Edgemoor Neighborhood Association

Monthly Meeting

July 7, 2005

Minutes

 

 

Brien Thane presided over the meeting in place of Interim President, Niall Hackett. Niall could not attend the meeting.

 

Speaker

Brien introduced speaker, Larry Horowitz, who represented Responsible Development an organization formed to save Chuckanut Ridge/100 Acres Woods. Larry showed a 30-minute documentary about Chuckanut Ridge.

 

Responsible Development would like to negotiate acquisition of Fairhaven Highlands – better known as Chuckanut Ridge or the 100 Acres Woods. Larry outlined four possibilities for raising funds to purchase Chuckanut Ridge. He stated that Responsible Development is attempting to work with the developer to set a fixed amount, a fixed date, and an assurance the developer will sell the land if the funds become available. The four options for raising funds are as follows:

 

1. Greenways Levy – If approved, it will be an extension of the present Greenways Levy, which ends in 2006. There is plenty of assessed value in south Bellingham to help pay for Chuckanut Ridge and also purchase land in other area of Bellingham. With just 3% growth the Greenways Levy would generate $85M over the next 20 years. At that rate we could sell $60M in bonds to use for future park purchases.

 

2. Private Donations / Pledges from individuals in the community

 

3. Local Improvement Districts for 3 County Precincts south of Bellingham City Limits. Essentially a mini-Greenways levy for residents outside of the city limits, who are not presently affected by the Greenways levy, but will be affected by Fairhaven Highlands development.

 

4. Matching Grants

 

Another idea being pursued is to use Chuckanut Ridge land for outdoor classroom study by WWU Environmental Studies College.

 

The Bellingham Comprehensive Plans states, “Protect our beautiful wooded Hillsides, they are the soul of the county.” Essentially, we are selling our Soul.

 

 

At 8:30 PM Brien Thane brought the ENA Meeting to order.

A Motion was made to accept the minutes from the June ENA Meeting.

Motion Passed

 

Report of Officers

Treasurer, Lois Miles presented the budget as follows and stated the Revised Annual ENA Budget was posted on the website.

Closing Balance: $1552.29

 

Neighborhood Representative to the Mayor, Sherry Miller reported that at the last Mayor’s meeting they talked about breaking down the Comprehensive Plan into sections for discussion. The next meeting would deal with the Land Use portion of the Comp Plan. If anyone has any comments for the Mayor’s Advisory Committee, please contact Sherry Miller. Brad Rose encouraged members to read the Comprehensive Plan at www.cob.org.

 

Committee Reports

Communication Committee Chair, Kathy Kaiser thanked Sandie for creating 900 “door knob picnic notices” that the committee packaged into groups of 50 along with a neighborhood map highlighting a designated area for distribution.

 

Hospitality Committee Chair, Laurie Renne reminded everyone about the upcoming Edgemoor Neighborhood Picnic on July 17 at Fairhaven Park from 4:30-7:30pm. She offered that hot dogs, beverages and chips would be provided by ENA along with potluck salads and desserts. In addition, there will be games coordinated by Meg Metzger and a book exchange. Laurie asked for help distributing the 900 door knob notices about the picnic, which have a membership form on the reverse side. Thank you to all that helped!

 

Growth and Land Use Committee Chair, Brad Rose reported that the meeting was canceled last Tuesday due to bad weather and rescheduled for the following week (July 12) at Village Green at 7 PM. The group would walk around the Fairhaven area to look at new and proposed construction sites. Brad reported on several projects that were recently granted permits. They are posted on the Edgemoor Neighborhood website and at www.cob.org. Some new items of interest listed below.

 

·                  Public meeting on August 11 regarding zoning change on Valley Parkway just off 12th.

 

·                  Kulshan land trust has applied for a permit to build affordable housing units on the corner of Harris and Mackenzie.

 

·                  Governor’s Point zoning discussion - July 14 Chuckanut rezone is a down zone.

 

Membership Committee Chair, Sandie Koplowitz reported that there are now 136 ENA members. It cost us 6¢ each for the colored door knob notices. They were hand delivered by members, which saved ENA the additional 37¢ postage to mail them.

 

Neighborhood Plan Update Chair, Brad Rose had nothing new to report, but be prepared for an update in September.

 

Neighborhood Safety Committee Co Chair, Donna Grasdock resigned due to a family illness. ENA will miss her and all her contributions to the Association – Thank you Donna. Sandie reported for Veronica Douglas, who was unable to attend the meeting. Keep Kids Alive - Drive 25 signs are available for $15 each. Window stickers are $3 each. A request was made to have the signs available at the Edgemoor Neighborhood Picnic.

 

South Side Coalition – no report

 

New Business

In preparation for the October General Meeting a Nominating Committee was formed to prepare a slate of candidates. Brad Rose highlighted the various board positions. Elections will be held for all officer positions. The Nominating Committee members are Brien Thane, John Stephens and Paul Stephenson.

 

Meeting was adjourned at 9 PM.

 

The next meeting scheduled on August 4th will be a Business Meeting – anyone interested is invited to attend.

 

Minutes submitted by Sandie Koplowitz, July 14, 2005