York Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

7:10 – 8:54 pm

Garden Street United Methodist Church, Room B

Present: Anne Mackie, Carolyn Mulder, Jeff Bates, Carol Dixon, Helen Jackson and Libby Stark. Barbara Davenport indicated they would not be present.

Guests: Kirsten Shore, Lesley Keenholts, Dan Joiner, Jim Kling, Vale Bates, Jeremy Nunnikhoven and WWU students Nina, Eric, Devin and Chelsea from the Western Front.

Announcements: There were no announcements.

Approval of minutes: Jeff Bates made a motion to approve the minutes from the October board meeting and the October general meeting. Helen Jackson seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Date change for December meeting: There will be enough board members present for the 12/19 meeting.

I. Current issues with an upcoming deadline:

• WWU Late Night Shuttle: WWU students noted that they needed to have data regarding the number of students riding the shuttle before they could re-route. It was noted that WTA will be coming through York until 10 or 11 at night beginning in 2008. Students traveling downtown are the largest trip generator (as opposed to students traveling to WWU). The goal of the Late Night Shuttle is to increase ridership, provide a safe ride and be responsive to community needs. The old route will end 12/16 and begin again on 1/6/08.

There were several different routes proposed; see attached map.

ü With routing on Lakeway there were concerns about safely crossing Lakeway.

ü With routing on State there were concerns about minimal student housing in this area. This route would go along Lincoln which does have a larger population of student housing though.

ü With routing on York it was noted that there are not as many front facing homes and therefore the belief that not as many residents would be affected. Lincoln Square is along this route.

WWU’s preferred route is Lincoln à Meador à James à York à Ellis

Yorkers’ present preferred route is Lincoln à Meador à State

Yorkers present still had concerns over noise (of the busses and the students riding them) and the behavior of some students riding. Anne asked why the bus could not run during the day on Saturday and Sunday to take students to WWU and students present indicated it was because of a contract with WTA who has the right of way during the day.

• Landlord accountability and illegal rooming houses: Lesley Keenholts reviewed her committee report and notes that the Quality Committee has written several letters to landlords stating municipal codes. There have been no additional complaints after landlords have been contacted. The landlord licensing issue was brought up as this has come before City Council recently. Several felt licenses would be appropriate as being a landlord is being a business owner. Licensing may also be beneficial for tenants as safety and maintenance of the building would not be of great concern. There was discussion over the ordinance of no more than 3 unrelated individuals living in the same unit. Consensus was this is not a problem but noise, litter, parking are. The Quality Committee will do outreach to other neighborhoods to see what they are doing regarding landlord accountability.
• January general meeting and yearly planning: At the December board meeting we will discuss 2008 priorities and timelines. There will be a review of duties and activities along with goals. At the January general meeting committee chairs will be asked to give brief committee reviews.

• 2008 board elections and review of job descriptions: Anne provided a spreadsheet with a list of current YNA activities. Board elections will occur at the January general meeting and the list of nominees will be publicized in the December newsletter. Nominees so far include: Nick Hartrich, Jeremy Nunnikhoven, Stina Olson, Vale Bates, Jim Kling, Ivy Kling, Lynn Gobush, Kirsti Charlton, Dan Joiner (WWU student) and Lesley Keenholts. Current board members and nominees are encouraged to email Jeremy Nunnikhoven their brief bios for the website.

• Possible newsletter for winter: The next newsletter will be 4 pages and will include the board election, caroling party, garden club potluck, neighborhood plan update with contact information of sub-committee chairs and possibly a kids’ activity. There will be about 1 ½ pages of advertisements, a schedule of events, donation slip and the thank yous. Jim Kling will need information emailed by Wednesday, November 28. If there are too many articles the newsletter will be 8 pages.

• Letter of support for Sehome’s urban village from Planning Committee: Libby made a motion to support the submission of a letter written by Tom Scott on behalf of the YNA to the COB Planning Department in support of Sehome Neighborhood Association’s proposed Samish Way urban village. Carolyn seconded and the motion passed unanimously. See attached draft letter.

• Holiday caroling and wagon ride: Libby notes a potential date of Saturday, 12/15 however is still waiting a response from Tom Scott. It was noted that the wagon should leave twice from Nelson’s and make one stop at Shuksan and one stop at Lincoln Square on the second trip. Board members are requested to supply cookies.

II. Committee reports:

• Planning Committee: See attached provided by Anne.
• Disaster Preparedness Committee: See attached provided by Libby.

• York RATS Committee: See attached provided by Libby.

• Historic Preservation Committee: See attached provided by Barbara Davenport.

• Rock Hill Park Steward: No report given.

• Franklin Park Committee: Helen and Jeff requested a donation of $65,000 in order to proceed with the dream for Franklin Park.

• Garden Club Chair: See attached provided by Carol Dixon.

• Quality Committee: See attached provided by Lesley.
• Treasurer: See attached provided by Helen.

III. Current issues:

• Tree planting: Nick Hartrich will be writing the COB to see about purchasing the trees before 12/31 and then planting them in 2008.

• Sign repair: Anne reports there is nothing new.

Topics for next board meeting include 2008 board roles and responsibilities and January general meeting.

Submitted by Libby Stark

York Planning Committee

November 20, 2007

Accomplishments this month:

1. The November 5th Planning Committee meeting hosted a presentation by Allen Matsumoto from the Sehome Neighborhood on the proposed Samish Way Urban Village. The Sehome Neighborhood draft plan includes a proposal for a Master Plan to develop criteria for this urban village.

Prior to the meeting, the Planning Committee did a special outreach mailing to 30 property owners and businesses in the York-section of Samish Way, and nearby residences, to encourage their attendance at the meeting. From this mailing, nine residents (or business-related persons) attended the November 5 meeting. They voiced support for the proposed redevelopment concepts of Samish Way.

A letter of support for the proposed urban village will be drafted for review and approval by the York Board at its November 20^th meeting. The letter will be submitted by December 1^st to the Bellingham City Council, Planning Commission, and Director of Planning and Community Development in support of Sehome’s Neighborhood Plan and work toward a Master Plan for the Samish Way Urban Center.

2. Work groups are meeting! Each of the planning work groups have met and are moving forward with their work on subsections of the neighborhood plan. These include:
• Neighborhood Design (Stina Olson),
• Parks, Recreation, Open Space (Helen Jackson),
• Transportation/traffic (David Camp & Tom Scott),
• Housing (Libby Stark)
• Land Use (Tom Scott) newly forming; has not met yet. This group will function as the liaison to the Sehome Neighborhood on the urban village concept; Tom has volunteered to head this up and will serve as the official liaison.

3. Volunteer WWU students have been distributing the planning survey; returns are starting to come in! We have increased our survey returns from 51, last month, to 67. Big improvement. We will continue the survey work for another month.

Disaster Preparedness Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Attendees: Carol Dixon, Ivy Yap and Libby Stark

1) Review of Ivy’s postcard mailer: suggestions were made to include information about MYN on the back of the postcard. Ivy will re-do and email out.

2) Review list of owner v. renter occupied houses: Libby was unable to sort the list and will email Ivy to see if she is able to sort. Libby will also email Don at COB to see if he has access to a better list.

3) Map out what we’ve got covered by block captains now: Carol wrote down the names of Yorkers this committee has identified as possible block captains. Libby will email Anne to see if she has additional suggestions.

4) What other neighborhoods are doing: COB meeting recap: Carol and Kirsten Shore attended the last COB meeting and stated Don is requesting ideas for ways to make MYN more exciting to neighbors. Carol feels York is right on track. Carol will email Don and let him know about upcoming York Neighborhood Association activities.

5) Other items and schedule of next meeting in January: Ivy will check with Jon regarding a date in January when they can get together with their neighbors on the 1600 and 1700 blocks of Grant to MYN. Carol will be the trainer. Next meeting will be Wednesday, January 30 at 7 pm at Carol’s house.

York RATS Committee

Next meeting: Saturday, November 24 at 8:30 am at Nelson’s Market

Attendees: Evan and Libby Stark, Kirsti Charlton, Carol Dixon, Carl

The committee continues to meet every other Saturday to pick up litter throughout the neighborhood. The committee will move down to the triangle section of York, having completed the north side of Lakeway. A large sum of money was found and donated to the YNA. Coffee is served afterwards at Nelson’s Market.

Historic Preservation Committee

Last meeting held Oct. 23.

Attendees: Barbara Davenport, Brooke Stanton, Carol Dixon, Sarah Campbell (and briefly, Leslie)

Next meeting: Tuesday, January. 15, 7-8 pm, place TBA (possibly Ian Thompson’s house in Triangle area)

1) House Inventory: Service Learning Students for WWU Sociology class are not doing house

inventory this semester as they are assigned to surveys instead. Carol Kelm continues library research on individual houses.

2) 506 Potter St: Solido Construction (739-1879) will be overseeing the teardown, which should be within a month. They will have the ReStore come in to see what materials are salvageable. The house will be disassembled from the top down. Maple tree has been removed.

3) Impact fee for tear down: According to Moshay, (who is taking Darby’s place while she is away until Nov. 5) with a tear-down, the builder has one year to rebuild before any park impact fee is assessed.

4) City grant for help with National Historic Designation: Katie Franks informed me that the search for a consultant to assist the 3 neighborhoods (York, Lettered St. and South Hill) has begun. Katie

anticipates having someone by Jan. 1. Katie is developing a page on the city website where volunteers can get more information about the project. Toni Nagel is working with the Washington Archives and WWU CPNWS to hold an historical research training workshop on Sat., January 12. Each of the 3 neighborhoods will have a coordinator, myself for York; Sue Hines for South Hill; and Rebecca Gleason for Lettered Sts. We will need volunteers to help inventory houses, etc, since the city grant requires volunteer hours. If you know anyone interested have them contact me: 733-4883.

5) Heritage Neighborhood Trees: We are encouraging each neighborhood to nominate a favorite heritage tree to honor and learn about.

6) Local Historic District: No action at this time.

Rock Hill Park Steward

Franklin Park Committee

The Work Parties:

· On Make a Difference Day, October 27, over 40 volunteers from our neighborhood, students at Western and girl scouts with parents, met at the hillside above Franklin Park to plant around 100 native plants on the hillside. The Parks Volunteer Program was there with plants, tools and mulch. The hillside and trail have gone through quite a bit of transformation over the past 2 years.

· On Saturday, November 10, six neighborhood volunteers met on a bright sunny day at the Franklin Street Island. We had mulch, cardboard, stakes and were busily preparing the isle for next year’s planting.

· We’ve had 12 work parties this year at Franklin Park Projects and we’re calling it quits for the year. It’s been an extraordinary effort by neighborhood and city-wide volunteers and lots of fun to work together no matter the season.

Franklin Park Improvements Grant:

The Franklin Park Improvements Committee has two meetings scheduled in November. We met on Friday, November 16, to discuss funding and priorities for inclusion in the 2008 park improvements. With a short fall of $65,088.61, it’s the tough decision time on choices. We’re also looking creatively at possible funding alternatives with the city, grants, business owners, and fundraisers. We will meet with Jonathan Schilk and Katie Franks on Wednesday, November 28, 5:15pm at 1232 Franklin Street to work out what improvements to include in work slated to begin later in 2008.

Garden Club

October 24, 2007 - Potluck dinner at Mary Newman’s home

Attendees decided: The Holiday Potluck and Progressive Dinner and White Elephant Exchange will be held on December 7. Kirsten Shore will host the wine and appetizer portion and Carolyn Milling the soup and salad. The host of the dessert and white elephant exchange is still undecided. I contacted Richard Sands and he had initially agreed to host the dessert and white elephant exchange at the Purple Church on Dec 15, but I have been unable to contact him to see if Dec. 7 would work for him.

The November 28, 2007 meeting will be held my home. The main topic will be the holiday dinner

The Garden Club will not meet again until March 2008.

Quality Committee

Submitted by Lesley Keenholts, chair

The York Neighborhood Quality Committee has been meeting monthly since August. Neighbors have brought to the committee several concerns with party houses / noise complaints and the committee has contacted two landlords who own significant amounts of rental property in the York Neighborhood. Both parties were responsive to the complaints and assured the committee that they would do what is necessary to resolve these complaints. To date, no additional complaints concerning these properties have been brought to the committee.

Neighbors have also voiced concerns about Western’s nighttime bus shuttle that stops in front of Nelson’s Market. Anne has been working with Western to address concerns/problems with the shuttle, as the noise that this has created is disruptive to those who are tying to sleep. Suggestions are that the Shuttle be re-routed away from residential streets.

At the November 11th Y.N.Q.C. meeting the importance of Municipal Code enforcement as it relates to single-family zoning (area 5 of the York Neighborhood) was discussed. The City Council position on enforcement of the code and the recent publicity in the newspaper was reviewed and landlord licensing was discussed as a tool to encourage landlords to operate their rental properties with the same accountability that is required of other business owners. The committee would like to bring the topic of landlord licensing to the York Board for discussion.

York Neighborhood Association and Projects

Treasury Report

October 17, 2007-November 20, 2007

Submitted by Helen Jackson, Treasurer

Previous Balance= $ 1903.54

Donations= $ 195.00

Interest= (previous interest $1.77 & $3.24) $ 0.00

City of Bellingham Grants-Repay for expenses= $ 462.24

Expenses= ($ -1452.95)

Total Balance for YNA and Projects (November 20, 2007)= $ 1107.83

Balance of Designated Accounts (2007)

Total Funds Available Plus interest of $5.01	York Neighborhood Association	Franklin Park and Street Island	Historic Preservation	Rock Hill Park	Plan Update Grant of $2500 remaining $	Neighborhood Support Grant $1000 remaining $	Small & Simple Grant $2500 remaining $
$1107.83	$ 558.69	$404.13	$ 130.00	$10.00	($2245.00)	0.00	($1765.11)

October/November Donations for York Neighborhood Association and Projects

Donation Totals	York Neighborhood Association	Franklin Park Projects	Historic Preservation	Rock Hill Park
$195.00	$195.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00

2007-Expense Totals for York Neighborhood Association

York Neighborhood Association	Printing of Newsletters	Copies	Postage	Supplies and Services	Gifts
$ 1164.05	$1040.64	$ 6.41	$ 82.00	$ 10 .00	$ 25.00

October/November Expenses for YNA and Projects

Expense Totals	York Neighbor-hood Association	Franklin Park Projects	Historic Preservation	Rock Hill Park	Plan Update Grant of $2500	Neighbor-hood Support Grant $1000	Small & Simple Grant
$ 1452.96	$ 41.00	$ .00	$ .00	$ .00	$255.00*	$ 623.93*	$533.02*

*Due from the city on grants:

- Small and Simple = $633.02

- Plan Update = $255.00

- Neighborhood Support= $148.77

Total= $1036.79