Edgemoor Neighborhood Association

Monthly Meeting

January 5, 2012

Minutes

 

The ENA monthly meeting was called to order at approximately 7:11 pm on Thursday, January 5th by ENA President Lylene Johnson.  Lauri Grove recorded the minutes.

·        Notice: The venue for ENA monthly meetings has moved to the Library at Fairhaven Middle School.

 

The minutes from the November meeting were approved as submitted. There was no meeting in December.

 

Treasurer's Report: (Diane MacLean)

     Lylene reported, in Diane’s absence, that she cancelled the Pavilion for the evening. Lauri would call to confirm cancellation and request a refund for payment that had been made to secure the Fairhaven Park building through June.  She would also send a $60 check to Fairhaven Middle School to cover 6 months rental fees. The Middle School closes In July and August so we would need to decide whether to pay the $26/hr custodial fee to meet those 2 months, cancel meetings, or meet somewhere else.

 

MNAC:  (John Erickson)

     Times they are a changing for MNAC… Linda Stewart has been replaced in interim by Nicole Oliver, and the newly elected Mayor, Kelli Linville, plans to meet the group on January 18th so this transitional period would be a good time to question what the neighborhood wants to achieve through the MNAC. Aside from a forum for neighborhoods to meet directly with city administration, one of the functions of the committee is to review neighborhood plan amendments and rezoning requests. Once reviewed the recommendations pro or con are passed on to the planning commission.  This is presently being done by a few (a sub-committee of 3) with a short timeframe and a heavy workload. There was quite a bit of contention over the proposed Padden Creek Trail development which caused members to question the process and MNAC’s role.

     So what does our community want from the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission? Contact John with your thoughts.

 

President’s Report: (Lylene Johnson)

     Lylene talked briefly about her role in keeping the blog current while Sandie continues to keep the website up-to-date with general information.  As President she would like to open up communication in an effort to reach a broader spectrum of Edgemoor.  The blog is the place to go for neighbors to voice concerns, find like minds and share topical community news freeing up monthly meetings for pertinent ENA business. Lylene brought up a couple topics of interest including the quarry expansion on Lummi Island, a PAC initiative to prohibit coal trains in Bellingham modeled after Prop 1 in Seattle, and a possible collaboration with CSN to meet with BNSF railroad. In addition to the blog, she suggested utilizing simple surveys to find out how neighbors feel, where interests lie, and a vision for ENA. Surveys could offer for more direction and better representation in issues that come up at ENA meetings.

 

Chuckanut Ridge Report: (Bob Gibb)

     Bob sent a donation to a designated account held by the WWU Foundation created to purchase a share of the Chuckanut Ridge site for Huxley College. He did this to take a stand and encourage a vested interest on the part of the University to maintain and protect this forested wetland for future generations.  He hopes more designated charitable donations will follow. The current City Administration has expressed support however the WWU Foundation Board has not yet agreed to such an acquisition so they are simply holding the funds.  Contract details are in discussion. Bob is the best person to contact with questions about donations to this fund.

 

Bylaws Committee Report: (Lauri Grove)

     The committee has made progress editing the original bylaws to more clearly guide the neighborhood association. One change was to separate specific changeable details into Standing Rules of Procedure leaving the general Bylaws to define the basic requirements to run ENA. Another meeting will be scheduled to reedit a few loose points.  A rough draft of the revised Bylaws can be found on the blog, Edgemoor Conversations – feel free to review and offer suggestions.

 

Neighborhood Plan Report: (Lylene Johnson)

     Lylene distributed a revised plan highlighting an added section addressing the railroad. The Plan committee would like to have the amended plan approved at the February meeting so it can be completed to meet the April deadline.

     Sidewalks are on the City’s pedestrian plan and Lidia would be willing serve on a committee to help get sidewalks in Edgemoor relative to the Fairhaven Middle School.  She was instrumental in getting the traffic light at the intersection near the school and would be a good resource for advice.  If Edgemoor is interested in sidewalks come forward – let’s get this party started.

 

New Business:

Budget – The city continues to reimburse neighborhoods for up to $500 in expenses so we have to be mindful of our budget if we are not going to collect dues for 2012.  As mentioned earlier, moving the meetings to Fairhaven Middle School saves us hundreds of dollars (and keeps us warm). However, we do need new signs this year.

Meeting Schedule – Meetings will continue to be held at 7pm on the 1st Thursday of each month at Fairhaven Middle School. All meetings are open to the community. The Annual Membership Meeting will be held on the 1st Thursday in June.

AOBN – The association in sleep mode. It was suggested a link to our website should be posted on the AOBN site.

CSN – CSN plans to get active again.  A meeting was scheduled in January to reorganize and discuss some issues of concern on the south side such as coal trains and the Padden Creek Trail development. Lylene plans to attend and blog about the details.

 

Goals for ENA:

     Lylene offered that her goal was to improve communication throughout the neighborhood, reach out to get more neighbors actively involved, and focus internally on pertinent Edgemoor issues.  How can ENA better serve the neighborhood – your thoughts?

 

Closing

The meeting was adjourned at 8:58.

 

The next Edgemoor Neighborhood Meeting will be a held on Thursday, February 2nd from 7-9pm at the Fairhaven Middle School. Check the blog for the agenda and additional information. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Lauri Grove

 

 

 

 

 

(Minutes are subject to approval)