[Durham INC] Corrected April Minutes

Thu May 26 21:42:55 EDT 2011

The date in the report from Burch Avenue is corrected.  regards, pat

April Delegate MeetingFirst Presbyterian ChurchINC April 25, 2011 Attending the meeting were:
NeighborhoodsBurch Avenue – Jennifer SkahenCross Counties – Pat CarstensenDuke Park – Ian Kipp, Bill AndersonGolden Belt Neighborhood Association – John Martin, DeDreana FreemanLong Meadow – Jennifer GradyNorthgate Park – Mike ShiflettOld Farm – David HarrisOld North Durham – Peter KatzOld West Durham – Eric HeidtParkwood – Mike BrooksTLNA – Susan SewellWatts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller, Mike WoodardWoodcroft – Scott Carter VisitorsJim Wise – News and ObserverLynwood D. Best – City of Durham, NISRukea Womack – City of Durham, Parks and Recreation Tom Miller called the meeting to order, and members introduced themselves.  There was a general round of thanks to DeDreana for the excellent transportation program last month.  Also please get your dues in.  Lynwood Best announced that the next landlord training workshop is May 18, 8:30 to 5, at the Solid Waste Management Auditorium.  The cost is $5, and the workshop would be useful for anyone who deals with rental housing.  The brochure is atwww.DurhamNC.gov/Departments/NIS/pdf/landlord_training_brochure.pdf. Rukea Womack announced four events from Parks and Recreation:  Eath Day (May 1, with stuff for kids, as well as shredding and e-recycling), Bimbe (May 14, headliners drawing 12,000 folks downtown), 3rd Friday Concert Series, and Warehouse Blues 2011.  More info atwww.dprplaymore.org. The March minutes should have shown Mike Shiflett being present.  David Harris moved to approve minutes with that correction, Ian Kipp seconded and minutes were approved. David Harris moved to approve a resolution on Randy Pickle; see Appendix A.  Susan Sewell seconded and the motion passed. Randy Pickle had a seat on the Captial Improvement Projects Panel; he was nominated for this seat by INC.  This committee meets once a month, starting at 8AM, and provides citizen oversight on projects being done as part of Capital Improvement Plan.  INC doesn't have a designated seat so we aren't guaranteed that our nominee would be appointed, but delegates were asked to help find good people to serve on this panel.  We will put something on the list-serve about it.  Susan Sewell moved and David Harris seconded a motion to have the Executive Committee search for and nominate a candidate; this passed. There were a lot of things reported on the legislature:·       Billboards – The proposed bill would allow more billboards, more cutting of vegetation, more digital billboards and no local control over any of this.  Members of the legislative committee hearing the bill expressed concerns, based on what they are hearing from citizens.  A poll shows 4:1 public opinion against billboards and stronger opinions on specific things in the proposed bill.  They are negotiating on a new version, but we don’t expect the “compromise” will be something we can live with.  Check www.savetheview.org for current information. The good news is how much this bill has helped us link up with neighborhood groups across the state.·       Neighborhood Protection Overlay – The deadline for new legislation to be introduced is past, so we will work on building support locally to introduce legislation next year.·       Homeowner Association Manager Licensing – A bill, stronger than the one last year and bundled with some other ideas, has been introduced.  Members of INC that are HOAs should take a look at the bill since some of the new requirements could be onerous to small and voluntary boards (it's good to have due process, but some angry owners go way beyond due patience).·       Theft of Copper and Other Metals – We looked at the question 2 years ago but never acted on a resolution then.  S616, introduced by Senator Atwater, would at least set up a legislative committee to look at this issue.  Bring information about damage that theft of metals is doing in your neighborhood to the May meeting when we will vote on the resolution in Appendix B. ·       Solar Panels – Carrboro wants to prohibit HOAs from banning up solar panels, which seems to be against our general philosophy of letting neighborhoods do what they think best.·       Resetting Priorities on Transportation Projects – This could affect the East End Connector.  It was referred to the Transportation Committee.·       Passenger Rail – Making accepting federal money for high-speed rail harder would affect light rail in the Triangle.  This was referred to the Transportation Committee. We discussed a number of transportation issues:·       Alston Avenue widening – It’s not clear at this point what INC can or should do to help the neighborhood on this.·       Highway 54 study – They are trying to plan for huge increases in traffic in what is already a failing intersection.  DOT worries a lot more about cars stopped on the off-ramp on I-40 than how unpleasant it gets for the neighborhood.  The neighborhoods in the area will continue to monitor the issue.·       Traffic Calming – More enforcement seems to be making a difference in Old North Durham.  Burch Avenue has had some success with recording license numbers of illegally parking cars in the neighborhood and telling the school who is causing a problem.  East Durham is getting fatter streets while other parts of town are getting road diets.  We will have someone come talk about PACE car program in June. Because of the economy, we are getting a lot more for our money in capital projects right now.  David Harris moved that we ask city council to fund the existing backlog of traffic calming requests this year; Jennifer Skahen seconded and after some discussion of whether to vote or wait until May, the motion carried. On the Golden Belt Resolution, the re-zoning and street closing are apparently on hold.  A charette planning the area is scheduled for late May. The neighborhood decided to support a minor special use permit for the new building behind the church. Looking at the city and county budget hearings, one of our older resolutions was against unreasonable fees – planning is supposed to be self-funding so developers sometimes feel like they “deserve a yes” because of how much they have paid in fees and good ideas such as down-zonings get discouraged.  Tom will make these comments in the budget hearings. There were a number of neighborhood reports.·       Burch Avenue became a National Historic District in September 2010, and folks are starting to take advantage of the tax credits.  Watts Hospital-Hillandale has developed some information they can share.·       Old West Durham – The neighborhood will support the new apartment complex.  The neighborhoods around Ninth Street have presented their comments on the draft rules, and mostly have questions on how to preserve plans once they are approved.·       Old Farm – West Point Park is still waiting to hear what state wants to do with Black Ridge.  Since the only copy of the Development Plan for the site has gone missing, some kind of re-zoning will have to happen.·       Goldenbelt – Come to the house tour on May 1 and see the wonderful things happening to formerly-boarded-up houses.·       Duke Park – Come to the house tour on May 7, which starts at the historic bath house.  The neighborhood also brought up the concern that the city's coffers are filled by taxes paid by affluent neighborhoods, but the distribution is overly lopsided toward lower-income neighborhoods.  As an example, the recent opening of the 2800 sq ft community center in Walltown cost $9 million, while Duke Park has begged for decades for attention to its historic bath house of the same size.  The city estimates the conversion to a community center would cost one tenth the Walltown expenditure, yet has offered just $150k towards that effort.  Such "Robin Hood funding" may eventually result in the loss of an Historic landmark, the continued decline of restrooms that the City declared "unacceptable" over 12 years ago, and a missed opportunity of creating a community center at a fraction of the cost.  Bill Anderson said that such examples must be examined in detail to fully understand the general concern.  Chairman Tom Miller asked that it be revisited in detail at next month's meeting, so that INC can develop a position.·       Old North Durham – The neighborhood has been trying to take responsible positions on Old North Durham Park and on the Duke Diet and Fitness Center, and generally finding out how messy being responsible can be. (Short version of a long conversation). The meeting adjourned.Appendix A: Resolution on Randy PickleWHEREAS, Randall W. Pickle was a devoted friend and neighbor to the people of his own neighborhood, Forest Hills, and to the ordinary citizens of Durham wherever they might reside; andWHEREAS, Randy Pickle brought energy compassion, commitment and fun to Forest Hills as its advocate, representative and spokesman; andWHEREAS, he was twice proclaimed a “Neighborhood Hero” by the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham upon the nomination of his neighbors in Forest Hills; andWHEREAS, he was active the in business and affairs of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham as his neighborhood’s delegate and as an officer; andWHEREAS, his contributions extended from parks and recreation to transportation issues, budgetary matters, public safety, communications, environmental protection, and zoning; andWHEREAS, he embraced every such issue with passion and authority, but without rancor or ill will; andWHEREAS, Randy departed this life suddenly on April 15, 2011 without warning and without reason for regret:NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the delegates of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham duly assembled that the InterNeighborhood Council by these presents honors the life and service of Randy Pickle, gentleman, scholar, entrepreneur, activist, devoted husband, neighbor, and friend. Appendix B:  Resolution on Theft of Copper and Other MetalsWhereas, the current laws respecting the theft of copper, including the latest revisions passed by the North Carolina General Assembly, have not been successful in stemming the tide of copper theft; andWhereas, though the economic downturn has decreased the price of copper, the magnitude of the problem is only increasing, and the injury done to the community is substantial; andWhereas, the State of North Carolina and the several counties and municipalities are facing an extreme budget shortfall, and that such a shortfall is not helped by the fact that metal recyclers do not report metal sales to the taxing authority, and this results in a tremendous amount of untaxed economic activity.NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham thanks Senator Atwater for introducing S616, asks the legislature to pass the bill to set up a study committee, and asks the committee to look into alternatives which cause all metal transactions to be reported to the Revenue Office, linked with a valid tax id number of the metal seller, for all transactions above $10.00.   
From: tom-miller1 at nc.rr.com
To: inc-list at durhaminc.org
Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 23:53:45 -0400
Subject: [Durham INC] Meeting Tuesday! Big Turnout Needed!

Dear Neighbors: Rick Hester, Housing Code Administrator for the City of Durham, and Constance Stancil, the city’s Director of Neighborhood Improvement Services, will be with us Tuesday night to talk about code enforcement issues.  Let’s give them a big INC welcome with a big turnout! Make sure that your neighborhood has at least one delegate present, but of course, everyone is welcome. Thanks, Tom Miller
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