Edgemoor Neighborhood Association

Monthly Meeting

April 5, 2012

Minutes

 

 

The ENA monthly meeting was called to order at approximately 7:07 pm on Thursday, April 5th by ENA President Lylene Johnson. The meeting was held in the meeting room at Whidbey Island Bank in Fairhaven. Lauri Grove recorded the minutes. There was a quorum of the Board.

 

The agenda was approved with no additional new business.

Minutes from the March meeting were approved as submitted.

 

Treasurer's Report: (Diane MacLean)

     The current balance in the ENA account is $3391.95. Diane questioned expenses in the 2012 budget citing costs to maintain the PO Box($60), non-profit status($10), website($125), new signs(allotted$200), the NOAC social(?), and use of the Fairhaven Middle School Library($10 a month). Lauri added that Diane needs to send a $50 check to Lairmont Manor for the annual meeting. We will get a $500 reimbursement from the city again this year.

 

Guest: (Christopher Gannis – South Neighborhood)

Chuckanut Community Forest Municipal Park District

Chris stopped in to circulate a flier about creating a Chuckanut Community Forest Municipal Park District to pass a small tax levy dedicated to repay funds used to purchase the Chuckanut Ridge property.  Briefly, the monies allocated from the City of Bellingham Greenways funds are inadequate to secure the property in perpetuity. If we citizens cannot raise $3.4 million a significant portion of the property will have to be sold to repay the Greenways endowment. Chris asked that we write to City Council to get this proposal on the August ballot. Proponents would like to attend the May meeting to present an overview and we agreed to put it on agenda.

  

MNAC: (John Erickson)

No one was able to attend the monthly meeting. John cited a couple items from the minutes. He would reconfirm Mayor Linville’s plan to attend the Annual Meeting in June to speak about her vision and host a friendly Q and A.

John had an item of concern about that he wanted to bring up at an MNAC meeting and asked if he should do it personally or through Edgemoor Neighborhood. We collectively decided that although it was a good question it had not been proposed by the neighborhood.    

 

Communication: (Sandie Koplowitz)

How to Post a Blog?

Sandie hosted a step-by-step tutorial for the board to help us get familiar with posting items on Edgemoor Conversations. The blog is an important component in communicating information with the neighborhood. We also talked about getting familiar and comfortable with Nextdoor Edgemoor to get it off the ground and running – invite a neighbor, post a picture, ask a question or post an item of interest. It was surprising to see the size of the reaction to a post Lylene entered about water meters… people are reading the website!

 

Special Issues:

·        John mentioned that a couple residents approached him disappointed in the direction ENA seems to be moving away from the strong concentration on city issues. He suggested we address the neighborhood expressing our intention to add more depth to the organization by focusing on opening up more dialog within our neighborhood.

·        Chuckanut Ridge clean up will start on Saturday April 28th at noon. John has volunteered to help lead this endeavor to remove the remnants from past homeless camps. The City offered some instruction on how to safely clean up and deal with hazardous material and also supplied safety gear. The cleanup will start on the south end. This will be an ongoing effort to make this area a safe place to enjoy.  Volunteers sign up through Whatcom Volunteers and forms will be available for people to sign up on the spot.  If you have questions contact John at john@northwestcampers.com

  

Neighborhood Plan Update:

We applied for docketing for our updated neighborhood plan. It should go well since the few changes really are just a matter of essentially conforming to and protecting what is in the neighborhood.

 

Business:

·        The Annual Membership Meeting - To be held at 7pm on the Thursday, June 7th at the Lairmont Manor.  Lauri offered to organize food for the evening and will post on Nextdoor Edgemoor following the May meeting. Make a note we need more drinks like water or juice.

·        Annual Night out Against Crime (NOAC) – Bayside pool doesn’t seem to be a good choice for a NOAC social since the pool would not be available until after 9pm.  Lauri will check availability to move the event to the picnic pavilion at the park. Just a little tidbit - Sandie mentioned a small matter of a neighbor filling in a ditch that spiraled into a huge wetland mitigation problem for Bayside Swim Club.  Talk about opening a can of worms…

·        Signs – Lylene will get a mock up of the design for approval

·        Budget – Still need to talk about a budget for extras like NOAC. There was a general discussion about putting together a postcard to announce plans for the Annual Meeting as well as Night Out Against Crime.

 

Joe Yaver was at a meeting and therefore came in late to talk about funds for the Chuckanut Ridge property site. He quickly offered his thought about existing polarization over the matter and existing greenways money.   

 

Closing:

The next Edgemoor Neighborhood Meeting will be held at 7pm on Thursday, May 3rd in the Library at Fairhaven Middle School. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend – come get acquainted with your neighborhood.

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Lauri Grove

 

 

 

 

(Minutes are subject to approval)