October Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham
First Presbyterian Church
October 25, 2011
Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods
Bay Pointe – Heather Myers
Colonial Village NA – Jonathan Jones
Colony Park – Don Lebkes
Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen
Downtown Area – Mary W. Clemons
Duke Park – Bill Anderson, Ian Kipp
Golden Belt – John Martin
Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias
Northgate Park – Mike Shiflett, Nancy Kneepkens
Old East Durham – Chloe’ Palenchar
Old Farm – David Harris
Old North Durham – Peter Katz
Old West Durham – Brett Valley
Trinity Park – Julia Borbely-Brown, Philip Azar
Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell
Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller, Mike Woodard
Woodcroft – Scott and Heidi Carter
(Based on the Treasurer’s Report, Appendix A, there were 13 paid neighborhoods, so need at least 9 “ayes” on policy votes)
Visitors
Will Wilson – Durham Open Space and Trails
Jim Wise – N & O
Steve Toler – Education Referendum
Mark Ahrendsen – Durham Transportation Department
Jay Reinstein – City of Durham
John Stinson
Tom Miller called the meeting to order, and members introduced themselves.
Jay Reinstein and John Stinson of the City of Durham gave an update / demonstration of the new Strategic Plan & Performance Management Dashboard; go to the Durham’s Got It page (http://www.durhamnc.gov/StrategicPlan/Goals) and play around with it. What you don’t see is the processes to get quality data and the effort of the citizen oversight committee that made sure it was easy to use. The dashboard lets you drill down to see how well Durham is doing on meeting the goals identified in the strategic plan. The County is just starting on a similar effort and everyone agrees coordination is important.
Mark Ahrendsen of the Durham Transportation Department gave an update on Alston Avenue. Based on a lower traffic forecast at least in the short term (next 10-15 years), NC-DOT’s new plan (it looks more like Hillsborough Street in Raleigh):
· Eliminates right-only turn lanes
· Uses “interim striping” north of Main, so only 1 lane in each direction is for through traffic, with the other for bike lanes and parking
· Makes shorter left-turn lanes so more of the median is wide and grassy, not narrow and concrete
· Has neck-downs at some intersections to keep traffic from passing in the parking area and give pedestrians a shorter sprint across the chasm
They will begin purchasing right of way next year. Chloe’ Palenchar, giving the neighborhood perspective, said the new plan is better but still not great. They would like to see details on the retaining walls, speed limits, etc. The light-timing could be improved now. One of the big questions is getting the zoning right so there will be cars parked in the parking areas, going to businesses taking advantage of the “climate” folks hope will happen here.
On the Education Local Sales and Use Tax, the big challenge for proponents is that “education” isn’t in the referendum language because of how the legislature wrote the rules. However, the Board of County Commissioners did pass a resolution allocating the funds for the next 10 years. We are losing the $6.2M “pot” of federal money that has helped mitigate state cuts; the sales tax would mostly replace what has been cut from the state. See: www.co.durham.nc.us/departments/bocc/Bond_Issues/Education_and_Transi1.html
David Harris moved to approve the resolution (Appendix B) on Education Tax Referendum, John Martin seconded, and it passed with 1 “nay” and 3 “abstains.”
On the Open Space Planning resolution, Trinity Park can only support the first point of the resolution, but is OK with that one. With that comment, the body passed the resolution with 1 “nay” and 2 “abstains.”
On the Transit Tax Resolution, Mike Shiflett moved, John Martin seconded the resolution and the body passed the resolution with 1 “nay” and 2 “abstains.”
David Harris moved that a committee should be formed to look at the issue of resolutions failing because of abstaining neighborhoods. Peter Katz seconded the motion. It passed. The committee will consist of Peter Katz, John Martin, Nancy Kneepkens, Scott Carter, David Harris, Philip Azar, and Tom Miller (chair).
For officers for 2011-12, Philip Azar moved and Bill Anderson seconded the following slate:
John Martin President
Scott Carter Vice President
Pat Carstensen Secretary
Peter Katz Treasurer
Mike Brooks at-large
Ian Kipp media member
Susan Sewell at-large
Tom Miller Past President
These were elected by acclimation and John Martin took over as chair.
On the Neighborhood Hero Event, we will keep working on it.
Bill Anderson gave an update on the Duke Park Bathhouse. Mike Woodard has the idea of putting in new modular, but antique-looking, bathrooms. So nothing is happening with the historic structure yet, but at least there are facilities in the park.
Given that our next meeting would be 2 days before Thanksgiving, we decided to have the November meeting on November 29th (5th Tuesday) and not have a December meeting. Someone needs to check with the church on the space.
Old West Durham and WHHNA reported that they were stunned at Planning Commission meeting with the news that when property is re-zoned into new compact district zone, it will lose all the Development-Plan conditions everyone worked so hard to develop. The issue is going to Council on December 19th. (As background, what they have been working on for Ninth Street is what goes into the UDO on the rules for the zone; once these rules have been created once, the hope is that they can applied in 5 other areas, with just needing to decide what the various boundaries of areas are. For some of these 5 areas, assembling a team of neighborhood experts will be very hard.) Susan Sewell moved and Peter Katz seconded forming a committee to look at this issue. Members of the committee: Philip Azar (chair), Tom Miller, Peter Katz, Eric Heidt, Susan Sewell, Matt Dudek.
Other Neighborhood Reports and announcements:
· A developer asked PAC2 about an economic development grant before going to neighborhoods. Is this a new policy? We will try to get more information abou this.
· The old Y. E. Smith school may be re-developed for the Maureen Joy Charter School.
· Historic Preservation Presentation / Happy Hour at Full Steam on October 27.
· County Strategic Planning Open Houses on November 3,10,17.
· Night of Lights: There are 2 viewpoints on building in back-up weekend. Pat will send out a website so people can see what their neighbors are doing. http://www.doodle.com/75gmduny7x7yb74c
The meeting adjourned.
Appendix A: Treasurer’s Report
INC’s current balance is: $3086.48
Dues have been paid by:
Fairfield (payment received this month, pending deposit)
Golden Belt
Morehead Hill
Cross-Countries
Old West
Parkwood
Burch Ave
Colony Park
Duke Park
WHHNA
Tuscaloosa-Lakewood
Long Meadow
Woodcroft
Trinity Park
Magnolia Place
Old North Durham
Northgate Park
Downing Creek
Falcon Bridge
Old Farm
Please note: If you’re association mailed a check this month it may not be reflected in the list until next month. If your neighborhood hasn’t paid yet, you can bring payment to the monthly meeting for $25 (or more) or mail it to:
1110 Virginia Ave, Durham NC 27705, care of Tom Miller.
Appendix B: A Resolution by the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham on an Education Tax Referendum
WHEREAS, state funding for education has declined in recent years and money from the federal EdJobs programs has now run out; and
WHEREAS, the estimated $9,000,000 raised by a ¼ ¢ sales tax will cover approximately 150 in-classroom jobs, as well as some debt service for previously passed school bonds, a much-needed expansion of pre-K services for at-risk kids, and work-study and grant funds to students at Durham Technical College; and
WHEREAS, approximately 50% of the tax will be paid by people who shop in Durham County but do not live here; and
WHEREAS, many necessities, such as food, rent, gas, and prescriptions, will not be taxed; and
WHEREAS, although the text of the ballot referendum does not mention education, the Board of County Commissioners has promised to dedicate the funds to education; and
WHEREAS, our neighborhoods benefit from a strong school system;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by InterNeighborhood Council of Durham through its delegates duly assembled that the Education Tax Referendum should pass.
This _25th_ day of __October___, 2011
____________________________________
Thomas R. Miller
President
Appendix C: A Resolution by the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham on Urban Open Space Plan Objectives
WHEREAS, the Durham City and County Planning Department is undertaking the development of an Urban Open Space Plan, which should provide the City with proper guidance for further decision-making processes, including possible acquisition/preservation or development of those areas deemed important to Durham’s quality of life and our environment; and
WHEREAS, general open space planning has concentrated on aesthetic, recreational and wildlife benefits, and (as shown in the background below), with urban open space we need to add health, social and environmental benefits; and
WHEREAS, Durham has a certain amount of ad hoc data laying out issues and opportunities for open space in downtown Durham, but nothing like the scientifically designed collection that other cities are doing; and
WHEREAS, many neighborhoods have a stake in downtown Durham, and the recent history of Old North Durham Park has shown that these interests can conflict;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham by its delegates duly assembled that the Durham City/County Planning Department’s development of Durham’s Urban Open Space Plan should
1. Carefully consider the environmental health and justice aspects, in addition to the more traditional aesthetic and recreational aspects.
2. Create an environmental health survey detailing the above issues
3. Pay close attention to process and governance issues to manage / minimize conflicts over the resources.
This _25th_ day of _____October____, 2011
_____________________________________
Thomas R. Miller
President
Appendix D: A Resolution of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham Supporting a Sales Tax for Transit
WHEREAS, a transit system that will maintain our quality of life with the projected growth in Durham County’s population, direct that growth in smarter ways, give people more choices, realize social justice, and provide good jobs, and
WHEREAS, this election season, Durham County is the first jurisdiction in the state to hold a referendum to adopt a ½ cent sales tax to be used exclusively to transit, since such referenda were authorized by the NC legislature in 2009, and
WHEREAS, the referendum has to be preceded by development of a detailed “financial plan” for how revenues will be spent to encourage mobility; this plan calls for 3 phases – bus expansion, then commuter rail to Wake County, and finally light rail to Orange County, and
WHEREAS, Durham County is especially critical for the regional transit plan related to the financial plan: it sits midway between Orange and Wake Counties, and commuters come and go from many directions into and through the county.
Therefore, be it resolved that the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham supports the passage of the Transportation Tax Referendum.
This 25th day of October, 2011
BY THE INTERNEIGHBOHOOD COUNCIL OF DURHAM
___________________________________
Tom Miller
President
