Neighborhood Council Minutes
March 13, 2013

Meeting called to order at 6:30 pm by Jan Loux,Chair.

Attendance: Carol Bryan, Susan Burna, Audrey Coner, Raynell Cook, Mary Jo Faulheber, Charlie Greenwood, Jan Loux, Barbara Morrissey, Matthew Phillipy ,Nancy Roth, Paula Richards, Nate Ziegler. Excused absence: Steve Loux, Jon Snyder. Resigned( informed Barbara) Scott Buxton,  Rayette and Buck( to Anchorage and "we aren't coming back!) Guests: Officer Rex Olson, SPD, Justice Terry Staab, Spokane Municipal Court

Reports: Officer Olson said the crime report for PV in Feb was only one incident of malicious mischief. in contrast to numerous reports in BA on Riverside. Matthew reported the first group of hillside campers had arrived and been moved on. Raynell said she had advised campers under the bridge they also needed to move on and them cooperated.

Community Assembly  Susan Burns reported ONS has contacted high school students to help with neighborhood web sites. We can contact Boris for this. (If anyone has photos, let Barbara know) OONS will send out port cards with meeting announcements to all resident households, a limited number of times a year.

Guest Speaker Justice Tracie Staab made a presentation on the Spokane Municipal Court program, which was enlightening. The court aims to keep persons with misdemeanor  offenses out of the city jail, or at least reduce the number of days a convicted person spends there, a cost cutting measure. Justice Staab added the city jail has been on "critical" status much of this year. The Municipal Court Program aims to also reduce recidivism. When first started in 2009  it was the second largest municipal court in the state, and still remains a high volume court. The court does not handle felonies. Misdemeanors range in severity from unpaid fines to simple assault,  selected domestic violence cases, many types of drug offenses, theft, malicious mischief, and  DUI's. There are several programs for sentencing and followup. The court is collecting a lot of data on it's results. Electronic home monitoring ability has increased significantly with new technologies, including GPS, which at times allows individuals to even keep their jobs, or attend school. A special program is working to get people with unpaid fines out of the vicious cycle of "unpaid fine, increase in fine the next time, lose your license, lose your job, etc etc etc," until "jail time" is ordered, which makes little sense according to Justice Staab. Their goal is to change and educate people out of this behavior, while working out a payment schedule they can afford for the fine. Municipal Court also handles all City infractions and parking tickets.  For more information about the Municipal Court and it's programs, check their website,  www.SpokaneMunicipal Court.org   Justice Staab's presentation covered a lot more material than is in these minutes.

Minutes of Feb  approved.
Community Center Building: Jan reported on the WSU students class projects for the building and Glover Field areas, They will do a revised report in April. Matt voiced objection to any homeless housing in the Glover Field Area. Jan read Leroy Eadie's (Parks) e-mail to her in which he stated his plan is to demolish the building once the LFCC after- school children's program moves.Matt, Jan and Jon Snyder will meet with with Leroy later in March about these plans. Jan also reported on her conversation with Mike Taylor about the possible impact of the CSO site on Glover field plans. This CSO site still has not been finalized. The city is under a federal mandate to get storm water out of the Spokane River. The timeline  is 30 months for design and 20 months for construction. The project must be completed by 2019. Archeological review and geotech have been initiated for the Glover Field site and a site on Main.

Traffic Calming  Susan reported she has received many responses from individuals in the neighborhood with proposals for traffic calming.She noticed parts of the neighborhood have different views of what would work. She recommended an ad hoc committee be set up to start collecting data. Susan, Nancy and Charlie were approved to  form the committee and will make a presentation at our April meeting. 

Community Garden Audrey Conner is the new coordinator ( audrey at Community minded enterprises). First step is to repair the vandalism done to several of the raised beds by someone driving over them.

Mess on the 1900 block of Clarke, south side, empty lots. Jan reported it has been hard to figure out how this state of affairs came about.Several residents who have been to this location consider it not only a huge eyesore but have concerns for the stability of the hillside and the springs. Apparently a permit was issued for the work from the planning department. The owner of the property on Riverside in BA started the process by a need to repair his sewer connection.

Music Festival this summer in Glover field. Matt reported work continues.Bands have been lined up. Parking still needs work. Inlander will have ads.

The pet goose has been reunited with it's owner in lower crossing. Hurray for the USPS postmen who facilitated the reconnection!

Submitted by Barbara Morrissey, secretary.