Minutes for May 10, 2002

Attending: Kate Loyd, Jean Colley, Susan Torrance, Shahina Piyarali, Don Torrie, Pat Wright, Stan Sorscher, Jeannie Hale, Maggie Weissman, Barb Ragee, John Burge, Heather Newman, Karl Weyrauch, Jim Strunk

Guests: Bonnie Zinn, John Clark, Mark Holden, Shawn Whitcomb, Theresa Doherty, Jennifer Biely, Jay Sauced, and Jeanne Legal

Jay Sauceda and Jeanne Legault from Seattle Districts Now spoke changes they would propose for municipal elections. A goal of Seattle Districts Now is to make municipal politics more inclusive, giving voice to more community groups. One way to do this is to increase the number of district elections to give more candidates opportunities. Jay and Jeanne talked about representative democracy, voice in decisions, trends in election funding, and the referendum process. Questions covered the history of this idea, how districts would be determined, residency requirements, costs, and process-related issues.

ADMINISTRATION Salary Adjustment: LCC currently pays John Burge $544.50 for work associated with each newsletter issue. LCC also pays $20 per month towards Burge's internet account. In addition to writing newsletter articles, newsletter layout and attending LCC meetings and events, Burge is responsible for newsletter advertising including billing and soliciting new ads. Burge's responsibilities have increased over the past couple of years with the fax and web editions of the newsletter that require formatting and due to increased email correspondence that he needs to respond to. Kim has indicated that a five percent raise would be appropriate. That would amount to an additional $27.25 for each newsletter issue or $272.50 per year. LCC last raised Burge's pay in January 2000.

Motion: Barb Ragee. Seconded Susan Torrance - increase John Burge's compensation by 8% or $43.45 per Newsletter issue ($435.60 per year). Motion passed unanimously.

Minutes: The April 8, 2002 LCC minutes were revised to show that Jim Strunk attended.

Dues Update: We are still looking for a volunteer to be Treasurer. Dues notices went out, and returned, but the responses have not been processed, yet.

Nominating Committee Report: Piyarali reported on the work of the Nominating Committee. Prospective trustees were sent the handout listing trustee responsibilities. So far, four neighbors have confirmed that they would like to join the board: John Clark, Mark Holden, Shawn Whitcomb and Bonnie Zinn. Matt McGinnis, and Jennifer Biely are working with the Nominating Committee. Jim Ramano and Reh Bashey have expressed interest. Theresa Doherty said she had studied the Conflict of Interest policy, and she ahs decided to look for ways to contribute other than as a Trustee.

Sorscher agreed to be the LCC secretary. The Nominating Committee is still looking for someone to replace Kim as Treasurer. Cahill, Colley, Hale, Piyarali, Torrie, Trumbauer and Weissman. Piyarali have indicated a desire to continue on the board. Gavin and Strunk's terms are up and they will not be continuing. Gavin has decided to spend time working with the PTA and Strunk is moving out of the neighborhood. Casey Corr's term is not up but he has decided to resign due to a conflict of interest in working for the Mayor's office. Mike Schafbuch's term is not up, but he is resigning as he is moving out of the area and busy helping with a serious illness of a family member. LCC currently has 18 trustees and 19 is the number authorized by the bylaws. This means LCC has six positions to fill, unless it decides to increase the size of the board.

Sidney Barnum has agreed to follow library issues for LCC. She is not interested in serving on the board, but will serve as a resource in alerting LCC to issues that surface.

Conflict of Interest Policy: LCC's conflict of interest policy that was adopted in March 1997 is included in the packets. The policy was adopted during the period LCC was suing the Seattle Community College District to prevent location of administrative offices and classrooms on the Battelle property in violation of the 1991 Settlement Agreement. At the time, one LCC trustee had a personal and financial interest in the Battelle property. LCC attorney Peter Eglick assisted with the development of the conflict of interest/dual loyalties policies.

CALLS AND CONCERNS FROM NEIGHBORS

1. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU): On 4/02/02 neighbor Karen Hadley emailed about the proliferation of "tear down" construction in the neighborhood, reconstructed to provide ADUs. Hadley lives on 54th Avenue NE and attended an LCC meeting a few months ago. Hadley asked for contact information for LCC's land use consultant and that information was provided. The Code provision was also provided to Hadley.

2. Montlake Bump: On 4/09/02 neighbor Miriam Muller emailed about the oversize bump near the UW golf driving range that resulted from repaving. Her car's alignment was ruined and the front end of her husband's car was damaged. LCC contacted the state transportation department and the bump was shaved down the following day.

3. March Letter to Neighbors: Jim Morrow emailed on 4/12/02 to state that he found that the addition of lighted fields at the park would have no environmental or traffic impacts. Doug Pratt emailed on 4/22/02 to express support for LCC's work, particularly relating to the golf driving range proposed rezone. Roger BelAir emailed on 5/07/02 stating, "I just wanted to compliment you on the excellent letter to members that you wrote in the March newsletter. Well said!" The response from neighbors to the March newsletter has been overwhelmingly positive.

4. Traffic Calming: Kelly Noonan emailed on 5/06/02 to express concerns about traffic being diverted onto 48th Avenue NE from 49th due to the new speed humps. Noonan was put in touch with Liz Ogden. Ogden briefed Noonan on the Laurelhurst Transportation Master Plan and proposed projects in the vicinity of Noonan's house. Noonan will work with neighbors to promote a traffic circle to submit to the Neighborhood Street Fund this cycle.

5. Losing Neighbors: Ben and Bobbie Smith emailed on 5/11/02 to tell LCC that they are moving into a condo in Madison Park. Smith's family has lived in the neighborhood for 60 years. The Smiths indicated that they would vote for the gas tax that will be on the November ballot as a means to help traffic problems. Ben Smith formerly served on the LCC board and regularly contacts LCC to provide his views on issues confronting our community.

6. Speeding in the Vicinity of Villa: Barbara and Bruce Davis shared email correspondence with the Villa re speeding by a number of parents exiting the back of Villa onto 51st Avenue NE from the Villa gate. Parents speed down 51st and some do not stop at the stop sign at the end of the street. Some parents are driving up the street to the back entrance gate and dropping their children at that location or parking in neighbors' driveways waiting to pick up children.

7. Noise from 520: Janitta Carithers called to express concern about reverberation and noise on 520 that she feels has increased lately. Carithers was put in touch with Jean Amick, LCC's representative on the TransLake Washington Project. Susan Torrance called DCLU to talk about traffic noise from the 520 bridge. They put a noise meter in her yard to record sound levels for 24 hours.

8. Montlake Fill: Susan Carmel called on 5/02/02 about the articles that appeared in the UW Daily about the Montlake Fill sinking and the impact on birds and the habitat area. The articles and email correspondence are included in the trustee packets.

9. Talaris: Realtor Christine Lewis called for an update on the Battelle property expansion as she is trying to sell a house on 42nd.

10. Children's Hospital: The packets include emails and correspondence from neighbors relating to the Children's garage project. Several upset Laurelhurst neighbors attended the April 28th quarterly meeting of the Children's advisory committee. At the suggestion of LCC, Children's and the Department of Neighborhoods will host a Children's Master Plan 101 community meeting. A May 10th letter to neighbors on 45th and NE 45th was distributed.

Jennifer Biely spoke about development at Children's, saying neighbors feel Children's misled them about the scale and effect of construction. The result is an eyesore - vent towers, three stories of structure, the landscaping. House sales have been affected. Site preparation has started on the next phase. Neighbors have been subjected to noise, dust, vibration and traffic.

Jeannie Hale encouraged interested neighbors to consider the Children's community liaison position with LCC, and reviewed some history with the permitting process, EIS and neighborhood organizing, the 75-foot buffer, landscaping and other development issues at Children's.

ANNOUNCEMENTS (Also see NEDC announcements in the member organization packet.)

1. CUH Reception: Tom Hinckley, Director of the Center for Urban Horticulture, called to invite LCC to its May 21st celebration of progress made towards reconstructing the Center. The event will be held at 5:30 on May 21st and President McCormick will likely be in attendance.

2. Grand Opening of Sand Point Community Computer Center: The Low Income Housing Institute, Sand Point Community Housing Association and Sand Point residents invite you to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Sand Point Community Computer Center on Wednesday, May 15 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. on the ground floor of Santos Place, 6940 62nd Avenue NE at Magnuson Park. The Computer Center opened to residents of Sand Point Housing (transitional housing for homeless families, youth and adults) in December, featuring eight refurbished computers, a printer, and high-speed Internet access. Staffed by volunteers, residents, and work study students, the Center is now open over 40 hours each week. May 15th with be the celebration of Phase 2 of the project. The new and improved center will include 15 brand new computers. After the 15th, the Computer Center will be open and available to the general public, as well as Sand Point Housing residents. Classes will begin after the Grand Opening, with basic computing classes taught by the Seattle Public Library, and higher-level courses taught by community volunteers. Plans are also underway for "Phase III", which will involve in-home computer and internet access for the low-income residents of Sand Point housing, using innovative technology solutions. Blueprints for Phase III will be on display at the Grand Opening. For further information, contact Karen Savage at 206-443-9935, ext. 107 or karens@lihi.org.

3. Thank you! Special thanks to Don Torrie, Maggie Weissman, Shahina Piyarali, Heather Newman and Jean Amick for delivering trustee packets this month.

4. Absent: Todd Cahill is on vacation for three weeks. Mark Trumbauer had an outing with his son tonight.

5. Trans-Lake Design Workshop: The Washington Department of Transportation, Sound Transit, and the City of Seattle invite you to attend the second Trans-Lake Washington Project Community Design Workshop on Wednesday, May 22nd, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Small Hall, 2100 Boyer Avenue East. The purpose of the workshop will be to follow-up with action items from the March 26, 2002, Montlake Community Design Workshop and to solicit input on local design issues. For further information, contact Pat Serie or Amy Grotefendt at 206-269-5041. Notes from the earlier Montlake workshop are included in the trustee packets.

6. Liz Ogden's husband was involved in a bicycle-auto crash at the Burke-Gilman Trail crossing at 25th Ave NE. Traffic detours from the Princeton Bridge closing has increased traffic hazards around the trail.

REPORTS/ACTION Crime Prevention Report: Materials from the April 30th community meeting on registered sex offenders in the area are included in the trustee packets. Pat Wright reported that Diane Horswell's crime statistics show a relatively low crime rate in our area. The Teen Dance Ordinance is being reviewed, and our representative will attend that meeting. Jordan Royer and the Strategic Planning office are working on noise issues with DCLU, the pan-Hellenic organization police and neighborhood groups. Several arrests were reported - bank robbers, drug dealers, and a car-jacker. Pat talked about plans to expand the North Precinct and fire safety programs.

Proposed Sidewalk Safety Program: The draft brochure for the proposed sidewalk safety program is included in the trustee packets. Weyrauch and Hale met with Charles Bookman of Seattle Transportation about the project. Seattle Transportation is interested in working with LCC to develop a sidewalk safety repair program and will share up to a maximum of $25,000 this year for sidewalk repairs.

Seattle Transportation asks several questions in deciding whether the sidewalk repair is a priority:

1. Is Seattle Transportation required to maintain the location? By City ordinance, Sidewalk maintenance is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner, with certain exceptions. That being understood, Seattle Transportation continues to have some responsibility for providing a safe right of way. This is the primary reason why they are willing to cost-share to help make sidewalk safety repairs. Examples of locations where the City is directly responsible for maintenance and repairs are adjacent to city-maintained trees (there are none in Laurelhurst), adjacent to intersections, adjacent to city-owned property, and broken curbs.

2. How heavily traveled is the sidewalk? Some indicators of high pedestrian use are adjacent to an arterial street, within three blocks of a school, church or community, library or playing field, within three blocks of a business district, within one block of a bus stop.

3. Is the location a known safety concern? Bookman will research claims on file and other reports of problems and we will have an inventory from the Laurelhurst residents.

4. How expensive is the repair? To stretch your dollars the furthest, it is helpful to think in terms of spot repairs as contrasted with reconstructing whole blocks. Spot repairs are small repairs that directly address a safety problem such as an uplifted sidewalk segment, a hole in the sidewalk or a bad crack with a vertical displacement of greater than _ inch. Spot repairs might also involve enlarging a tree pit to make more room for tree roots.

Bookman has assisted in preparing the second draft of the sidewalk safety brochure.

Weyrauch encouraged the Board to contribute toward the sidewalk repair, in addition to the $25,000 that could come from City funding. Hale suggested the sidewalk inventory could be handled as a community service project. Seattle Transportation could perform the repairs, ideally in concrete rather than asphalt.

Gilbert wanted the project to include attention to bushes and trees that encroach on walkways. Colley moved that LCC sponsor an inventory of sidewalks needing repair, including notices in the Newsletter. Piyarali seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Neighborhood Street Fund: Liz Ogden spoke with the LCC transportation consultant about priority projects that could be submitted to this year's Neighborhood Street Fund. Marni Heffron said that the 48th NE and NE 47th Street traffic circle would be at the top of the list. This project is of interest to Kelly Noonan who is organizing neighbors to support the project. Heffron also brought up the traffic circle on NE 50th at 45th NE. Ogden suggested that maybe David Belvin might head up this project. There is at least one leftover street fund project from last year, a pedestrian refuge island at the top of the hill going down to the Beach Club. This project could cost between $25,000 and $50,000 and would likely not be funded due to its cost.

Villa Dog Walkers Meeting: Weissman reported that the Villa dog-walkers meeting was well-attended - about 20 people. Topics discussed included guidelines for walking dogs, and attention to suspicious activities, since neighbors have reported problems in the area.

Babysitting Network Update: Zinn has been working on establishing a Laurelhurst Babysitting Network. A draft flyer is included in the trustee packets. Burge said he would suggest disclaimer language for the flyer. Zinn intends to post flyers at the Community Center, Laurelhurst elementary, the Beach Club, and other public places. A down-loadable form will be on the web site.

Laurelhurst Advisory Council Report: Torrie updated the group about activities of the Laurelhurst Advisory Council.

Belvoir Pump Station: King County has contacted LCC with new designs and drawings for the Belvoir Pump Station. The project had to be scaled back due to County budget problems. The plan is now to put a chain link fence in a couple of locations at the site. The County has agreed to put vinyl coating on the fence to improve the appearance, as the cost would only be about $500 more. Discussion covered views from the street, and conceptual drawings of the fence. LCC needs to sign off on the design and decide if it wants green or black vinyl coating. Consensus favored matching the existing colors. Loyd suggested we coordinate with the neighbors nearby.

Princeton Street Bridge Update: On April 19, there was an accident at the Princeton Street Bridge when the concrete structure gave way while a worker was on top of it in a hydraulic track hoe. The worker was trapped in the cab of the track hoe and wedged against one of the bridge's concrete supports after dropping 30 feet. It took almost three hours for firefighters to free the man who suffered a broken leg and serious pelvic injuries.

Talaris: Hale suggested a separate meeting to review history for new Trustees. We could then set priorities, and discuss options in detail. We looked at a letter from Seneca Group about the new scoping meeting which will be June 6.

Waterway #1: LCC has been working with the City for over two years to improve its six shoreline streetends. Waterway #1 functions much the same as a shoreline street end but comes under the jurisdiction of both the Seattle Transportation Department and the State Department of Ecology. Because Waterway #1, located at NE 35th and 43rd Avenue NE is classified as a state waterway, it is not eligible to receive funds from the City's Shoreline Street End Account. Over the years, LCC has received many complaints from neighbors, as the vacant lot is a mess, overgrown with tall grass. Through a neighborhood matching fund grant, LCC worked with neighbors to install a sidewalk extension across the lot. In the last couple of years, neighbors have purchased a new basketball hoop on the asphalted area.

Emilie Cobb has been working with neighbors to develop a plan for Waterway #1. The idea is to create a drought tolerant herbaceous garden area.

The first step is getting rid of all of the tall grass. Bonnie Miller from the Hawthorne Hills Community and the Magnuson Environmental Stewardship Alliance suggested leveling the area with mulch, putting cardboard on top and then a layer of mulch on top of this. By the fall, the area would be then be ready for planting. She recommended Earth Corps to do the job. Earth Corps used to be called the Conservation Corp and is the group that has worked with the City on its shoreline street ends. LCC has been in touch with Earth Corps to get a bid. In the meantime, LCC contacted Heath Landscaping to also get a bid from that group. Copies of the bid were distributed.

To move forward with this, the neighbors in the area would need to agree and that should not be a problem. John Zavis from Seattle Transportation is willing to authorize the project if this is how the board would like to proceed.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM