Officer Report—Lt. Aragon visited to alert us of a new sergeant coming to our neighborhood. Neighbors encouraged officers to patrol the Central tunnel more frequently. Scott Seibel reminded us to be home to claim packages, not to leave vehicles running unattended, and support community policing/ neighborhood watch.

Website—Sally encourages us to make the website more active, with a regularly updated “News” section in lieu of printed newsletters. Can send out E-Newsletters to the neighborhood email list.

Home Renovation Signs—Pam followed through to get yard signs made for houses under constructions. Neighbors can borrow the signs during renovation periods.

Dickens of a Dinner—Another successful event thanks

Dickens of a Dinner—Dickens of a Dinner will take place December 3rd this year; the invitations are out but Ann needs more volunteers and houses for the tour! All hands on deck!

Lot Split

Ben Sturge will soon be moving to remodeled house on High and Silver, but his mother would like to stay living in the casita at back of his current house on Walter Street. Would like to move forward and split the Walter lot to enable the casita to remain separate from front house, as they plan to sell the front house. Board voted all in favor of writing a letter of support to subdivide the Sturges’ Walter lot into separate lots. 

Lead and Coal update—At the October 17 meeting the council voted to place stop lights at Walter and Lead, and Walter and Coal. The timeline

Crime Report—Ex Officer Scott Seibel reported 3 stolen automobiles and 4 auto burglaries. Report from board of an increase in illicit activity at Imperial Motel (Central and High).

Dickens of a Dinner—Dickens of a Dinner will take place December 3rd this year; we will need all hands on deck from the neighborhood to help put this annual event on!

Newsletter—Bonnie and Kathy are burned out writing newsletters, moving towards flyers and digital media instead of a full newsletter for Dickens promotion.

119 High St—Ann will keep in touch

Karla Thornton’s request to join Moisés Gonzalez to share a board seat was approved; Susan Vogle was approved to fill Karla’s seat. Susan has lived on the 200 block of Walter since 1994 and is active in neighborhood cleanup and animal rescue. 

A motion was made and seconded to re-elect the board’s president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary.  The motion passed.

Crime Report—Retired Officer Seibel reported an increase in auto burglaries: up to 8 from 2 or 3 last month. Moisés reported that his garage was burglarized on a Sunday afternoon. Tiffany reported a mailbox theft in which her debit card was stolen and charged to $2,000. There was also a public altercation on Central. Scott said there is a new bid that will move police to 12-hour shifts, which should result in more community policing.

Block Party and Election—The

Crime Report—Officer Scott S gave brief crime report: increased trend in auto theft and burglary, especially in diesel vehicles.

Block Party—August 14^th, 5-8pm block party at the filling station! Will host the annual election and annual report will go out with the July newsletter. Bonnie read brief summary of the annual report at meeting. Standard Diner and Holy Cow will both donate food for the block party; Zoey or Kathy will communicate with them.

Property updates

ART/Complete streets—Complete streets went in front of LUCC but there was no quorum, will meet again June 8. Edo/Huning Highland agree to the ART plan so long as some design changes are made in our neighborhood. Motion to spend $400 to bring Peter Swift, a traffic engineer, to speak on three issues: parking along Central, left turns from Central, and the stretch between Broadway and 1^st. Approved.

Sprawl vs. Infill—Moises speaks on the planned development Santolina that is currently seeking approval.

First Presbyterian Church—Ron

Development across from Presebyterian Hospital

Josh Rogers and Jim Strozier joined us to talk about their development project across from Pres that contains mixed use, high end apartments, hotel and retail. Through this project they also plan to make the Central underpass more enjoyable: dealing with pidgeons, installing lights, and pulling back the concrete slopes to increase walkability.

ART Update

Moises gave a brief report about the ART charette and walk from last month. Discussed the changes that we would like to see (slower traffic, posted speed of 25mph at Central, etc). Isaac Benton, ABQ Ride and Innovate ABQ were all present, listened to proposals

Lead/Coal Update

Tom Menicucci visiting from city council services. Bonnie gave a brief history of our Lead/Coal debate. Tom discussed how ped. HAWK lights must be 100ft from an intersection (midblock). Recommended we continue stoplights west of I25 with a signalized timing regime to match lights E of I25. City has a current policy about the signal regime W of I25 to Broadway due to past periods of heavy rush hour traffic, but this policy is likely amendable. Upon the amendment of this policy we will have to raise $300,000 to put in two stoplights, one at Lead and Walter and one at Coal and Walter. We must practice patience with this process! It is likely to take to up two years. Ben moves to write a resolution to change the signal regime on Lead and Coal in the HUning Highland corridor. Approved. Bonnie will write to Isaac Benton and Tom will talk to Diane Dolan about getting this resolution made!

ART Charrette

Bonnie will email ART to notify them of our desire to install signalized lights in our neighborhood.

• Plan to build microlofts at Broadway and Central (across from Innovate ABQ)
• There will be a large building constructed behind the Baptist church at Broadway and Central
• Poppin’ taco will become a mixed use building

Lead/Coal Update

Ann gave brief history of Lead and Coal. Sam brought two guests to join the discussion; a civil engineer and an urban planner. Sam advises the Board to make a decision that focuses on pedestrian safety and began implementation ASAP. Discussed a variety of options to encourage traffic to slow down, including the 9 warrants to be met to install a stoplight at an intersection. It was reiterated that the neighborhoods aim is to slow traffic and help pedestrians cross safely, not to eliminate traffic.

Miscellaneous

Ben will check in on the park project to see the plans for 2016

Zachariah will follow up with Wewerka about the house on High across from Holy Cow

ABQ Rapid Transit Project seems to be moving ahead

Dickens of a Dinner

Ann Carson gave a rundown of the Dickens schedule, the order of houses, and the volunteers serving at each house.

Lead/Coal Update

Lead got new striping, configured in such a way as to give the impression of narrower lanes. Councilor Benton’s staff (Tom) will be meeting about Coal in the coming days. The Board discussed the merits of signalized crosswalks at Edith and Walter. Bonnie will find out what they look like.

New Board Member

The board met and welcomed Pam Leverick as a new board member, replacing Mary Karafonda, who moved out-of-state to care for family members. Pam and her husband own three properties in Huning Highlands.

Fire Station #2

Patrick McKinney attended the meeting to announce the success of Random Acts in acquiring the fire station, which has stood empty for many months. Random Acts will be transformed into temporary housing for families of fire fighters. There are still some minor zoning hurdles to overcome.

Crime Report

Scott Seibel reported the crime activity

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