Licton Springs Neighborhood

LICTON SPRINGS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of Board Meeting:
March 16, 2005
NSCC President's Board Room

Directors Present: Liz Kearns, Shannon Snider, Debra Willendorf, and Ellen Beck.

Board Representatives Present: Ken Thompson (North Precinct Representative).

Visitors: J. Paul Blake (Director of Community Relations Department, Seattle Public Utilities), Jeff Caldwell (Director of Safety and Security, North Seattle Community College), Jean Wirch, Janet Hyde-Wright, and 4-month old Oscar Snider.

President Liz Kearns called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Introductions were made around the table. We were very happy to meet young Oscar Snider, who at four months of age was already attending his first Community Council meeting!

Minutes: The February 16, 2005 minutes were approved as presented. We didn’t have a true quorum present, but because the minutes have been e-mailed to Council members prior to the meeting, thereby giving everyone the opportunity to make additions or deletions to the minutes, it was felt we could approve them.

Treasurer’s Report:

Debra Willendorf presented two reports: January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004 (showing 2004 Budget and balance of budgeted items) with an ending balance of $1,551.41; and January 1, 2005 through March 14, 2005 showing an ending balance of $1,838.42. Debra noted that donations are down from 2004 and this has been a trend for the last several years.

We need to find a way to do outreach so that more people are aware of the Community Council and will want to pay dues. Liz noted that the Friends of Licton Springs Park Group is going to flyer the new townhouses being built by the Park. It was suggested that the Council could also do outreach to new residents living there.

Debra asked members to keep the 2004 Treasurer’s Report and use it in connection with the planning of our 2005 budget.

The Treasurer’s Report was approved.

Sidewalks on North 100^th. Liz said she needed to touch base with Trung Pham regarding sidewalks on North 100^th. Mr. Pham has confirmed there is additional money available for sidewalks, but because of the difficulty of continuing down to College Way on the north side, he suggested crossing over and having the sidewalk on the south side. Debra pointed out that that suggestion originally came from the Council.

Seattle Public Utilities (“SPU”). J. Paul Blake gave us an overview of SPU, our municipal utility that is funded by ratepayers, entitled “Who We Are – What We Do.” He said SPU was created in 1997 and now has 1400 employees. In 2002 SPU initiated an asset management initiative to ensure that programs are in place to maintain and replace water, sewer, drainage and solid waste infrastructure. This allows them to be very efficient.

He gave a very thorough overview and then answered questions. He also informed us that SPU recently received an award from Harvard for management innovations in government. He said the award was because of the work done by SPU near Carkeek Park (managing runoff and cleaning pollutants from the water through natural means).

Mr. Blake told about and had handouts relating to recycling. He explained the importance of recycling because our garbage is shipped to Oregon and this costs money. To save money, we need to be sure that only “garbage” is being transported. Recyclable materials are sold.

Mr. Blake promised that he would be sure to get us the answers to questions he couldn’t answer on the spot.

North Campus Greenbelt Trails. Jeff Caldwell presented information about the wetlands-campus trail improvement project that he has organized and for which he is seeking funding from Starbucks. It was a very well thought out system with connections made for trails that presently dead end, including footbridges. There will also be welcoming signs, walking guides that identify points of interest, and sun-powered emergency phones.

Flex Cars. Jeff also told us that North Seattle Community College is looking into flex cars. He told us the University of Washington has them, as well as Central Seattle Community College. Central has replaced their fleet vehicles with flex cars.

Jeff said that NSCC is also considering replacing its fleet vehicles with flex cars. There is also a program whereby they could get a flex car to be used by employees who commute to work in a carpool, bus, or by bike and need to get to an appointment during the day. There is also a program for funding a flex car for students who could use a flex car to drive to employment interviews. The plans also include obtaining a flex car for community use.

New Homeowner in the Community. Janet Hyde-Wright, who is buying a house across the street from Liz on Wallingford North asked questions about the community and Liz explained events that the LSCC Board sponsors and organizes. Janet said she saw an announcement for our meeting and came by to get better acquainted with Licton Springs. She currently lives on North 75^th Street.