This is a brief recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC) meeting that took place on May 11, 2016, led by newly elected co-chairs Carlie Hoffman and Tim Musser.

Guest speaker Kate Burke of the Spokane Edible Tree Project talked about how her organization searches the city for fruit and nut trees that aren’t being harvested and then takes on that task. The harvest is then donated to area food banks. They are currently mapping trees they can harvest and encourage both mappers and volunteer harvesters to get in touch with them. The organization is holding a Volunteer Kickoff event on Thursday, May 26 at the Saranac Building.

David Steele of the City’s Parking Services Department was scheduled to speak but was not in attendance.

The City is looking to revise and improve the way it deals with the repair and construction of sidewalks. Potential models might be found in cities east of the Mississippi, where municipal governments handle sidewalks differently. The opinions of the various neighborhood councils are being solicited concerning a coordinated comprehensive sidewalk program responsible for sidewalk replacement and repairs. This would most likely involve an increase in fees and/or taxes. A discussion took place about how the group felt; the consensus was that the City should actively being researching alternatives in order to gain a better idea of what the costs would be.

The neighborhood council will be submitting funding applications to the Community Assembly for the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market and Concerts in the Park.

Heather Schelling volunteered to be the neighborhood and district representative on a Solid Waste Collection task force that could improve garbage pickup routes.

Barb Biles, who serves as Emerson-Garfield’s representative on the Land Use Committee, reported that this group is looking for ways to increase density within the city rather than sprawl at the periphery. They are looking for people to join a focus group on infill housing. They would like responses by Thursday, June 23 to prepare for the focus group’s first meeting on Thursday, June 30.

The 2016 season of the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market starts on Friday, June 10. After considering a few other proposed locations, the market will be moving to the parking lot of the Adult Education Center (2310 N Monroe) at the intersection of Montgomery and Monroe at the start of this season. Volunteers are needed – please sign up! A sponsorship program was also launched.

Bri Musser, who stepped forward last month to take over Concerts in the Park, proposed several possible dates and said she was still looking at bands.

Spring Cleanup is on Saturday, May 21 from 9am to 12:30pm at Faith Bible Church (600 W Cora). Bring your wretched refuse, yearning to go to the dump.

An improved pedestrian crossing island is being installed this summer where Adams/Knox crosses NW Boulevard to make it safer for schoolchildren on their way to nearby Trinity Catholic and Spokane Public Montessori.

Laura Schlangen reported that the Corbin Senior Activity Center is still working on the revised plans for the elevator. There are no plans on when it will be built. They have applied for another grant to pay for elevator. Tea in the Afternoon was well attended but Corbin’s town hall meeting was not. The annual Corbin Golf Scramble will take place Saturday, June 4. Golfers and sponsors are still welcome to apply.

Tim Musser reported that that CA Community Development is compiling a list of “readymade” projects that will be easy for neighborhood councils to select and implement.

As for other reports, no Pedestrian Transportation and Traffic (PeTT) meeting was held this month. The neighborhood’s Community Assembly rep was absent. The Rental Housing Stakeholders group is still looking for a neighborhood representative (preferably a renter) to serve on it. Building Stronger Neighborhoods is not meeting until later in the month.

City Councilmember Candace Mumm talked about the recently approved North Monroe Corridor Advisory Group. In other news, she said the council is moving forward with an investigation concerning the dismissal of Police Chief Frank Straub. They are working on transparency and gaining access to roughly 7,000 documents that have not yet been released.