MINUTES

FREMONT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL MEETING

February 27, 2006

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Alan Younker, Norma Jones, April Thanos, Vafa Ghazi, Toby Thaler, George Heideman, Chip Nevins, Sheridan Hammond, Julia DeBroux.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: A representative of the University of Washington UrbanSim Study on urban planning options requested volunteers for their study. The study concerns simulation results and includes a $20 gift card for volunteers. The Historical Society wants to share a booth with the FNC at the Fremont Fair.

TREASURER’S REPORT: April Thanos provided the following information for inclusion in the minutes:

Checking $1,975.66

Savings $297.33

CD $29,624.26

MM $27,503.72

Total assets: $59,400.97

Expenditures previously approved include $1,500 for Fremont History Book and $10,000 to CHHIP. Expenditures for the P-Patch and Newsletter were paid this month.

MINUTES: The January 2006 minutes were approved as amended.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

PARKS & OPEN SPACE: The land next to the Fremont Library was offered to the Seattle Parks Department by Brian Reagan, but the Parks Department said that they do not have money available now. Ballard Commons Park, 5701 22^nd Ave. NW will hold a Grand Opening Celebration on March 4, 2006 at 1:00 pm.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Sue Carey from CHIPP reported that they got their funding from the state and city in December and are now waiting for the low income tax credits to go forward. They are looking for ways to purchase the property now in order to keep moving forward with the design and momentum.

PUBLIC SAFETY: The February 6th disaster training at B.F. Day School was a success. On February 7^th FAWN had a potluck. The focus of FAWN is Aurora clean-up. Fremont Abbey has been having problems with someone sleeping on the porch. There is going to be a push in the City for more police officers, and there will be a diversion program for minor misdemeanors. Disaster training from 6:00 to 7:00 pm on March 27^th before the FNC Board meeting will be arranged if History House is available.

MEMBERSHIP: FNC memberships stand at 37, with 13 new memberships. There was agreement to send renewal notices to 170 people from 2002-2005. The notice will include a self-addressed envelope and a letter with the membership form on the bottom.

LIQUOR RELATED ISSUES: The liquor task force has recommended a new commission to address codes and other issues. The commission is going to consist of three neighborhood business owners, three residents, and one developer. Vafa Ghazi may be on the commission. Vafa met with Marco Tubic and they plan to meet with people at the Police Department North Precinct.

OLD BUSINESS:

The RPZ project has stalled. The project needs volunteers to go door to door seeking neighborhood approval. They need 60% approval on each block with five contiguous blocks to create a RPZ. There was a suggestion to talk to residential managers of the apartments in the area to get signatures from apartment buildings.

Fremont History Book: The arrangement to contract with Helen Divjak and have her pay FNC would be very difficult. The major part of the revenue for FNC is to buy the books at wholesale, 40% of list price, and resell them. After one year the unsold books can be returned. To do this FNC must get a tax ID number. Toby Thaler will prepare the form.

LUDC: There was a request for input on parks and transportation issues, but there was nothing new for Fremont.

NEW BUSINESS:

The Summer Nights Concerts at Gas Works Park is a contentious issue in the neighborhood. Some issues have been resolved, including having the music closer to the parking lot, and not near the water. The speakers will face north, toward Wallingford because the sound is more contained. The issues include traffic and parking. The Fremont Chamber of Commerce is very enthusiastic in their support of the concerts because they expect increased business. The big issue is how late the concerts will last. The agreement was 10:00 on weeknights and 11:00 on weekends. There has now been a compromise to 10:00 on the weekends, and the neighbors want 9:00 on weeknights.

The site is temporary for three years. The impact will be to Wallingford, Fremont, and other neighborhoods. On March 1^st the Parks Department will hear recommendations about the park. Mike Silva, a south Wallingford resident, said One Reel and the Parks are looking for consensus on the issues, but they have no obligation to accept input.

The issues are noise, safety, traffic, parking, and a large loss of the park being transferred to a commercial interest. It was suggested the FNC should support other neighborhood councils in the area.

Cheryl Trivison from Friends of Gas Works Park said that three acres will be impacted. Friends of Gas Works Park has been in existence for nine years, and they do not want the park used by a private venture.

There was a motion, based on the lack of process and impacts on the neighbors, to support the Friends of Gas Works Park by supporting a SEPA appeal and contributing $500 toward the lawsuit filed by FGWP. Withdrawn.

The Wallingford Neighborhood Council is supporting efforts toward mitigation of the concert impacts, not the lawsuit.

There was a motion and second to go on record as strongly supporting the FGWP and the neighbors to mitigate problems and authorizing the FNC to follow the Wallingford Neighborhood Council to show support for a legal appeal. Approved.

North Seattle Community College: K. Reilly and M.E. O’Keefe presented information on NSCC and said they want to partner with the neighborhoods. They are one of 34 technical schools and community colleges in the state providing a variety of services.

Neighborhood Map: A proposal for a large format map of Fremont was received from Matt Stevenson. The Board will review the proposal and discuss at a later meeting.