[Durham INC] Updated September minutes

Mon Oct 27 06:36:05 EDT 2014

I will be sending out a new version of the internet resolution.  Below is the corrected version of the minutes.  Please let me know about any additional changes.  Regards, pat
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September Delegate
Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham

NIS Conference
Room, Golden Belt

September 23, 2014

Attending the meeting were:

Neighborhoods

Buck Crossing – Carol Baldwin

Colony Park – Don Lebkes

Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen

Eagles’ Pointe – Donna Rudolph

Fairfield – Melissa Rooney

Golden Belt – DeDreana Freeman

Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias

Morehead Hill – Bruce Mitchell

Northgate Park – Debra Hawkins, Dan Singer

Old Farm – David Harris

Old North Durham – John Martin, Pete Katz

Stage Stop – Dolly Fehrenbacher

Trinity Park – Philip Azar

Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell 

Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller

Woodcroft – Scott Carter

Visitors 

Lynwood D. Best – City of Durham, NIS

Will Wilson – DOST

Leila Wolfrum – Durham Co-op Market

President Scott Carter called the meeting to order; those present
introduced themselves.  The minutes were approved.    Susan Sewell reported that there has been no change in
the financial accounts.

Leila Wolfrum gave an update on the Durham Co-op Market (http://durham.coop), a 10,000-square-foot, full-service
market that will open in January. 
Located on Chapel Hill Street at Kent, they will be serving lots of
neighborhoods.  They will
specialize in local, organic products, but will fill in as necessary with
national brands to get to full service; membership in a national co-op
organization will help get these products affordably.  Being community owned and having local products means that a
higher percentage of money spent there will stay in the community.  They now have over 14,000 owners; a
democratically elected board will set policy for the professional staff.  You can still buy a share of stock for
$100, but you don’t have to be an owner to shop.  They will have lots of parking.  They are now hiring for positions that require experience,
but will be looking soon to fill 15 entry-level positions. They are committed
to being accessible to all, with 10% discount and a program to become an owner
for those on SNAP, WIC and such programs. 
They plan to have 100 pantry staples that, with the many items on sale
at any time, will let customers make meals affordably.

Debra Hawkins gave the final report from the Parks, Public Spaces and Environmental
Issues Committee.  The
committee’s strategy was to investigate what is already happening, provide
advocacy (separate programs for adults and kids), and have some kind of event,
contest or other activity.  The
three issues delegated to the committee, and the results of research into what
is already happening are:

·     
Maintenance
and appearance in parks and public spaces already has tree-planting and
banding, various open space enhancement efforts, adopt a park, clean ups, penny
for parks proposal, and an upcoming new non-profit

·     
Trash in
waterways has lots of groups either doing spring and fall clean-ups or more
continuous involvement

·     
“Continuity”
(which includes both connecting actions to the environment) is being addressed
by clubs, festivals and tours /hikes.

The final report has a roadmap for adults to get involved
and a coloring page for kids to learn about the issues.  They also helped publicize Charge Ahead
Durham.  Finally the library will
be having a series of programs early next year on knowing our local watersheds.

Committee Reports                                                                                                

 Zoning
     and Development – They are continuing to work on wireless facility rules.
     NC School of Government offers a program on planning for beginners that
     costs $300; there was interest in INC doing a program / series of programs
     on zoning.
 Membership and Outreach – They presented to PACs
     2 and 3 and learned a lot and are getting some e-mail inquiries.  The INC Outreach PPT recently
     presented at PAC3 can be viewed on the PAC3 web site:   www.pac3durhamnc.weebly.com
     (look in the News section on the Welcome page). 
     They sent letters to PACs 1, 4, and 5 and asked for help getting in
     front of these PACs.  The
     group thanked Dick and Don.   

·      Nuisance Abatement –  They will be looking for some new members.

·     
Speeding and Traffic – Chief Lopez has presented
the strategic plan on safety to the city manager, but we still haven’t seen it.

·     
Transit, Sidewalks, and Bicycles – No report.

Old Business 

 Resolution on Internet Services –
     The resolution is in Appendix B. 
     There is concern about the internet services coming from a forest
     of new wireless towers.  Pat
     Carstensen will work on changes to make it clear the facilities should be
     buried fiber.

·     
Resolution on
Solar Power
– Please send comments and questions for improving the resolution (Appendix C)
to Deb Hawkins.

·     
Resolutions  on Storm Water Management – Melissa
Rooney will rework the resolution (Appendix A), taking out the 5th
point, making it more about coordination of services, and supporting EAB
efforts.  

 There
     was no report on Neighborhood Hero
     Awards, but we hear progress is being made.

·     
Mayor’s Task
Force on Poverty – They are canvassing the neighborhood to
make sure everyone’s opinion is represented.   

New Business 

·     
Morehead Hill reported on the three big
apartment buildings being proposed in the historic district, covering the
entire meadow by Greystone, where
Greystone would become the “amenity.” 
The buildings would have a vaguely historical façade, which breaks “rule
1” about being consistent with history. 
The proposed apartment buildings would also overshadow its historic
neighbors. The property is zoned OI, so the only thing forcing negotiation in
the historic designation.  There is
a hearing at 8:30 AM on October 8. 
If this goes through, no historic area will be safe from inappropriate
development that politically manipulates the idea of “historic.”

·     
Colony Park has been invited to a meeting on a
proposal for a townhome development 
between them and 15-501; advice was offered freely.

Election of Officers

The Nominating
Committee reported nominees below. 
David Harris moved to close the nominations, John Martin seconded and
the body voted to close the nominations. 
David Harris then moved to elect the slate, John Martin seconded, and
the motion passed.

Phil Azar, President 

DeDreana Freeman, Vice-President 

Pat Carstensen,
Secretary 

Susan Sewell,
Treasurer 

Pete Katz, At-large 

Dick Ford, At-large 

Scott Carter, Past President 

Neighborhood Reports and Announcements                                                            

·     
Peter Katz said that Old North Durham would be
bringing in a resolution on the public process of development agreements.

·     
Deb Hawkins invited folks to the food truck
rodeo at Northgate Park.  

·     
Everyone
should do the NIS survey.

·     
Saturday
is the Pride Parade.

The
meeting adjourned.

Appendix A: Resolution on Storm Water Management

Whereas:

1) Durham City and County are in the same watershed(s), such that stormwater
management and funding should be a joint city-county effort;

2) The most effective, long-term and cost-effective stormwater management is
one that has a holistic, rather than a piece-meal, approach;

3) At a work session last November, County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow
questioned collaborative efforts between the city and county to minimize
duplication and costs related to stormwater management, and Assistant County
Manager Cummings said they would “consider revisiting” this issue;

4) The Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) has, for years, installed
BMPs (“best management practices” like cisterns, rain-gardens and stream-bank
restorations) without any funding from the city until this year (and only
$10,000 funding from the city for 2013-14), and this free ride cannot continue
without the county raising taxes to fund the SWCD's services, thereby double taxing
city-water residents whose significant stormwater fees are already increasing
over the next five years;

5) The city’s Stormwater Services Department, with whom SWCD’s responsibilities
overlap, has declined when SWCD has offered expertise, collaboration and
services; and, despite SWCD requests for partnerships, the stormwater
department has actually competed with SWCD for state, federal and other grants.

Therefore, 

The InterNeighborhood Council of Durham hereby requests that the city and
county of Durham establish a Watersheds Improvement Committee similar to the
Joint City-County Planning Committee. The mission of this committee, which
would consist of city and county stakeholders (elected officials, reps from
SWCD, the stormwater department, County Engineering, etc.), would be to
eliminate redundancies and develop long-term, holistic approaches to
storm-water management and watershed improvements throughout the city and
county.

Appendix B: A RESOLUTION BY THE
INTERNEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OF DURHAM SUPPORTING FASTER, LESS EXPENSIVE, AND MORE
RELIABLE INTERNET SERVICE

WHEREAS,
existing Internet service providers enjoy near monopolies of Internet access
infrastructure; and

WHEREAS,
residents of Durham experience poor Internet performance from these same existing
broadband carriers; and

WHEREAS,
Durham’s economic future is dependent, in significant part, on growth in
industries and services which require high speed, high quality Internet access;
and

WHEREAS, quality of communications services affects the perceived
quality of a neighborhood; and

WHEREAS,
Durham neighborhoods and residents have drawn the attention of the
InterNeighborhood Council of Durham to a number of initiatives, whether by
publicly traded companies or public-private consortiums, designed to bring high
speed Internet alternatives to Durham and to the determination of the City and
County of Durham to pursue one or more of those alternatives;

NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham through
its delegates duly assembled that the InterNeighborhood Council:

1.  Recognizes, salutes, and celebrates
Durham's desire for faster, more reliable and less expensive Internet
alternatives; and 

2.
Supports competition in the Internet service provider market; and 

3.  Expresses its gratitude, enthusiasm,
and encouragement of and for the City and County of Durham as they pursue high-speed
Internet alternatives; and

4.  Urges Durham elected officials and other
government officials to seek one or more alternatives that balance the desire
for higher real-world speeds, more reliable and cheaper service, and expanded
coverage of as much of Durham as possible, as quickly as possible, in as
equitable a manner as possible; and

5.  Offers its support, whether by
resolution or otherwise to any application, pooling of information, or other
reasonable means that might increase the chances for high-speed internet
alternatives being realized sooner rather than later.

This
_________ day of ______________________________, 2014.

THE
INTERNEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OF DURHAM

By:
__________________________________________

      Scott Carter,

      President
Appendix C: Solar Power Resolution

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF
MAKING DURHAM A WORLD-CLASS SOLAR CITY

WHEREAS, the
State of North Carolina currently emits 72 million metric tons of carbon
pollution annually to produce electricity; and

WHEREAS,
solar power is a clean source of energy with which North Carolina can power its
homes, businesses, and cars to achieve better air quality and reduce carbon
pollution; and

WHEREAS, the
State of North Carolina receives more than 250 days of sunshine per year, and
last year installed more solar than every state but California; and

WHEREAS, the
solar industry provides over 3,100 jobs to North Carolinians, and has grown for
six consecutive years; and

WHEREAS, if
the State of North Carolina were to generate 14% of its electricity from
distributed generation solar, an additional 700,000 solar rooftops would be
installed; and

WHEREAS, the
City of Durham is the fourth largest City in the State; and

WHEREAS, the
City of Durham has adopted a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Local
Action Plan and has committed to reduce emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by
2030; and

WHEREAS, the
City of Durham recognizes the above assets of solar power and desires to renew
its commitment to this important clean energy solution; and

WHEREAS,
neighborhoods support the reduction in greenhouse gases,

THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED that the Interneighborhood Council of Durham urges Durham to
become the first North Carolina city to officially set its own goal of
generating 15% of the electricity used by the City of Durham and its residents
from solar by 2030 and to call on the State
of North Carolina to follow Durham’s lead in making North Carolina a leader in
solar power and to set a goal of having 700,000 solar roofs by 2030.

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