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Recap of the April 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Recap of the April 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

This is a brief recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC) meeting that took place on April 13, 2016.

Cindy Kinzer and Kyle Twohig from the City of Spokane spoke about the new sewer and combined stormwater overflow (CSO) tank location east of TJ Meenach Drive and north of Pettet Drive known as CSO I-03. Spokane is comprehensively updating its wastewater system in order to have less sewer waste in the rivers due to overflow. The Environmental Protection Agency would fine Spokane if these updates are not made. This project is in addition to CSO Basin 12 to the south (here is a map of the two).

Construction of the tank in our neighborhood will take roughly one year from beginning to end. Questions and concerns can be directed to Cindy at ckinzer@spokanecity.org or (509) 625-6397. See images below for more detail.

Proposed trail and overlook as part of tank installation.
Proposed trail and overlook as part of tank installation.
Proposed scope and location of CSO tank IO3 and stormwater catchment area.
Proposed scope and location of CSO tank IO3 and stormwater catchment area.

Representatives from the Spokane Public Library reported on the Future Study. The library is looking at changing the functionality of its facilities to meet our community needs over the next 20 years. Some buildings are in disrepair and outdated, and sustainability consultants have recommended improved technology, the addition of collaborative spaces, more engaging children’s areas, comfortable seating, group study rooms and branch expansions at Shadle and South Hill. The 2017 levy for libraries will cover existing operational costs. An additional bond will be needed for all further improvements that are needed to revitalize the library buildings.

Input on the Future Study is welcome at the upcoming community conversation at the Downtown Branch (906 W Main Ave) at 11am on Friday, May 6 or via e-mails to ideas@spokanelibrary.org.

EGNC_April_2016-1

Brianna Musser volunteered to take the reins of Concerts in the Park this year. To help fund this event, the neighborhood will submit a Neighborhood Budget application for a maximum of $500. Melody Dunn, who is working on this process on behalf of the Community Assembly, volunteered to assist with Emerson-Garfield’s application.

Executive elections were held to fill the positions of chair, vice chair, secretary, Community Assembly representative (including alternate) and Community Development representative. Tim Musser and Carlie Hoffman were elected as co-chairs of the EGNC. The vice chair position went to Karl Boldt, who will be supported by Tom Powell. The secretary position was divided into minutes (Stan Burke) and membership (Bryce Morrison). Jay Cousins was re-elected to serve as the Community Assembly rep; Tom Powell will serve as his alternate. Donna Emmingham will represent Community Development.

The Office of Neighborhood Services is holding Cleaning from the Corridor on Saturday, April 23. Volunteers from Emerson-Garfield are encouraged to participate in a show of neighborhood solidarity.

The start of North Monroe revitalization was recently an agenda item at a Public Works meeting. Groundbreaking will not take place until 2018, but planning is beginning now. A city-level stakeholder group is being organized. Business owners, residents and other officials will represent various groups. Interested members will soon be able to apply to be on this committee.

The Silver Auctions parking lot was deemed unsuitable for the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. The Adult Education Center (2310 N Monroe) has instead graciously offered the market use of its lot. The market will be leaving its former location at Knox Presbyterian and moving there for the 2016 season.

Karl Boldt gave an update on the 8th annual Spring Cleanup, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 21 from 9:30am to 12pm at Faith Bible Church (600 W Cora). As usual, a postcard with all the necessary information will be mailed to all Emerson-Garfield residents a few weeks prior to the event.

EGNC_April_2016

Laura Schlangen reported on the Corbin Senior Activity Center. Plans are still being revised for the elevator. A tour is leaving for New York the end of April. The 7th annual Corbin Senior Activity Center Golf Scramble is Friday, June 24. The Tea in the Afternoon event ($15 in advance) is Friday, April 29.

Jay Cousins reported on the Community Assembly. There is a new Police Ombudsman for the City. The CA’s Budget Committee is allocating money to send a representative to a NUSA conference in May. The City is also looking at a new measure to help take care of sidewalks. CA training meetings are available for anyone interested in learning about the Community Assembly; the training for our district is on Wednesday, April 27 at 5:30pm in the West Central Community Center (1603 N Belt).

Barb Biles reported from the Land Use Committee on changes taking place within the committee itself. Barb is the new facilitator.

Carlie Hoffman reported on the Pedestrian Traffic and Transportation (PeTT) Committee, including their discussion of funding for sidewalk repairs within the city. One proposal was that the City take increased responsibility for the sidewalks as is common practice east of the Mississippi.

The neighborhood’s position on the Long-Term Rental Stakeholder Group remains open, and there is a particular need for renters to be represented. Anyone interested in representing Emerson-Garfield and renters should get in touch with the EGNC at info@emersongarfield.org.

Paul Kimball spoke about the Emerson Community Garden. The future of the garden is uncertain, with the water supply being dependent upon two adjacent properties that are going to be for sale, but it will still be possible to use the garden this season. Anyone interested in farming/gardening the lot this season is encouraged to contact the Kimballs.

A representative from Parking Services is scheduled to speaking at the May EGNC meeting, as will a member of the Spokane Edible Tree Project.

Materials for the April 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Materials for the April 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meets tomorrow (Wednesday, April 13) starting at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Activity Center Center (827 W Cleveland).

This month we have two more guest speakers: City engineers will fill us in on the large-scale CSO tank that’s slated to be installed at the top of TJ Meenach Drive. A map of the project is included in the downloadable agenda below — and by the way, there’s a public meeting on the conditional use permit for that project tonight (Tuesday, April 12) at Audubon Elementary starting at 6pm. We’ll also hear from Spokane Public Library Director Andrew Chanse on the library’s Future Study initiative. He’s going to solicit feedback on that topic as well.

Further agenda items for this meeting include planning for the upcoming Concerts in the Park, updates on Spring Cleanup, news on North Monroe revitalization, plus annual elections for the following executive positions on the neighborhood council: Chair, vice chair, secretary, Community Assembly rep, and Community Development rep. Our PeTT Committee rep is also likely to have some information and queries for the neighborhood council about a comprehensive citywide sidewalk program that is being developed.

Please help reduce paper waste and keep our printing expenses low by downloading the materials as PDFs:

Keep in mind that everyone who lives, works or owns property in Emerson-Garfield is welcome, so we look forward to seeing you tomorrow! And if you haven’t yet, please RSVP to the meeting on Facebook or on Nextdoor.

Materials for the March 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Materials for the March 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meets tomorrow (Wednesday, March 9) starting at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Activity Center Center (827 W Cleveland).

Once again, we’ll be featuring two guest speakers: A representative of the Spokane Fire Department will provide some background on the EMS levy renewal that’s proposed for the April 26 ballot. An overview of that—including a fact sheet and presentation—is available here. After that, Ben Cabildo of Community-Minded Enterprises will talk about new neighborhood- and community-oriented TV programs.

This month the neighborhood council will be voting on resident-submitted traffic-calming proposals along with the proposed memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will move the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market to the Silver Auctions lot on North Monroe.

In addition, we’ll be discussing the popular upcoming Spring Cleanup and some potential changes to that event, looking at new neighborhood budget applications that could help fund our events, and taking names for the neighborhood council elections in April. We’ll also hear from our slate of neighborhood representatives on citywide planning, policies and other initiatives that could affect us here in Emerson-Garfield.

If you have a tablet or a smartphone, please help keep our printing expenses low by downloading the materials as PDFs:

We do our best to stick to a strict 90-minute meeting, so please take some time to familiarize yourself with the agenda and the info in the appendixes beforehand.

Everyone who lives, works or owns property in Emerson-Garfield is welcome, so we look forward to seeing you tomorrow! And if you haven’t yet, please RSVP to the meeting on Facebook or on Nextdoor.

Recap of the April E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Recap of the April E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Here’s a brief recap of what took place during the April 8, 2015 meeting of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC).

In addition to the 26 voting members in attendance, five new voting members were confirmed at the start of the April meeting. The sign-in sheet showed around another 25 first-timers or guests.

A representative from Spokane Transit Authority spoke about the details of Prop 1, the sales tax referendum on the upcoming April 28 special ballot. More info about the scope and ramifications of Prop 1 can be found in this digital booklet (print copies of which were issued at the meeting). Basically, it would provide an estimated 25% increase in bus service, which is expected to accommodate a 30% increase in ridership over the next ten years. If the measure is approved, it would increase taxes by 3/10 of 1% — or 3¢ on every $10. The sunset clause would cause this tax to expire in 2025.

Officer elections for 2015-16 were held. Megan Kennedy, who announced that she would be stepping down from the vice chair position, explained her hopes to revive the North Monroe Business Association and her future participation in the West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing (WQ TIF) Committee. Kally Romjue and Steve Anderson were presented as candidates for vice chair. Both the current secretary and chair agreed to continue in their positions for another year with the EGNC’s consent. Two volunteers who were not up for election counted the 25 ballots submitted.

Judith Gilmore, representing the Fulcrum Institute, gave an update on on Ash Street Station, which will become a greenhouse facility and train former inmates with work skills. Its renovation was partly funded by the EGNC, and the Lands Council is encouraging the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market (among other organizations) to make use of its space. On Tuesday, May 19, Dave Dahl, founder of Dave’s Killer Bread, will be speaking at Ash Street Station (1926 N Ash).

Amy Dutton volunteered to head the ad hoc Greening Grants committee to plan future neighborhood plantings.

On a similar topic, Lois Musser discussed the Emerson Community Garden and invited new and existing attendees to the Spring Work Day on Sunday, April 19 at 2pm.

Al Steuart reported in absentia that he has lined up several demonstrations and educational events at this year’s farmers’ market. He is looking for additional volunteers to lead other events such as cooking demos, beekeeping seminars, and tips on garden gadgets. Please contact him at alsteuart@gmail.com if you are interested.

Jackie Caro with the Office of Neighborhood Services announced three upcoming locations for the speed signs as part of the traffic calming program. Her office is currently waiting for bids for planting the shrubbery in the traffic circles on W Montgomery. Later in the year the City Council will decide on the funding for the traffic-calming proposals approved by the EGNC in February.

Laura Schlangen reported for the Corbin Senior Activity Center. Friday, May 22 is their Mad Hatter’s Tea Party; June 5 is their Golf Scramble. An anonymous donor as well as Hoffman Music contributed to the replacement of the stolen sound system. Another anonymous donor replaced the stolen Wii Bowling controls. If you are interested in becoming a CSAC board member, contact Christa Richardson at (509) 327-1584.

Karl Boldt gave a final reminder about the upcoming Spring Cleanup, which will take place from 9am to 12:30pm on Saturday, April 18 at Faith Bible Church. Volunteers are needed to help with the unloading as well as some light-duty tasks — and they’ll be rewarded with a pizza party afterwards. Call Karl at (509) 325-3031 to volunteer or ask questions.

Steve Anderson invited an additional volunteer for the Pedestrian Traffic and Transportation (PeTT) Committee. Contact Steve at slightlyuninteresting@gmail.com to lend a hand or discuss PeTT-related topics such as Safe Routes to School or missing parking signs.

Tim Musser reported that it looks as though Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding will prioritize poorer neighborhoods in 2016. The City hopes that neighborhoods will pool their money to realize larger projects.

Timothy Diko, who is co-organizing the neighborhood’s Concerts in the Park this year with Melissa Parker, attended a Summer Parkways meeting to see if the concert could coincide with the Summer Parkways event like last year. Unfortunately, the Summer Parkways group is not planning an event for Corbin Park this season. He and Melissa will update the neighborhood on progress in choosing a date and booking a band. If you are interested or donating time or money to assist in this, please contact Tim (dikota1@gmail.com) or Melissa (melissap838@gmail.com).

With the votes tallied, the meeting closed shortly after 7pm with the announcement that Steve Anderson had been elected to serve as vice chair of the EGNC.

Materials for the Apr 8 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Materials for the Apr 8 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meets tomorrow (April 8) starting at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).

Please note that E-G residents interested in claiming their two free tree vouchers as part of the City’s Free Tree Weekend (April 17 and 18) can do so at this meeting.

This month’s guest speaker is the STA. They’ll be addressing Prop 1, the sales tax funding measure on the upcoming special election ballot. This digital booklet has more info so you can come prepared with questions.

Judith Gilmore will also be stopping by to apprise the group of progress on Ash Street Station, the Fulcrum Institute’s newly renovated work-training site. The E-G Neighborhood Council voted last November to allocate a portion of its Community Development dollars to this facility.

We’ll hear a quick recap of last weekend’s Greening Grant plantings here in E-G as well as what’s in store for this year’s Emerson Community Garden. Voting members will elect the council’s officer slate for 2015-16.

As always, you can download the materials beforehand as PDFs:

If you live, work or own property in Emerson-Garfield, you’re invited and encouraged to come to these meetings. We regularly see attendance of 40+ people from all over the neighborhood, and there are no dues, fees or other obligations to participate. It’s a great way to stay informed, meet your neighbors and take an active, grassroots role in shaping your neighborhood for the better!