Meeting Minutes May 12, 2009

Ward 3 Neighborhood Association APPROVED
Minutes for Board Meeting of May 12, 2009
Bridge Street School Library
Attendees:
Board Members: Gerald Budgar, Owen Freeman-Daniels, Marianna McKim, Jim Nash, Fred Zimnoch, Bob Reckman, Joanne Mackiewicz, Madeline Weaver Blanchette and Lisa DiPiano.
Other attendees: Bill Mackiewicz, Jennifer Remillard, Mandaryn Gerry, Deb Christakos, Adam Cohen

1. Approval of Minutes – Fred
Minutes of the April 14th meeting was approved by a unanimous vote with the following addition under New Business - Update on Waste (NOT Storm) Water Treatment Pumps: Jim Nash added: It is worth noting that our waste water system is very impressive and now has new pumps. However, our storm water system which has very old pumps remains a concern.

2 Treasurer’s Report - Fred
- Expenses: $0.0
- Dues: None have been received since last meeting.
- Balance in FSB no interest checking: $689.86
- List serve: for Ward 3ab = 153 members. Added Mandy Gerry a “Vote YES” Captain for Ward 3.
- List serve messages: for this period = 2;

3. President’s Report – Jerry

City Election Forum:
Hawley Street Fires - Recent fires on Hawley Street are different than Hawley Street house fires because both fires began between 4-7am and were trash and car fires. It is suspected that both fires were arson. The fires a couple of years ago a few fires were started in the middle of the night.

Fairgrounds advisory board meeting was held on 4.28.09. A list of events that will be at the Fairgrounds was passed around. A Farmer’s craft/flea market is starting this Saturday, May 16th. Redevelopment Plan is still ongoing; Need to raise $ to begin phase one of the Master plan.

Zoning Notification Letter regarding proposed zoning changes on resident’s property
A revised letter was approved by Board members (Appendix 1) by email. We are seeking endorsements of the letter from Bay State, Florence Civic and Business, and Leeds community organizations before we send it to the Planning Board.

4. Nominating/Membership Committee Report – Jim
-Need to elect any associate board members? Tabled for next meeting.

5. Update from Bridge Street School Committee – Jim
Waiting to see the results of the override question.

6. Update on website content - Owen
Jim’s idea is to video our next two meetings; trial run. Post them and see how it flies. Permanent record of written minutes will continue with decisions being recorded, but details and conversations will be videoed.
Expressed concerns about video taping the meetings:
• if a person does not go to the meeting, then they would have to view the 2 hour video, rather then reading 2 pages.
• People viewing one person presenting their opinions and the viewer judging that person’s future opinions based on what was viewed or heard in that given circumstance..
• Audio will be easier; Video will take more time to handle.
• If people don’t feel comfortable being videoed then take it off the table.

The following motion was approved by the board:
Meetings will be recorded in digital audio and time-synced with the secretaries' minutes, which will make note of the time when discussions and briefings take place. The audio will be posted on the W3NA website and will be accessible to the public. The secretary will still be responsible for writing down attendees, motions made and voted on, and the time each agenda item was addressed. (Full document -Appendix 2 Ward 3 Neighborhood Association (W3NA) - Principles, Policies, Rules and Procedures for Website Management)

7. Sustainability Committee Update – Jim
-Update on Zoning Revisions Committee – Committee met 3 times including course on zoning. Getting up to speed and looking at minor zoning revisions.
-Update on Zero Lot Line Ordinance – approved by City Council. See minutes of April 14 for more detail or the Planning Board’s website.

8. Traffic Calming Committee Update – Lola, Lisa
Application was submitted to the Transportation Department of the DPW and a meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 4pm to defend the application. Good organizing and planning for this project by Lola, Lisa and other neighbors of the Hawley/Hockanum neighborhood.

9. Exit 19 of I-91 Committee Update – Jim
As of 5.7.09 the contract for the I-91 Interchange 19 project was awarded to TranSystems Corporation. They should receive their notice to proceed shortly. As you know, they are charged with the project development / design phase of the project. Once TranSystems gets up to speed on the project, they will be in touch regarding the next meeting of the Pioneer Advisory Committee.
A sub committee of the Exit19 group will be meeting on Wednesday, May 13 at 5:30 to continue discussion of traffic calming measures along Route 9 leading into the City.

10. Report of Business Representative - Owen.
Nothing to report at this time. Recruitment and surveying project will be revived this month.

11. Legislative Update from Councilor Reckman – Bob
Override: On ballot. Ward 3 Co-chairs Mandaryn Gerry and Deb Christakos from Vote Yes Northampton attended the meeting. They are organizing a campaign in favor of the override in Ward 3. A FAQ guide is available at http://www.voteyesnorthampton.org. Volunteer Signup sheet was passed around; phone banking will be held on Thursday, 6:30-8:30 or you may call from your home.
Landfill: Once the alternatives study is complete the BPW will hold a public hearing to get feedback on the report. The BPW will then decide if they want to apply to the City for a permit to expand the landfill. If they do apply (which I suspect they will) the first board to address the application will be the Planning Board which will have to approve the site plan. If the site plan is approved, the decision moves to the City Council. The landfill is an unusual case, because the Planning Board normally approves most requests. The zoning law, however, says that the City Council must approve requests for Municipal Heavy Use projects, which is how the landfill is classified. I am sure that the Council will hold at least one public hearing on the matter. It does require 6 votes to be approved. If the landfill is not expanded then all our trash will definitely have to go somewhere else after June 2011.


12. Update on “Best Practices” Committee- Bob and Lisa
Nothing new on this topic as reported in April’s minutes: The Best Practices Report is now in the hands of the City Council. Each council committee has been asked to look at the recommendations at their next meeting and to report back to the Council what steps they recommend for the recommendations in their area of expertise. Override vote will take energy away from Best Practices review process.

13. Update on proposed website offering summaries of city committee discussions
Nothing to report

14. Status of brochure updating, watch cards and membership drive – Owen/Joanne
Two thousand brochures were purchased. Watch Cards are finished, but non emergency number need to be added to cards by board members (413-587-1100). The cost was $70.00. Jerry will organize distribution of brochures and cards. Cards and override forum flyer will be stuffed in brochures and distributed by street.

Update on Override Forum and City Election Forum – Jim/Bob
Override Forum – The board expressed their concerns and thoughts on what a public forum should include. Some of the input is as follows:
- Questions should be addressed to the moderator
- Mayor should not be the only one answering questions
- Provide a large quantity of time for the question and answer period.
- Have an interactive focus

From this input the following proposal was approved by an email vote during the week of May 13, 2009.
--Gerry welcomes the public and explains the program.
--Mayor Higgins has 10 minutes to explain proposition 2 1/2 and provide some background about what is at stake.
--Kevin Lake has 10 minutes to talk about historical patterns of city spending. This will include information about comparing spending and taxes with inflation and income levels and with comparable communities in Massachusetts.
--A representative of Vote Yes Northampton makes their pitch for supporting the override.
--Two opponents of the override make their arguments against it for 5 minutes each. We are still thinking about who those people might be. Please let us know if you have any suggestions.
--Gerry then guides questions from the audience and make sure that everyone in front who wants to respond is able to do so.
--Gerry thanks the participants and the audience.
The forum will be held on June 16th at 7pm at Bridge Street School. Flyers will be made and distributed with brochures and the Watch Card.

15. Discussion about Al Southerland/Police incident - Lisa
Al Sunderland is a Veteran and acquainted to many residents. He is in the hospital in a coma like state. We talked about what we have ‘heard’ regarding the incident and we agreed that we don’t know a lot and it is difficult to confirm information.
We are hearing that family is suing and clamping down on information; Gazette didn’t speak to any of the witnesses; key witness is backing down from his statements.

Folks felt it was a City issue, and not a Ward 3 issue. We felt that the discussion was valuable because we want to have a forum to discuss what is happening in the City and not to be silent on issues and concerns of the community.


16. Special Presentations
Jennifer Remillard resident of Island Road presented information regarding the traffic concerns of Island Road residents. Traffic volume increases because of athletic events sponsored by the Western United Football Club and Northampton Soccer Club.

A special permit was granted to the soccer association by the ZBA to use the soccer fields. Zoning board was suppose to revisit, but never did. A cease and desist request was denied by Tony Patillo, the Building Commissioner and residents are now filing an appeal. Tony Patillo has requested from the BPW to put in sidewalks.

Other Concerns:
- There is a designated parking area at the beginning of the road, but this carpooling initiative is not being used or enforced.
- Farm field on the left was purchased in 2003. Local kids are ok; other field is used by out-of-state users.
- Street is encroached on by cars and lawns creep over road.
- Houses are close to roadside.

Her intention is to bring attention to W3NA and to other groups in hopes that groups will advocate for their concerns. We suggested that she contact the members of Ward 3 Traffic Calming Committee and the City’s transportation engineer to help organize residents. Perhaps a traffic count could be conducted.

North Street Associates – Adam Cohen presented maps and diagrams of the 21 unit housing project that is being proposed by Kohl Construction to the ConsCom and Planning Board on Thursday, May 14th starting at 5:30 with the ConsCom and continuing with the Planning Board at 7pm. He presented wetland and traffic implications if the project was approved. He encouraged all of us to attend the public hearing on May 14th.

New Business
ZONING in Perspective – Fred Zimmoch
The Northampton Zoning Regulations are Chapter 350 of the Northampton Code of Ordinances. A few years ago it was reformatted and codified by General Code of Rochester, NY so it now looks like other municipal codes in Massachusetts. An updated version of the entire Code is at the Forbes Library Reference Desk with catalog number JW844N.AO 2006.

A complete computer version of the Code with Table of Contents, Index, and Search Tool is available at the General Code web site (www.ecode360.com/?custId=NO2226) or from a link at the Office of Planning and Development (OPD) web site. The search tool works very well so you can search for terms like ZLL, URA, Overlay, Setback and find out what they mean.

Aleta DeLisle the OPD Admin. Assistant has a hard copy of Chapter 350 that she allows builders, contractors and others to borrow so that they may copy it at Paradise Copy on Conz Street. It’s small, less then 130 pages, so copying is ~$13 which very likely includes a binding. She can also answer general questions about zoning.

Chapter 350 has all the definition of zoning terms with necessary diagrams in Section 2.1, the Zoning Districts are listed in Section 3.1 and their definitions with applicable zoning regulations are in attachment 2 entitled: Dimensions & Densities. The Zero Lot Line (ZLL) development is Section 10.14.
The WEB has much good information on Zoning in our country and elsewhere. I also found OPD staff very helpful.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoning, www.normal.org/code/15_03.asp, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setback_(land_use) Adjourned at 9:00pm.

Appendix 1 Letter to the City regarding notification process to property owners regarding any proposed zoning changes. Final and Approved

To: Members of the Northampton City Council, Northampton Planning Board, and
Zoning Revision Committee
Re: Notice to property owners about proposed zoning changes
From: Board of Directors of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association
Gerald S. Budgar, President 584-2964 or gbudgar@rcn.com


As the city embarks on the process of rezoning to comply with the Sustainability Plan, there are a number of issues and concerns that we believe need to be addressed so the process is open, fair, and understandable to all residents of Northampton.

The city has a lengthy procedural process for discussing potential zoning changes. A lengthy and public process does not guarantee an informed and open one, which we believe should be the goal. We would like to suggest some meaningful steps city government should take to facilitate information flow to and participation by citizens.

Our first concern is a knowledge barrier resulting from the complexities in the zoning code itself. There doesn’t seem to be an easy, comprehensive way to describe the zoning districts or what it means to be in a particular district. We would ask that a simple, easy-to-understand guide to the zoning code be developed and distributed throughout the city.

Secondly, we hope that the City will commit to properly notify property owners when zoning changes are proposed. This notification should include a copy of the zone change legislation, reason for the change, a list of the sponsors, a description of the change with a diagram if necessary for clarity and the impact it will have on the property, and the time and location of meetings where property owners can learn about and comment on the proposals.

For most families in Northampton, their home is their most valuable and important asset. The city should have a clear policy that it will notify property owners when there’s a proposal to make any change to the zoning on that parcel. This is critical since the Sustainability Plan will likely generate many rezoning proposals. City residents should be confident they will be notified of any changes proposed for their properties and not find out one day the zoning was changed on their property without their knowledge.

We present a checklist of items we believe the city might use to accomplish these objectives:

Suggestions For Improving Information Flow To City Residents


Prepare An Easy To Understand Guide To The Zoning Code


• Provide materials that accompany the city’s zoning regulations that explain them in clear and simple language to minimize the citizen’s need for professional assistance.
• We urge the Office of Planning and Development to use such resources at its disposal to meet this goal as the Zoning Revisions Committee, the Northampton Design Forum, and the Planning Board.
• If necessary, seek outside assistance to meet this goal.


Prepare Notification Packet Surrounding Changes In Zoning Regulations (sent to each property owner when a zone change is proposed for his/her property):

• A copy of the proposed regulation with a layperson description of the general impact.
• A description of possible impacts
• A list of sponsors of the legislation
• A list of public venues (time and place) where information will be provided surrounding the new regulation
• A list of public venues (time and place) where public input will be sought concerning the new regulation
• A brief review of the ordinance process and how a citizen can make his or her voice heard
• We encourage the city to look for effective alternatives to direct mail notification to avoid the expense of this approach with the goal of notifying every citizen affected by the change.
• Establish a year-long process for any proposed zoning changes to provide a thorough public vetting.



Appendix 2 Ward 3 Neighborhood Association (W3NA) - Principles, Policies, Rules and Procedures for Website Management. Final and Approved

Ward 3 Neighborhood Association (W3NA) Website

Preamble
The W3NA's website (http://wardthree.com) is a run on Google's Blogger blog platform and is hosted by GoDaddy.com. The blog service that Google offers is extremely easy to update and we hope that many members of the board will take the initiative and do so. With this in mind, there should be a set of principles that guide and rules that govern website posting.

Principles for Posts
These principles are to be interpreted by individual W3NA board members who want to post to the website. Here are a list of principles to serve as a guide about what is acceptable to post:

-Any public statement from the City of Northampton, Public boards and committees established by the City, or other city-sponsored events, postings, and public statements. The same principle applies to Massachusetts State and potential US Federal government postings as well.

-Any statement the W3NA sends to its email list.

-Any event, gathering or fundraiser that is being hosted or sponsored by a non-profit, charitable, or community-oriented institution relating to ward 3 that is also open to anyone in ward 3.

Rules for Posts
These rules are meant to guide how postings are done to the website.

-Posts must include a title and, if applicable, a date.

-Posts should be labeled according to the kind of post it is-- categories are listed on the site and new ones can be created if necessary.

Procedures for Minutes
The W3NA board meets only once per month, during which minutes are taken. Committee meetings for the W3NA occur as needed and often contain minutes, sent to the board prior to its meeting to be approved. It is important to keep proper procedural rules for approving minutes, but also to make sure the posting of minutes is timely and effective.

Meetings will be recorded in digital audio and time-synced with the secretaries' minutes, which will make note of the time when discussions and briefings take place. The audio will be posted on the W3NA website and will be accessible to the public. The secretary will still be responsible for writing down attendees, motions made and voted on, and the time each agenda item was addressed. We also hope that an exemplary secretary will make good faith efforts to record the general topics of conversation and briefings received.

Addendum 1
Reference to Al Southerland/Police Incident: Jim Nash reported that The Gazette was unable to reach the witnesses cited in the Poverty is Not a Crime posting. They made attempts. The recanting of a key witness from the PINAC report was reported to me by a Veteran affiliated with VA. In addition, Jim reported that this same Veteran had visited Mr. Southerland at Cooley-Dickinson Hospital and reported to me Mr. Southerland's face did not appear bruised. He also reported that Mr. Southerland was in poor health during the weeks leading up to the incident at Urban Outfitters. One PINAC report cites that Mr. Southerland had recently had his spleen removed. Lastly, this same Veteran rhetorically asked if a report of abuse or a crime had been filed by anyone? He had not heard of any.