Meeting Minutes, September 2, 2015

Preservation Station, Bonnie Anderson, presiding. Start time 6:30 pm

Board Member Attendance:

Term ending August 2016		Term ending August 2017
Anderson, Bonnie	x	Carson, Ann	x
Boyd, Joe		Grassel, Kathy	x
Ben Sturge	x	McGivern, Elaine
Gonzalez, Moisés	x	Fink, Zoey	x
Grant, Steve	x	Thornton, Karla	x
Spittler, Lee	x	Trefethen, Salley
		vacancy

July minutes were read and approved. There was no board meeting in August in favor of the block party and required annual meeting.

Invited guests and visitors:  APD retired Officer Seibel, Ron Halbgewachs, the Titan Development team (Ben Spencer, Jim Schroeder, and Sol Perdova), Larry Olguin, Noreen, Francisca, Amy Sturge, David Donaldson, Susan Vogel, Victor and Susanne

Election Results

The August election returned all board members on the ballot. Zoey Fink is back from study abroad, so will resume her position on the board. Officers elected were Bonnie Anderson, President; Moisés Gonzalez, VP; Joe Boyd, Secretary; and Ann Carson, Treasurer.

First Presbyterian Anniversary

Ron Halbgewachs invited all to an upcoming celebration on Sat., Sept. 26, for the First Presbyterian Church’s 60 years at its Copper location. The event will have classic cars, a saxophone quartet, an organ demonstration, food, crafts, book sale, and historic displays from the archives.

Crime Report

Retired Officer Seibel, now Crime Prevention Specialist, reported counterfeit money making the rounds in Huning Highlands and warned all to check for the magnetic strip and watermark on their $10s and $20s. There were also five auto thefts, one recovered. All five were allegedly unlocked when stolen.

Street Striping          

The board passed a motion to ask Councilor Benton’s office to have neighborhood streets marked with a parking lane. In other cities, striping has been shown to calm traffic. Moisés added that striping on Walter and Copper has made a big difference.

Titan Development

A team from Titan Development presented their plans for a mixed use retail/residential project on a five-block area just north of Presbyterian Hospital. While the development is not in the Huning Highlands neighborhood, the group has asked to present to surrounding neighborhoods out of concerns that residents could be affected by construction, small business competition, and potentially increased traffic.

401 Walter SE

Ann Carson is keeping an eye on the proposed building on a lot on the NW corner of Lead and Walter. She says the plans are very sketchy and that she will know more when the owner takes his plans before Landmarks.

Lead/Coal

Larry Olguin provided weighty handouts and made a detailed presentation about his vision for the long-term future of Lead and Coal from the freeway to the Railyards. While the board and the neighborhood are always looking for new ways to slow down cars on these one-ways, Larry has a strategy to establish Lead as a gateway to the neighborhood and have a visitor center on a now vacant lot within sight of the freeway exit. He would also reduce each street to one lane and encourage small businesses on either side.

HHHDA membership

David Donaldson wants to increase membership and has an idea to encourage local businesses to offer coupons or discounts to neighborhood members.

MLK and Broadway

The East Downtown (EDo) board is asking HH to support a proposal to remedy a badly designed intersection causing crashes, the latest being a bicycle fatality and another unrelated bicycle injury.

Meeting adjourned at 7:30. Next meeting is Wed., Oct. 7, 2015.