[Durham INC] DRAFT September minutes

[Pat Carstensen]

Please let me know about any additions or corrections.  Sorry about the delay in getting the minutes out (Ed and I had a most excellent vacation).  Regards, pat

September Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
NIS Conference Room, Golden Belt
September 27, 2016

Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods
Colony Park – Don Lebkes
Downing Creek – Dick Ford
Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen
Golden Belt – DeDreana Freeman
Lockhaven Hills – Tom Buhrman
Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias
Morehead Hill – Bruce Mitchell
Northgate Park – Debra Hawkins
Old Farm – David Harris
Old North Durham – John Martin
Old West Durham – John Killeen
Trinity Park – Philip Azar
Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell
Watts-Hillandale – Tom Miller
Woodcroft – Jose Sandoval

Visitors
Will Wilson – DOST
Lynwood D. Best – City of Durham, NIS
Annette Smith – Durham Parks Foundation
Julie Rigby – Museum of Life and Science
Tammy Baggett – Durham County Library
Michael Goodman – Bonds
John White – Bonds

President DeDreana Freeman opened the meeting.  Those present introduced themselves.   John Martin moved to approve the August minutes, Pat Carstensen seconded, and the delegates voted to approve the minutes.

This fall Durham County has four bond issues – voters will cast four separate votes – but they are all about education (dconc.gov/2016bonds).  Most of the library bonds will go to a total renewal of the main library (https://durhamcountylibrary.org/transformationmain/).  For the Museum of Life and Science, about half goes to exhibits and half to a parking deck.  Durham Tech’s mostly goes to a technology center that looks like it is for 21st century global enterprises rather than stranded from a 1950’s Soviet city.  The county is adding an oversight committee to make sure that the money is spent well.  Tom Miller moved and Philip Azar seconded that INC support the bonds; we will vote in October.

Annette Smith made a few announcements of events (October 8th Monarch Festival and also the opening to The Rocks Preserve, and Yappy Hour as a benefit for Rock Quarry Dog Park), and then talked about the Aquatics Facilities Master Plan; currently they are doing a survey of interests in the community – do we want swimming lanes or tot pools, for example.  See (https://durhamnc.gov/2933/Aquatics-Facilities-Master-Plan).  The staff and equipment to do landscaping is now back in the park department, so we should see improvement there.



Annual Meeting
•       Presidential Report:  We did a lot last year.  See Appendix A for the complete report.
•       Elections – Tom Miller moved to close nominations, David Harris seconded, and this was passed.  Tom Miller then moved to elect the following officers, seconded by John Martin and the following were elected:
President:              DeDreana Freeman, Golden Belt
Vice President:  Peter Katz, Old North Durham
Secretary:               Pat Carstensen, Cross-Counties
Treasurer:             Susan Sewell, Tuscaloosa-Lakewood
At Large:                  Dick Ford, Downing Creek
                                                                        Jose Miguel Sandoval, Woodcroft
Communications:   Pakis Bessias, Long Meadow
Past President:  Philip Azar, Trinity Park


Neighborhood Reports

  *   Debra Hawkins will be looking for others to join a committee to do Hero Awards.
  *   On Open Space and Trails, we have a plan but have not built an inch in the last 10 years.  Making progress will take more voices – and more diverse voices – talking in support of trails.
  *   The last Northgate Park Food Truck Rodeo will be in October.
  *   Cross Counties has 2 development proposals for apartments that they are watching.
  *   Dick and Don will be stepping down from doing candidate forums.  Next year will be a City Council year, so the forums won’t be until fall. John Martin moved to thank Don and Dick, Susan Sewell seconded, and the motion passed.
  *   Philip Azar announced that the Trinity Park Home Tour will be October 16th.  http://trinitypark.org/event/trinity-park-home-tour-2016/
  *   Summing up, we will need volunteers for a Hero Award team, a Forum team and continuing zoning and development work.



Appendix A: President’s Annual Report (September 27, 2016)
In general, it looked like a quiet year until one starts to add up the accomplishments.

  *   On Oct. 14th, 2015, on DTN, INC hosted the live televised our Candidates Forum for the 2015 City Races – Thanks to Dick & Don, our guest moderator DeWarren K. Langley and the Durham Chamber for covering the cost for closed captioning.
  *   We had the Durham County Tax Administrator Kimberly Simpson visit and give an update on the 2016 Durham County Reappraisal.
  *   We had Michael Perry Durham County Board of Elections Director update us on the Voter ID and Voting Poll changes
  *   Will Wilson introduced the Durham Roots Farmers Market at Northgate Mall
  *   Katie Rose Levin of Keep Durham Beautiful, showed us the life cycle of the cankerworm and shared information on workshops, volunteer banding days and banding materials to reduce the population of cankerworms in Durham.
  *   Aaron Cain, Planning Supervisor of a new customer service group in the Durham City/County Planning Department, shared the goal of this new department more proactive approach to providing information to the community.
  *   On February 4th we held another Candidate Forum Board of County Commissions (BOCC), moderated by John Martin.
  *   Discussions on Traffic Enforcement, Pocket neighborhoods and Compact Neighborhood Tiers were held.
  *   Bryan Poole gave a couple of updates on the Transportation Department’s update of its Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans,
  *   Shelly Green with the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau shared calendar for festivals and events in Durham.
  *   We supported the Colony Park Neighborhood in their zoning matter.
  *   In March we lost our beloved Bill Anderson, we shared his resolution with his family at his memorial service April 1st, at Duke Park. May Bill R.I.P. and we continue to honor his work and his name in naming our Neighborhood Hero’s Award after him.
  *   We passed a resolution of support for Bike Boulevards
  *   We supported and passed a resolution for the Golden Belt Historic District, which was passed by Durham City Council last month.
  *   We have continued to support and assist neighborhood in navigating the City and County systems
  *   We have a number of active neighborhoods and neighborhood representatives, and we are working to expand our support to new neighborhoods.

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