The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM
Guests: Gil G. Edwards, Matt Frank, Alan Hovland
Excused: Maggie Weissman and Bonnie Zinn could not attend due to schedule conflicts. Mimi Carsley is on maternity leave.
ADMINISTRATION:
Treasurer’s Report:
1. Financial Report: To date, about $8000 in contributions came in response to the special appeal, plus many letters of support. We should look at future anticipated expenses then determine what payment we should make toward legal fees. We will make a legal fee payment in mid-November. Mark Trumbauer reported that Harry Corson expressed a wish that contributions made in Carolyn’s memory be earmarked for legal fees.
2. Expenses for Carol Eychaner: LCC’s land use consultant Carol Eychaner has provided estimates for future services relating to the Talaris project. The time period for the services listed will depend upon a number of factors including when Talaris responds to the notices of corrections, when the final environmental impact statement is issued and compliance with Code and Settlement Agreement issues.
Motion by Sorscher seconded by Trumbauer: Authorize $4000 for Carol Eychaner to continue. Discussion: Carol’s work has been very helpful. Trumbauer and Jennifer Biely observed that Some work by Peter Eglick should be anticipated in amending the Settlement Agreement. Motion passed unanimously.
Biely said we should keep Carol’s expenses current, and pay off Peter’s fees as quickly as possible. We would like to see a written payment plan for Peter’s fees.
Dermot Noonan asked about how Peter leaving Helsell Fetterman affects expectations of the old law firm. Jeannie Hale said that Peter Eglick told her our present payment schedule is OK with Helsell Fetterman. Joyce Hinkley asked if the law firms understand our payment schedule with Carol Eychaner. Mark Trumbauer asked that we have a clear understanding of this before engaging Peter to amend the Settlement Agreement.
3. Audit Update: Torrie reported that his audit of LCC’s financial records is not complete, but making good progress.
Minutes: The board reviewed the minutes of the September meeting. Pat Wright submitted written corrections, clarifying the role of Officer Newsom. Motion by Barbara Ragee, seconded by John Clark, to accept the minutes as corrected. Motion passed unanimously.
Review of the minutes of the October meeting will be deferred until the December meeting.
CALLS AND CONCERNS
1. Construction Traffic on 47th Avenue: Herrin emailed Children’s on 10/12 to inquire about increase construction traffic on 47th. Children’s responded that its construction vehicles were supposed to be going westbound on NE 45th and that a Sellen Construction has a full time flagger to ensure that this happens. Herrin agreed to monitor the trucks to see if they are Fruhling trucks—those used by Children’s.
2. Density Rules: Sally Revere emailed on 10/16 to express concern that a developer/builder purchased property located at 4745 45th Avenue NE and is planning to subdivide the property into two lots, thus creating smaller lots that do not conform to the single-family 5000 requirement. Hale responded that this continues to happen in the neighborhood due to recent Code changes allowing housing on substandard lots and old King County platting. She encouraged Revere and the five concerned families to contact Carol Eychaner for assistance.
3. Burglary: On Wednesday, 10/27 neighbors David and Tracy McCallum at 3001 Webster Point Rd. were burglarized midday, perhaps via an unlocked door. Jewelry, purses, booze, cameras, etc. were taken and almost a large TV.
4. New Neighbor: New neighbor Matt Frank emailed on 11/02 to inquire about the November LCC meeting. He has young children and is interested in issues that affect the school and the community center.
5. Traffic Circle Plants: Catherine Kalke emailed today to inquire about plants for neighborhood traffic circles. She volunteered to serve as a repository for plants to use for this purpose. Hale is checking on the appropriate time to divide day lilies to contribute.
6. Fire Station Relocation: LCC heard from neighbor Marielle Roloff from the Provail Burke Gilman housing on 11/02 about relocation of the fire station. Everyone in her complex has cerebral palsy and they are concerned about response times. Roloff’s concerns were passed along to the city.
7. Keeping Cars Safe: Sandra Counts emailed on 10/15 to report that her car was stolen car just a few houses from NE 41st on 42nd Avenue NE. The car alarm was in working order. The car was recovered the following day over near Swedish Hospital. Counts emailed again on 11/01 to ask LCC to pass along to neighbors that they should not leave valet keys in cars (her car was stolen). She said that and the culprits knew where to find the key. The police advised her to use The Club, but said that thieves know how to unlock those devices but might settle for an easier target.
8. Playground Equipment: Christine and Ed Curtis emailed on 10/26 to ask that the playground equipment at the community center be made safer for small children. On the slide apparatus there are some high spots with no protective barriers and a child could be badly injured in a fall. Hale responded and forwarded the message to David Yim, Jennifer Biely and Don Torrie.
9. Civility: Neighbor Robin Chalmers emailed on 10/26 to pass along the article that appeared in The Seattle Times entitled “Staking hopes on civility” (included in the agenda packets). The article documents instances of neighbors removing political yard signs from private property, including from the Battelle property. The article states that a neighbor walking her dog on the Battelle property was removing political signs and a Talaris employee came out and took her photo. According to the article, this resulted in the dog walker bopping the Talaris employee with her ball tosser. Hale responded to Chalmers that it is illegal to remove political signs from private property and that LCC regretted the occurrences. Lloyd also heard from a neighbor about the newspaper article.
10. Business Inquiry: Karen Nigrelle, owner of Capriccio Flowers and Espresso emailed on 10/27 suggesting that LCC do more to support its business community, regardless of whether businesses advertise in the newsletter. She said businesses work hard to keep the business district nice for neighbors and could use support and recognition from the community. Hale wrote back to explain that LCC worked very hard on the lease lid legislation for an amendment that was included that protects the Laurelhurst business district from UW leasing at ground level. Hale explained that one of LCC’s concerns was that rents for the small business would be increased due to presence by the UW as a tenant. Hale mentioned that LCC has discussed ways to feature Laurelhurst businesses and indicated that would be discussed at a future LCC meeting.
11. Waterway No. 1: Karen and Jack Donohue emailed on 10/28 for a status report on Waterway No. 1. A meeting with neighbors will be scheduled soon. A letter of 10/20 from Judith Thornton is included in the correspondence packet. She mistakenly thought the markings at the waterway indicated where an irrigation system would be installed. The flags mark off a possible meandering trail to the water.
12. Community Center Expansion: On 10/28, neighbor Gil Edwards forwarded an exchange of emails with David Goldberg supporting a new gym at the community center instead of a community center expansion. On 10/26 Stacy Ployhar emailed to express concerns about plans for the additional trucks and other heavy equipment during construction. On the same day, Lisa Peterson emailed expressing concerns about parking. Her family lives on the corner across the street from the school. She would like the gym moved over to the park outside of the residential area.
13. Gambling zoning question: Kate Lloyd conveyed a question from a neighbor regarding Seattle zoning conditions for gambling. To our knowledge, gambing is not permitted in Seattle, but is allowed in Tukwila, Shoreline and Renton.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Carolyn Corson: Carolyn Corson, former LCC trustee and longstanding member of LCC’s transportation committee died in the early hours of 11/02. A celebration of her life was held on 11/06 at her home. Over 250 attended, despite the fact that the obituary did not list her address! In lieu of flowers, Carolyn asked that donations be sent to LCC.
2. Thank you! Thanks to Lloyd, Noonan and Newman for delivering this month’s trustee agenda packets and for Torrie for coordinating that effort.
3. Absent: Weisman and Zinn could not attend tonight’s meeting due to conflicts. Carsley is on maternity leave.
4. Fire Station 38: There is a community wide meeting for northeast Seattle tomorrow night, November 9th at 7 p.m. at Eckstein School Auditorium, 3003 NE 75th Street.
5. Jeanette Williams: This month’s Sand Point Community Liaison Committee meeting was cancelled because Jeanette Williams tripped over a curb and broke a bone in her foot.
6. Sand Point Housing: Councilmember McIver emailed LCC on 11/07 in response to LCC’s letter requesting funding for Sand Point Community Housing. He said that the city has told SPCH last year that they need to diversify their funding sources. The highest level of City funding was $250,000 in 2001, but the annual amount has been reduced since that time. In 2004, the City's level of operational support to the organization is $130,000, the amount it had requested again for 2005. The mayor’s budget includes no funding and Councilmember McIver supports this position.
7. Containers on Sand Point: The Seattle Transportation Department visited the location of the recycle and clothes bins on Sand Point way and decided that no containers will be permitted at that location due to the safety hazards posed.
8. Parking Meters and Pay Stations in Public Parks: LCC has heard from Councilmembers Licata, Della, Rasmussen (responses in the correspondence packet) and Conlin in response to LCC’s letter opposing parking meters in Seattle’s passive parks. Councilmember Licata will co-sponsor a budget amendment to eliminate the mayor’s proposal. Councilmember Conlin emphatically stated that he opposes the proposal. Councilmembers Rasmussen and Della, although they initially opposed the proposal, seem more willing to compromise on the issue.
9. Sidewalk Safety: The City of Salt Lake City contacted LCC on 11/01 about our sidewalk safety program as they found it on the Web. LCC provided details.
10. The Seneca Group: The Magnolia Community Club board of trustees contacted LCC on 10/29 to inquire about our experience working with The Seneca Group as they have a similar project involving 39 lots. Our relationship with Seneca group was characterized as challenging, but positive, overall.
11. Concerts at St. Stephens: A flyer describing St. Stephen’s Wind and Spirit 10th Anniversary concert series was distributed.
12. Community Center Expansion: The next Project Advisory Team meeting is November 9th at 6:30 p.m. at the community center. The next community wide meeting will be on December 9th at the same time. At the community meeting, schematics for the project will be reviewed.
13. CUH Preview: John Clark announced that the Center for Urban Horticulture plans a preview opening in December, plus an art show.
REPORTS/ACTION
Crime Prevention Report: Pat Wright reported 5 burglaries – all through unlocked doors or windows. Most occurred during daytime hours. One attempted burglary involved prying a locked door. In one case, an occupants of the home surprised an intruder, who fled. One car was reported stolen. Some vandalism was reported at the Community Center. The Harbor Patrol is operating 8 boats on Lake Union. A house recently opened for Level 1 sex offenders. Heather Newman and Don Torrie called in noise complaints from parties, but police did not respond, due to understaffing and low priority of noise complaints.
Community Center Expansion: Materials relating to the 10/25 meeting on community center expansion are included in the agenda packets, including a brief summary of that meeting. The agenda for tomorrow night’s project advisory team meeting is not yet available. In expanding the community center, LCC developed a position several years ago. LCC supports retention of the architectural integrity of the current center, addition of an entryway and expansion either by pushing out the back wall or adding an additional story to the building. LCC also supports the broadest neighbor participation possible in the process. LCC has not taken a position on the siting of additional parking required by center expansion.
1. Update: Al Hovland (a member of LCC’s parks committee) and Joe Herrin briefed the board on the community meeting and other matters relating to the community center expansion. The project must decide whether to modify the existing building or go with new construction. Herrin reported that the existing building is sound, but needs seismic upgrades to meet current code requirements. At a recent community meeting, the consensus was to upgrade the present structure. Design exercises considered different uses of space and resources, staying within the overall budget. Alan Hovland talked about a public workshop, scheduled for December 9 at 6:30 PM.
2. Survey: The survey of neighbor preferences and priorities for expansion of the community center will be mailed and included in the upcoming LCC newsletter. The Parks Department agreed to pay the extra printing, folding and miscellaneous costs resulting from the insert. LCC had hoped to put a self-tabulating version of the survey on the LCC website. Unfortunately, Herrin doesn’t have the technology skills and our webmaster Susan Rucker doesn’t feel confident in taking on the job. Hale has contacted a few neighbors to find a volunteer and has been unsuccessful. The person who put Montlake’s survey on its website is willing to take on the job for $100-$200. Today, David Goldberg reported that he had received 50 responses to date.
Motion by Lloyd, seconded by Torrance to authorize up to $200 to set up an online survey, provided that the survey collects names and addresses or respondents. Motion passed, with one abstention.
3. Gym Alternatives: A few years ago, LCC worked with Laurelhurst School and the PTA to address issues relating to the gym at Laurelhurst School. The agreed upon plan was to expand the gym at Laurelhurst School over the play court area using money from the city (perhaps a future parks levy) and a future school levy. The gym is owned by the Parks Department and there is a joint use agreement between the school and the Laurelhurst community. It is possible that LCC in cooperation with neighbors would like to pursue this approach again.
Dermot Noonan asked about funds for improving the gym at Laurelhurst school, possibly expanding into the play court area. The Community Center project took 6 years. The Laurelhurst gym improvement involved at least one million dollars from a school levy and another million or so from a parks levy. It would still need council support and more planning. Herrin pointed out that the Community Center budget does not cover a gym along with other committed features in the current design.
Gil Edwards has talked to 60 families about improving the school gym, which is too small for neighborhood sport teams. More community awareness is needed, and the questionnaire will help bring this to the attention of neighbors.
Helicopter Landings Review Committee: Trumbauer is LCC’s new representative on the Helicopter Landings Review Committee along with longstanding community member William Gore. The Committee was formed as a result of a hearing examiner decision several years ago that imposed safeguards to protect the surrounding community on use of the helipad at Children’s. Helipads are not allowed in single-family zones. The helipad was allowed in Laurelhurst, but only with monitoring of landings to ensure that there would only be landings for sick children. Initially, the helipad was used to deliver supplies, take physicians to work and for advertising purposes. All non-emergency landings must take place at Graves Field, about a mile away.
Trumbauer reported on his first committee meeting. Dr. Ron Lameer reviewed flight histories during the review period with the committee. Critical cases come to Children’s. EMT’s decide where to land, in each case. Three physicians review the experience with landings. Lessons learned are used to train or condition EMT’s regarding best practices. Children’s still issues a report to neighbors, although new privacy rules limit information about individual cases, so new report will be less detailed than they were in the past.
Hot Yoga Signage: Samples of proposed signage for Hot Yoga are enclosed in the agenda packets. A settlement agreement between the Spigers and LCC allows LCC a say in what signs may be installed at that building. General preferences were discussed, and Heather Newman, Mark Holden and John Clark agreed to convey those preferences to the owners.
UW Golf Driving Range Update: At the October CUCAC meeting, there was an update of the plans to expand the UW golf driving range. Newman briefed the board on the proposed changes. Instead of a stainless steel chicken wire fence, the plan is now to install black polyethylene fabric. This means the impact on bird in the migratory corridor will be greatly reduced. There will be a fewer number of poles and the height on two sides has been reduced, although the north side will remain at 65 feet—down from the original 100-foot fence initially planned. Zoning allow up to 0 foot-tall structures. The range will operate until 10 or 11 PM. Construction is set to start in September 2005 and the project should be complete in 10 months.
SR 520 Update: Herrin updated the board on SR 520 plans. The Draft EIS is due in June. It should describe mitigation for sound, lighting, and traffic, such as surface materials, sound barriers, bridge opening schedules etc.
Meeting adjourned at 9:10 PM
Minutes by Stan Sorscher