[Durham INC] April meeting mintues

[Pat Carstensen]

Please let me know about any additions or corrections.  Also, I have a copy of ECWA's flyer on preserving the heron rookery; I can forward it to anyone who needs it.  Thanks, pat


March Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham

Via Zoom

March 22, 2022


Attending the meeting were:

Neighborhoods

Burch Avenue – Richard Ziglar

Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen

Forest Hills – Sarah Morris

Leesville Road Coalition – Steven Knill

Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias

Merrick-Moore – Bonita Green

Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo

Old North Durham – Helena Cragg

Old West Durham – David Eklund

Trinity Park – Philip Azar

Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell

Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller


Guests

Will Wilson – Past President of INC

Rickie White – ECWA


President Bonita Green called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone; those present introduced themselves and mentioned the construction in their neighborhoods.  The March minutes weren’t re-sent in the last week so we will look at them next month.


Rickie White, the executive director of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA, https://www.ellerbecreek.org/), talked about urban nature.  ECWA manages about 500 acres of preserves, restores watersheds and educates the public.  They have 5 open preserves and have done over 120 stream restoration projects.  Ellerbe Creek is a major tributary into Falls Lake so improving water quality there is important.  There is also a lot of cool wildlife in the watershed, such as great blue herons, beaver, owls and urban otters.  Finally providing opportunities for people to get out and close to nature has a positive effect on health of people in Durham.   They do a lot of green water-infrastructure, such as the bioretention at E. K. Powe.  Although 500 acres preserved sounds like a lot, there isn’t a lot of money to preserve as much as we need, especially considering equity.  There is no city staff working on conservation, a lot of needed trails to be added, and concerns about infrastructure and development in sensitive areas.  In particular, making the area of the heron rookery a NC dedicated nature preserve would protect it from being bisected by the proposed (as yet unfunded) Northern Durham Parkway (https://connect.ncdot.gov/projects/planning/FeasibilityStudiesDocuments/U-4721_Feasibility-Study_Report_2014.pdf).  There is increased flooding in some areas, which green water-infrastructure can combat..  ECWA is working with communities on what they want in the way of trails and other improvements.  The city budget currently is looking at adding an open space person.  A fun way to support ECWA and conservation in Durham is to come to the Beaver Queen pageant on June 4th.


There is a resolution about bylaws from last month



Resolved:

1.  That the Amended and Restated Bylaws be passed as presented on March 22, 2022;



2.  That conforming changes be made to the Articles of Association of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham and that those Amended and Restated Articles be presented to the board for adoption;



3. That Tom Miller be named as the registered agent of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham as expeditiously are reasonably possible;



4. That in as much as members must reapply for membership to the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham under the revised and restated bylaws, members shall do so within 60 days  of passage and that all neighborhoods participating in the vote on the amended and restated bylaws be eligible to vote on readmission of neighborhoods; and



5.  That the membership fee schedule under the amended and restated bylaws shall remain the same for 2022, that any member who has paid dues in 2022 shall not be required to pay again in 2022, and that any member who has paid dues in 2022 and who does not become a member under the amended and restated bylaws shall be refunded any 2022 dues payment.



Philip has almost completed an application form.  Many delegates didn’t get the final copy of the bylaws and the analysis of the changes since they were buried as a link in the minutes.  We will put them on the list-serve, or they are in the folder (with a clean version and a lined version)  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UyupE2j3xbbvCef565DHG_DOjDWW9bGO?usp=sharing.



Dues received (as of 4/7) from: Leesville Rd, Long Meadow, Merrick-Moore, Morehead Hill, Old Farm, Trinity Park, TLNA, Watts-Hillandale. Dues must be paid in order to vote.



Neighborhood Reports and Announcements

  *   Watts Hospital Hillandale – There are a couple major developments on track in the neighborhood.  Tom has heard that developers have applied for a text change to get even more infill in existing neighborhoods; we will need to watch this.

  *   The Leesville Road Coalition had a number of candidate forums and posted the videos to the list-serve.  In the last 18 months, 4200 residences have been added in their neighborhood; Leesville Road will be already twice its engineered capacity.

  *   Trinity Park – There is a development proposed by Trinity Park causing a lot of controversy.  The neighborhood is going to look again at the idea of becoming a local historic district.

  *   Bragtown got the affordable housing funds for the development but would like to get more to make more affordable apartments.

  *   Merrick-Moore is frustrated with what is getting built, including very expensive houses.  The development they defeated a while ago has come back with a conservation development, with over 200 townhomes, that has some crowding next to Merrick-Moore but maintains open space behind the garden.  They hope the conservation area can be added to the property of an organization like ECWA.  There is already a lot of industry in the area, and the county land nearby is said to be slotted for industrial zoning so the neighborhood is having conversation with elected county leaders.



Adjourn


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