Edgemoor Neighborhood Association
Quarterly General
Membership Meeting
August 2, 2007
Minutes
The Quarterly General Membership Meeting of Edgemoor
Neighborhood Association was called to order at 7:00 on August 2nd at Fairhaven
Pavilion. In Brad’s absence, John
Erickson facilitated the meeting and Lauri Grove recorded the minutes.
The minutes of the July meeting were approved as recorded.
Survey Response
The results of the Edgemoor
Neighborhood Survey were presented by Peter Bolda. He offered that the survey process was an immense
amount of work. Surveys were mailed out
to all Edgemoor residents, renters and owners using addresses obtained from
county tax records. A total of 949
questionnaires were sent out and about 450 completed surveys were
returned. The response was better than
expected which makes the survey statistically very significant. Many of the responses also included comments conveying
concerns, clarifying answers and suggesting solutions. Every comment was taking into account. Peter read over a hand out of the survey
results - question by question. For the
most part, residents were happy with their neighborhood and expressed a desire
to keep things status quo. Traffic,
although not a continuous issue would become more problematic with the addition
of development on Chuckanut Ridge.
Another concern mentioned at the meeting was a problem with neighborhood
rentals to college students. The city
doesn’t adequately enforce zoning laws therefore issues with college rentals
present a problem throughout neighborhoods in Bellingham. A thank you was
extended to all that took time to fill out and return a survey. Thank you to all that offered additional
comments expressing concerns and suggesting solutions. Last but not least, thank you to all involved
in the process of creating, mailing, and tallying the survey.
Guest
Speakers
Ham Hayes: Our first speaker of the evening was candidate
for City Council (At Large), Ham Hayes. After he briefed us on his personal
background, Ham moved into why he was running, issues of concern, and his views.
He considered the present City Council dysfunctional; lacking oversight,
accountability, and leadership. He
continued by expressing the importance of engaging the community in growth
management and other critical issues. He
suggested that neighborhood associations should report to the City Council
rather then the Mayor. Ham took a stand
against Chuckanut Ridge and the need to protect the wetlands.
Bill Geyer: Bill
Geyer, candidate for City Council 5th Ward, gave us an overview of
his personal background (30 years in urban planning), experience, and political
views. He noted there is a ‘sea of
change’ occurring with all the growth in Bellingham and the new residents want
a higher degree of input. He suggested breaking down the approach to ‘saving’ Chuckanut
Ridge by first documenting all the natural resources that need to be preserved
and protected. Once that is out of the
way, move forward to the next step and so forth.
Dan Pike: (For
organizational sake I included Dan Pike with the guest speakers even though he
came later in the evening).
Dan Pike, candidate for Mayor, listed his qualifications, endorsements,
and leadership priorities. He came to
Bellingham in 1982 and he noted since then many of the same issues continue to
be brought up, but remain unresolved. He offered that his strength was in his
ability to bring diverse groups together to find solutions to difficult
problems and then get them done. He emphasized protecting Lake Whatcom, finding
the best solutions for the waterfront, protecting Chuckanut Ridge, and good
communication.
Changes
to the Bylaws
As required by ENA Bylaws (Article 9),
the city’s proposed changes to the ENA Bylaws were offered in writing for
approval at the September ‘Special’ General Membership Meeting. The
Board had already moved to accept the proposed changes at the July meeting. However, Sandie Koplowitz questioned removing the requirement for members to pay
dues in order to vote. She suggested changing the voting rights
section while we were in the process of amending the bylaws to avoid the need
to go through the process again later. Consensus was to do so.
A motion
was made by Bob Gibb
to change article 3.3 (Voting Rights) of the ENA bylaws to remove
the requirement to pay
dues in order to vote
After general discussion, a decision was
made to table that last motion until the next meeting to give the Board a
chance to think it through and to suggest new wording for bylaws section 3.3
Reports of Officers
(A decision was made to limit reports since we had a couple
unexpected speakers and time restraints)
Treasurer
– A report for this month was filed.
Disbursements - $10.00
Income - $30.00
Balance - $2246.92
Committee Reports
Chuckanut
Mountain Park District (CMPD) – Bob Gibb reported that an important public
hearing for the CMPD Boundary Review would be held at 7:00 on August 20th at
the Fairhaven Library. Public hearings
would also be held in Skagit County.
Apparently there are some questions about a park district so this could
be an opportunity for the public to get a better understanding about GMPD. Bob continued with the fact that CMPD still
does not have a SEPA sponsor and may have to be their own agent. His report ended with a general discussion
about the ‘less then adequate’ EIS planned for Chuckanut Ridge.
Neighborhood
Plan Update Committee – A report on the survey response was
given earlier in the meeting.
Closing
Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.
Please note the next meeting scheduled will be an Edgemoor Neighborhood
Association ‘Special’ General Membership Meeting to be held from 7-9 on
September 6th at Fairhaven Park Pavilion. All meetings are open to all residents and we
encourage you to attend.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lauri Grove