[Durham INC] March and April minutes
Pat Carstensen
pats1717 at hotmail.com
Mon Jun 27 21:25:51 EDT 2022
I think we have approved the April minutes, but not the March ones.
________________________________
From: Pat Carstensen
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2022 7:17 AM
To: inc listserv <inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net>
Subject: March and April minutes
Sent in advance of meeting next week:
April Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
Via Zoom
April 26, 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. For trails and other improvements, ECWA works hard to find out and respect what nearby communities want. 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
March Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
Via Zoom
March 22, 2022
Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods
Bragtown – Vannessa Mason Evans
Burch Avenue – Richard Ziglar
Colonial Village – Angel Romero
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
Northgate Park – Keith Cochran
Old North Durham – Helena Cragg
Old West Durham – David Eklund
Trinity Park – Philip Azar, Mimi Kessler
Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell
Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller
Guests
Will Wilson – Past President of INC
Jackie Turner – Jackie Turner Consulting , community engagement on aquatics projects
John Tallmadge – Bike Durham
Jacobo Montibbio – Bike Durham
Carmen Kuan – Bike Durham
President Bonita Green called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone; those present introduced themselves. A report by the Bylaw Committee was added to the agenda. Tom Miller moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting, Vannessa Mason Evans seconded and this was passed.
Aquatics Projects / Splash and Play – Jackie Turner talked about how the aquatics projects (now called Splash and Play) fit into the overall Parks and Recreation plans and the equitable investment goals. They have just started doing community engagement, going to festivals, neighborhoods and many events. They will share what they learn with the technical team and come back in another round of engagement to talk about more concrete proposals. For a city the size of Durham, we have few aquatic facilities, and they are old. Three sites for aquatics projects were identified in the master plan: Long Meadow Park, Wheels Fun Park, and East End Park. Much of Long Meadow Park structure is in the flood-plain. Aquatic facilities can be indoor or outdoor, regional or neighborhood, spraygrounds or more elaborate. The demographics around the potential sites are shifting; they want to make sure the demographics of the people engaged in discussing needs matches the demographics of stakeholders. Furthermore, they want to be looking at the interests of different age groups. They will be asking about what people will use, how things should look, and so on. If you have information to share or want to host an activity, Ms. Turner’s contact information is: Jackie at jturnerconsulting.com 919-307-5942
Bike Durham’s Safe Routes to Schools – Bike Durham has a contract with the city of Durham to do the safe routes to school, using money from a grant from NC DOT. The program started as a volunteer effort, and then got the funding. They do bike and walk to school events and bike safety classes at elementary schools. In 2021, they had 13 schools and about 5000 kids (some in costume) in the events. Three schools did the classes in 2021; Bike Durham brings a “kit” of bikes, helmets, vests, and cones in order to give kids practice at riding safely, show the social aspects of biking, and teach a little bike maintenance. They have events where kids get bikes and gear. More information is at https://bikedurham.org/safe-routes-to-school.
Old Business
Bylaws – We had a motion to pass the bylaws with the caveat that we needed to check that they complied with NC law. Andrew Foster at the Duke Community Law Clinic reviewed that draft, and he identified an issue with the size of the quorum, which has been corrected. The current bylaws are at https://sites.google.com/view/durhaminc/bylaws?authuser=0. The revised bylaws and a summary are in the folder (with a clean version and a lined version) https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UyupE2j3xbbvCef565DHG_DOjDWW9bGO?usp=sharing. There is not yet an application form. Philip Azar moved the following resolution:
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.
Neighborhoods will look at the the bylaws and resolution for voting later.
Neighborhood Reports and Announcements
* Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – There is continued reaction to the very raucous student party in TLNA. Council Member Williams is taking an interest in addressing the issue.
* Colonial Village – There has been a lot of discussion of the loss of tree canopy in the neighborhood with the rapid gentrification. Loss of canopy causes erosion and stormwater runoff. There isn’t much in the planning code that protects neighbors when the owner tears down the house. If they are trying to build, you can get the number from the mapping tool and, in some cases, there will be a map of what the subdivision is.
* The Leesville Road Coalition is holding town halls for candidates. The sessions are recorded and you can get them at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiCmr4Zhe4k
* Tom Miller has been talking to Planning about concerns about the small lot proposals as not being minor changes. Pulling together data to see patterns and metrics, to get past the anecdotal evidence, would help craft improved rules.
* To get the planning notifications: https://www.durhamnc.gov/411/Planning-Public-Notification-Service
Adjourn
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