MINUTES

FREMONT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL MEETING

Annual General Meeting--April 25, 2005

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Benjamin Grossman, Pete Hanning, Julia DeBroux, Alan Younker, Norma Jones, George Heideman, Vafa Ghazi, Toby Thaler, Dic Selin, Jenny Eichwald, Matt Stevenson, April Thanos.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: Welcome and introduction of Board members. The Fremont Historical Society will meet on May 7, 2005 from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Paul Dorpat will speak. The Sounds of Spring Concert will be held at the Fremont Baptist Church on May 18, 2005 at 7:30 pm. Donations collected at the concert will benefit B.F. Day school. Board Member Chip Nevis is attending the Pro Parks meeting tonight where purchase of the property next to Ernst Park is being considered. Chip will testify in favor of funding the purchase. FNC membership information is available tonight.

ELECTIONS: Matt Stevenson and Pete Hanning will not continue as Board Members for the next year. Sheridan Hammond will join the Board. Motion and Second to elect the Board. Approved. Vafa Ghazi will serve as President, Toby Thaler and George Heideman will serve as Vice-President and Vice President Emeritus, the Secretary’s position is open, and April Thanos will serve as Treasurer. Melissa Moffett (Mo) volunteered to serve as Secretary, and will come on the Board after attending two meetings.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Verbal and written reports were provided that show the following:

$ 1,649.54 Checking

$ 236.54 Savings

$29,624.26 CD1

$26,742.13 MM

Total assets: $58,252.47

MINUTES: The July 2004 and March 2005 minutes were not reviewed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The property at Albion and 36th will have 19 units with live/work space on the ground floor. The application was submitted on April 1st. The pre-development money, $29,810, loaned by the FNC to CHHIP has been returned to the FNC tonight. The Board now needs to decide on the type of account they want for the money returned by CHHIP. The FNC has agreed to give $10,000.00 towards the equity in the building when it is completed. They hope to open the building in the Fall of 2007. It was explained that low income housing is 50% of median income. (April Thanos & Sue Cary)

GUERILLA GARDENING & TRAFFIC CALMING: The FNC is looking for a Guerilla Gardening volunteer for the coming year. Traffic calming is going forward in cooperation with SDOT. It was explained that SDOT is reluctant to put crosswalks across four lanes of traffic. The FNC needs volunteers to work other traffic issues in the area. (Julia DeBroux)

BICYCLES: Bicycle issues in Fremont have involved work on the Fremont Bridge approaches. Work included a citizens group to address bicycle issues. They are now trying to look at bicycle and traffic in general through a coalition that is working with the City Council. Recommendations will be sent to the City Council in May. May is Bike to Work month, and Bike to Work Day is May 20th. (Matt Stevenson)

RESIDENTIAL PARKING ZONE: Some Fremont residents asked for a RPZ, and the City has now approved a RPZ area. The design has been agreed on and is now posted for appeal. Residents now need to petition block by block to reach 60% approval. There will be an informational meeting on April 27, 2005 at 7:00 pm at History House. There has been some concern expressed about the area included in the RPZ. (Vafa Ghazi)

PUBLIC SAFETY: Meetings are held regularly with the Seattle Police Department on public safety issues in the area. Subjects include graffiti, liquor related issues, the A-1 Motel, theft, and other concerns. There are many significant concerns about the Aurora corridor. (Pete Hanning)

Regarding the A-1 Motel, neighbors have organized due to the increased problems recently. The motel has signed a Good Neighbor Agreement with the City, and they have installed video cameras. The owners have indicated they would like to sell the property. Neighbors would like something else to happen at the site. There is a City Council meeting on April 26, 2005 at 5:30 pm on crime, and everyone is encouraged to attend. The FNC and the SPD have both been supportive of the neighbors near the A-1. Development along the Aurora corridor is needed. (Alan Younker)

LAND USE: There is a lot of land use activity in the area even though there are not a lot of big projects right now. There are a lot of houses being torn down with the development of apartments, condos, and townhouses in place of single family homes.

QFC has a permit, but no building is expected until 2006. Development at the North Transfer Station started last year, and had now been postponed for two years. Regarding design guidelines at the local level for Wallingford and Fremont, Fremont was not consulted and the City Council adopted the Wallingford plan. There is some new development by S. Burke, which may be technology development. For the building at 36th and Evanston the comment period ends May 6, 2005. (Toby Thaler)

LIQUOR LICENSING & IMPACTS: The FNC came up with two major recommendations at the 2004 AGM. The first recommendation was to seek GNAs from business in Fremont serving liquor, and the second was to have security patrols during high use times. Many businesses serving liquor have signed GNAs, but there has not been any progress on patrols. Problems have persisted, and the FNC adopted a policy to object to new and renewals of licenses by major liquor businesses until there is progress. Objections do not help, and the Liquor Control Board no longer takes comments from residents or neighborhood groups. People and groups must now go through the City Attorney at the same time that the comment period has been reduced. The FNC welcomes help in addressing this issue. The Fremont Chamber of Commerce has also discussed this issue. There is a need to work with elected officials to address this issue. (Vafa Ghazi)

NEW BUSINESS: Board members were thanked for their efforts during the last year. Motion and second to authorize funding for an informational mailing to residents in the RPZ to provide information regarding the process for approval prior to petitioning for approval of the design. Motion amended to include membership information in the mailing. Approved.

Meeting adjourned.