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Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association
Monthly Meeting Minutes for 1998
December 16, 1998
Attending:
Aaron Grossman, Treasurer
Anita Grossman, Newsletter Editor
Chris Whitaker, Community Liaison
Garth Williams, Vice Chair
Greg Fowler, At Large
Jean McCloskey, At Large
Julie Lovins, Newsletter Distribution Coordinator
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Sally Lieber, Past OMVNA Vice Chair and City
Councilmember Elect
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Minutes:
November minutes were approved with amendments.
Officer reports:
It was clarified that Julie will serve as OMVNA representative until the end of Sally’s term. The end of the term is expected to be in October. The meetings are typically scheduled for the 1st Tuesday of every month.
Tim presented a list of ongoing development in the Central Planning Area, which includes the Old Mountain View Neighborhood. The list includes some details on upcoming developments such Park Place II. Maarten will make a link from http://www.omvna.org/links.html to the appropriate location on the City web page.
Tim brought a copy of the Monta Loma Neighborhood Association By-Laws, including some items which aren’t covered in the OMVNA By-Laws. In addition, he brought a copy of Monta Loma Neighborhood Association’s description of responsibilities for officers, committees and volunteer positions.
Tim was approached by Susan Migliore, a Mountain View resident, regarding the accumulation and movement of pallets of junk on Miton’s property, in the parking lot where Flex-It is located and between Evelyn and the train tracks.
Chris Whitaker announced that he has a link to the Light Rail web page. He said he would forward this information to Maarten.
There was discussion on how the minutes would be distributed prior to the monthly meetings. Maarten said he would post them to www.omvna.org and notify everybody once they’re posted.
Julie asked for clarification on her status and responsibilities as OMVNA’s representation on the Downtown Committee. Maarten proposed making this position a OMVNA officer, and made a motion to that effect. The motion died for lack of a second. It was decided that the position should continue as an appointed by the OMVNA steering committee. Her reports will be a regular part of the officer reports. She had no report for the December meeting but agreed to keep the steering committee members notified via e-mail.
Chris said that the Library will not be available for OMVNA steering committee meetings on the 2nd or 3rd Wednesday of month. It was decided that the OMVNA steering committee meetings will continue at the Trinity Church Reading Room and the January meeting will take place on the 13th of the month.
Julie announced that she may not be available to perform her newsletter distribution responsibilities for the next two months. She asked for some assistance and said that she will send an e-mail she her travel plans are confirmed. It was decided to move the first two newsletter distribution dates of the year back one week, to January 22 and the last Friday of March. Tim agreed to update the master calendar accordingly and make it available at the January meeting.
Neighborhood Grant Program: Tim presented information on the Mountain View Neighborhood Grant Program, including the program goals, guidelines, limits, eligibility, deadlines and the application form itself. The deadline for the current grant pool is January 30, with a start date deadline of the end of March and completion deadline of the end of September. Maarten recommended utilizing the grant program if it can support our goals, but not to pursue a grant project just for the sake of getting grant funds.
Tim reported on the December Council Neighborhood Committee meeting. He said that he extended an offer from OMVNA to participate in the proposed "City Neighborhood Summit." Tim recommended that OMVNA have regular representation at the Council Neighborhood Committee meetings, and recommended this as a responsibility of our Community Liaison Officer. These meetings typically are held on the 4th Thursday of the month at 7 p.m.
Mercy Bush Park Update: Maarten reported that the City Council postponed the agenda item on the use of Recreation In-Lieu fees to design and develop the park at Mercy Bush was delayed. He said he will speak for OMVNA as he had planned to do before.
Julie recommended that OMVNA have a clearer strategy for the meeting. She also asked what David Muela had to say prior to the Council meeting, on January 12. She recommended trying to influence the Mayor to get the item back on the agenda for the next Council meeting so that we can get all the letters in the Councilmember packets.
1999 Goals: Jean facilitated the annual goal-setting process by beginning with a team-building exercise. Positive and negative attributes of teams were briefly discussed.
The OMVNA officers voted on about 10 possible goals. Two goals were selected and two teams were established. Each team was given one of the goals to more fully develop and present at the next monthly meeting. The established goals were:
- Gathering input from Old Mountain View residents to enable OMVNA to better identify and address their concerns, and becoming more proactive in responding to City planning matters which could impact the neighborhood.
- Reviewing the Old Mountain View Neighborhood
Preservation Plan and current zoning ordinances
to see how they are being implemented and working
with City Staff and officials to get any needed
improvements made.
November 18, 1998
- Attending:
- Maarten Korringa, Chair
- Garth Williams, Vice Chair
- Aaron Grossman, Treasurer
- Chris Whitaker, Community Liaison
- Greg Fowler, At Large
- Jean McCloskey, At Large
- Julie Lovins, Newsletter Distribution Coordinator
- Tim Johnson, Secretary
- Visitors and Neighbors:
- Sally Lieber, City Councilmember Elect
Minutes
- Old Business:
- October monthly meeting minutes approved.
- New Business:
- Maarten Korringa reported that the next P&R Committee would consider how best to use in lieu fees from the Park Place II development. Since the Park Place II development lies within 1/2 mile of the site of the Mercy-Bush Park, City Council-approved guidelines should give priority to the development of a neighborhood mini park at the Mercy-Bush Park site. There was discussion what input OMVNA should make at the meeting. Maarten agreed to say how important a mini park at the Mercy-Bush site is to the neighborhood. Tim will recommend that the P&R Committee follow the City Council-approved ordinance which prioritizes use of in lieu fees to the development of mini parks within 1/2 mile of the source of such funds.
- Starting in January, it was decided to move the OMVNA monthly meetings to the second Wednesday of the month. The venue for 1999 meetings will be discussed at the December monthly meeting. Options include the Trinity Church Reading Room and the new City Library.
- Sally Lieber, serving as Old Mountain View Neighborhood representative on the Downtown Committee, reported on the most recent meeting. She said the committee members were invited to take a self-guided tour of the downtown area. The priorities of the Downtown Committee include: managing the transition between the business and residential sections of downtown area, increasing the diversity of downtown businesses and deciding what to do with excess downtown City-owned parcels, including the site of the old fire station. With her election to City Council, Sally will resign her position as Old Mountain View Neighborhood representative on the Downtown Committee at the December 1 meeting. She recommended OMVNA appoint someone to take her place on the committee. There is an outstanding question whether or not the OMVNA by-laws cover the steering committee's authority to make such nominations. However, in the interest of time, Julie Lovins was nominated to represent the Old Mountain View Neighborhood for the balance of Sally's term.
- Possible OMVNA goals for the coming year were discussed. There was a proposal that each goal should have a "champion." After some discussion on how to best accomplish this, Jean McCloskey, who is a group facilitator by profession, agreed to facilitate a goal setting session at the next meeting. Jean asked everybody to send their ideas for goals to her.
Tim Johnson agreed to represent OMVNA at the upcoming Council Neighborhood Committee meeting, at which neighborhood grants and programs will be discussed. After some discussion, it was decided that Tim should say that OMVNA is "interested in considering sponsoring a neighborhood summit."
October 21, 1998
Attending:
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Sally Lieber, Vice Chair
Ronit Bryant, Co-Newsletter Editor
Anita Grossman, Co-Newsletter Editor
Julie Lovins, Newsletter Distribution Coordinator
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Visitors and Neighbors:
Jim Bennett, Mountain View Police Department
Melissa Ramos, Santa Clara County Restorative Justice
Program
Debra Dacus
Jean McCloskey
Greg Fowler
Garth Williams
Chris Whitaker
Ken Rosenberg
Old Business
- September monthly meeting minutes approved.
- General meeting planning
Garth, Anita, Sally, Maarten and Tim volunteered to help with setup. Sally agreed to moderate the election portion of the meeting. Several changes to the slate of candidates were necessitated. After some discussion it was decided that the recommended slate of officers would be as follows.
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Anita Grossman, Newsletter Editor
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Chris Whitaker, Community Liaison
Greg Fowler, At Large
- Julie agreed to make the appropriate floor nominations at the meeting.
New Business
- Melissa Ramos from the Santa Clara County Juvenile Restorative Justice Program described the goals of the program and invited members of the Old Mountain View Neighborhood to become involved by becoming a member of a Neighborhood Accountability Board. More information on this program will appear in a future OMVNA newsletter.
- Jim Bennett, Mountain View Police Department Public Information Officer and Crime Prevention Specialist, described what is involved in organizing a Neighborhood Watch Program. More information on the Neighborhood Watch Program and its benefits to the neighborhood will appear in a future OMVNA newsletter. Jim recommended that OMVNA sponsor an orientation/training event for the entire community. He offered to help promote such an event.
Officer Reports
Tim reported that it appears there may be enough in lieu fees available from the new Park Place II development to build Mercy Bush Park. In addition to in lieu fees, the park could also be built using city funds. The next step towards developing Mercy-Bush Park using city funds would be to get the park included in the city's annual goals. City goal-setting meetings will take place in January, 1999.
September 16, 1998
Attending:
- Maarten Korringa, Chair
- Bob Reay, Treasurer
- Aaron Grossman, At Large Member
- Julie Lovins, Newsletter Distribution
- There was not a quorum of steering committee members in attendance.
- Visitors:
- Jean McCloskey, Oak Street
- Maria Huang, (future) Dana Street
- Dean Huang, (future) Dana Street
- Minutes:
- Old Business
- 1. A lengthy discussion took place of where we were vis-a-vis the goals we set in January. It was recognized that a number of the goals had been neglected. There was even a bit of head-scratching as we tried to recall what all the goals are. There was general agreement that the goals should be posted on the Web to help us keep our focus. Maarten agreed to do this
- 2. Some preliminary preparations were made for the fall general meeting.
- a. Maarten agreed to verify the time and date that the Sanctuary would be available.
- b. Maarten agreed to bring two tables in case there were none available in the church. One table will be set up for sign-in, one for candidate literature.
- c. Maarten will make sure there are nametags, sign-in book, and 3X5 cards for handing in questions
- d. Maarten will ask Bruce what support he needs.
- 3. Julie agreed to continue her work on overlays
- Maarten said he would ask if OMVNA could be notified about new residential projects
- Julie said she would ask the city for a copy of the Downtown Precise Plan.
- 4. The next newsletter will be out October 9 and will contain an announcement for the general meeting and "Meet the Candidates."
- New Business:
- 1. Maria Huang and her husband presented the plans for their new house, near the corner of Dana and View. The zoning here is not R1; this site and the house next to it that was recently completed together form a small development. Approval for the development was based on plans submitted to the city years ago. They were able to make some styling changes to the existing design, but building a craftsman style home on the site, which they initially hoped to do, was likely to cause huge problems in the approval process, so they decided to go forth with construction based on the pre-approved plans.
- Officer Reports:
- No reports
August 19, 1998
Attending:
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Sally Lieber, Vice Chair
Ronit Bryant, Newsletter Co-editor
Anita Grossman, Newsletter Co-editor
Aaron Grossman, At Large Member
Julie Lovins, Newsletter Distribution Manager
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Guests:
D.K. Lu, Environmental Planning Commissioner
Barbara Beatie, Mercy Street
Jean Foster, Oak Street
Helen Patterson, McCarty Street
Minutes:
OLD BUSINESS
1. July 15 minutes were corrected and approved.
2. Sally Lieber reviewed OMVNA goals for the year. One of the outstanding goals was to create a welcoming packet for new residents. Sally volunteered to draft a letter and present it at the next OMVNA monthly meeting.
3. The July Neighborhood Preservation meeting follow up:
a. Tim Johnson provided minutes for the meeting, plus a draft of an article for the newsletter.
b. Julie Lovins volunteered to begin working on an overlay zone for the Old Mountain View Neighborhood. D.K. Lu recommended speaking to Mike Percy in the Planning Department.
c. Tim Johnson volunteered to look into the six new developments in the downtown area, and to request that OVMNA be noticed of pending Site Planning and Architectural Review (SPAR) actions on future planned developments in the Central Planning area. Tim also volunteered to look into the city budget planning cycle for the coming year to ensure that the development of the park at Mercy and Bush be funded, and to ask the Parks Department about the status of in lieu fees within a 1/2 mile radius of the site of the new park.
4. Ice Cream Social planning (Sat, 9/5, 2-4 p.m.):
a. The ice cream social will be publicized in the next newsletter.
b. Tim Johnson volunteered to make ice cream, will update the 4x8 sign from last year, will ask Jeff Farmer to display it in his yard and will provide Maarten Korringa with an inventory of supplies.
c. Julie Lovins volunteered to put up signs at the park for the event itself.
d. Aaron Grossman and Ronit Bryant will help out.
e. Sally Lieber will look for someone to do face painting and get a permit for Pioneer Park.
5. Slate of new officers:
a. Maarten reviewed the slate of officers for the coming year, which will appear in the next newsletter. Aaron Grossman agreed to fill the position of Treasurer.
6. October "Meet The Candidates" planning (Sat, 10/24):
a. Sally will check on the planned date for Mtn View/Los Altos League of Women Voters Forum.
b. The event should be publicized in the OMVNA 10/9 newsletter.
c. Maarten Korringa will send out invitation letters. He will also send rate cards and advertising copy deadlines for the 10/9 newsletter.
d. It was noted that next time we should invite candidates to advertise in the two OMVNA newsletters proceeding "Meet the Candidates" events.
e. Russ Parman will ask Bruce Karney to host the event.
f. The election of OMVNA officers will immediately proceed the forum portion of the meeting.
g. Tim will reserve the Sanctuary or Fellowship Hall at Trinity Church. A budget of up to $200 was approved.
NEW BUSINESS
7. Helen Patterson provided a detailed update on the status of the route and construction of the Stevens Creek Trail in the vicinity of her home. She reported that the city is considering a realignment of the trail through the tennis court area. This would preserve some of the heritage trees which were previously scheduled for removal. There is also a possibility that the trail route may be moved to the east side of the creek. Construction began in February, but has stalled. She described a myriad of problems, and questioned the planning and execution of the project.
8. D.K. Lu requested OMVNA participation in the Asian Parade, planned for Sat, 2/27.
9. Julie Lovins reported some linking problems on the OMVNA web site. Maarten Korringa will check the links.
OFFICER REPORTS
10. Tim Johnson reported that he will be out of town for the next OMVNA monthly meeting. Maarten Korringa agreed to take the minutes for the meeting.
July 15, 1998
Attending:
Aaron Grossman, At-Large
Anita Grossman, Newsletter co-editor
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Sally Lieber, Vice-Chair
Julie Lovins, Newsletter Delivery Coordinator
Garth Williams, At-Large
Old Business:
1. The June monthly meeting minutes were accepted.
2. Sally reviewed plans for the upcoming OMVNA general meeting:
Restated the theme and goals for the meeting, i.e. to raise awareness of the neighborhood preservation plan, both among key city staff and within the Old Mountain View neighborhood.
The community room at the city library has been reserved for 7:00-8:45 p.m. on both August 5 and 13.
Since only coffee and cookies are allowed in the community room, it was decided to reschedule the ice cream social for September 5 at Pioneer Park and treat it as a separate activity. Anita will place something about this event in the next newsletter. Sally will check on availability of the amphitheater area in Pioneer Park.
Jim Lynch has agreed to attend the meeting. He will attempt to get the new zoning administrator and other appropriate city staff to attend.
It was decided that the meeting should be structured as follows:
- Begin with a slide show, illustrating recent developments regarding their conformity to the neighborhood preservation building guidelines (about 5 minutes). Maarten and Tim agreed to work on the slide show.
- Next, Jim Lynch will be asked to review the history of the preservation plan (and to comment on its current utilization?).
- City historian Linda Windes will be asked to describe the unique role of the Old Mountain View Neighborhood in the history of our city.
- Finally, city officials will be asked to advise the neighborhood on what can be done to get better utilization of the preservation plan building guidelines.
An agenda and relevant excerpts from the preservation plan will be made available to attendees.
3. Tim reported on the new citywide R2 and R3 building guidelines for in-fill development in Mountain View. He asked whether or not these new building guidelines should be included as part of the presentation.
New Business:
1. There was discussion appointing a nominating committee
for the next year slate of OMVNA officers.
2. Action: Maarten will write an article for the next newsletter, encouraging neighbors to volunteer for positions on the steering committee for the coming year.
3. Action: The nominating committee needs to determine if there is any conflict of interest for someone serving on City Council to also serve on the OMVNA steering committee.
4. Action: Maarten will ask Russ Parman or Jeff Farmer to serve as chair of the nominating committee. Maarten and Anita volunteered to serve on the nominating committee.
Officer Reports:
Maarten reported that he called about Helen Patterson's
situation and the removal of heritage trees along a
section of the Stevens Creek Trail. Maarten was told that
the city doesn't have any other options, but was assured
that the city will cut down no more trees than is
necessary.
June 17, 1998
Attending:
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Sally Lieber, Vice Chair
Aaron Grossman, At Large
Anita Grossman, Newsletter Co-editor
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Bob Reay, Treasurer
Guests:
Helen Patterson, McCarty Avenue
Lisa Weyland, Mercy Street
Garth Williams, Hope Street
Old Business:
1. Minutes for May OMVNA monthly meeting were corrected
and approved.
1. Sally reported that she can now begin contacting potential speakers for the next OVMNA general meeting (she recently graduated from Stanford University). The theme for the meeting had earlier been identified as that of neighborhood preservation. It was decided that the meeting will include an ice cream social. Sally will check the availability of the identified speakers for the date August 8.
The goal for the meeting is to raise awareness of the neighborhood preservation plan, both among key city staff and within the Old Mountain View neighborhood. There was some discussion on how the meeting could be most effective. Various strategies that were discussed including the following:
- Asking Jim Lynch to review the status of the plan and to describe how it iscurrently being used.
- Asking Jeff Farmer, Bruce Karney or Steve Lewis to review the history of the plan.
- Inviting city planners to the meeting so they can hear what is being said and better understand its purpose.
- Showcasing recent development projects which illustrate good and bad use of the plan.
3. General meeting wrap up. It was reported that there were many new people at the May general meeting. It was suggested that Pat Mercedes, who prepared the food for the event, receive special recognition.
New Business:
1. Maarten reported that the newly created Downtown
Committee has requested an OMVNA representative on the
committee. The Downtown Parking and Revitalization
Committee were combined to form this new committee, which
is charged with exploring issues such as downtown
cleanliness, tree planting, parking, etc. Sally was
nominated as the OMVNA representative, and asked to serve
at least until OMVNA's next general meeting, on October
24. The meetings will begin sometime in the fall.
2. Helen Patterson described a recent change in the planned path for the Stevens Creek Trail in the vicinity of her house. The change calls for the trail to go along a fence directly behind her house. Her concern is that this will necessitate the removal of several heritage trees. Helen has spoken to city representatives from the Parks division. She has also spoken to the city program manager of the Stevens Creek Trail, Ms. Seeds. OMVNA agreed to contact Ms. Seeds, expressing concern about removal of the trees and asking to be kept informed.
3. Garth Williams was appointed to fill the open At Large position on the OMVNA board of officers.
Officer reports:
1. Tim observed that the slate of officers for next year
should be published in the August 28 newsletter. This
leaves two more monthly meetings to come up with the new
slate of officers.
2. Maarten recognized Sally as the recent recipient of the outstanding Community Leader award, which is sponsored by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce and Voice newspaper. Sally was congratulated for her achievement.
May 20, 1998
Attending:
Sally Lieber, Vice Chair
Ronit Bryant, Newsletter Co-editor
Aaron Grossman, At Large
Anita Grossman, Newsletter Co-editor
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Bob Reay, Treasurer
Julie Lovins, Newsletter Delivery Coordinator
Guests:
Billie Barewald, Sleeper Avenue
Tom Buckman, Olive Court
Pat Mercedes Buckman, Olive Court
Maureen Jones, Sierra Avenue
Howard Jones, Sierra Avenue
1. Minutes for April were approved.
2. Guests spoke on the soon to be proposed fluoridation of City water. They described an unfunded State mandate to fluoridate the drinking water, and said that Supervisor Joe Simitian is encouraging Mountain View to proceed with fluoridation. The setup cost is expected to exceed $1 million, with additional yearly maintenance cost. The guests were concerned with various side effects caused by overexposure to fluoride. They described the various current sources of fluoride (e.g. naturally occurring in food), and warned that some people will greatly suffer if additional fluoride is added to the drinking water.
The guests said that a feasibility study will be presented to the City Council next week, and recommended that everybody go to the meeting and request that the issue be put on the ballot for public vote (as it has been done in several regions).
3. General meeting planning. Based upon the number of RSVPs that were received, it was anticipated that 70 people would attend the dinner meeting. Various duties were agreed upon. A budget for the dinner was established. It was reported that a neighborhood singing group would provide entertainment.
4. There was a short discussion on neighborhood traffic mitigation. No actions were taken.
5. The results of the neighborhood survey were distributed. No actions were taken.
April 15, 1998
Attending:
Anita Grossman, co-editor
Aaron Grossman, at large member
Bruce Karney, past president
Julie Lovins, newsletter delivery coordinator
Sally Lieber, vice president
Tim Johnson, secretary
Minutes:
1. March minutes were accepted.
2. May 23 General Meeting Planning: Julie suggested trying to determine how many people will be attending adding a 5/19 RSVP in the newsletter announcement. She also suggested the people be asked to bring a dish to the event.
Tim and Aaron agreed to take responsibility for acquiring the following:
- ingredients for pasta (with a veggie and meat sauce)
- bread
- disposable bowls (rather than plates) and plastic ware
- soda
- balloons and helium
It was decided that the event theme would be
"Spring Gala"
Tim will ask Bob about organizing some musical
entertainment.
Tim will contact Pat Mercedes about preparing the food
for the event.
Anita and Sally will make personal invitations to the
Town Square residents.
Sally will talk with Maarten about getting something up
on the web.
Julie will make a special effort to invite the newsletter
carriers, who will be recognized at the event.
Suggested goals or topics for the event:
- Providing information on Leadership Mountain View
- Neighbors getting to know each other -- possible "mixer" activity. Anita described some mixer ideas.
- Get more volunteers for carrying the newsletter -- giving testimonials of interesting anecdotes from current newsletter carriers
- Sponsoring a fun event for the neighborhood
Planning details for the event will be finalized at
the next monthly meeting (5/20)
It was noted that Julie will be on vacation 5/2-5/16
3. Sally proposed organizing a special meeting with
the theme of neighborhood preservation. She suggested
inviting people such as Jim Lynch (Neighborhood
Preservation Manager), Elaine Costello (Community
Development Director) and the City Council members. A
possible location is the Pioneer Room at the new City
Library. She suggested inviting the other neighborhood
associations. Possible theme: "Monster Houses."
Suggested meeting goals:
- Save Old Mountain View
- Stop [the building of] monster houses
- Raising neighborhood awareness of our preservation plan
Bruce agreed to write a history of the OMVNA neighborhood association.It was suggested that education and awareness be the focus of the meeting, with identification of the key City players, a synopsis of our current neighborhood situation, a history of the presentation plan (possibly given by Steve Lewis), and a case study involving use of the plan (possibly given by Russ Parman).
4. The topic of traffic mitigation was briefly discussed. There will be an article in the next OMVNA newsletter featuring some of the recent projects resulting from the new Traffic Mediation Process.
5. There was discussion of the Open Space Plan as an agenda item at the April 28 City Council meeting. As it stands, the Open Space Plan includes development of the Mercy-Bush Park as a high-ranking, City-wide priority. There was discussion on what OMVNA’s strategy should be regarding this agenda item. Sally agreed to poll the City Council members on their position on the development of the Mercy-Bush Park. Tim agreed to discuss the matter with David Muela (Community Services Director).
6. Tim shared information on the upcoming "Creative Solution" Housing Symposium.
7. The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:15 p.m.
March, 1998
Attending:
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Sally Lieber, Vice Chair
Ronit Bryant, Newsletter Co-editor
Anita Grossmon, Co-editor
Aaron Grossman, At Large
Bob Reay, Treasurer
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Julie Lovins, Newsletter Delivery Coordinator
Guests:
Chris Whitaker, Minton Lane
Ken Rosenberg, Front Lane
Sherry Symington, View Street
David Trousdale, View Street
Richard Borghi, Mtn. View Human Rel. Com.
Minutes:
1. The February minutes were reviewed and approved.
2. General meeting update: Maarten reported
that he has reserved the Fellowship Hall on Saturday, May
23
Pat Mercedes has volunteered to coordinate the cooking
for the event.
Bob said that he might be able to arrange some musical
entertainment.
We will use the April 24 newsletter to advertise the
event.
Jeff Farmer will be asked to display a sign which
promotes the event on his property, at the corner of Bush
and Church Streets.
3. Web page: The new web page is up and running (www.omvna.org) Maarten will solicit web page sponsorships. Meer.net is our sponsor.
4. S-curve from Evelyn to Villa via Bush Street: Five neighbors from Town Square and Accolade (sp?) developments spoke of their concerns over safety issues related to the S-curves. These neighbors and others in the development don’t feel that the installed portion of the S-curves is working well and are especially concerned about plans to finish the S-curves in the near future. Residents have written to the Mayor, voicing their concerns. The Mayor has replied, saying that it was too late to make any changes or to stop the project. There has been much discussion between the neighbors and the Planning Department.
The neighbors’ goal is halt the completion of the construction of the S-curves, and to have the existing S curve removed, with a barrier for traffic continuing down Bush Street and with the installation of stop signs at the appropriate intersections.
One of residents, who lives at the corner of Evelyn and Bush, had a hit-and-run driver lost control and drove into his front yard. It will cost the neighbor about $6,500 to repair the damage. There was an eye witness, but he didn’t get a license number. The situation demonstrates the problems with directing traffic around this corner.
There are also pedestrian access problems to and from the development created by the S-Curves. It is a confusing design for drivers and pedestrians alike. It isn’t always clear which ways cars are coming and going through the intersection, with many near accidents and one actual physical altercation. There has already been one known accident in the S-Curves.
At the March 12 Council Transportation Committee meeting, the neighbors tried to explain the situation. However, since it wasn’t an agendized item, the CTC couldn’t take action at that time. The neighbors plan to follow up with the CTC. They asked OMVNA for their understanding and support in resolving the problem.
Officer reports:
Maarten will ask the City to provide links from the City web page to those of the neighborhood associations.
Tim reported that Bank of America is willing to provide OMVNA with a free bank account. Bob said he would prefer to have an account at Wells Fargo because it offers online banking. He will approach Wells Fargo about providing OMVNA with a free account.
Bob asked about getting underground power lines for the neighborhood. Ronit volunteered to determine what is involved in moving power lines underground.
Ronit reported on having gone to a recent zoning administrator meeting related to a building proposal at 272 Bush. During the meeting, the zoning administrator insisted upon maintaining a large oak tree at the back of the lot. Ronit was pleased by the zoning administrator taking this initiative.
February 18, 1998
Attending:
Maarten Korringa, Chair
Ronit Bryant, Newsletter co-editor
Aaron Grossman, At Large
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Guests:
Jim Lynch, Community Development Department
Andrew Lee, Park and Castro
1. Maarten asked guest Jim Lynch, “What needs to happen to implement the Old Mountain View Neighborhood Preservation and Improvement Plan?” Jim provided the following general information and suggestions:
The Plan was adopted by the City Council in 1991. It has been used as a basis for the City-wide building guidelines. However the City Council decided not to require compliance to the building guidelines, with the exception to larger developments. Mr. Lynch said that the City needs to do a better job of educating the new and junior planners on the content of the guidelines, and he volunteered to do so. Mr. Lynch promised to report back to OMVNA on what he has been able to accomplish in this regard.
He said he will figure out a way to provide this kind of education for the planners on a regular basis, such as quarterly. Mr. Lynch recommended meeting with the zoning administrator. Maarten suggested putting the design guidelines on the new OMVNA web page. Mr. Lynch recommended that OMVNA should generate awareness and support for the guidelines within the neighborhood and to keep compliance of the guidelines as an ongoing priority for the neighborhood.
Mr. Lynch outlined the City’s Neighborhood Preservation Strategy. He reported on the City Council’s continued commitment to having an ongoing dialogue with City neighborhoods. About half of the Council Neighborhood Committee’s monthly meetings are conducted within the City planning areas, with senior City managers in attendance. The City Council and staff believe these neighborhood meetings a very good way to stay aware of the concerns within the neighborhoods. There is a special interest in code enforcement. Mr. Lynch noted that the Monta Loma neighborhood association is exploring a voluntary code enforcement strategy before turning violations over to the City. Members of the association will hang notices on the doors of residences which are violating codes. In this way, the Monta Loma neighborhood association hopes to be able to control “blight influences” within their neighborhood. Examples include garbage cans left out on lawns.
2. OMVNA Web Page Update
The new OMVNA web host has asked for free advertisement in the newsletter to cover the cost of a domain name for the OMVNA web page (www.omvna.org).
3. Mercy-Bush Neighborhood Park Update
The revised Open Space Plan will soon go to the City Council for approval. The plan now includes a recommendation for development of a mini park in the Whisman Planning Area, where the City recently purchased property for such a park. Development of a mini park at Mercy and Bush remains as a tier two priority in the plan.
4. Planning for next OMVNA general meeting
Maarten will determine if the Fellowship Hall of Trinity Methodist Church is available on May 9 or at some other date in May.