INC NEWS - DRAFT January Meeting Minutes

[pat carstensen]

This looks better in word (let me know if you want me to send you a WORD 
version with nicer formatting)....Regards, pat

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Inter-Neighborhood Council
Making Better Neighborhoods
www.durhaminc.org
Minutes of Meeting of January 25, 2005

REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT
Don Stauffacher	Marquis-Pierre
Peg Lanier	Duke Park
Donna Deal	Nancy Rhodes Creek NA
Bobbe Deacon	Morehead Hill
Marguerite Ward	Rockwood
Michael Shiflett	Northgate Park
Cheryl Sweeney	Northgate Park
Helena Cragg	Old North Durham
Sandra R. Alston	Fisher Heights Neighborhood Org
Reyn Bowman	DCVB
John McCann	Herald Sun
John Compton	HPSO
Mike Woodard	Watts Hospital – Hillandale NA
Paul Golich	Hope Valley Farms
Dick Mentock	Hope Valley Farms
David Harris	Old Farm
Anne Guyton	Colonial Village
Lugenia Mason	RiverForest Ass
Phyllis Cotton	Emorywood Orchards
Joan Miller	Emorywood Orchards
Felisa Francis	Durham Police Department
Bill Anderson	Duke Park
Laura Drey	Trinity Park
Barry Ragin	Duke Park
Randy Pickle	Forest Hills
Pat Carstensen	Cross County

Administration and Announcements
President Bill Anderson opened the meeting.  Members introduced themselves.  
The Appearance Commission is doing awards.  Laura Drey brought hand-outs on 
safety tips and other useful information.

Crime and Perceived Crime in Durham – Reyn Bowman presented the information 
and analysis developed by DCVB and their 10 organizational collaborators.  
Scientific polling shows that residents of Durham are proud of the 
community, think it is a good place to visit, and can rattle off specific 
places in Durham that people should see.  Outsiders in general also have a 
pretty high opinion, but Wake County is huge and has about a 40% negative 
opinion – and we often work with people from Wake.  Among the people with 
negative opinions, "crime" was by far the biggest factor, followed by "too 
much inter-ethnic friction" and "too many people not like me."  They also 
looked at crime statistics in cities of similar size and demographics 
(Savannah, Winston-Salem, New Haven, Salt Lake City, etc.) and found that 
the only crimes where we are higher than average are robberies and 
burglaries.  The high property crimes may be partly due to our high poverty 
rate, because poor people are more often the victims of such crimes.

Part of the problem is news coverage.  Everyone is interested in homicide 
stories.  We are covered by 2 major dailies, and they act like Raleigh has 
magically dodged the gang problem.  Now we need to be 20% better before 
anyone will notice.  We can post good news about Durham around our 
workplaces to change the impressions.

A solution is to follow the "broken window" theory – clean up the little 
stuff, set standards on what neighborhoods expect in clean yards and housing 
quality, and don’t be ambivalent about insisting standards be met.  Do a 
neighborhood CPTED audit (police will help).  Support better technology for 
the police, such as fingerprinting in cars, so they can effectively deal 
with the little stuff. Report boarded up houses and garbage dumping, follow 
up until it is fixed.  If we make it feel like someone is watching and in 
charge on streets, bad stuff goes down 80% and positive activities go up 
80%.

Use of Occupancy Tax Revenues – Tabled.

Court Funding – The text of the letter to the legislative delegation was 
approved.  See Attachment A.

Yard Waste / Solid Waste – As discussed at previous meetings and on list 
serve, the yard waste policy is seriously not working, and in fact, making 
more "broken windows" that promote crime.  Total revenue has actually 
fallen, and bags of leaves show up in all kinds of inappropriate places.  
Duke Park and Forest Hills have drafted a resolution calling on City Council 
to create a working group to advise it on a new yard waste policy, and for 
Council to have some commitment to implementing the recommendations of the 
committee.  The resolution will be posted and voted on at the next meeting; 
individual neighborhoods are urged to pass the resolution in the mean time.  
See Attachment B.

It was also mentioned that the automated trash pick-up is knocking down 
mailboxes and causing other problems.

Coffees with Council – They are coming up. They will be a good time to 
express support for doing "broken windows," for cleaning up parks and 
dealing with the deferred maintenance problems that have been identified and 
for putting fleet maintenance back in the budget (some vehicles are over 20 
years old and finding parts is difficult).

New Hope Creek  Park – After some discussion of tabling the issue so 
neighborhoods could discuss it further, a resolution supporting the park 
passed (see Attachment C).

Information / Committee Reports
* Will send minutes out to list-serve and bring a few to next meeting for 
approval.
* As of 1/11/05 we have $894.28 in checking, $224.10 in savings.
* Planning Commission passed UDO.  Hearing on the final draft of the 
Comprehensive Plan will be on January 31.  UDO Committee is still working on 
recommendations.
* Check out the new format of INC website.  You can add or change your 
listserve subscription there.  Thanks to Al and Randy for work; we should 
give Al special recognition as Neighborhood Hero.
* The executive committee should look into an appropriate 20th birthday 
party.
* Mike, Don, and Bill will work on a phone tree.
* We still have some open leadership positions.
* There are openings on the Planning Commission.
* Dues notices will be sent soon, or you can pay now.
* We need to update by-laws, but in the meantime, Marquis-Pierre and 
Emorywood Orchards have an exception to the neighborhood size rule.

The meeting was adjourned.


Attachment A: Court Resources Resolution for INC Meeting- January 25,2005

Whereas:

The Durham courts are understaffed by standards set by the Administrator of 
Courts.

Only 2.7% of the annual appropriations of the Legislature are allocated to 
the criminal justice system, making full staffing of the courts in North 
Carolina impossible.

The District Attorney has three grant-funded ADAs that will leave in June or 
July of 2005. Without replacements, the average number of days to try a 
Superior Court felony case will likely lengthen from the current 245 days.

The Clerk of Court is authorized to have 4.67 more clerks than can currently 
be hired because of budget constraints.

One additional magistrate for Durham was in the House bill reported out 
during the short session last year but removed in conference.

Funds for the Youth Treatment court are set to sunset in 2005, closing the 
court.


Resolved:

We, the members of ____The InterNeighborhood Council of Durham____, do 
strongly request the Durham Delegation to the North Carolina General 
Assembly to do whatever is necessary to secure funding to add three 
permanent assistant district attorney positions, one magistrate position, 
two clerk positions, and funds to operate the Youth Treatment Court during 
the 2005-2006 session.

We consider these resources to be among the most important resources that 
can be made available to Durham during the 2005-2006 General Assembly 
sessions.



Attachment B: Yard Waste

Resolved: ______(organization)______ formally requests that the City of 
Durham re-examine its policies on the collection of yard waste within the 
city limits. This re-examination should include a review of the purpose of 
collecting yard waste, the methods of collecting yard waste, and the 
distribution of the costs of collecting yard waste. Thorough examination of 
the practices of other municipalities, including cost structures and 
collection practices, should also be included. A working committee comprised 
of relevant city employees, department heads, and representatives of 
community organizations should conduct this review, and be charged with 
making specific recommendations to City Council as to how this policy should 
be rewritten.

The City of Durham has gradually, over the past few years, increased the out 
of pocket costs to its citizens of participating in the yard waste 
collection program by requiring the purchase of a specified yard waste cart, 
instituting an annual fee to register the required cart, increasing that 
annual fee by 20% in the current fiscal year, reducing the amount of yard 
waste that will be picked up with the payment of these required fees, and 
charging additional fees for the removal of normal amounts of yard waste.

The result of these policies has been a continued decline in participation 
in the yard waste program among Durham citizens. According to figures 
published in the Durham Herald-Sun on 20 December, 2004, approximately 
13,000 Durham households are currently participating in the program, down 
significantly from approximately 18,000 in the previous fiscal year, and 
down dramatically from the period before annual fees were instituted. The 
revenue generated by current levels of participation is lower than that 
generated in recent years, despite the increase in fees.

A search of the internet for the published yard waste collection policies of 
other North Carolina municipalities shows Durham is currently in the 
minority in both the restrictions on yard waste and the fees charged for 
picking such waste up. Although we applaud the city's efforts to encourage 
citizens to reuse as much of this material as possible, we urge the city to 
recognize that it's efforts are counterproductive. As fewer citizens 
participate in the program, more yard waste is is either dumped illegally or 
simply pushed out onto the city streets. The results are increased pollution 
in our creeks and streams, unsightly streets, and blocked storm drains, 
creating esthetic, health, and safety problems for all residents.

Attachment C: Resolution in support of the proposed
New Hope Creek Park


Whereas

The New Hope Creek Corridor

* Was recognized as significant in the 1987 Inventory of Natural Areas and 
Rare Species of Durham County

* Was defined and its value recognized in 1989 by Durham County, Orange 
County, the town of Chapel Hill and the City of Durham, which together 
created the New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee.

* Received Federal recognition in August 1990, when the US Fish and Wildlife 
Service designed New Hope Creek as an "Important Regional Wetland."


The Duke Tract

* Is comprised of  44 acres of land owned by Duke University, bordered by 
Erwin and Pickett Roads, straddling the Durham County/Orange County line.

* Is part of Duke Forest, and is designated as "Open Space" on the current 
Comprehensive Plan and on the proposed 2030 Comprehensive Plan.

* Has been deemed "decommissioned" by Duke University and has been optioned 
to Crosland Properties for development into 49 homes as the "Preserve at 
Erwin Trace" without prior notice to public or nonprofit 
preservation/conservation groups, with approximately 12 (of the total 44) 
acres, located in Orange County, proposed to be donated by Crosland to 
Orange County for open space.

* Has been formally recognized by a resolution of the New Hope Creek 
Corridor Advisory Committee on October 21, 2004, as having vital importance 
as part of the New Hope Creek Corridor.


New Hope Creek Park

* Is proposed to be created from the Duke Tract through the purchase of the 
Duke Tract by Durham County.  The money for the purchase would be raised 
through a combination of private contributions and public and nonprofit 
grants.

* Is being promoted by a group of residents of neighborhoods near Erwin Road 
in Durham and Orange Counties who have come together to form the Erwin Area 
Neighborhood Group (EANG).

* Is being investigated by The Durham County Board of Commissioners, which 
has delayed any further action on the Crosland development proposal for the 
Duke Tract until April 1, 2005.

* Could be created by the purchase of the Duke Tract from Duke University 
and Crosland, who have made an offer to sell the Duke Tract to Durham County 
for $1.5 million.


IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that The InterNeighborhood Council of Durham, NC

* Supports a balance of urban, surburban and rural tiers of development as 
conceived in the Comprehensive 2030 Plan and Unified Development Ordinance 
under consideration by Durham County.

* Affirms that it is in the interest of all citizens of Durham County that 
some rural areas of Durham County be preserved in their rural character.

* Acknowledges that the Erwin Road area of Durham County is one of the last 
remaining rural areas in the southwest of Durham County and has great 
historic and environmental value.

* Supports the preservation of open space in the Erwin Road area.

* Supports the proposed New Hope Creek Park as a valuable addition to the 
New Hope Creek Corridor and open space in Durham County.


AND FUTHER RESOLVED THAT The InterNeighborhood Council of Durham, NC

ß Thanks the Durham County Commissioners for their investigation into the 
purchase of the Duke Tract and the creation of the New Hope Creek Park.

ß Thanks Duke University for its role in preserving open space in Durham and 
Orange Counties as part of Duke Forest, and

ß Urges Duke University to give public and nonprofit conservation and 
preservation groups first refusal on any proposed sale of decommissioned 
areas of Duke Forest for preservation/conservation as open space.