Oread Neighborhood Association
Thursday, September 25, 2008 @ 7:00 PM
Plymouth Congregational Church – Meeting Room 202N
Minutes

Approved with One Addition:  October 23, 2008

Board Members Attending:  Ann Blackhurst, Candy Davis, James Dunn, Marci Francisco, Christy Kennedy, Beth Reiber, Jerry Stubbs, Kyle Thompson

Oread Neighbors/Property Owners Attending:  Jon Davis, Rob Farha, Jeff Hatfield, Melinda Henderson

Absent Board Members:  Rene Diaz, Charity Grace, Ellie LeCompte, Carol von Tersch

City Sales Tax Proposals – Special Guest Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
Diane spoke with neighbors about the city sales tax proposals that will be included on the November ballot.  
1	Question #1 (0.3%) for streets and infrastructure:  Funds will be used to improve and maintain streets, sidewalks, trails, fire equipment and storm sewers.  
o	About 2/3 of the streets in Lawrence need some intensive maintenance.  About 1/3 of the city streets need to be completely rebuilt.  
o	There are a number of fire trucks that will need to be replaced.  Each truck costs between $500,000 to $1,000,000.  
2	Question #2 (0.2%) and #3 (0.05%) for public transportation:  Questions #2 and #3 must pass together in order for the tax to become effective.  Funds will be used to possibly merge the city transit system with KU’s system, provide for route enhancements and vehicle/facility improvements.
If approved, these taxes will be in place for 10 years beginning on April 01, 2009.  If all three of these questions pass, a $100 sale would be charged $0.55 for these taxes.

Neighborhood Comment
1	There was an inquiry about whether the City of Lawrence would have the highest city sales tax in the state if these questions pass.  If all three pass, the city’s sales tax rate would go to 7.85%.  This is currently at 7.3%.  City sales tax in other communities are:
o	Ottawa = 7.9%, 
o	Overland Park and Olathe = 7.525%.  There is a pending Johnson county ballot initiative that would increase the sales tax to 7.65%, 
o	Shawnee = 7.65% to 7.775% if the ballot initiative is passed.  
o	Lenexa = 7.9% to 8.025% if the ballot initiative is passed.   
2	There was concern about the fact that the State of Kansas taxes food.  There should be some kind of effort to have this tax removed.  
3	How will infrastructure improvements be prioritized?  City staff has put together a list for potential road improvement projects.  There is a sidewalk gap map that will be used to identify where improvements can be made.  Areas of the highest need will be at the top of the list for improvements.  The new tax for streets and infrastructure improvements will provide the funding needed to proceed with projects that are currently unfunded.  
4	An Oread neighbor attended a Kansas Department of Transportation meeting recently and learned that there are some bills pending in the federal Congress for additional monies for mass transit.  If more federal and state money becomes available in the next few years for transit, how would that affect this sales tax?  If the tax is approved, this will be dedicated exclusively to transit.  An oversight committee will be set up to ensure that that is happening.  If new revenue would become available, the city would have to decide if there would be an increase in service or there could be a vote to rescind the tax.
5	There was a question about how the ballot language will read.  This can be found on the city’s website.  There is also additional information about these proposed taxes available on the city’s website as well.  

Treasurer’s Report

Register Reports:  Register reports from the ONA accounts were reviewed.  The balances were as follows:
1	Treasurer Account:  $7,190.46
2	Coordinator Account: $75.00 is needed to cover the 9/19 payroll.  Funds from the Coordinator account were used to purchase hot dogs, buns and veggie burgers for the Lawrence Community Shelter annual block party.

ONA Membership Income:  Membership income received since August 01, 2008, is $32.00.

Coordinator’s Report

Review May, June, July and August 2008 Neighborhood Meeting Minutes
1	May Meeting Minutes:  Approved as written.  
2	June Meeting Minutes:  Approved with one change to the list attendees.  Kyle Thompson will be identified as an Oread neighbor in attendance rather than grouped with the list of board members attending.  
3	July Meeting Minutes:  Approved as written.
4	August Meeting Minutes:  Marci Francisco will be added to the list of Board Members absent from the meeting.  She was attending the Democratic National Convention at the time of the August meeting.  Charity Grace also needs to be added to the ‘absent’ list.  

Demolition Permit Applications
None received since the August 28th meeting

Blight Follow-Up
1043 Indiana (KU Property)  
An appraiser has been hired to prepare two bids.  Those are:
a)	A bid for the house and lots 11 and 12 only.
b)	A bid for the house and lots 10, 11, and 12.

A hypothetical scenario was presented to Planning and Development Services to determine how much parking would be required if it would be renovated into a boarding house.  Prior to use by the University, there were eight bedrooms in this home.  Eight bedrooms, with a maximum of two occupants per room, would require a total of 12 parking spaces (i.e.:  1.5 spaces per two occupants).  The neighborhood would like for the University to sell enough property with the house to ensure that parking can be made available by the future property owner.  The back half of adjacent lots could be re-platted to meet this need.  This would also ensure that the existing parking on the front half of the lots, accessed from Indiana Street, would be retained by the University.  

Board of Zoning Appeals - October 2nd agenda 
1005 Indiana 
1	This property was destroyed by fire on July 31, 2008.  The residence was being used as a boarding house, without parking or BZA approval for no parking, prior to the fire.
2	Two variances have been proposed for this property.  Those are:  to reduce the building setbacks for a principal structure in an RM32 District and to not provide any off-street parking spaces for an 8-bedroom congregate residence.

Neighborhood Discussion
3	The Oread Neighborhood Association sent a letter to the city stating that the neighborhood is not in favor of granting the requested parking variance.  That action would disregard the codes that are in place to protect the neighborhood and interests of all of the residents, renters as well as homeowners.  The neighborhoods best defense against densely populated houses is code compliance.  Codes lose effectiveness when exceptions are made.  The request should be for fewer spaces that reflect plans for a more modest use of the property.    
4	The neighborhood acknowledges that this situation was created by fire and not the action of the property owners.  It is likely that the BZA will take this into consideration when evaluating the requested variances.  
5	There is a large parking lot on the 1000 block of Indiana.  If 1005 Indiana were to be demolished and left a vacant lot, this would create a hole in the block.  This is the same situation that exists on Louisiana Street.  A hole will be created when 1232 Louisiana is demolished.  This is something that the neighborhood did not want to see happen.  The more vacant property there is, the more opportunity there is to demolish adjacent properties and end up with condominiums or apartment complexes.  Ideally, replacement structures should be the same size as what was originally built.  This is important to the continuity of the neighborhood and its historical character.  
6	The property owners do want to rebuild a structure that is the same size as the home that burned and they are known for doing good work.  This is an income producing property and future occupancy is an issue that will impact the bottom line for the property owners.  When they bought the property, it was already being used as a boarding house and they do not know what the history of the house was in regards to zoning and parking requirements.
7	If the requested variances are not approved, it is likely that the property will be sold.  The outcome could be that the next property owner would not have the same standards of quality as the current owners exhibit in their projects.  An alternative for neighbors to consider would be to find someone who would be willing to purchase 1005 Indiana and rebuild it at the size that the neighborhood would like.
8	The circumstances that lead up to the current situation was cause for concern about the tenants and whether the property owners assume responsibility for monitoring their actions.  The property owners assured neighbors that if someone were to call them to report a problem; they would be more than happy to deal with it.  They were not aware of anything that was going on at 1005 Indiana.  The majority of their properties are located on the other side of the hill; Kentucky and Tennessee Streets.  They drive by those properties often and they see what is going on.  While there was an accident at 1005 Indiana, the students who lived there are good kids and come from reputable families in the community.  
9	There are parking issues in Oread and the neighborhood has a vested interest in ensuring that precedence is not set; allowing for future, similar requests from other property owners.  At one point in time, the Oread neighborhood had concerns that people would use arson as a way to redevelop.  If people have insurance and they don’t want to rehab their property, or can’t afford to, and they find that if there is a fire they don’t have to follow city code, that could encourage arson.
10	The property owners do want to be good neighbors.  For example, when they do a move-in they spend ~45 minutes talking with the tenants and their parents about what is expected (i.e.:  noise, trash, etc.).  They also have a retired gentleman who checks all of their properties on Monday mornings to see if trash has been picked up, if screens are coming off of windows, etc. and he reports back to them.     

Historic Resources Commission - September 18th agenda 
There were no questions or comments about the following agenda items that fall within the Oread Neighborhood boundaries: 
11	Item No. 6:  Downtown Design Guidelines
·	930 Ohio Street Site Plan (Administrative Review):  Rehabilitation of this property was approved by the HRC at the June 19, 2008 meeting.

New Business

CDBG Budget Year 2008:  Allocation = $9,901 (annual budget reduced by $2,330)
The following proposal was presented for consideration:
12	Three newsletters per year:  August, January, and May
13	Reduce Coordinator hours to ~10.5 hours per week.

The timing of the newsletters will coincide with the ebb and flow of Oread residents who live in rental properties.  The neighborhood will be able to educate incoming and departing tenants about good neighbor practices and highlight the ongoing efforts to preserve the history and integrity of the neighborhood.  In addition to CDBG funding, the neighborhood receives advertising and membership income; totaling approximately $1,000 per year.  Some of these funds can be used to pay for newsletter expenses.  

The neighborhood recommended that the Coordinator be paid for 12 hours per week instead of the proposed 10.5 hours.  Currently, the Coordinator is paid at $10.00 per hour.  The neighborhood would like to ensure that the hourly rate is not less than the city’s living wage.  

	MOTION:	Pay the Coordinator for 12 hours per week at $10 per hour or whatever the living wage is if it is above $10 per hour.  Three newsletters will be published each year; August, January and May.  

	VOTE:	Approved unanimously

Identify Nominating Committee
The following is an excerpt from the ONA By-Laws:
The Board of Directors shall name a nominating committee of at least three (3) general members by or before the August Board Meeting of the Association.  The nominating committee shall recommend to the general members at the September/October meeting a slate of candidates for all positions to be voted upon at the annual meeting.
Because of the changes that need to be made due to budget cuts, the annual meeting will be held in February 2009 so that this can be announced in the January newsletter.  In subsequent years, the annual meeting will be announced in the August newsletter and elections will occur at the September meeting.  The by-laws will need to be revised to reflect this change; identify nominating committee in June, recommendations made at the July/August meeting and elections will occur at the September meeting.   

A nominating committee will be identified at the October neighborhood meeting.

CDBG Blight Project
One of the reasons that the neighborhood receives CDBG funds is to fight blight and improve the neighborhood.  It will be important for the neighborhood to identify what steps have been taken, and what will be done next, to address blight in the neighborhood.  This information needs to be documented in the grant application that will be due on December 1st.  The first hour of the October 23rd neighborhood meeting will be dedicated to this discussion.  The neighborhood’s performance measures need to reflect how progress is being made towards the goal of eliminating blight.

January Neighborhood Meeting
The following items will be included on the agenda and announced in the January newsletter:
1	Board member elections
2	Talk with the neighborhood about the blight survey that will be planned in October and submitted with the CDBG application in December.  Someone from the city may be invited to speak with the neighborhood about addressing blight as well.  

Westar’s Energy Efficiency Message:  Guest Speaker?
Katie Rex, Westar Energy’s Efficiency Works department, will be invited to make a presentation at the December neighborhood meeting.  This meeting will also include a holiday party.
1	Proposed Location:  Castle Tea Room
2	Proposed Date:  If possible, the neighborhood would like to hold this meeting on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.    

Because there will not be a fall newsletter, the event will be announced on the neighborhood’s website and postcards will be mailed out to everyone who has paid their membership in the last four years.  This will help to reduce the cost of announcing the event.    

Meeting Schedule  
The November neighborhood meeting will be held on the third Thursday of the month instead of the fourth Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  The neighborhood will continue to meet on the fourth Thursday of the month at Plymouth in 2009.

Old Business

Recap Lawrence Community Shelter Block Party
Everyone who attended the event had a good time.  The neighborhood appreciates that Checkers grocery was able to give them a discount on the food purchased for the event; the Oread neighborhood contributed hot dogs, buns and veggie burgers.

Study Session Follow Up / Rental Registration and Trash Ordinance
According to information received from Dave Corliss, enhancements to the trash ordinance will be considered by the City Commission in mid-October and the draft rental registration is still being prepared and will come later.  

Occupancy at 1045 Tennessee
The city has checked occupancy at this address and found that there are only four people living there.  This is what is allowed by code.  

CDBG Capital Improvement Project:   Water meter and faucet for the community garden
A letter is still needed from the property owners endorsing the installation of the meter.  

Miscellaneous Reports

Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods (Candy Davis)
LAN continues to discuss the proposed homeless facilities text amendments being considered by the city.  

Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee (Marci Francisco)
James Dunn was the only one who attended the NRAC public hearing and he had good comments for the committee to consider.  NRAC will be meeting with the City Commission in November to identify how they want to be spending CDBG funding.  They will be asked what they would like to do about neighborhood groups, special projects, and should they continue to support Housing and Credit Counseling (home funds), etc.  NRAC will not be meeting in October but will meet again prior to the meeting with the City Commission.  One thing to be included on the October neighborhood meeting agenda will be discussion about is there anything that Oread would like to bring up with the City Commission about CDBG.  

1232 Louisiana – Salvage prior to Demolition?
At the August meeting, neighbors had expressed an interest in salvaging items from the interior of the home prior to demolition of the property.  The letter to Price Banks is still in the works.

Deferred Agenda Items
1	Campus Heritage Plan:  http://www.dcm.ku.edu/planning/heritage.shtml
2	ONA Website:  Discuss establishing a coordinator account and an e-mail list protocol

FYI and Reminders

Voter Education Coalition:  Information about upcoming candidate forums was included with the agenda.

1232 Louisiana:  Demolition approved by the City Commission on 08/12/08 with conditions that included:
1	Neighborhood Plan:  This will need to be updated prior to building a replacement structure.
2	Parking:  Following demolition, the property cannot be used as a parking lot.

Neighborhood Clean-Up:  Would neighbors like to do this?

Furniture on Porches:  Outdoor furniture is defined as follows, “Furniture, Outdoor shall mean weather-resistant furniture designed and manufactured for outdoor use.”  (City Code Chapter IX.  Health and Sanitation – Page 9-20 – Definitions (J).)

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.