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March Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

March Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

[Ed. note: This is a condensed version of the official minutes, which are available for download here.]

The March Edition of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council came in like a lion at a couple of minutes after 7pm on March 13.

Chair Liorah Wichser started the meeting with a vote for a new logo for the Neighborhood Council. Three submissions had been submitted by three submittees, all of whom were present. A silent vote was taken and the winning logo was submitted by Liorah Wichser. It was a very fair vote and totally a coincidence that the Chair of the Committee has a name very similar to that of the the winning artist.

Thanks to Joe Snodgrass and Stan Burke for their artistic submissions. [Ed. note: All three logos will be featured in an upcoming post.]

Garbage Czar Karl Boldt spoke next and gave a report on the Neighborhood Clean-Up Day scheduled for Saturday, April 27 from 9am to 12:30pm. It will again be held in the parking lot of Faith Bible Church at 600 W Cora. There will be bins for garbage and clean green, just as in the past. In addition, there will be a recycling bin for metals of all kinds (other than radioactive) and an area for household hazardous waste. That means paint, chemicals and radioactive iridium 358. The Salvation Army will also be there to accept resellable items you would like to donate. [Ed. note: An upcoming post will have more information about Neighborhood Clean-Up Day.]

There will be a large furniture pick up scheduled for later in June. You need to register with Karl at (509) 325-3031.

Next was a brief update on the status of registering the group as a 501(c)(3) organization. Bylaws are being written up and a board of directors is going to be needed. The board will probably consist of 5 to 7 people and you can be one of them. Contact Liorah if you so desire.

Elections of new officers will be scheduled for next month. Liorah, E.J. and Stan are the nominating/railroading committee. Liorah has announced she is stepping down. E.J. has said he would like to become chair if no one else is so inclined, and Stan, your humble writer of minutes, will stay on for a fourth year if no one else wants the job, but he would also happily step aside. That means the vice chair and/or co-chair job is open and ready for someone like you. Contact anyone of the officers to submit yourself for electoral consideration.

The Corbin Senior Center has been buzzing with activity. The Luau was a great event. The 9th Movin’ & Groovin’ Fair was a happening event with 70 vendors, lots of great food and lots of people attending.

There will be a Pancake Breakfast on April 27 from 8:30 to 11am. Tickets are $7 per person and are available at the front desk or at the door the day of the event — so get some breakfast and then dump your garbage at the aforementioned Neighborhood Clean-Up.

Corbin and Emerson-Garfield will be holding a yard sale on May 11. The Corbin Golf Scramble will be at Indian Canyon on June 21 and sponsored by Pine Ridge Alzheimer’s Care Center.

The Neighborhood Planning Committee is still suffering from a woeful lack of attendance. Committee Chair Jay Cousins and one other person were at the last meeting. If you want a say in the future of how the neighborhood looks, the meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at Corbin Senior Center. The next meeting is Thursday April 4 at 6pm. You should go.

Lt. Dean Sprague informed the group of the latest trends in crime in the neighborhood over the last month. There is all kinds of information available at www.spokanecops.org.

The Community Assembly met recently and discussed the stormwater/sewer project and heard a speech from the mayor.

In neighborhood news, Eline Helm is spearheading a Concert in the Park Series. Nothing is scheduled yet but this effort is underway and Eline would love more involvement.

Community Development rep Sara Kimball was not available but sent an update on sidewalks. Priorities are being organized for the 29 areas of concern. Not all areas will be addressed this year as funds (as always) are limited. The new swings in Corbin Park are in and two new horseshoe pits will be installed in the area of the old swing set. The new play equipment for Emerson Park has arrived and will be installed in late April.

The committee chose to recommend cross walks in the area of the Safeway store as the priority for our traffic calming projects.

With that, the meeting was adjourned at 9:12pm.

The Added Value of Public Transport

The Added Value of Public Transport

Home Values Performed 42 Percent Better When Located Near Public Transportation during Last Recession

Location, location, location near public transportation may be the new real-estate mantra according to a new study released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Data in the study reveals that during the last recession, residential property values performed 42 (41.6) percent better on average if they were located near public transportation with high-frequency service.

The Spokane Transit Authority (STA) will be hosting an open house to solicit public feedback on improving the major transit corridors. That will be held on Wednesday, April 10 from 4:30 to 7pm at the Lincoln Center [map], which is just a short walk from bus route 24.

More info on the STA open house and the results of the recent corridor advisory panel (CAP) will be posted here in the coming week.

Results of Traffic-Calming Votes

Results of Traffic-Calming Votes

In response to the neighborhood council’s call for traffic-calming proposals, two arterial and three residential proposals were submitted by neighborhood residents.

25 MPH speed limit signArterial:

A. Traffic from Monroe uses Lincoln for alternate arterial. With McDonald’s on the corner, there is additional traffic from that. Too many cars are going too fast and not slowing down for the intersections. Signs like “Slow” or MPH signs would be helpful. This includes Nora and Augusta.

B. Maple/Ash Streets and Jackson. Needs a crosswalk light for pedestrians crossing the street to go to Safeway. Very dangerous frequently used crossing, especially bad during rush hour and after dark.

Residential:

A. Chelan Ave off of Monroe St towards Maple/Ash is a wide street for several blocks and so people drive very fast. And it is a busy street — because of its wideness, it is has become a shortcut. There are many kids and pets who live on the street. Request speed-limit signs or something to help deter the noise and traffic.

B. Though not a terribly busy intersection, the traffic from Cora and Euclid often contends for access up the last block (steep hill) to the corner of Euclid and Division. There have been in a couple of near-misses for sure. Tends to be traffic collecting from Cora, Alice, Dalton and Euclid looking for quick access to Division.

C. Cora and Alice between Post and Division. Used as a cut-through at high speeds. Children and church attendees are endangered. Speed-limit sign or “Children at Play” sign is requested.

Results

Earlier this month, the voting members of the neighborhood council conducted an e-mail vote (due to the tight deadline) on the traffic-calming proposals that were submitted. Option B from the Arterial section collected the most votes. Of the Residential proposals, option B won out, but due to its similarity and close number of votes to C, they were combined.

At last night’s neighborhood council meeting, it was decided that option B of the Arterials (i.e., a crosswalk/pedestrian light on Maple/Ash and Jackson) would be the application put to the city. There were only enough resources to carry out one project, and due to our history of alternating residential and arterial projects each year (residential was the focus in 2012), it was decided to go ahead with the winning arterial proposal.

If your traffic-calming proposal wasn’t selected, please don’t be discouraged. It can take a few rounds to be successful, but the increased safety and more pleasant streets will be worth it in the end.

Materials for the Mar 13 EGNC Meeting

Materials for the Mar 13 EGNC Meeting

The next Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council Meeting will take place this Wednesday (March 13). As usual, it will start at 7pm and be held at the Corbin Senior Center.

You can get the materials (agenda, minutes for approval) on the Downloads page, or just download them here:

Some of the big agenda items include:

  • Announcement of traffic-calming voting results
  • Updates to the city’s Comprehensive Plan
  • Neighborhood spring cleanup
  • Updates to the city’s Comprehensive Plan
  • Review of submissions and voting on the neighborhood logo
  • Timing of election of new officers
  • COPS and planning committee reports
  • Nonprofit formation news

We hope to see you there!

Submit Your Traffic-Calming Proposals

Submit Your Traffic-Calming Proposals

Do cars tear down your street? Do you see a lot of reckless cut-through traffic on roads near your house? Is there a spot on a busy road that threatens the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers?

Here’s the good news: You can do something about it.

Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council is soliciting neighborhood traffic-calming proposals to be implemented in 2014-15. These will be vetted, voted on, and then the top two (one residential proposal, one arterial proposal) will be passed to the city for consideration.

Traffic-calming proposals include anything from curb extensions to traffic circles (aka roundabouts), chicanes, traffic islands, medians, landscaping, and pedestrian crosswalks. You can see some examples of these in the images above.

The traffic-calming toolbox (PDF link) from the City of Spokane provides a lot of easy-to-read information about potential traffic-calming measures, including a short description of each one as well as pros and cons. This post from a street-scaping blog also has lots of ideas and images.

Unfortunately, the deadline is incredibly tight (it’s Friday, March 1), but that’s because word didn’t filter out of the city until recently — so you’ll need to e-mail your suggestions immediately to emerson.garfield@gmail.com. We’ll take care of the initial paperwork.

Please include the following basic info in your e-mail:

  • Your contact information
  • The exact location of the proposed traffic-calming project
  • Why you think traffic calming is necessary in that particular location
  • Which traffic-calming method (e.g., chicanes, pedestrian islands, roundabouts) would be most effective

Keep in mind that, if your proposal is selected by the city for further study, you might have to collect signatures from neighbors for approval. This is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. Although there’s always a neighbor who grumbles or is overly suspicious, signature-gathering here in Emerson-Garfield is usually a pretty pleasant experience, especially for universally beneficial projects like these.

And should you think that nothing ever comes of these applications, please note that Emerson-Garfield is currently under study for one of the most ambitious traffic-calming projects in Spokane — which was entirely proposed and advocated by residents.