Meeting Minutes, February 4, 2015

Preservation Station, Bonnie Anderson, presiding.  Start Time: 6:30 PM

Board Member Attendance:

Term ending August 2016		Term ending August 2015
Anderson, Bonnie	x	Karafonda, Mary	x
Boyd, Joe	x	Carson, Ann	x
Ben Sturge	x	Grassel, Kathy	x
Gonzalez, Moisés		McGivern, Elaine
Grant, Steve		Sam Kochansky	x
Spittler, Lee	x	Thornton, Karla
		Trefethen, Salley	x

January minutes were read and approved.

Guests:  Valley Area APD officers Sanchez and Donovan, David Carrillo, Ron from Nob Hill NA, Shaun, David Donaldson, Larry

Police Relations—Lt Sanchez and Valley Area Commander Donovan asked for a neighborhood-association volunteer to help reinvigorate a program called Coffee with a Cop. It’s part of a drive through Citizen Policing Council to reframe and improve citizen attitudes about police. Volunteers are required to pass a background check. Ron, attending from the Presbyterian Church and Nob Hill NA, described his positive experience with the group, meeting once a month at the Caesar Chavez Community Center. He is the VP of the Nob Hill Neighborhood Assocation. Interested parties can call Celine Espinoza at 761-8800, or email her at cespinoza@cabq.gov

Lead/Coal traffic as part of Downtown Walkability—Bonnie reported that Councilor Benton has added into the Plan to move the lanes closer to parking and have the other side serve as a buffer between the bike lane, supposedly safer for bikes and resulting in traffic calming by narrowing the lanes. Sam Kochansky offered that the idea doesn’t make sense to him. He’s in favor of stop signs and lights. Ron from Nob Hill says that their lights on Lead/Coal result in gunning and braking rather than smoothing traffic. Larry is adamant about another study. Salley said some people will slow down and that’s progress, and that nothing will happen if just another study. Shaun, a bicycle rider, wants a physical barrier between traffic and the bike lane. No agreement resulted from the debate.

Fire Station—Isaac Benton has not yet met with the fire fighters.

Brittany Turnbough’s fence—With Ann Carson’s help, the 5-ft. fence design seemed to satisfy the zoning officer.    

Tree planting—Planting will start Feb. 16. Those who signed up for a free tree will be contacted by David Day or the contractor.

Complete Streets—0-14-27 is on the mayor’s desk. 

Downtown Walkability—This is the Jeff Speck study. Bonnie will attend the Feb. 11^th meeting at 5pm on the City Hall 9^th floor.

Community garden—Bonnie requested $300 from the neighborhood association to replace drip lines and buy compost. Sam offered that his studio will sponsor the garden in return for permission to photograph the garden in full flower. The board thanked him for his generous offer.

Mother’s Day Home Tour— The Mother’s Day Home Tour is May 10^th from 11:00 to 3:00. David Donaldson said that the Press Club is willing to open the bar for drinks and snacks. Ann and others thought this was probably not appropriate for Mother’s Day. The residence/business Breaking Bath on Broadway also wants to be on the tour. Some expressed that having to cross Broadway might be a limiting factor for ticket holders.

New City Zoning Plan—This is a big 2-year project to integrate aspects of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. A company called Clarion has been hired. Clarion is reported to have said that zoning and regulations between the two are the most convoluted of any city/county they’ve worked in.

First Presbyterian Church—Pastor Matthew Miller of the Presbyterian Church at Elm and Copper came to the meeting to promote activities for the church’s 60^th anniversary celebration. He and his parishioners are looking into a community production garden for contributing to food banks. They own property that includes a vacant lot for the garden. He also said the church would provide a hospitality station to start Dickens of a Dinner next year. The event starts at the church’s parking lot, so a hospitality station would be a perfect fit. 

Meeting adjourned at 7:25. Next meeting is Wed., Mar. 4, 2015.