Board of Directors
Summit Hill Association
District 16 Planning Council
June 9, 2005
Members Present: Barrerra, Dobson, Breymeier, Clapp-Smith, Flahaven, Haas, Hedberg Hardy, Jozwiak, Lindner, Odman, O’Toole, Sanders Siekmeier, Skally, Wefel, Winsor, Zoltai
Members Absent: Barrera, Breymeier, Rathman, Smith, Wichman
Others Present: Jeff Roy, Jane McClure, Rob Kost
Merritt Clapp-Smith called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. SHA stores the meeting’s full proceedings on magnetic tape for a minimum of one year from this date.
Approval of Minutes
A motion to approve the May minutes, with an attendance and header date revision, was made, seconded and unanimously approved.
President’s Report
Merritt discussed the public meeting about protecting children and others from sexual violence. It is tentatively scheduled for late September, and Shannon Harrington will conduct it. Notice will appear in The Summit, whose article cut-off date is July 7.
Merritt complemented and thanked the Board for its hard work on controversial issues.
GABA Report
Our GABA rep, Rob Kost, reported from GABA that its Grand Old Day beer bracelet sales were down 25%. Complaints to police were down despite police having been diverted to a large fire in St. Paul that day. There was some suggestion that more police are needed post event as the drinking continues into the evening on Grand. GABA’s clean up after the event was very good. T the GABA meeting, there was little or no discussion of GABA’s business parking survey except that response is still being solicited.
Committee Reports
Communications Committee
Marcia Odman announced the June 27 Block Leader Meeting. This is a step in the attempts to strengthen this program. Marcia will need assistance in putting together packets and communications committee members and SHA volunteers will need to assist. Chad Skally reported that the first “Building Club” meeting occurred and 6 of 23 tenants attended. Jeff Roy is looking at having one of these meetings in a new building every other month, depending on our Crime Coordinator’s schedule.
Development Committee
Shannon O’Toole reported that a committee is being formed, that September 17, 2006 is the tentative date, and she requested ideas, volunteers and houses for the 2006 House Tour.
I
Environment Committee
Steve Sanders reported that very poor weather was the likely reason for a 50% drop in participation in the annual neighborhood cleanup on May 14. The City has suggested that if we want trimming done on the Linwood Park bluff, it will identify the limbs and we can bring chainsaws and remove them and the resulting debris. This may be done just prior to the prairie burn scheduled for the fall. The garden club will be meeting on the 3rd Thursday of the month.
Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming Committee
Charlie Hardy passed out Eric Thompson’s report on the City’s progress on making the City more bicycle friendly; an initiative that is still in the planning stages as to the “Livable Lexington” portion. Charlie discussed the light refurbishing or replacement options that will be available with the street project on the West side of the district beginning in 2006. The new lights can be viewed on St. Clair, and we will sponsor a public meeting on the issue. Referring to his article in The Summit, Charlie, as well as John Siekmeier, also answered questions about the radius of corners after the street project. The Board unanimously approved a motion to send the City a letter on the topic, that letter having previously been provided to the Board for review. Charlie also noted that while the City has agreed to many and varied low-cost requests around the district, we have seen little done and the office needs to follow up regularly.
Parking
Chad Skally reported that the parking issue has become even more contentious, and the difficulties of permit parking continue to plague the neighbors and Grand Avenue.
Merritt requested input about a possible deck above the parking lot between the church and Victoria Crossing West. While views were mixed, most did not think removal of the existing free parking would help either Grand or the neighborhood, especially since paid parking on Grand is so underutilized. Adding more coordinated parking behind Grand buildings has been discussed theoretically.
Zoning & Land Use Committee
Maureen Flahaven reported that a variance for a staircase replacement on a Cass Gilbert was approved by the Committee and then the City contingent on Historic Preservation approval. The City has notified SHA that the garage at 777 Linwood is compliant with code as the only variance needed and obtained was for the house on the next lot.
Treasurer’s Report
Financials were sent out in the Board packets, and there were no questions.
New Business
Charlie Hardy asked that we look at the process of the ZLU Committee, as he believes that the full Board should be voting on major issues, particularly those affecting Grand Avenue. As this may require a bylaw change, it will be reviewed quickly and discussed next time.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Shannon O’Toole, Secretary