South End Neighborhood Council s1

South End Neighborhood Council (SENCo) Minutes of the Board Meeting held November 19, 2012

Present: Earl Brydson, Chair; William King, Corresponding Secretary; Katherine Sutalo, Secretary; Cary Nilson; Brian Kilen; Kristin King.

The Board voted to adopt the minutes of the October board meeting. Fire Department Liaison: Dale Vaughn reported that Fire Department call volume through October is up 3% over the same time last year. Chief Duggan presented his budget proposal to the City Council about 2 weeks ago. This month’s safety handout is on home heating safety. The emergency preparedness message is about sheltering in place in case of toxic fumes. Metro Parks Liaison: Roxanne Miles reported that the Park Board will have its first public hearing on the 2013-2014 proposed budget next Monday. This budget shows fourteen employee positions being eliminated, and rental fees and entrance fees at attractions being increased. The Park District has deliberately increased its reserves to 10% over the last two years; they will need to use some of it again over the next two years assuming property tax collections remain low. There is a new book out on the history of Point Defiance Park. Upcoming events include the 19th Century Christmas at Fort Nisqually and the Turkey Trot. City Manager’s Liaison: Katie Johnston reported that most departments’ budget presentations have been made to the City Council, and they are available to view online. The final budget is expected to be approved on December 4th. On the same day, two additional income proposals will be voted on by Council: creating a transportation district which will charge an extra $20 for car tabs, and removing the Business & Occupation tax exemption for non-profit hospitals. The car tabs are expected to raise about $2 million a year towards street maintenance, and the increase in hospital tax is expected to raise about $3 million a year. No liaisons present from the Police, School District or Public Utilities. SENCo Board Elections No new people submitted applications to the SENCo board, so Cary Nilson, Jim Brekke, Anthony Caldwell and Earl Brydson were re-elected without contest. Earl Brydson was also re- elected by the board to be its chair. Gia Casto declined to run again for her position, so it is now vacant. Vice-chair Fred Brookshier’s position is also vacant, because he is resigning for health reasons. Mr. Brydson nominated Mr. Nilson as the new vice-chair, and he was approved by voice vote. Mr. King will note the vacant positions on SENCo’s website.

Speaker Dan Soderlind from Public Works Engineering gave a presentation about the Tacoma Avenue South Bridge over South Tacoma Way. Currently the outside lanes are closed because the bridge needs repair. The City plans to tear off the old surface, repair any damage, and pour a new concrete bridge deck. The new bridge deck will have two car lanes and a turn lane, and each side will have a bike lane and a sidewalk.

The bridge is required to have a guard rail, which can be either steel or concrete. The concrete rail can look more historic to match the old bridge, but it can crack and be hard to repair. The

SENCo Minutes 11-19-2012 Page 1 of 3 steel rail is lighter, which will help the bridge withstand heavy loads and earthquakes, and may be easier to repair. The rail can go near the curb between pedestrians and the bike lane, or can go along the outside of the bridge.

There also needs to be a 10-foot high fence along the bridge where there are train tracks below, to keep people from throwing things onto the track. It made sense to those present to continue the fence along the whole length of the bridge. The ornamental streetlights shown in the pictures do not represent what will actually be used.

There are also two options for construction: either close the whole bridge and complete all the construction at once, or close half at a time to work, and keep the bridge open during construction. The board and citizens present appeared to prefer closing the bridge entirely – it will get done faster and cheaper that way. Drivers can use Yakima or M Street or Pacific Avenue. The work is expected to begin in fall of 2013 and take a year to complete (may be a year and a half if part of the bridge is kept open during construction). The Pacific Avenue Bridge over I-5 will be torn down and replaced, but the City is coordinating with the State to get the Tacoma Avenue Bridge done first, so it can handle the detour traffic from the work on Pacific.

Gas Station Park (4801 South Park Avenue) The main playground piece is installed and the chips are spread. There is a smaller piece donated by the Gargoyles that has not been delivered yet. The City has installed grass and a gravel walkway, and a spigot for a hose. Water use will be billed to SENCo; Mr. Brydson has already placed a lock on the spigot; he will also add a piece to the gate so it can be locked without using a chain. Public Works has offered to repair the cracks in the concrete basketball court. Mr. Brydson suggested SENCo buy a hose and reel, and let the Gargoyles, who maintain the park, use the riding mower from the Fallen Riders park. But a representative from the Gargoyles said the work is done with juveniles required to perform community service, so they would rather use push mowers. This project did not use all of the money we budgeted for it. Since most of the money came from unspent Neighborhood Council grants, the remaining money will go back into that fund. We may want another grant in future, or participation in the City’s arts program, to get the mural re- painted. Community Concerns The president of the Gargoyles said Tami Scheidt from ENACT knows how to get funds for murals. Also he said the board elections looked very unfair – there were very few voters present, and no new people running for election, so the board members essentially re-elected themselves. He said our website was down a couple of months ago when he checked, and we don’t send out mass e-mails, so he sees no way to get information about SENCo’s activities. Ms. Casto replied that citizens have a responsibility to seek out ways to get involved in their neighborhoods. SENCo has not had a good email system, and the website has only recently been improved, but board members seek input from community members and often get no response. Mr. King set up a Facebook page for SENCo, under sencotacoma. No Old or New Business

SENCo Minutes 11-19-2012 Page 2 of 3 Board Reports The Treasurer was not present, but Mr. Brydson reported that SENCo has $2,417.59 in its checking account, plus $105.06 received from the Community Council as a rebate from the $200 we sent to help cover expenses for last September’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Neighborhood Councils program. The Across the Fence committee still meets, but their programs are carried within Cityline and Cityscape. The next topic will be the year-end review; Mr. Brydson will represent SENCo. Ms. Casto would like to continue to represent SENCo on the Across the Fence committee, even though her term on SENCo’s board has expired; the board accepted her offer by unanimous vote. The Pacific Avenue Business District is doing a 12 Days of Christmas promotion, highlighting different businesses each day of the Christmas season.

Minutes submitted by Katherine Sutalo, November 26, 2012.

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