March 2012

Meeting called to order 7:10 pm.

Sign in and introductions take place.

Announcements

Karen Greene announces that the library’s Book Bike is now a letterbox site, and stamps can be found at different sites around town. The book bike was at Cyclovia, even with the poor turnout due to weather.

Ian Fritz announces that this year’s Pie Party will be Saturday, April 28 at the Whistle Stop Depot at 127 W 5th Street. DSNA is a potential recipient. Remember to bake pies, vegan and gluten free pies will be available.

Natasha Winnik announces that she has petitions to repeal the Main Gate Overlay District at Originate, 526 N 9th Avenue.

Richard Mayers from West University introduces himself and discusses the Main Gate Overlay repeal petition. Mayor and council have approved the Main Gate Overlay District between Speedway, 6th St, Park, and Euclid that would allow structures up to 14 stories and demolition of up to 14 historic structures with essentially no process for neighborhood. West University submitted an alternative proposal which would allow up to 10 stories with heights tapered down toward Euclid and better preservation of historic structures, which the council refused to seriously consider. Therefore, they are circulating a petition that would require the city to either repeal the overlay district or put it to a city-wide referendum. They are short on signatures, so they are looking for volunteers, and plan to target the street fair next weekend. The must have 8,500 signatures from city voters by March 28.

Discussion

Reinvestment project, approval of art – In January it was agreed that there would be a Saturday meeting for neighbors to interact with the artists, and that after that meeting, we would use Supervisor Elías’s mailing to send out final designs of the projects so neighbors could come to the next general meeting, give last minute comments, and approve the designs. This mailer has not yet been sent out and we do not have final designs for most projects, so we will only be approving the street mural tonight, because it is time sensitive. The planned painting date is April 14. Most present seem to be okay with the design. Karen moves to approve the mural. Meg Hagyard seconds. Some present mention that they have comments that they would like to give to the artists. The motion is amended to approve the current general design concept, to give the comments from this meeting to the artists, and allow the art committee to reconvene with the artists to finalize the design. The motion carries unanimously.

Brad Lancaster requests that someone contact the artists. Natasha and Turtle will contact Sally Krommes, who will contact the artists. Turtle asks who will make sure the mailing happens. Jonathan Crowe says that Camy Juarez will take full responsibility for it. Turtle tells us that it turns out there is more money for more benches, so Hiro and Jason will now be building benches at 10th Avenue and 2nd Street and 10th Avenue and University, and Kate and Jesus will be building benches at the bulletin board on 9th Avenue and at the garden. The bench at 10th Avenue and University will now be on the southeast corner, because of space issues.

Some issues have arisen with the rain gauge sculpture planned for 10th Avenue and 1st Street. They city needed to collect signatures from those living nearby to build the new traffic circle, and Chris, who lives on the northeast corner, apparently contacted Ward 1 and started a petition against it. Brad talked to Chris, and Brad shares that Chris has three concerns with the circle. His first is that because 1st Street is a wash, he is concerned that having a raised traffic circle may cause debris to accumulate behind it during floods, leading to flooding and erosion around his and his neighbor’s properties. His second concern is that it may become an eyesore with bermuda grass like the other two circles along 1st Street. His third concern is that because of the church of that corner, it may lead to traffic congestion. Brad’s impression was that his first concern was the most significant, and the most irreconcilable. Chris has already seen erosion of 6 inches of soil around his retaining wall, and he doesn’t want to see anything build that my worsen it. So far, he is not convinced that building up dirt would be adequate, and he wants assurance that he won’t have to end up paying for any damage caused by it. Brad believes that Chris’s concerns are reasonable, and therefore he only supports placing the piece in the traffic circle if they can be addressed, otherwise, he believes it should be relocated.

Turtle mentions that Camy may be able to find funds to mitigate the flooding in the right of way. Jonathan says that there are many options, including a secondary retaining wall, to mitigate potential flooding. Brad says that Chris would need to talk directly with city representatives about any mitigation options. Ian suggests having Chris meet with Camy and Jesse Soto. Karen brings up that there were two alternatives that the art committee discussed if the 1st and 10th circle turns out not to be feasible. The first is to still place the sculpture along the 1st Street wash, but instead at Estevan Park, which is in our neighborhood. The second would be to change the design to several small water gauge type sculptures and place them at intervals in the right of way along 1st Street. It will not be possible to put it in one of the existing circles on 1st Street. Ian says he would prefer putting it in the park to splitting it up, to which there are several nods.

Brad discusses the status of the curb cuts. The contractor has stopped all work even though not all proposed cuts have been made because they are afraid that they are close to going over budget. Depending on the bill, things may go forward, or they may have to stop where they are. There have been several requests for additional curb cuts but it is unlikely that any of these will happen. Jonathan tells us that the contractors may not complete the planting and we may need to organize it ourselves. If anyone sees issues with the curb cuts, or water backing up, they should notify Jonathan or Brad. Jonathan also mentions that the new lights should be going in soon.

Chris, whose concerns had been previously discussed, now arrives. We review the previous discussion, and bring up the possibility of mitigation. Chris is still opposed to anything that may potentially disrupt the flow of water. Because of this concern and the difficulty in addressing it, and because nobody is adamant about keeping it at 1st and 10th, members of the art committee state that they will now focus on placing the sculpture at Estevan Park.

Vince Pawlowski mentions that some of the reflectors inside the chicanes have come down, making them harder to see at night, especially since the new lights have not yet been installed.

Speedway and Stone design – The purpose of this agenda item was to discuss requested design criteria for a future Speedway and Stone development. Ian had sent out a document outlining some general design criteria and would like to receive some more comments. After he has a more complete set of comments, he will see about working with Phil Swaim on a design for that and other parcels in the neighborhood. Turtle recommends aiming for May, after we have finished our current projects.

Committee Reports

Downtown Links – Natasha reports that no meetings have taken place, the drainage is almost done on 8th Street, they’ve stopped for the street fair but will start working again afterward, because it needs to be finished before construction begins on the streetcar.

DNARC – Karen reports that there will be a meeting with Michael Keith to discuss if DNARC will continue. Richard Mayers is starting a neighborhood coalition that is not connected to any government organization, and Karen suggests that having a representative there may be a higher priority than at DNARC. It will be the third Thursday of the month at 6 pm at the Trinity church. She also believes, it could still helpful to have someone at DNARC to hear about things, but it won’t be her though after next month.

Neighborhood Garden – Vince reports on behalf of Terry Pawlowski that the balance is $293, and she would like our approval raise prices to $6, $8, and $12. No objection is heard.

Dunbar Coalition – Lisa Scoblink reports that the minutes from the most recent meeting have not yet been published, but in the previous meeting, it was discussed that the platform lift and restrooms are finished, the buffalo soldier exhibit should be finished in 3 months from when the meeting took place 2 months ago, Chuck Ford is resigning as president and Hester has taken Lisa’s place. The charter school will open on the second floor by 2013. Lisa will report on two meetings next month.

Ian moves to approve February’s minutes. Karen seconds. Motion carries unanimously.

Meeting adjourned 8:58 pm