Oread Neighborhood Association
Thursday, January 22, 2009 @ 7:00 PM
Meeting Location:  Plymouth Congregational Church
Minutes

Approved as Submitted:  02/26/09

Board Members Attending:  Candy Davis, James Dunn, Marci Francisco, Beth Reiber, Jerry Stubbs, Kyle Thompson, and Carol von Tersch

Absent Board Members:  Ann Blackhurst, Rene Diaz, Charity Grace, Christy Kennedy and Ellie Lecompte

Guest:  Nancy Dunn, Linda Haskins, and Brian Jimenez

Special Guest – Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Manager
Expansion of Rental Registration / Neighborhood Blight Survey

Expanding rental registration to all rental properties in the city that are 50+ years old would have a significant impact on the Oread Neighborhood; 91% of the property is rental while 9% is owner occupied.  There is a high percentage of aging housing stock used as rentals in Oread.  Some of the structures are in poor condition, have public safety items that need to be addressed, and fire code issues.  
•	If a tenant has a concern about the property that they are living in, they can contact the city to report this.  Neighbors cannot do this for tenants.
•	Minimum standards required by code need to be adhered to; public safety being a first priority.
•	The city typically vacates one or two properties each year; five or six properties have been vacated recently.
•	There has been more concern expressed about the potential for losing rental income than there has been over the cost of paying the proposed rental registration annual fee.  It can be assumed that there are rental properties that are over-occupancy according to how a residence is designated (i.e.:  boarding house, single-family, etc.).  
•	It is estimated that there are ~2,500 rental units in the City of Lawrence that are 50+ years or older; ~1,600 of those are in the Oread neighborhood.  
•	In the proposal, the city will identify the age of a property according to how the Appraiser’s office does this.  When a building permit is issued by the City, this is reported to the Appraiser’s office.  This is beneficial for property owners because if a major remodel has been done, it is likely that the Appraiser’s office will adjust the “year built” to the date when the building permit was pulled.  
•	Absentee landlords can be problematic.  Depending on the severity of a condition requiring repair, the tenant can be asked to vacate a property if corrections are not made.  The city also has the option of taking the property owner to court if they do not address the city’s request but this is difficult to enforce.  The revised ordinance would require that absentee property owners have a local agent who will accept responsibility for the property and serve as a contact that can be used by the city if questions or concerns should arise.  
•	It was suggested that a city inspection be required upon sale of a property.  The individual purchasing a property needs to know if the structure meets minimum city code and, if not, where deficiencies exist.  This is not a service provided by private inspection businesses.
•	If a rental registration fee were to be implemented city-wide, regardless of the age of a property, it would be important to ensure those who pay the fee can receive a service upon request.  While most people won’t ask for it, inspections should be available for everyone but only required for structures that are 50+ years old.    

The structural blight information gathered by Oread neighbors will be provided to Development Services.  As time allows, they will be able to get out, take a look at things and begin the process of having blighted conditions corrected.  It is not the neighborhood’s intention to overburden city resources; the neighborhood is willing to assist and welcomes suggestions for what can be done.  

Coordinator’s Report

Financials  
Register reports from the ONA accounts were reviewed.  The balances were as follows:
•	Treasurer Account:  $7,143.41
•	Coordinator Account:  $3.62

Credit Union of Johnson County Quarterly Report; account formerly with Free State Credit Union.  Account balances were as follows:
•	Regular Share Account:  $11.39
•	Special Share Account:  $2,941.26

ONA Membership Income:  Membership income received since August 01, 2008, is $226.00.

Review Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the December 2008 meeting were approved as submitted.  

Demolition Permit Applications
None received since the December meeting

Blight Follow-Up

1043 Indiana (KU Property)
There has been no decision yet as to exactly how and when the property will be sold.  The University has narrowed their options and they are moving toward a final decision.
  
1232 Louisiana (Approved for Demolition in August)
There was nothing new to report.  Documentation of the existing structure is still pending.  This is needed before the structure can be demolished.  

Environmental Blight
Two Oread properties have been reported to the city for excessive trash / furniture which could pose a fire hazard.  A note from Julie Wyatt, Code Enforcement Officer, states that Dan Johnson, Environmental Inspector, will be handling this inquiry.

Board of Zoning Appeals  
The BZA did not meet in January.

Historic Resources Commission - January 15th Meeting
There were no questions or comments in reference to the following items that fall within the Oread neighborhood boundaries:
•	1029 Massachusetts Street (Administrative Review):  Sign for Mass Street Hookah (formerly Play It Again Sports)
•	905 Tennessee (Administrative Review):   Ramp for Family Promise Day Center
•	943 Massachusetts Street (Administrative Review):  Hospitality Area for Jackpot Saloon

New Business

Identify Second Quarter Performance Measures - November 2008 thru January 2009
The activities of the neighborhood association support the following CDBG funding priorities identified by the Community Development Advisory Committee:
•	Activities which foster neighborhood improvement, stability and encourage sense of community
•	Projects that identify and address blighted residential areas
•	Activities that improve quality of housing stock – decent, safe, sanitary, accessible
•	Projects to encourage income and owner/rental mix
Neighborhood activities also meet the following national objective:
•	Aid in the prevention or elimination of slum or blight.

Quarterly Performance Measures – November 2008 thru January 2009 	
Date	Activity Description	Number of Attendees	
11/06/2008	Oread Representation at Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting	3	
11/20/2008	Monthly Neighborhood Meeting	6	
11/24/2008	Family Promise Meeting at Plymouth Congregational Church	3	
12/04/2008	Oread Representation at Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting	2	
12/10/2008	Meeting with Oread Inn Developers and City Planning Staff to discuss changes to the streetscape for the hotel.	2	
12/28/2008	Monthly Neighborhood Meeting	10	
01/06/2009	Neighborhood Plan Meeting with Planning and Development Services Staff	5	
01/10/2009	Town Meeting on Homelessness	10	
01/15/2009	Rental Registration – City of Lawrence Meeting	3	
Third Week of January	Distribution of Neighborhood Newsletter	Sent to +2,000 residents	
01/22/2009	Monthly Neighborhood Meeting	10	
01/23/2009	Oread Inn Progress Meeting:  Discuss construction timelines; anticipated completion date is January 2010.	2	
NOTE:  According to the City of Lawrence 2007 Action Plan, 91% of Oread is renter occupied while 9% is owner occupied.  

Winter Newsletter Review
Neighbors really liked the newsletter.

Old Business

Neighborhood Plan Update
Michelle Leininger, Area and Neighborhood Planner, is preparing the notice that will go out to stakeholders announcing the first public meeting to be held on Monday, February 9th.  Neighbors and city staff will begin discussing revising the neighborhood plan.  At the preliminary meeting, held on January 6th, it was mentioned that there are living groups in Oread that should be notified about the public meetings.  The fraternities / sororities located in Oread will receive notice about the public meeting.  The Student Cooperatives and Scholarship Halls should be informed as well.  

There will be a brainstorming meeting on Sunday, February 1st, to identify what the neighborhood would like accomplish in the revised neighborhood plan.  It would be beneficial to identify clear goals prior to the pubic meeting.  The existing synopsis of the neighborhood plan will be scanned and sent to neighbors for review prior to the February 1st meeting.  It would also be beneficial for neighbors to have city code information as it relates to occupancy, zoning, parking, definition of family, etc.  This will be collected and distributed prior to the meeting as well.

Historic Designation – District 1 – Grant Notification
Lynne Zollner, Historic Resources Administrator, wanted to know if someone would be willing to attend the Kansas State Sites Board Public Hearing to be held on February 10th.  While this is a public hearing, it does require some collaboration as to who should speak and for how long because only ~5-minutes is allotted for each proposal.    

If awarded, the grant funding will be used to survey the properties in District 1 for the purpose of establishing an historic district in this area.  District 1 is located generally north of the KU football stadium.

Board Member Elections
According to ONA by-laws, there are to be four elected officers, two at large members, and six area representatives who serve on the Board of Directors.  The following appointments will be considered at the February Neighborhood meeting:

Title / District	Name	
President	Kyle Thompson (District 3)	
Vice President	Candy Davis (District 2)	
Secretary	Beth Reiber (District 4)	
Treasurer	James Dunn (District 2)	
District 1	Linda Haskins	
District 2	Rene Diaz	
District 3	Ellie Lecompte	
District 4	Carol von Tersch	
District 5	Marci Francisco	
District 6	Christy Kennedy	
At Large Members	Charity Grace (District 4) and Jerry Stubbs (District 2)	

Perhaps elected board members can act as the nominating committee for future elections.  They could opt to continue to serve in their position or agree to find someone new to take their place.   

Miscellaneous Reports

Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods
The ONA representative asked LAN for their opinion about whether Downtown Lawrence should be included in Oread’s neighborhood plan.  No one really had anything to say in response to this.

Brian Jimenez was at the January LAN meeting and spoke with the group about expanding the rental registration program too.  There have been 7,000 violations identified in rental properties located in single-family zoned neighborhoods; some that were life-threatening.

Community Development Advisory Committee (formerly NRAC)
The CDAC is beginning the process of reviewing BY2009 applications.  The Federal government is still operating under a continuing resolution because they have not adopted a budget yet.  It is assumed that the same dollars allocated last year will be available again this year.  

There may be additional CDBG money available due to the stimulus.  Neighbors are encouraged to be thinking about “shovel ready” projects that could be funded with this money.  One of the easiest projects would probably be sidewalks.  

FYI and Reminders

St. John’s Parking Lot:  The church parking lot on the west side of Kentucky now has a fence around it.  Ten to fifteen cars used to use this lot for public parking and now this is no longer available.  

Campus Heritage Plan:  http://www.dcm.ku.edu/planning/heritage.shtml

1232 Louisiana:  Demolition approved by the City Commission on 08/12/08 with conditions that included: 
•	Neighborhood Plan:  This will need to be updated prior to building a replacement structure.
•	Parking:  Following demolition, the property cannot be used as a parking lot.
•	Salvage:  A request has been sent to Price Banks concerning this.  Response pending.

Over-Occupancy Violations (RM District – Code Amendment):  Currently on hold because the city is considering expanding the rental registration program to include structures that are 50+ years old.

Graffiti Removal:  Check out http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief38.htm