DSNA Meeting Minutes: December 2020 Meeting Minutes

1. Call to Order: 7:05 p.m.

2. Sign-In & Introductions: Christy Voelkel, Anna Cirell, Clay Morgan, Joanna Williams, Natasha Winnik, Lisa Scoblink, Bradford Trojan, Faffs Riederer, Gail Toomey, Mark Goehring, Cedar Dale Warman, Richard Foster, Alana Tchirkine, Eneida Guerra de Lima, Andres Portela

3. Treasurer's Report: $1045.33; we owe money to the Gloo Factory

4. Announcements:

a. Stone Ave will be closed from Jan 4 through March between Fifth and Sixth Streets

b. The city will be holding public meetings about the Central Business District expansion and GPLET process

c. Bradford is quite involved with trying to keep the small towers from going up and it is important to educate our Council members (WTF towers have extreme radiated power that will be going up in residential areas.) If you are interested in getting involved in making sure that they are meeting regulations, or get more information: https://az4safetech.org, bradfordtrojan@gmail.com This will be an item on the January agenda to give us an opportunity to discuss the issue in detail and vote on sending a letter from the neighborhood

d. TPD wants us to be safe during the holidays; dispose of packaging of expensive items discreetly and be aware of packages being stolen.

e. The city is holding meetings in January to get public input about the Central Business District boundaries and future GPLET requirements. If you have an interest in this topic, you can sign up for one of the meetings on this page: Central Business District Community Meetings - Connect Tucson

5. Committee Reports

a. Stackhouse: Stackhouse is going to build their 1st project in Denver, not Tucson. DSNA submitted a Community Benefits Agreement, but things did not progress. They put the property on Stone up for sale. Next month dissolve this committee. Stackhouse hopes to build in Tucson at a later time.

b. 11th Ave: Ann Chaneka who will be overseeing the Affordable Housing project would like to be on the January agenda. Developers need more time to put together the projects, which is a good thing.

6. Reports from the Field

a. DNARC: Downtown Neighborhoods and Residents Council: a very short meeting that discussed Sunshine Mile meeting and Barrio Kroger Lane received grant to investigate historical designation.

b. Downtown Links: no update

c. Dunbar Coalition: Leadership Transition – Debi Chess has agreed to stay until the end of this fiscal year. Hiring Development Director – Debi will get with the Financial Committee and look at the budget. She has a person in mind, Stacey Gibson. Requesting 50K. Debi gave resume to the Executive Committee. Auditorium Rehab. - Target date for completion is January 2021.

7. Discussion

a. Estevan Park restrooms: (Faffs Riederer) The bathrooms at Estevan Park and the Oury Pool have both closed since before July. They closed the bathrooms because of illegal activity and COVID, and want to keep them closed until there are fewer homeless people in parks. Faffs has drafted a letter. Andres wanted to know if Faffs has reached out to Ward One office. Faffs has written three letters in the past three months, and had no response. Andres will respond and resolve this important issue (andres.portela@tucsonaz.gov). The Salvation Army is willing to put a hand washing station in the park, but sometimes these stations are an excuse to not open bathrooms. Natasha as a nearby business owner knows the seriousness of the situation. A lot of money has been invested in the building of public bathrooms, and they need to be open and maintained. Moved and seconded and approved (11/0) on taking a vote. Moved and seconded and approved (13/0) empower the president to write and send a letter supporting open and maintained bathrooms.

b. Update on Road Diet and No Whistle Zone: Clay has contacted the City of Tucson Transportation Department, but has not heard back. Natasha noticed people out on Main surveying and marking, so background work is being done. We will continue to reach out. Andres will reach out to Diana.

c. Lighting/New Management at Sahara: Bradford thanked Andres for speeding up the process for code enforcement. They are sending another notice to the new owners. We want the new owners to know that the exterior lights did not meet code, and we want to know the follow-up. That it doesn’t fall through the cracks. Natasha also shared that there have been complaints about the change in management and security now that the owners are not local anymore.

d. Moved and seconded and approved (13/0) on taking a vote on approving November minutes. Moved and seconded and approved November minutes. (12/0)

Adjourn: 7:53 p.m.