Edgemoor Neighborhood
Association
Monthly Business Meeting
June
4, 2009
Minutes
The
Monthly Business Meeting of the Edgemoor Neighborhood Association was called to
order by Brad Rose, ENA President, at approximately 7:05 p.m. Lylene Johnson recorded the minutes.
The minutes from the May meeting were
approved as submitted.
It was
noted that Board member information on the website needs to be updated by
adding Martin as chair of the Growth and Land use committee. We still need a Safety committee chair to
meet the requirements of the bylaws.
Sandie Koplowitz will do the update.
Reports of Officers
President’s Report:
The Planning Commission will meet
June 25th to hold two public hearings – to consider text amendments
to the Birchwood Neighborhood Plan and to consider amendments to the Big Box
Ordinance.
Deadline for comments regarding the
The comment period for
There has been a determination of
non-significance on the Samish area sub area plan, so that ball is still
rolling.
MNAC Report:
Jim Darling has resigned as Port Director. Mayor Pike reported progress between the city
and the port regarding the GP site; they have conceptual agreement. They are still encouraging public feedback,
which can be posted on the city or port website. The plan is to have the site function at
people rather than car speed, with bike and pedestrian access to the
waterfront. 5 or 6 historic structures
will be analyzed in terms of usability.
Railroad tracks will be moved to the bluff side to avoid going through
the center of the site. The plan is for
2 main tracks, with more trains at higher speeds. Joe Yaver raised a concern regarding
hazardous loads. LEED certifications
will be sought. The Port will be selling
the property to raise the money to pay the development costs. Boardwalks have been discussed but will not
work. The NOAH decision is still in process
– the pull is between technical benefits versus number of voters. The library wants to look at a waterfront
site as well as the others that have been under consideration.
David Webster, Chief Administrative
Office for the city, spoke about the Legacy Project. It is a look 50 years ahead. From the neighborhood level, the city will be
looking at what it wants its legacy to be, and from that, decide on the
commitments it will make. Areas to
consider include those such as clean water, the economy, growth, etc.
The insurance policies for the
neighborhoods have been renewed.
There is discussion about a change
to the Type 6 process – how land is rezoned in the city. Currently 3 different entities (Planning
Director, Planning Commission, City Council) can
docket proposals, which leads to more projects than staff can handle. It is proposed that Council be the only
entity to docket projects for consideration.
The Planning Commission will discuss on June 11 – comments can be sent
to Marilyn.
Neighborhoods need to spend the
money allotted to them by the city or they will lose it. A plan must be in place by September. It was suggested that new meeting signs be
made saying “General Meeting” or “Monthly Meeting” rather than “Board Meeting”.
August 4th in National
Night Out Against Crime. Activities could be spread around that date
rather than on that date. Lois chaired
this last year. Some groups have talked
about having a combined meeting with other neighborhoods – one event with CSN
would be a possibility. Could this be
combined with the Edgemoor 5th year celebration? Brad will propose a group gathering at the
CSN meeting. Lauri will chair the
Edgemoor section. She will check on the
availability of the large space at
June 2 is the 1st Gallery
Walk of the season downtown and will repeat on the 1st Friday of the
month.
There is a festival at Elizabeth
Park every Thursday.
The grand opening of the
No Treasurer’s Report:
Committee Reports
Communications/Marketing: Sandie
Koplowitz: A mailer to the neighborhood
was discussed. The purposes would be to
inform about ENA, invite to the picnic and encourage involvement. Sandie will an informational timeline of the
Chuckanut Ridge project.
Including neighborhood real estate market
information on the website was discussed.
3 data possibilities were presented by Lylene Johnson. Joe Yaver moved and John Erickson seconded a
motion to add a link to active listings and a list of pending and sold
properties in the neighborhood to the site.
The motion carried.
Sandie
offered to build a 1 page website for CSN if the other neighborhoods
agree. Brad will propose it to CSN.
Sandie
took the GIS (Geographic Information Services) class. The software shows all infrastructure
and allows one to place an existing building in a location and see all views of
the building. It is currently
implemented for
Representative Reports
AOBN: John Erickson: Neighborhood dues of $25 are due – the
Treasurer will be asked to pay them.
8
neighborhoods were represented – 4 were from the South side.
John
Carpenter, from the City Finance Dept, gave an overview of city finances. The budget is $250 million per year. The city deals with 6 unions, has 65 monetary
funds and 42 boards. Most revenues come
from real estate fees and taxes. There
is no quick fix to the shortfalls.
Bruce
Clawson of Banner Bank spoke. What
actually makes up Tier 1 assets is a gray area.
Deposits are listed as liabilities on a bank’s balance sheet. He discussed local banks, of which there are
currently 16. Local & regional banks
hold 70% of their assets as commercial or residential real estate loans. For national banks, this number is closer to
20%. There may be fewer local banks
after this economic downturn is over.
CSN: Brad Rose:
The CSN meeting is next week. He
will bring up the CSN website proposal & how to present the EIS information
for Chuckanut Ridge to neighborhood residents.
The possibility of a candidates’ forum was discussed. Tomorrow is the last day to file. If there are only 2 candidates for a seat,
there will be no primary for that seat.
Only residents of the ward vote in a primary election; all city residents
vote for all positions in the general election.
City council, port commission and county council positions are up for
election.
The
schedule for discussion of the Chuckanut Ridge EIS has been set. The new EIS was delivered to the city May
20. They are currently reviewing. A camera ready version will be ready June 23rd. Public hearing is scheduled for July 14th
or 15th. The 45 day comment
period will end August 7th.
Preliminary Final EIS to the city September 25th. City will review in October. Camera ready Preliminary Final EIS published
November 23rd.
RDNOW: Joe Yaver: Responsible Development is concerned that
there will be insufficient public engagement in this process in the summer and
would like to have it delayed. Issues
are discussed behind the scenes, and the important testimony and input will be
expert against expert. RDNOW has experts
in the various aspects of the project, but they need time to review the
findings of the EIS and prepare responses.
A letter is being sent objecting to the schedule and asking that the
meeting scheduled for July be held after Labor Day. Brad pointed out that the deadlines for the
process are set by statute and triggered by the date of submission of the
EIS. Discussion was held on whether the
ENA should draft a letter to Tim Stewart asking that the public meeting be held
closer to the end of the comment period.
No resolution was reached.
Closing
Meeting was adjourned at 9:04
The
next meeting scheduled will be the Edgemoor Board Meeting
to be held from 7-9 p.m. on July 2nd at Fairhaven
Park Pavilion. All residents are encouraged to attend.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Lylene
Johnson
Minutes are subject to approval.