Manchester Community Council                          www.manchesterwa.org

PO Box 173

Manchester, WA  98353-0173                              “it’s a great place to live…”

 

Minutes of the MCC Executive Board meeting of July 14, 2005

 

Those in attendance: B. Ballard, C. Kowalski, B. Lamb,  P. Paquette, R. Rada, M. Rebelowski, R. Robinson, D. Trudeau,  J. Winslow, A. Rebelowski

Excused Absences: JB Bartel

Action Items:

1)      Carol to complete letterhead with addition of Executive Board member names for welcome letter to new members.

2)      Mark to finish Roberts’ Rules one page summary.

3)      Carol to continue to pursue Bylaws issue with D-W-T.

4)      Debby to continue to follow-up with the County on the addition of the remaining five “Entering Manchester” signs.

5)      Carol to continue to pursue 501c3 situation with D-W-T.

6)      Bob Ballard to reconvene the Building Height sub-committee.

7)      John Winslow to continue to pursue Manchester Clean-up day with feedback from Board.

8)      Bob Ballard to contact Bill Palmer to discuss downtown development at 8/23 meeting.

9)      Mark to determine whether the local businesses are willing to be included on a “local businesses” section of the web-site for a modest fee.

Minutes:

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Bob Ballard at 6:58PM.  Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as written.   

Old Business:

Follow-up items from previous meeting:

In a review of action items from the past meeting, the following was reported:

1) Carol to add Executive Board member names to the left hand side of the letterhead for the letters of welcome to new members.  Carol will complete prior to 7/26 meeting.

10)   Mark to prepare a one-page summary of “Roberts Rules as applied by the MCC.”  Not yet completed.

11)   John to modify the draft press release as discussed and issue on 6/15.  Completed and sent.

12)  Carol to create a poster for use at 6/28 meeting defining the five new groups. Completed and used at 6/28 meeting.

13)   Mark/Carol to create 200 copies of a MCC information sheet for distribution at the Safety booth at the

Salmon Bake.  Completed and distributed on 6/19.

14)   Debby to discuss specifics on Conflict of Interest application of our Bylaws with D-W-T.  Carol will continue to pursue this with D-W-T and invite Todd to our next Board meeting on 8/11.

15)   Debby to further pursue “Entering Manchester” sign issues with the County.  Debby will continue to pursue this with her contacts at the County.

16)   JB to pursue Kitsap Realtors Association speaker for July meeting.  This will be postponed indefinitely.

 

TREASURER”S REPORT: Carol reported

          No new mail had arrived since our last meeting.  Also our Treasury balance remains at $617.91.  Our attorney from D-W-T has returned and Carol will continue to pursue the 501c3 issue with him.

SEWERS SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT: No issues.

CRIME PREVENTION SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT: The group met with the Kitsap Prosecuting Attorney, Russ Hauge to discuss a number of issues on 7/14.  During the meeting it was asked what action was recommended on the recent discussion of weapons being carried at MCC meetings.   Russ stated that Washington State has very specific language on weapons free zones, and liberal policies on carrying of concealed weapons.  His recommendation was to pass by this issue.

PUBLIC FACILITES SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT: Letters to the County suggesting postponing action of Haida property were submitted.

BUILDING HEIGHT SUB-COMMITTEE: Still looking for a chairperson.  There was considerable discussion on the County’s agreement with the Chalbot-Bloomquists to remove the stop-work order provided they vacate the lower 35’ of their property.  Bob Ballard will schedule another meeting of this group.

ACTION GROUPS:

          Revitalize Village Center: Second meeting held 7/9 individually with business owners who seem interested in meeting as a group to discuss common issues.  Ron Robinson offered to facilitate this meeting.  Mark will make the arrangements for this meeting.

            Regain Historic Village Character: No second meeting yet.

            Partnership with agencies: Second meeting held on 7/11.  This group is planning a meeting with Commissioner Angel.  Bob Ballard will attend along with the Action Group.  They have fine-tuned their focus to work with agencies that may impact Manchester now, or in the future.

            Recreational Venues: This group has held its second meeting and has three large areas of potential general focus, the Sub-Area Plan goals, Walking paths, and the Mosquito Fleet Trail. 

    Village Commons: Second meeting held 7/13.  The news of developments surrounding the vacant lot at Colchester and Main will create new challenges.

 Old Business: John Winslow reported on the planning for a Manchester Clean-up Day.  Tentative plans were distributed for review and feedback to John.  It was suggested that we could include a listing of Manchester Garage Sale locations on our publicity for the event.  John will present the plans at our next meeting and seek volunteers from each of the five Action Teams to help with specific areas.  Other groups such as the MCA should be solicited to help as well.

 

New Business:  The discussion on a weapons free zone will be tabled per input from Russ Hauge.

            Ron Robinson reminded us all that we need to be prepared to provide administrative support for the five Action Teams to achieve their goals.  Bob Lamb had some thoughts on problems with the Action Groups being overextended.  It was agreed by all that the Action Groups need to focus on their overall objectives, and not feel dictated to focus on each idea that was suggested by the public at earlier meetings.  This is necessary to avoid going in conflicting directions.

            Mark Rebelowski mentioned that he has filed to run for the Port Commissioner seat in November’s election, and as a result he felt it appropriate that he plan to resign from the MCC Board to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.

            In planning for our 7/26 meeting, it was agreed that we would once again focus on the five Action Groups’ meeting and presenting progress.  Outside speakers will be postponed for now.  In light of the proposed development of the downtown corridor, it was suggested that Bill Palmer be invited to our August 23 meeting to address the issue.  Bob Ballard to pursue this.

            Arlene Rebelowski reported that the web-site has apparently had 51,756 hits since the first of the year and 4100 in the last week.  It was suggested that we might solicit the local businesses to be included in a “local businesses” section of the web-site for a modest fee to offset the cost of running the site.  This was perceived to be a service to the community rather than blatant advertising.  This will be pursued by the Action Group on Revitalizing the Village Center.

There being no further business, Chairman Ballard adjourned the meeting at 8:51 PM.

Our next regular meeting will be Tuesday July 26th at 6:30-8:30PM in the Manchester Library and the next Executive Board meeting will be Thursday August 11th at 7:00PM at a yet to be determined location. 

Respectfully submitted,

John Winslow, Secretary-Manchester Community Council