July ENA Board Meeting Minutes (Draft)

Draft minutes for the July 17th Board meeting, taken by Carol Wilson


ENA BOARD MEETING       Thursday July 17th, 2008 

12 members present.

 

  • Ann Mataczynski
  • Luke Bowerman
  • Jessica Archer
  • Casey Allan
  • Chad Akins
  • Carol Wilson
  • Nathan Allan
  • Elaine Nelson
  • Whitney Bowerman
  • Tim McCloud
  • Stuart Reed
  • Sam Schroeder
  • Terri Zander 

Luke called the meeting to order 7:10  the minutes from the June board meeting were read and approved.

Mark Bergeson sent in a treasurer’s report.  There is currently $2,100.00 in our bank account.

The neighborhood picnic will be on Sat. August 9th     11:00—2:00

Terri Zander will bring some information on Bike Tech, some games

There will be a patrol car making the rounds of the park.

Eddie Willingham will provide us with a blow up slide or some similar type inflatable toy We will also check and see if he can loan us his sound system

Whitney will purchase and assemble the beef burgers.

Stewart will make the veggie burgers.

Sam will provide the iced coffee

Nathan and Casey will make the Costco run and purchase buns, hot dogs, condiments, soda, any paper products we may need.

Terri Zander will be in charge of the microphone and make any necessary announcements.

Whitney will put up signs around the neighborhood about the picnic and Jessica will help. Terri will put up 4 signs around the park

Whitney will set up a schedule for people manning the BBQs Elaine, Jessica, Chad and Luke all volunteered to cook.  Luke will bring a BBQ and it would be nice if we could get someone else to bring one.

Jessica will bring her corn hole game and anyone who has any other group games is urged to bring them.

There is some confusion in the current boundaries of the neighborhood association. The written description doesn’t match the actual map. Luke will look into getting the written description and the map to match.  He will also look into what the intention of the boundaries were.

Terri expressed some concerns about neighborhood safety issues.  There have been a lot of car prowls in the neighborhood lately. Luke will continue to post the information on our website. Perhaps we could have someone come and talk to us at the next neighborhood general meeting. The main emphasis seems to be know your neighbors and report anything that doesn’t look right. Perhaps the neighborhood association could take the lead in informing people of how to have a small group block party or garage sale. This would involve just a few houses and would be a great way to get to know your immediate neighbors. It was agreed that we would put the basics in the newsletter and more information on the website. Terri also suggested that we call the police on any kind of issue so they know what is going on in our neighborhood.

The garden project—Luke got a copy of the contract between the city and GRUBB which has a garden at Sunrise Park. We thought maybe the same thing would be possible at Madison Scenic Park. It was also decided that we have confused the city with all the different people who have talked to them about our garden project. Luke will contact the city and let them know that we are still in support of the garden project and when plans are begun for Madison Scenic Park we want to be involved in the process. He will contact GRUBB and see if they want to partner with us. Luke will contact David Hanna and let him know he will serve as the contact person and a garden is our preferred use of the park. He will report back to us at the picnic.

Terri let us know that build a bike is  looking for a new home and needs to move by the end of summer. Any one have any ideas?

Some concern was expressed about all board members being sure that anything they say or send out should be approved by the board first. Make sure they you aren’t appearing to be representing the ENA if you don’t have the board’s approval.

A Walking Train project is being started at Madison it is a way to get kids to school and home again safely with out using vehicles

The meeting was adjourned  at 8:30.

Respectfully submitted,    Carol Wilson Secretary.

 

June board meeting minutes

Draft minutes for the June Board meeting, taken by Elaine Nelson


  1. discussion of minutes and Google Groups lists. may look into setting up an open discussion group, with someone other than Luke moderating. Approved.
  2. Isthmus rezone. Luke has been receiving emails from various groups around town: some asking us to share info, some asking for an ENA position. in particular, one from several former planning commission members, sending a letter, wanting our endorsement. (anti the rezone) discussion of particular impacts, including fountain park, images available from the city. does the ENA want to take a position? discussion of whether it’s outside of our group’s scope. Sam suggested maybe having an article in the newsletter. for that venue, will be too late for any decision-making. consensus: “it’s not letterhead material.”
  3. garden project. Stuart: not anything to report, still hasn’t heard back from David Hanna after making some calls, sending some letters; still trying to figure out what the city’s POV is. Stuart will send copies of the letters to Luke (whole board?) and Luke will follow up. Stuart will not have the same time availability, has not been able to get ahold of anyone at GRUB. also, the developer has no plans to develop the 13th Ave property in the near future, so that group doesn’t have the urgency that they did a year ago. Chad said that Michael Kelly at Terra Commons is interested in helping. Nathan thinks that the next step should be to talk to GRUB about their park project, and get the 13th Ave group going, otherwise: no point in doing it? Chad thought there was enough interest, put up a fence & sign, and Terra Commons really wants a project. Difference between enough people who would use it and enough people to make it happen. Tim knows Blue (?) at GRUB, thinks that this is an important need for the community. Stuart talked a bit with someone at GRUB about the Sunrise garden, but didn’t talk about the aspects addressed in the letter from the city. Tim will talk to Blue about the history & process. Chad will talk to Michael, feel out what they want, experience working with the city. Some discussion of relationship with the city, that they want our willingness to participate in the formal planning process.
  4. picnic. August 9. Will New Bridge be involved to the same extent? Haven’t heard as much from them. Last year we bought beverages, burgers, dogs & buns. Eddie had inflatable toy; Carol’s son did activities. People broughts sides & desserts. Had too much food, couldn’t give it all away. We’re doing well financially, can do the same again. Higher quality meat? Cost is a serious factor. Quality salads? How many people? 40 or 50 would be a reasonable number. Tim would be willing to help with games & activities, if he doesn’t have his kid by then. Fire department will show up with fun stuff for kids. Luke has been talking to the police; apparently we have a neighborhood beat cop, will see if we can have someone come to the picnic or a general meeting. Sam can bring iced coffee & iced tea. Stuart would like to sign up for prep for making our own food. Can we go more sustainable or better quality? Chad will check whether Stewart’s Meats does premade patties. Will do same as last year, but look for better sources. Stuart will make the gardenburgers, about 2 dozen, will get reimbursed. Whitney will look into other meat options. Tim will ask SF Bakery people about buns (5-6 dozen). Will be asking for either donations or reduced cost.
  5. traffic. Luke has been talking to Randy W. about the crosswalk at Madison. Trying to find out what’s going on. Will bring back in July.
  6. sandwich board signs. southwest neighborhood got grant from city for something like that, but not reusable. nice professional sign about $300 ea. Luke is working on a homemade sign prototype, with a space for a notice under plexiglass.  Sam has a vinyl-cutter at work, might be able to score a couple of things of our logo, probably cheap or free. Luke can send him a copy of the logo (Illustrator) and approximate size. Luke showed the image prototype. Elaine & Chad may have some hinges to help. Oly Salvage always has good inexpensive plywood, (other store) has cheap paint. May be organizing a work party in the future.
  7. we got STEPS grant again, Christine Watts is running it again. Probably continuing prior year projects. City is also talking about organizing “walking bus” with new employee coordinating pedestrian/bike transportation issues.
  8. newsletter. articles due July 7. picnic, meet your neighbor, Kerry at the city wants to write. ads: the usual, plus Elaine will see about TwinStar, possibly picnic donors. ithusmus article? no, blog post. how to sign up for the Google Group, make a big deal about it. Elaine mentioned typo. Focus on ads, Elaine will put info on the website about newsletter ads. Luke will write a “president’s column.” Chad asked about inviting cartoonists.
  9. Stuart brought up the PSE sale, utility commission recommended not selling, will there be local electric PUD?
  10. Tim mentioned a google group on local organic gardening, “help my broccoli is looking like this what do I do?” as a resource for the neighborhood, people going to each other gardens. Will write article? Random discussion of the city composting program.
  11. Luke: city police now have daily activity summary on their website. They also do vacation checks, come by to see if your house is okay.
  12. Tim: some local sources for hoses/nozzles are now safe, but many contain lead, for safer vegetable gardening.

Next meeting, July 17, Swantown Inn, 7 pm.

Isthmus Rezone

While the ENA has choosen not to take a position on the isthmus rezone process we would like to encourage neighborhood members to weigh-in on this important local issued and I’ll be using this article to highlight communications the ENA has received from community groups regarding the rezone. If you’re a community member that would like something added please feel free to contact me, Luke Bowerman, ENA President


Resources about the zoning change for the isthmus heights

Excerpted from email sent by Jeffrey J. Jaksich on August 19th

Triway Enterprises, which applied for the rezone, has materials about their proposed project on their website at http://www.triwayenterprises.com/land_larida.html. The eleven sections of their complete application are also available on the city’s website at http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/cityservices/zoning/LongRangePlanning/Proposed+Comprehensive+Plan+Amendments.htm.

The city planning staff’s analysis of the application and recommended alternative are available at http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/documents/2008CompPlanDSEIS052608Sections/Chapter7_4th.pdf

Friends of the Waterfront, which opposes the rezone, advocates the eventual inclusion of that land in the park, and wants an inclusive community process to work out a comprehensive vision for the waterfront, has a website at http://www.friendsofthewaterfront.org. Their objections to the proposal are at http://www.nuprometheus.com/friends/OPCTestimony.html.

Olympia 2012 supports rezoning Triway’s two blocks but having the city commit to removing the high rise there now and adding that land and the lots between Bayview and the Oyster House to the park eventually. Members of its steering committee have been meeting with a range of local and state officials to promote their vision for the city, particularly (at the moment) getting the State to give the City another one percent of the sales tax collected downtown for use in improvement projects that would eventually help generate more sales tax returns. Their website is at http://oly2012.org/ and their discussion of the rezone issue is at http://oly2012.org/page14.html.

20/20 Vision Olympia wants the city to do a full-scale community planning process about the future of downtown, run by an outside professional, starting next year. (They’re opposed to rezoning the isthmus, at least until the community goes through that planning process, a charrette.) Their website’s at http://www.2020visionolympia.org.

People for a Participatory City opposes the rezone and a number of other recent developments as steps toward the gentrification of downtown. They have a position paper which is available on the section of the Friends of the Waterfront website which attempts to keep up with other groups opposing the rezone, but no website of their own – as yet. (See http://www.nuprometheus.com/friends/groups.html)

A group which began as a discussion on OlyBlog about creating an inventory of all the stakeholder groups downtown and trying to bring them together, has rapidly turned into a weekly meeting attended by interested individuals from a number of other organizations involved with downtown, like the PBIA, the ODA, Olympia 2012, etc. They’re interested in doing an actual project downtown (like getting groups to each adopt and transform an alley), in Oly 2012’s tax-sharing plan, and in supporting a full scale charrette planning process for the downtown core. There’s information about what their meetings on the Everyday Olympia blog at http://everydayolympia.com/news/category/moving-forward/

Last, but not least, the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation is running an initiative campaign which would require the city to produce a report within five months estimating what it would cost to acquire the land across from Bayview and to create a park. (It would not include any land on Bayview’s side of 4th Avenue, just the land on the other side of that street, from the bridge through the row of buildings next to the fountain.) The report would also investigate ways in which the State and other public or private entities might share the cost. If they gather enough signatures, the Council will have to do the study or run a special election for the voters on the proposal. Their website and initiative petition’s at – http://www.olycapitolparkfoundation.org

SPEECH Releases “Envision Downtown Olympia” Report

A report documenting a recent community forum, “Envision Downtown Olympia,” has been released by the South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH). SPEECH submitted a copy of the report to the City of Olympia Planning Commission today for their consideration regarding the Urban Waterfront Rezone and Height Amendment Proposal submitted to the city by Triway Enterprises.

SPEECH, an environmental education non-profit organization, maintains a neutral position on the issue. The report was compiled by Michael Fraidenburg, a senior mediator with the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center. Fraidenburg performed the role of notetaker during the forum.

Envision Downtown Olympia Forum Notes (PDF)

Relevant Links

Friends of the Waterfront (http://www.nuprometheus.com/friends/)

Olympia 2012 (http://www.oly2012.org)