WEST CENTRAL NEIGBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

Minutes of February 16, 2009, Meeting

 

 

 

GUEST SPEAKERS

·                     Shan Gunawardena – Head of Traffic Engineering

o       Provided alternative suggestions to original Thieme Drive traffic study approved by the City

o       Numbers for Thieme Drive reflected the following

§         1360 total traffic count per day (average)

§         800 NB

§         500 SB

§         85% over speed limit (average 36.5 mph NB)

§         85% over speed limit (average 37.5 mph SB)

o       Discussion was held with the following suggestions:

§         Stop signs at Thieme and Wayne – issue would be monitoring and getting traffic adjusted to the stop signs

§         Striping the informal river greenway path to separate it from the traffic lanes which would tend to slow traffic down

§         Along with striping to set off greenway, intersection at W. Washington and Thieme would be reconfigured to make 90 degree turn onto W. Washington which would require stopping and not running the present stop onto W. Washington

§         Letter from Mike will be sent to City to ask that striping and reconfiguration be done

·         Decided we did not need to withdraw earlier request since current solution does not require notification of residents

§         Motion by T.  Cain to ask City to move forward on striping Thieme Drive from W. Washignton Blvd. to Main Street to delineate river greenway path and to reconfigure stop at W. Washington at Thieme to require a 90 degree turn onto W. Washington – second by L. Codding/C. Weybright – motion passes

 

 

 

 

·                     Julia Goldstein

o       Canterbury student – group of about 75 students need project to help on and decided they would like to do something in West Central

o       Hours of service would be 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. sometime before April 15th

o       Discussion of areas to work on

§         Clean Thieme Drive

§         May be a liability issue if chain saws are used

§         How to designate what needs to be removed

 

·                     Judi Wire

o       Topic of location of new Charis House residence (women’s and children’s shelter)

o       Wells Street merchants oppose location at south end of Wells

o       Structure would require vacating Fairmount Place

o       Merchants concerns are:

§         Structure does not fit into neighborhood environment

§         Vacating Fairmount Place would preclude access to riverfront development

§         Neighborhood already has several agencies which help les fortunate

o       The Wells Street merchants oppose the location and have asked that West Central Association support the opposition

o       Discussion as to opposing Charis House location

§         Motion by L. Codding to oppose Charis House location and support Wells Street merchants – second by D. Long – passes

§         As many residents as possible are urged to attend City Council meeting on the following Tuesday to speak

 

REPORTS

·                     Minutes 

o       Minutes from January  meeting were read and approved

·                     Treasurer’s Report

·         accepted

·                     Membership Report – no report

o       Estimate – 60 ind., 5 seniors, 5 org., and 8 businesses

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

·                  Planning Committee

o       Barb Schoppman on committee

·                  CCW

o       No report

·                  House Tour

o       First meeting will be February 24, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at Mike and Casi’s home at 1004 W. Washington Blvd.

o       Need new members due to Jill, Cindy, Norma, and Corrine leaving committee

·                  LHD – will hold another informational meeting in April when weather is nicer and then plan on a door-to-door campaign

 

OLD BUSINESS

§                     Emmanuel Lutheran Church

·         No movement on area 3

§                     1234 Nelson St.

·         No sale yet

 

NEW BUSINESS

·                     Email list

o       David Long will begin sending reminder emails of upcoming important issues and email newsletters containing neighborhood happenings

·                     Sheriff’s offender website

o       Resident concerned that an offender is living less than 1,000 feet from neighborhood school

·                     Memorial Funding

o       Jerry Vandeveer has received remaining funding for the Police and Firefightrers’ memorial located on Wells Street just north of the bridge on the east side of Wells

o       Granite company is donating engraving, polishing, and cutting for free

·                     Second Info Fair on HIP

o       Second info fair being held at Fairfield Elementary on Thursday

·                     St. Joe Demolition

o       Old school of nursing demolished - will be turned into green space

o       Chad Towner (COO) is leaving for position on the east coast

OTHER

·                     Great American Cleanup

o       Coming up in May – will need to complete application

·                     Parking Issues

o       Parking on Union was mentioned as an issue

o       Carol will look into regulations – in particular on Union

·                     Tour

o       No reason to have 100% profit

o       The tour needs more sponsors – should try to include more business properties

o       Discussion was held as to paying for odds and ends (balloons, plants, etc.) and suggestion was made that perhaps some sponsors could be found to contribute smaller amounts than normal sponsorship fee – this would help offset cost of materials and items needed in conjunction to the tour

 

 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

·                     CCW – February 17, 2009 – 6:30 p.m. Creighton Street station

·                     SWAP – February 18, 2009 – 7:00 p.m. (Taylor Univ.)

 

ADJOURNMENT

·                     Motion to adjourn was made,  seconded, and passed 

 

 

Respectfully submitted

 

______________________________________

Charlotte A. Weybright, Secretary

West Central Neighborhood Association