Meeting Minutes April 7, 2010

Joaquin Garofalo, presiding. Starting 6:35 pm

Attendance:

2 years remaining		1 year remaining
Adams, Kay		Austin, Lauren
Anderson, Bonnie	X	Bromberg, Ryan
Doty, Karen		Carson, Ann	X
Garofalo, Joaquin	X	Grassel, Kathy	X
Grant, Steve	X	Hoch, Liam	X
Pyles, Amberley	X	Thornton, Karla
Spittler, Lee	X

Minutes from March 3, 2010

Minutes were approved

ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS

Next Meeting, May 5, 2010, at 6:30 at Preservation Station

HHHDA leadership—Joaquin announced that he needs to pull back his work for HHHDA due to family and business obligations.  He is willing to step aside or, if the Board wishes, he would continue to conduct meetings but will not be able to do any work between meetings.  Amberley declined when asked if she would be willing to take over leadership. No one else was willing to take over leadership.

Joaquin will continue to lead meetings until someone else is willing to take on that job.

OLD BUSINESS

Neighborhood Signs—The City (Mary Ellen) is working to find money to purchase the sign toppers as designed by Cindy Carson

Preservation Station Repairs—Ann reported that she was working with a contractor to remove the paint on the interior surfaces with as little damage as possible to the tiles and grout.

Lease Agreement between TACA and HHHDA—Ann reported that progress was being made on the lease agreement although it was not complete yet.  She noted that TACA was having a birthday party in May and they wanted to hold part of that event in the garden area.

Crime Prevention—Neighbors are reminded that the most effective way to get the City to act against property owners who are not maintaining their properties is to call 311 and report the observed problem to zoning.  An example of high weeds was mentioned.

CURRENT BUSINESS

Neighborhood Yard Sale – April 24—Joni Neutra is collecting the $10 participation fee and David Chamberlain has distributed the flyers.

Easter Egg Hunt—Approximately 30-40 people attend the event which was planned by Marina Hillard.  Mike Hillard came dressed as the Easter bunny and the Grants brought their farm animals.  Everyone thought it was a nice event.

Adopt a Park—Bonnie and Kathy reported they spent about 10 hours dong the park clean up for April.  Amberley reminded everyone that it was not expected that they completely clean the park.  Every team should do the best they can with the time they have available.  Not only will our efforts improve the appearance of the park, but also the City will be more inclined to help us with the proposed renovations if they know we are committed to doing what we can to improve the park. 

Amberley will call the team that signed up for the May clean up.

NEW BUSINESS

Condemned Property Bordering the Park—Amberley suggested that the low building behind the historic house facing High be demolished.  She said that the interior had been completely gutted and it was a crime magnet that affected safety of people using the park.  Brian Patterson asked that the Board delay making a decision on this until he had a chance to investigate to see if the house was adobe.  He agreed to call Amberley as soon as he had a chance to look at the property.

Old Creamland Dairy Building—Peter Grahame reported that four rooftop compressors recently installed on the old Creamland Building, now owned by Quality Foods, were running 24 hours a day and were making so much noise that he was disturbed even when inside his house.  He reported that the neighbor across the street had to sleep with ear plugs because of the noise.  The City monitored the noise level and said that is was within permissible limits for day time hours, but not for night time hours.  Peter and his neighbor appealed to the owner, Lois Gonzales, to address the situation.  The owner agreed to put up sound baffling material as soon as possible.  Amberley noted that she had no recollection that Quality Foods went through Landmarks before they installed the compressors.  She advised that if the noise problem was not solved, they could be required to remove the compressors because they did not follow City rules for modifying a building within an historic neighborhood.

Parking Problems—Steve reported that he and Lauren had met with Councilor Benton and Terry Keene to discuss possible solutions to the parking problems of neighbors who live near Central.  The City and Benton are working to get cost estimates.  Joaquin mentioned the negative impact that any new event center would have on this problem.

Dry Wood Termites—Lee reported that his home was discovered to have dry wood termites.  A black and white powder on the wood floor under a piece of furniture recently moved was the evidence that alerted them.  He wanted other home owners to be alert for this possibility in their homes.

Benton’s New Assistant—Amberley reported that Kara has been replaced by a new assistant to Councilor Benton, Diane Dolan.

Adjourned:            7:30 PM