entire concept was non-negotiable. Leslie answered that traffic is a consideration but not sure if P&Z would have any impact on it and can we ask HSCD to do a traffic study? She doesn’t know if there is any support for consensus. Rebecca asked if anyone would volunteer to organize a meeting in the next week (Dec 13-17) she would get the word out. Rachel will conduct a doodle poll for the best meeting time and Leslie will reach out to people with the date and meeting link. 

 

ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m.  

            

 Next WECAN Board meeting January 6, 2021 @ 6:30 pm 

 Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola

 

 Email pattiytorno@gmail.com for a link to the recording of the zoom meeting.

  

Upcoming HSCD meetings:

Sun  Dec 5  1 pm        HSCD on site

Mon Dec 6  1 pm        TRC

Tue  Dec 14                 Housing and Community Development Meeting 

Wed Jan  5                   Planning & Zoning Meeting

Sun  Jan  9  1 pm         HSCD on site

Tue  Jan 11                  City Council Vote on Housing Trust Fund Request

Tue  Jan 18                  HCD review of Housing Trust Fund Loan

Tue  Jan 25                  City Council Vote on Housing Trust Fund Loan & Conditional Zoning                                                                                                      (pending no P&Z delays)