[Durham INC] DRAFT February minutes

Tue Mar 22 18:45:10 EDT 2016

I should have sent this earlier.....

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From: INC-list <inc-list-bounces at lists.deltaforce.net> on behalf of Pat Carstensen <pats1717 at hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 7:25 PM
To: inc listserv
Subject: [Durham INC] DRAFT February minutes

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Februrary Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
NIS Conference Room, Golden Belt
February 23, 2016

Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods
Colony Park – Don Lebkes
Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen
Downing Creek – Dick Ford
Golden Belt – DeDreana Freeman
Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias
Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo
Northgate Park – Debra Hawkins
Old Farm – David Harris
Old North Durham – John Martin, Pete Katz
Trinity Park – Philip Azar
Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell
Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller
Woodcroft – Scott Carter

Visitors
John Killeen – City of Durham, NIS
Will Wilson – DOST
Lynwood D. Best – City of Durham, NIS
Michael Perry – Durham County Board of Elections

President DeDreana Freeman opened the meeting.  Members introduced themselves.
Philip Azar moved to approve the January and the November/December minutes, Dick Ford seconded, and they were approved

Michael Perry of the Durham County Board of Elections gave an update on the upcoming elections. As of right now, we will have a primary election on March 15th; the ballots will include US House races even though we will probably be voting “for real” in these races again in June due to re-districting.  If there is only one person running from a party, that race will not show up on the ballot; this can be confusing but does mean that we have only 20 ballot styles instead of hundreds.  There are separate ballots for 17 year olds since they can vote in primaries but not “final elections” such as about the bond referendum and for school board.  Some new voters, for whom there was insufficient information on the registration form, will have to show a “HAVA” (showing address) ID.  There are 11 early voting locations and extended hours; you can still do same-day registration there (see http://dconc.gov/government/departments-a-e/board-of-elections/current-elections-schedule-absentee-early-voting).  Voters can do out-of-precinct provisional ballots, but it’s unlikely to have all the right races on it.  There is a list of reasonable impediments to having photo ID – they will vote provisional ballot and will be checked out after the election to make they are not lying in claiming an impediment. The BOE does follow up on the provisional ballots and needs to evaluate within 7 days on which races on them to count (in 2012, they had maybe 1800 provisional ballots to sort through). Most of the training of Election Day staff is about Photo ID and how it fits into the usual process.  When you walk in the door, you will be met by a greeter, who will explain what will happen and ask you to have your Photo ID ready.  At the registration table, they will ask your name and address and then check that you have valid Photo ID and whether your name and face have reasonable resemblance to what is on the ID (with detailed rules on what is a “reasonable resemblance” and how to decide).  Observers can’t look at IDs since the IDs are confidential. Videos on what to expect are at https://vimeo.com/user45500401/videos.  What do we think of having 15 or so voting centers instead of precinct?  This would save a ton of money since we need to buy new voting equipment next year, but the state is not moving to consolidate voting sites.  There are lots of advantages to doing early voting, including how efficient the process is there.  To get a sample ballot, go to state data base of voters (https://vt.ncsbe.gov/voter_search_public/); print it out (you can’t use a copy on an electronic device in the voting booth).  Unaffiliated voters can choose which ballot (D, R, L, or N) they want to use; especially unaffiliated voters should look at samples to help them choose before hand.

Committee Reports

  *   It was a great candidate forum.  It worked very well to have candidates answer one of 3 related questions instead of having all answer the same question over and over again. It’s too bad that the forum is not on YouTube, but they will get a notice out about it being on TV. Bull City Rising did great live blogging on it.  We will ask for feedback from the candidates. The committee was thanked.
  *   Traffic Enforcement – Police made a second report to BPAC, but they don’t have a standardized report or even a definition of what neighborhood traffic enforcement is.  It is becoming apparent that progress is not what we had hoped.  Ticket citations are electronic, and city lacks the ability to track citations since they becomes court information once the person getting the ticket is notified.  What are citations for?  Obviously it is to discourage speeders, but we aren’t getting the data that would let us allocate resources.
  *   Work continues on compact neighborhood tiers around proposed transit stations, which will be very dense (for us) and more regulated by form than use; the boundaries and rules are being set using community meetings.  Getting boundaries approved and then doing design planning inside is raising fears about getting pigs in pokes[1]. The people talking at Planning Commission meeting were either glad the district was a long way away or upset to be in or near it.  The resistance comes from changing rules via boundaries without getting to sell the design and management for the inside – for example, transition.
  *   A second planning issue is the number of requests for re-zoning to PDR they are getting now because developers like having no minimal lot size, and they aren’t doing that well at providing the variety and innovation that the UDO says the zone-type is for; we need to do more to insist on getting rich development plans – a higher standard – that do better at satisfying the purpose of PDRs.
  *   Pocket neighborhoods work has reached draft text on it; if INC approves, we will ask City Council to sponsor as a UDO text amendment.

Neighborhood Announcements and other remarks

  *   Next month we will have Kim Simpson talking about the re-evaluation.
  *   Coffee with Councils at PACs (2 have happened).  If you go, ask for a public advocate or liaison to neighborhoods to help navigate UDO.
  *   Something else to ask for (at whatever budget hearings you go to) is funding for Urban Forestry to do a tree inventory in this budget cycle, so that we know what resources we have, what we need to protect, and what it will cost to protect.  Tree canopy is good.  It is a city-wide issue, and we need an integrated plan.
  *   John Schelp’s neighborhood hike will be April 17th at 1PM.
  *   Neighborhoods are asked to pay dues – we have dues from 11 neighborhoods.
  *   Tuscaloosa-Lakewood is facing a developer’s idea to put a strip mall at the corner of James and business 15-501, which would require a change from residential to commercial on 2 lots.
  *   Golden Belt Local Historic District – There is a public meeting to unveil the consultant’s recommendations and receive comments; we need to have people show up March 1st and 6:30.  The website is http://durhamnc.gov/1552/Golden-Belt-Historic-District
  *   Durham under Development exhibit at Pleiades. http://pleiadesartdurham.com/upcoming-events/  Tom is giving a talk on Sunday.
  *   DeDreana will follow up on how Planning has incorporated our thoughts on discretionary planning activities.
  *   A Farmer’s Market at Northgate is starting up, limited to Durham County producers, which can be very small.  Opening day is April 16th.  They are trying to get vendors and community members on the board.  Northgate is being a really good partner.  There is a whole slew of activities, many family-friendly, at Northgate Mall – go to their website to see.

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[1] The etymology on "pig in a poke" is not for vegetarians -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_in_a_poke
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