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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 Some buildings are in disrepair and outdated, and sustainability consultants have recommended improved technology, the addition of collaborative spaces, more engaging children’s areas, comfortable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.

City of Spokane Job Fair (April 14)

City of Spokane Job Fair (April 14)

The City of Spokane will host a job fair tomorrow (Thursday, April 14) to provide citizens with the opportunity to learn how to start a career with their city government. It will run from 10am to 4pm in the Fieldhouse Building (1614 N Rebecca St).

Job Fair flyer 2016 updated

At the job fair, representatives from different City departments will be available to discuss the various careers within their departments. The City’s Civil Service Department will host information sessions for the public to learn more about the hiring process as well as a sample testing session. Public Safety Testing will also provide information for those interested in working for Spokane Police and Fire Departments.

For more information, citizens should contact Civil Service at (509) 625-6160 or civilservice@spokanecity.org. Current classified, non-classified, and temp/seasonal openings at the City of Spokane can be found on the City’s jobs page.

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.

Recap of the March 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Recap of the March 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

This is a brief recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC) meeting that took place on March 9, 2016.

Bobby Williams, Fire Chief at the Spokane Fire Department, presented information on the ballot question regarding renewal of the EMS levy at the same rate as was approved in 2010. The levy would require a simple majority of 51%. He reported that the average EMS response time is five minutes, ten seconds, but if the levy is not successful, 70–90% of personnel would be let go, putting that response time in jeopardy. The levy goes before the voters every six years. Ballots will be in the mail between April 6 and 8.

Ray White presented information regarding Community Living Connections, a program to help care for the aging and disabled. A call center at (509) 960-7281 is provided to help seniors who call in with needs and concerns. Also provided is options counseling, whereby a counselor will go out and meet with people that need help solving living issues and challenges associated with aging.

Ben Cabildo of Community-Minded Enterprises presented information regarding new neighborhood-oriented TV programs. His organization has a studio that citizens can access to get information out through Comcast channel 14. Also, they have an open mic program where citizens can speak about concerns and issues. This is available every second and third Thursday. The services are available for non-profits and small business. Individuals are charged only $75 per year to use equipment, and non-profits are charged $350 per year.

City Councilwoman Candace Mumm shared information regarding gender equality hiring in the City. She is working on a report regarding this issue. Spokane City is in the process of looking for a new Chief of Police and an investigation is taking place within the Spokane Police Department. She also talked about the expansion of the Drumheller Springs Conservation Area.

Only one residential traffic-calming application was turned in by the meeting’s deadline. Malia Woods was the applicant; the area of concern was the intersection at Atlantic, Euclid and Cora. She is hoping for any intervention that would help traffic to slow down, as there are many children in this area. The council approved this application.

The Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market needed the council’s approval of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to use the parking lot at Silver Auctions for the market. This was approved with only one abstention. The chair and vice chair will sign the MoU.

Elections for executive positions on the neighborhood council will be held during the April meeting. Interested candidates were asked to come forward for all five positions: Chair, vice chair, secretary, Community Assembly rep and Community Development rep.

Neighborhood budget applications for event resources are due April 30. Neighborhoods can apply for a maximum of $500. The council intends to put in an application for the farmers market as well as Concerts in the Park.

Karl Boldt reported regarding the 2016 Spring Cleanup in our neighborhood. He noted that he will be absent on the day of the event (May 21) and that there have been policy changes with the Department of Corrections that could prevent them from assisting as usual. These issues need to be resolved by April 1. Karl also asked for additional volunteers to help throw trash into the dumpsters during the event.

Laura Schlangen reported on the Corbin Senior Activity Center. The 12th annual Movin’ & Groovin’ Fair was a great success. Day tours have been well attended, and the Alaska Cruise is filled up. The next big event is Tea in the Afternoon on April 29, with advance tickets selling for $15.

Tim Musser reported on the Community Assembly Community Development committee and the application schedule for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. Each neighborhood needs to list what improvements need to be made via an application process.

Barb Biles reported from the Land Use Committee. There are currently some issues in Indian Trail regarding the zoning change in this area. Residential two-family zoning also has a possibility of being changed.

Carlie Hoffman reported on a discussion at the Pedestrian Traffic and Transportation (PeTT) committee regarding the repairing of roads.

Jonathan Martinez has had to step down from the Rental Housing Stakeholders Group due to work commitments. The neighborhood council is therefore looking for renters to represent themselves as well as the neighborhood on this committee.

A representative from Parking Services will be speaking at the May meeting per last month’s questions.

More Free Trees Available Now

More Free Trees Available Now

The Residential Tree Program—part of the Forest Spokane Initiative—is back with another round of free trees for Spokane residents.

As some of you might recall, the Residential Tree Program held similar distributions in the spring and fall of 2015 that gave away a total of 2,000 trees as part of a combined citywide greening, beautification and stormwater mitigation effort.

This program aims to do the same in 2016. The first 1,000 trees will be distributed during the week of April 18 to 24 and the remaining 1,000 trees will be distributed this fall. Some general FAQs are in the flyer below.

free-tree-flyer-april-2016

For Emerson-Garfield residents, here are the essentials:

  • Register for your free tree online by April 6 or at the March 9 (i.e., tonight) or April 13 meeting of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council. The meeting starts at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Activity Center (827 W Cleveland).
  • Once you’ve successfully signed up and selected a tree from the available species, a voucher for your tree will be e-mailed to you shortly after registration closes.
  • Bring your voucher to the participating nursery to pick up your tree between April 18–24. It’s your responsibility to pick up your free tree from the nursery and plant and care for the new tree.

There’s a detailed blog post over on the City’s website with more information about the program and the process. If you still have questions, reach out to Damon Hunter at dhunter@spokanecity.org or ask a neighborhood council member at the March or April meetings.