Minutes November 12, 2001

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Board members present were Dianne Olansky, Ruth Alexander, Norman McKay, Bob Silvia, Mike Carew, Bill Ellis, Pat Gardner, Joe Giardina, Bruce Maloy, Kerry Brown, David Robertson, Susan Drake, Alan Perry, Charlotte Gillis, Steven Rowell, Zac Pasmanick and Mae Reich.

Pres. Olansky convened the meeting at approximately 7:40 pm.

Motion made to approve the minutes of October meeting. Seconded and passed.

Committee reports

Security Patrol: Mike Carew and Bob Silvia reported. October saw 6 car breakins, 5 burglaries and 2 car thefts. Higher incidence of house breakins. 3 were on one day. A mailbox thief was apprehended. Report suspicious events to 911. If going away for holidays, make sure to get your vacation security requests in.

Pancake breakfast for Security Patrol was a success. Many thanks to chefs. Raves received on quality of pancakes.

Membership: Pres. Olansky reported for Jody Mansbach. Things proceeding apace for bulk membership mailing next month. Mailing to be followed up by grass roots door-to-door canvassing, with help of Kristine Rudolph. Motion made to approve payment of up to $2500 for mass membership mailing and increasing budget by $500. Seconded and passed.

Meeting proposed in January to coordinate sponsorship packages for various special events. Website meeting held last week.

Newsletter: Pres. Olansky reported for Martha Hall. Deadline is November 30th. Issue is Public Safety. Bill for printing and distibuting newsletter of $5152.71. Motion made and passed approving payment.

Parks: David Robertson and Charlotte Gillis reported: WUFG steering committee selected. Charlotte and Steven Rowell are on steering committee. David reported on Parks 911 meeting at Zoo. 2 natatoriums planned for southern side of city; question whether and why this neighborhood overlooked.

Treeeagle.org needs signage; total of $495. Money remaining in budget. Motion made and passed. Trees expense and sprayers and sprinkler hardware: 913.07. Motion made to approve expense; passed.

Interest in helping with tree plan for Lenox Wildwood Park?

Developer of 1050 Mclynn being taken to court for violating tree ordinance.

Question re congruence of zoning process and tree appeal process. To be discussed later in meeting.

Les Spenser from the Cub Scout Troop continuing with fund raising process for flag pole at Smith Park. Beautification: Pat Gardner reported.

Yard signs for elections should come down shortly after 27th of this month.

Schools: Joe Giardina reported. Next CINS meeting 11/14 with Dr. Hall.

Special Events: no report.

Tour of Homes: Zac Pasmanick reported. Total profit was just under $28000. Another great year. Applause from Board for results and efforts of whole group. Zac interested in chairing again and momentum already gathering for homes to be selected and for volunteers for selection committee. Motion made to approve payment of $3183.97. Passed.

Traffic: Bill Ellis and Bruce Maloy reported. Final recommendations coming in shortly from URS. Need to develop neighborhood consensus for implementing recommendations. E.Morningside is the top street in the URS recommendations.

Berkshire/Sussex intersection: neighbors interested in funding aesthetic improvement in intersection. Monroe at Yorkshire: seeing increasing problems with speed. Suggestion made of putting something akin to rumble strips on Yorkshire. Also possibility of moving crosswalk.

Problems with Grady High School parking.

Cheshire Bridge task force being brought into loop with possibility of turning right from south bound Piedmont onto Cheshire Bridge Road. Possibility of traffic control device on Rockledge. Slowdown suggested again before Christmas holidays.

URS invoice will be $1528 or thereabouts. Motion made; passed with one nay vote. Pitch made by Bill about needing support from future City Council representative (who were in the audience) on traffic issues.

Pres. Olansky passed out cards that can be placed on cars that are parking on sidewalks. Sidewalks: no report.

Treasurer's report: Ruth Alexander reported. Insurance bill went up by 10%. Motion made to approve general liability insurance premium of $4343.04. Motion made and passed.

Questions regarding competitive bids, higher deductible. Another question regarding whether rider for Tour of Homes could be included as part of policy.

Zoning: Steven Rowell reported no issues considered this week. Plans for Cobb building located at N.Highland and Amsterdam. 3 story mixed use development; parking lot in back with access off of Amsterdam. Reports on 3 new mixed use ordinances. Apparent push by City Planning Dept. to get these approved. Deferred until December and/or January.

Other business and announcements

Cathy Woolard thanked neighborhood for support. What matters is that you show up to vote. Election is winnable. You can vote in runoff even if you did not vote in general election.

Bylaws addressed. Articles V and VI approved as presented.

Jannie Gerds and Anne Fauver presented. Jannie stated that she has been active in Midtown neighborhood issues; check out votegerds.com, her website. Other cities have terrific models and we can get there. Anne said that Morningside led the district with a 51% turnout. Appreciative of Constitution's endorsement and Warren Bruno's endorsement. Trained journalist who knows how to ask tough questions.

Website discussion revisited: Terry Kearns presented. Project website set up to lead discussion of changes desired in website. Importance of writing stuff that people want to read. Necessity of keeping up with website on a regular basis. tk-jk.net/morningside is the url (location) for this project website. Members welcome to visit the project website and comment in the various forums.

Tree Conservation Commission Appeal Process -- anyone can appeal from the Arborist's approval. Question with Parks Chair acting unilaterally without further communication and/or approval from Board. New ordinance will charge $15 for appeal, it is believed. Consensus that communications need to be made to President any time Parks Chair or any other Board member files an appeal. Consensus as well that Parks Chair does great job of protecting trees in neighborhood and encouraged to keep up work.

Logo presented by David Robertson. History of various logos used by Tour of Homes and Security Patrol. Question raised about whether we should consider changing name of association and drop Lenox Park. People don't know what this is and even realtors refer to the neighborhood as "Morningside." Question of what logos we should adopt.

Meeting adjourned at @ 9:45

Next Board meeting is tomorrow night, 7:30, at Morningside Presbyterian Church.

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