Willamette Neighborhood Association
Minutes from January, 16, 2002
A.
Meeting opened by
Stephanie Nicoletti for co-chair Julia Simpson. Introductions followed
B.
Minutes. November minutes read and approved. Treasurer’s report not available, report
from November discussed.
C.
Old Business.
- Willamette
Neighborhood Plan Report. Stefanie
Becker reported on the committee’s formation and meetings to date. A mission statement is being drafted
for presentation to the City Council.
The goal is to have a plan with provisions for implementation, not
just a vision. There has been
discussion about staging a panel presentation of the history of past
development, surveys/newsletters for both community education and input,
workshops for public comment and viewing of proposals. Meetings are scheduled for the 2nd
and 4th Wednesdays of each month.
- Boy
Scout Charter. In November the WNA
was approached to renew its sponsorship of the local Boy Scout troop. This was done due to the time
constraint for the troop and no opportunity for the WNA to fully discuss
the matter. There is some concern
about our lack of involvement with the troop and the issue of the Boy
Scout organization’s policy of discrimination against gays. This will be discussed at a future
meeting this spring in order to have a policy for next year’s charter
request.
- League
of Neighborhoods. Julia Simpson
reported in Jack’s absence. The
League has three goals: to address county-regional issues, school district
issues and neighborhood issues.
Meetings are on the 2nd Saturday of the month at the
Three Rivers Charter School.
- Notices
re AKS Engineering and Morton Tree Service proposal at 1970 8th
St .Public hearing at the Planning Commission 1/24 and planning director
decision on 2/8
- City
Council is hearing the appeal of the Tanner Creek Park Plan which was
approved by the planning commission 1/16
- Street
Planting Project. Carol Tuffo has
designed a website page with photos thanking the volunteers who work on
the planter beds. There was
discussion about approaching the Tidings/Oregonian to print this or
include it in an article about the street planting project. A
motion was made and seconded for the WNA to pay for the placing this in
the paper as a thank you to the volunteers if Carol is unable to get it
run on a no cost community basis.
Motion passed unanimously. Carol
may also have this run on the City web site or in the Update. At the February meeting Carol will have
a newsletter for the new year and will be contacting the various
volunteers about their commitment for another season.
- Willamette
Gateway Project. The gateway
committee has completed its work and the design is now before ODOT due to
its proximity to the highway.
- Trash
bins on Willamette Falls Dr. There is some confusion about the old
remaining trash receptacles.
D.
New Business
- The
Police Levy. Neil Hennelly from
the West Linn Police Dept described the work of the city’s police force,
much of which is not regularly reported in the local news. The proposed levy is necessary because
it has been the choice of city government since 1987 to fund the police
department with 3 –4 year serial levies rather than through general
funds. The advantage of this is
that these are dedicated funds not budget requests from the general
funds. The previous levy is expiring
and new proposal will maintain the existing force not increases it. West Linn has 29 officers, 1.2 / 1000
residents below the state average of 1.5 – 1.7 / 1000. There are officers on patrol 24/7
atleast two each shift for their protection as well as to meet need. They enforce traffic laws and
discourage trouble by their visibility; there is an animal control
position; an officer at the high school; detective and management
officers. The vote will be March
12 a majority return is essential.
- Volunteer
Coordinator. Shauna Shroyer, the
newly appointed volunteer coordinator spoke about her job. If the neighborhood association needs
additional volunteers for a project she may be able to help with that as
well as with publicity for volunteer activities. The high school is one source she is
hoping to tap into.
- WNA
meeting date change. It was
proposed that due to the change in city council meetings to 1st
and 3rd Wednesdays we change our meeting dates so that we are
able to attend city council and city council members are able to attend
our meetings. It was mentioned
that they have changed their meetings twice in the past year. It was agreed to consider the 2nd
Wednesday of each month. Julia
will put it out on email and contact the school for availability. The Neighborhood Plan committee could
change their days accordingly.
- Banners. Stefanie Becker reported that the West
Linn Arts Commission is considering a banner project. This is an idea the WNA has been
interested in and discussed in the past. A motion was made and
seconded that the WNA write to the Arts Commission our support for the
banner project. Motion passed
unanimously
- Stefanie
Becker’s request for money for support of the Willamette Neighborhood Plan
Committee in the form of food for their meetings was agreed to.
- Meeting
adjourned
.
Submitted,
Stephanie Nicoletti, Secretary