Board members attending: Brian Brannies, Jim Sweeney, Nathan Allan, Sherry Cillicut, Rita Sammons, Sheena Pietzold, Sam Green, Charlotte Claybrook
Others: Roger Horn
Traffic calming device improvements/community beautification from Brian Brannies
Brian has been totally swamped and could use some help organizing this effort. It’s getting a little bit too late to plant, but we could probably still do the cleanup work this year. Brian will inquire with the City to see if the grant money will still be available next calendar year so we can plant in the spring. We may want to wait until the general meeting (usually February) to ask for volunteers there. If the deadline for spending the grant money can’t be extended, we could buy the plants and mulch and store them over the winter. Another thing to ask the city about would be how to deal with graffiti. There is some on the sign in one round-about and on the curb of another.
Neighborhood Bike Corridor completion celebration from Brian Brannies
Brian asked if anyone was interested in trying to organize a neighborhood bike ride or something to celebrate the completion of the bike corridor that goes from Lions Park to Sylvester Park downtown. It is expected to be complete in December. Several people had ideas to involve Intercity Transit, Capital Bicycle Club, the City’s bike and pedestrian committee, and perhaps even the police (sometimes they give out free children sized helmets).Sam volunteered to look into how we could get an event like this organized and report back at the next board meeting.
Treasurer’s Report from Sherry Cillicut
- Checking $411.29
- Savings $1061.68
- Neighborhood Signs $1298.82
- Legion Way Trees $151.71
- Community Beautification $506.26
Brian Brannies noted the need to get new bases to hold the notification signs as several have broken. We could also use more signs too. The board voted and approved spending up to $120 for new signs and bases.
Sub area planning info from Jim Sweeney
Jim talked with Linda Bentley at the City about what a sub-area planning process would involve and how the ENA could let the City know we are interested in being the next area to create a sub-area plan. Jim drafted a letter to send to the City and Sam floated the idea at the CNA meeting. The CNA member from the City’s planning commission was supportive. Brian Brannies will sign the letter from the ENA and it will be delivered to the City. In summary, the letter is to let the City know that the ENA is interested in being the next area to work on a sub-area plan. We are hoping the City will respond to the letter with support, both in writing and in making resources available.
CNA Updates from Sam Green
Crime – There was supposed to be a presentation on crime statistics, but it didn’t happen.
Downtown Strategy – more than 100 people attended the open house and more than 4,000 people completed the online survey. A draft report will be available in mid-January, and will go to the planning commission at the end of January. Then a public hearing will be scheduled.
Sub-area planning – ONNA (the 5 neighborhood-group on the NE side of Oly) is now working on implementing their sub-area plan. They are working on the “neighborhood center” aspect of the plan, and have made progress on the walking path on 26th.
Code enforcement – There was a lot of talking about specific problem points/houses and about how ineffective current nuisance ordinances are. The code enforcement sub-committee has room for more members and would like to look into code effectiveness. The ENA board discussed a few ideas including the CNA sub-committee should talk with neighbors around where the drug house on center street was. It would be kind of like a follow-up, but also could help the committee gain some insight about how they were eventually effective. The CNA discussed the part time, grant-funded code enforcement position not being funded again this year and whether it should recommend the city keep funding that position. A lot of people were in favor, but Sam suggested we fix the codes and ordinances before we spend money implementing ineffective ones.
Signage – the City will need to update its signage ordinances to reflect a recent Supreme Court ruling (most cities will need to do the same)
Other – Olympia Police Department will be hosting a block watch captain training (we think) this Saturday (November 19th from 9-noon. We couldn’t verify this online, so if anyone is interested, they should try to verify with the City of OPD.
Crime and Safety update from Roger Horn
Roger was looking for ideas for a community-building holiday walk (the board discussed this idea at its last meeting). We discussed a few ideas for breaking the up the hill/down the hill barrier. Perhaps there could be two walks that meet up in one location. We discussed ideas like having several designated houses paint their front windows with a winter or holiday scene. People could walk the neighborhood to see each house and then attend a potluck-style gathering. Maybe some caroling could be incorporated. The board discussed dates in mid-December. The idea would be to organize these similarly to the neighborhood block parties – ENA encouraged/sponsored, but organized by the Eastside Crime and Safety Committee (ECSC).