[Durham INC] Fw: DRAFT Sept minutes

[Pat Carstensen]

resending in advance of Tuesday's meeting

________________________________
From: INC-list <inc-list-bounces at lists.deltaforce.net> on behalf of Pat Carstensen <pats1717 at hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 3, 2021 8:57 AM
To: inc listserv <inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net>
Subject: [Durham INC] DRAFT Sept minutes

Please let me know about additions or corrections.  Thanks, pat


September  Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham

Via Zoom

September 28, 2021



Attending the meeting were:

Neighborhoods

Bragtown – Vannessa Mason Evans

Burch Avenue – Richard Ziglar

Colonial Village -- Charles Giamberardino

Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen

Forest Hills – Sarah Morris

Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias

Merrick-Moore – Bonita Green

Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo

Northgate Park -- Keith Cochran, Debra Hawkins

Old West Durham – David Eklund

Trinity Park – Philip Azar, Mimi Kessler, Mary Molina, Jennifer Franklin

Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell

Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller


Guests

Annette Smith -- Durham Parks and Recreation, Durham Parks Foundation

Will Wilson -- president of INC

Selina Mack -- DCLT


President Will Wilson called the meeting to order, and those present introduced themselves.  We added the Burch Avenue meeting with Duke University to the agenda.  Tom Miller moved to approve the August minutes, Bonita Green seconded, and the minutes were approved.


Land Trusts: This is the initial presentation of an intended series on tools and solutions for some of the issues facing neighborhoods.  Durham Community Land Trust (DCLT)was created in 1987 to address the cycle of deterioration in west end communities -- primarily West End, Burch Avenue and Lyon Park.  The point is to have development without displacement.  A community land trust is a non-profit corporation to acquire and hold land for the benefit of the community, mainly for affordable housing, but may also be for community gardens, commercial needs and other purposes.  The affordable housing can be ownership or rental.  Boards of land trusts general have tripartite structure (residents, community members and members of the general public).  Houses are generally sold with the land retained by the trust in order to “recycle” affordability and the subsidy.  They renovate housing they acquire to make the housing attractive, energy-efficient, and so on.  The model also builds community power and connection; they raise up people who can speak for the neighborhood.  Improving the neighborhood also attracts private investment; for example, businesses often start thriving nearby.  DCLT can no longer afford to expand in the west end communities, and they are now acquiring and renovating units in Southside and NE Central Durham. Some things to look for to evaluate opportunity areas for land trust growth include city and county land and “heir properties,” and land banks (holding land while gathering funds to renovate) can be a useful tool.  They need to balance wealth-creation for one owner and the affordability to the next.  The Land Trust tool ideally stands with regulatory controls and other mechanisms.  Obviously with all the gentrification, the mission of the Land Trust is getting harder.  One of the ways the land trust supports its residents is teaching basic them maintenance skills.


OLD BUSINESS:


Bylaws Revision Update -- The by-laws were created many years ago and have evolved over time so the the committee is recommending a “restatement” -- basically totally re-writing.  The basic operations of INC are retained, but we want to:

  *   Bring bylaws into alignment with NC law,

  *   Enlarge the membership guidelines since some neighborhood that support INC and regularly attend don’t meet the current formal standards for a “neighborhood”

  *   Give some flexibility so that, for example, coalitions of neighborhoods can be members

We will get the DRAFT of bylaws onto  the agenda for October in a way that meets the legal requirements for getting it considered.


Susan sent out a request for questions for candidates in this year’s municipal elections and reviewed available questionnaires from the Independent, League of Women Voters, and People’s Alliance to see what questions of interest to neighborhoods have not been asked.  Susan, Will and Bonita will finish the questions and send them out to the winners after Tuesday.



INC Slate for the next year -- The committee has nominated:

President -- Bonita Green

Vice President -- ???

Secretary -- Pat

Treasurer -- Susan

At-Large Executive Committee -- Sarah, Vanessa

Communications -- Pakis


We will vote on this slate in October.


Development Project updates

Duke Rezoning -- Burch Avenue folks, with Susan Sewell, met with Duke University about their rezoning to University Campus.  The properties would have a development plan, but Duke’s idea of a development plan is basically an outline, with nothing about what the use might be.  Duke wants consistency across their properties, and it is more convenient for them to get them all done at once, although they don’t know what they want to do with each property.  The neighborhood is concerned about things like traffic flow and will be looking at how “committed elements” could limit impacts to the neighborhood.   We are also concerned about other pieces of their re-zoning effort.


Watts Hospital Hillandale has started meeting with a developer interested in the Best Products building.  There are single-family homes on the other (east) side of Lasalle, which would then be a target for more intensity.  The developer would put a 5-story apartment building with a large number of affordable housing.  This may be another case where Council will use a development agreement (which is a nicely flexible tool, but has concerns about transparency and public process).  The current zoning is industrial.


Another concern is Rosewalk, a big apartment complex, on the north side of Club Boulevard, because of cumulative traffic impact with Northgate re-development.


Neighborhood Reports and Announcements

  *   Bioblitz week -- get out there with iNaturalist and identify wild things out there.  Please check out: https://www.ellerbecreek.org/bioblitz.html

  *   Wrightwood Park is re-opening a new playground and has dedicated the Dr. Robert Durden history grove.  For more on history groves: https://www.museumofdurhamhistory.org/learn/history-groves/

  *   Barktoberfest is October 23rd.  https://www.dprplaymore.org/276/Barktoberfest

  *   A couple more pop-up food truck events will be at Northgate Park.

  *   Big Sweep is coming up: https://keepdurhambeautiful.org/big-sweep

  *   Preservation Durham’s annual home tour is October 16-17, focusing on Tudor Revival homes: https://preservationdurham.org/2021-home-tour/




Adjourn.







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