Edgemoor
Neighborhood Association
Monthly Business Meeting
Minutes
The Monthly Business Meeting
of Edgemoor Neighborhood Association was called to order at
Sue Kahn
and Thom Prichard (Fairhaven Neighbors) attended our meeting to present
background information and discuss support for a letter drafted by the CSN in
response to a found document dated 1988/1989.
The document, a signed Agreement between Concerned Southside Citizens,
the Port and the City of
Motion by Sandie Koplowitz to approve ENA support and involvement in
drafting a letter to Bellingham City Council and the Port of Bellingham
requesting a meeting in reference to the Agreement recorded in 1988/1989
between the Concerned Southside Citizens, Port of Bellingham, and the City of
Bellingham.
The motion was seconded, discussed and passed
with a 4 to 1 vote.
The minutes for the January
and February meeting were approved as recorded
Report of Officers
Vice
Present, Niall Hackett, read an
email from Brien Thane that included an ABN request for approval or input on 2
items - their mission statement and the potential formation of a Shoreline
Stewardship Taskforce. Larry Horowitz
addressed these items in his ABN report.
In addition, the Whatcom Film Association asked whether they might speak
at a future meeting about the Pickford’s efforts to develop their DreamSpace
downtown by the radio museum. It was
agreed to have the Whatcom Film Association speak at the May meeting. Niall also solicited additional ideas for
speakers. The possibility of a second
‘Vision of Edgemoor’ was suggested.
Treasurer, Lois Miles was unable to attend the meeting
so the budget report was presented by Sandie.
She offered that the 501 C3 form has been completed. A draft of the proposed 2006 budget was
handed to board members for review.
Income -
$255.00 (new membership dues)
Disbursements
– $150.00 (payment for 501 C3
application)
Closing
Balance - $2326.42
MNAC Representative, Brad Rose was unavailable to attend the
monthly MNAC meeting. We determined that
ENA needed an alternate and Niall Hackett at one time expressed an
interest. He stated that he was still
interested and would be the alternate.
Larry Horowitz also expressed interest and volunteered to be the
alternate back up.
Committee Reports
Communication
Committee Chair,
Kathy Kaiser, offered that the ENA sign was not quite finished, but would be
ready for use at the next membership meeting.
The new sign should be a helpful reminder to neighbors and support
increased attendance at all monthly meetings.
Kathy expressed appreciation for the positive response generated from
the informational membership mailing.
She also read a Thank you note for a job well done on the ENA
newsletters and website - input and encouragement was welcomed.
v
Thank you notes were mailed to Lou
Geri and Steve Monson for work on the signs
Hospitality
Committee – No
report.
Growth
and Land Use Committee report
was read by Veronica Douglas from an email sent by Brad to the board informing
the membership of a
fund-raiser for Responsible Development! and their goal of saving Chuckanut
Ridge. The fund-raiser would be held on
Sunday March 12th at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center (1314
Harris Ave.). There would be
performances and donated local art for sale as well as other goodies. In addition, a requested CUP for an oversized
detached building on
Membership – Sandie informed us that we now have 93 new
members. She printed out names/email
address lists for each Chair that included anyone that expressed interest in a
their group. In addition she read
comments of interest that were included on returned membership forms.
Neighborhood
Safety Committee –
Veronica reported that she would be ordering more Drive 25 signs. Please contact Veronica to order or purchase
signs. A discussion was prompted by the
Block Watch sign Kathy had placed on the corner of her property. She was not sure about the cost, but did
mention that Block Watch Captains could purchase signs for their individual
block.
Neighborhood
Plan Update – No
report.
Representative Reports
Coalition
of Southside Neighborhoods – Representatives
Brad Rose and Pam Went. Report given
earlier in the meeting by Sue Kahn and Thom Prichard.
Association
of Bellingham Neighborhoods –
Representative, Larry Horowitz highlighted points of interest that included the
decision by City Council not to approve the Building Permit Allocation Plan and
his letter in the Indy on impact fees
– ‘how we as taxpayers are subsidizing growth’.
In addition, he presented the ABN Draft Mission Statement. The group went through each points to
determine which statements we felt were or were not appropriate missions for
ABN. Larry also presented a report from
Ralph Thacker suggesting the formation of a Shoreline Stewardship
Taskforce. The south side taskforce
would ‘watch over’ and express recommendations for the southern sections of
waterfront development. If interested,
ENA would need to appoint representatives.
Business
We
discussed a few points in question in the ENA Bylaws. A decision was made to leave existing Bylaws
as written and approved. Any points
that need clarification could be handled in a less formal manner through
‘Procedural Rules’ approved by the board.
Areas in question were the fiscal year, whether or not to authorize
phone and Internet votes, and how to handle Co-Chair votes. In conclusion; Lois preferred to continue to
run ENA finances according to the calendar year, the majority preferred not to
authorize phone votes during a meeting, however Internet votes would be
acceptable when necessary to handle issues in a timely manner between meetings,
and in the case of Co-Chairs only one vote allowed. These procedures need to be formally written
and approved by the board.
Issues and Concerns
A
question was raised about the Greenways Levy as it pertains to Responsible
Development! and ‘saving’ Chuckanut Ridge– Larry offered that the formation of
a Park District might be more beneficial in acquiring and protecting Chuckanut
Ridge.
Closing
Meeting was adjourned at
9:05pm.
The next meeting scheduled
would be an Edgemoor Neighborhood Association
Quarterly General Membership Meeting to be held on April 6th at Fairhaven Park
Pavilion. All Edgemoor residents
are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lauri Grove