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LICTON
SPRINGS COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of Board
Meeting Directors Present:
Board Representatives
Present:
Ken Thompson (North Precinct Representative). Visitors: Jean Wirch, Melanie Davies, Kathleen Braden, Teresa Danaste, Melissa Coiley, Chris Smith, Chris Smith’s brother, Alice and Bill Smith, Robin McCain, Sonja Condon, Shauna Walgren (SDOT – Community Outreach), Toby Weymiller (Flexcar Community Development Manager), and Dave Rogers (SvR Design Company). Minutes: The September 20, 2006 minutes were approved as presented. Treasurer’s Report: There was no Treasurer’s Report. President Liz Kearns called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. Introductions were made around the table and Liz welcomed all newcomers. Minutes: Kay Mesirow moved, Debra Willendorf seconded, and all present approved the October 18, 2006 minutes. NEW BUSINESS : Flexcar Flexcar started in Switzerland. King County Metro went to Switzerland to learn about the program and brought the idea back here. A public/private partnership supported by King County and the State of Washington was founded in 1999 and Flexcar launched its Seattle operations in 2000. The program is kind of like a time share for cars. Since 2000, Flexcar has expanded to Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. In 2005, Steve Case (founded of AOL) acquired Flexcar and that has added momentum to the program. In our area, there is one Flexcar (Honda Civic) in the NSCC parking lot on College Way North, and three cars located in Northgate. Toby encouraged people to take advantage of Flexcar. There is a list of locations and what kinds of cars are available on their website www.flexcar.com. Registration and membership is very easy, all done via the Internet. To join costs $75.00 ($35.00 for one time signup fee, and $40.00 annual fee). You then receive a card and code and are billed by the hour for usage. The fees include insurance, gas, maintenance, and cleaning. The standard cost is $10.00/hour, but they also have daily and weekly rates, along with special weekend rates if you are willing to go to downtown Seattle to pick up your car. Their plans are similar to cell phone plans: the more you rent, the less you pay. They have a large fleet of cars, five trucks, and also vans, whatever your need may be. There are over 15,000 members in Seattle and 55% are able to make same day reservations for cars versus having to sign up in advance. You do have to be 21 years or older to rent one of their cars due to insurance requirements. King County is encouraging households to give up a car and use Flexcar instead. They are providing all kinds of incentives to do this. Flexcar is a carbon neutral company. There is a special offer, expiring on December 30, 2006, that if you sign up, you will be reimbursed your $40.00 annual fee for credits. For more information, please see their website: www.flexcar.com North 100th Street Conceptual Sidewalk Design Robin McCain completed a grant application to the Department of Neighborhoods and hired a consulting firm to create a Conceptual Sidewalk Design for North 100th Street from College Way to Aurora Avenue North. The goal is to create a safe street for pedestrians and cars. Once the Conceptual Design is completed and approved by the neighbors, it will become the Master Plan needed for future funding. This is the starting point. Currently no funds have been assigned to this project, but should become available in the future due to the passage of Proposition 1. The meeting was turned over to Dave Rogers, SvR Design Company (206.223.0326; www.svrdesign.com). A color-coded map of North 100th Street from College Way to Aurora Avenue North was on display. Using this map, Dave Rogers explained that one design will not be possible since there are many different problems/needs along North 100th Street (i.e., drainage, vegetation, and parking). The actual street surface is 20 to 22 feet. In a typical neighborhood like Fremont with sidewalks and cars parked on both sides of the street, the width of the street surface is at least 25 feet. Currently North 100th Street is not quite wide enough so all this needs to be taken into consideration. SvR Design needs to receive community comments so that the best design solution for each section can be developed and included in the final design. The final design will be, as mentioned above, the Master Plan. The goal is for the Plan to slow traffic and offer pedestrian safety. There will be a total of three meetings with neighbors to discuss the wishes of each block. Tonight is the first of the three. The next meetings are to be held on Saturday, November 18th, 10:00 a.m., and Saturday, December 2nd, 10:00 a.m. Both of these meetings will be at the site on 100th Street and Densmore. SvR Design wants to gather everyone’s wishes and concerns and then will go back and see what can be done. Property lines will not change and need to be worked with; the City owns the parking strips. Questionnaires were completed which asked general questions about what concerns neighbors had and what they would like to see happen. The final design will have to take into consideration costs, property lines and water runoff effects; all of which can make a big difference in which sidewalk design works best for each section of 100th Street. This was an informal process and there was much talking, with questions and concerns being expressed about individual properties. Our next meeting is Wednesday, January 17, 2007. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kay Mesirow and Liz Kearns for
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