2006-04-18

HIDDEN SPRINGS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MINUTES MEETING OF APRIL 18, 2006 CALL TO ORDER. The meeting was called to order at 7:06 PM at the West Linn Adult Community Center by President, Lynn C. Fox. Other officers in attendance: Harvey Schultz, Vice President; Donna Baker, Treasurer; Charles Lytle, Secretary. QUORUM DATA. Eligible members in good standing as of the previous meeting: 34. At 10%, the quorum for this meeting was 4. Only members in good standing can vote. The number of eligible members in good standing in attendance at the start of the meeting was 10. Therefore, the meeting stands as an official meeting of the Neighborhood Association. GUEST SPEAKERS. n/a. MINUTES OF THE MARCH 21, 2006 MEETING. Motion To Approve The Minutes: Harvey Schultz Second To The Motion: Barbara Eden Vote On The Motion: 9 Aye, 0 Nay, 1 Abstentions ? Motion Carried TREASURER’S REPORT. Treasurer Donna Baker reported a current account balance of $704.63. POLICE REPORT. Officer Bunch reported that there were no car break-ins during the previous month within the neighborhood association boundary. However, they remain prevalent in the rest of the City. He urged that cars be always locked and that valuables be taken out of the car or at least locked up in the trunk. HSNA POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT. n/a TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE REPORT. President Lynn Fox reported that the status of radar signs is still in flux. It is uncertain how many the City currently owns and the final number the City intends to purchase. What is known for sure is that there will be a single permanent sign in Cedar Oak and that the current permanent sign on South Rosemont will be converted to portable. Any additional purchased signs will be portable. City Engineer Ron Hudson decided on the following sharing regime without vetting it through the Traffic Safety Committee: (1) Tanner Basin, Parker Crest, and Barrington Heights will share one sign; (2) Bolton & Sunset will share one sign; (3) Skyline, Marylhurst, and Robinwood will share one sign (in addition to the permanent one already in place); (4) Hidden Springs & Rosemont Ridge will share one sign; (5) Willamette gets its own sign, to be placed “wherever the President of the N.A. wants it.” Officer Bunce was asked about photo radar, and he replied that it requires the presence of a police officer and that the equipment and warning signage is too expensive for the City. OLD BUSINESS. n/a. NEW BUSINESS. (1) Vice President Harvey Schultz reported on the first two meetings of the Neighborhood Plan Leadership Team (Lynn Fox, Charles Lytle, Donna Baker, Barbara Eden, Curt Sommer, Bob Thomas, Gretchen Katko, and Ingrid Mueller). The first (introductory) meeting was held February 24th. Arnold Cogan and Steve Faust of Cogan Owens Cogan facilitated. Also in attendance were Brian Brown, City Planning Department Head, and N.A. member Gary Hitesman. The schedule was reviewed, including two meetings to be held in the summer: one of all the neighborhood association leadership teams (an “idea exchange fair”) and a public meeting for all Hidden Springs N.A. residents (perhaps w/ a barbeque or picnic) to present the plan in its draft form and to solicit ideas and comments. The second meeting was held on March 7th. Arnold Cogan and Steve Faust facilitated. Also in attendance were Brian Brown and N.A. member Maureen Swanson. After a brief review of the project scope, the team discussed various methods for outreach & publicity, including mailings, e-mails, door-to-door, etc. The team spent the rest of the meeting time conducting a Strengths, HSNA Minutes April 18, 2006 Meeting Page 2 Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis and translating the analysis results into a draft questionnaire. The questionnaire will be distributed to neighborhood residents as an insert to the Tidings, in the monthly Update newsletter, and will be available on the City web site. (2) Secretary Charles Lytle reported on HSNPLT meeting number three, held on March 30th. At this meeting, the SWOT analysis was reviewed and the individual items for the questionnaire were discussed. Lytle volunteered to write a draft vision statement, which he would e-mail to the Leadership Team for review. Because of the accelerated schedule, the consultants insisted that the Team’s final questionnaire items be e-mailed to them by April 14th. The problem was that there was no Leadership Team meeting scheduled. Thus the Team would have to meet on its own to formally vote on the final form of the questionnaire. The consultant was pressed to explain why everything had to be in such a hurry, and the only answer was that the City Council wanted it done that way. The following vision statement was written by Lytle, e-mailed to Team members, and included in the questionnaire: “The residents of Hidden springs seek to preserve and maintain their neighborhood as if was first conceived and as it exists today: a residential, non-commercial group of homes within the City of West Linn that provides a peaceful, quiet respite form the non-stop development consuming the city, county, and state. They advocate the preservation of the surrounding, non-developed areas as rural buffers to prevent the neighborhood from becoming an island in the midst of uncontrolled development.” There followed a lively discussion as to the reasons the Council is insisting on an accelerated schedule to cram four neighborhood plans through in about nine months. Several members voiced concerns over the ability to craft a quality product in such a short time. Others felt that the aggressive schedule was done on purpose so that the completion of four plans could be used as a campaign item for the current Council & Mayor in the Fall elections. It was noted that one of the proposing consultant companies stated in writing that they felt it would be impossible to do a good job in the limited time specified in the request for proposals and that another company declined to submit a proposal because they felt that the time allowed was insufficient to produce a quality product. NEXT MEETING DATE TO BE MAY 16, 2006 Motion To Meet In April: Charles Lytle Second To The Motion: Donna Baker Vote On The Motion: 9 Yea, 0 Nay, 0 Abstention ? Motion Carried ADJOURNMENT. The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 PM by President Lynn C. Fox CORRECTED MINUTES APPROVED BY FORMAL MOTION AND VOTE AT THE DULY-CALLED MEETING OF MAY 16, 2006.