“it’s
a great place to live…”
Action Items:
1) Carole Leininger will
pursue the idea of forming a Citizen Advisory Council with Katrina Knutsen.
Minutes:
The meeting was called to order by Chair, Carole Leininger at 6:33PM in
the Manchester Library. Carole welcomed
the 20 people (including 13 current members) in attendance and then introduced
our special speaker for the evening,
Guest Speakers comments:
Katrina Knutsen is the
In conclusion, Ms. Knutsen stated
that the County is eager to hear if the community wants to proceed with a
County recognized body as suggested in the Plan. This group of 12-15 individuals would be
appointed by the South Kitsap Commissioner and be known as the Manchester
Citizens Advisor Committee (MCAC). She
suggested that the MCC should discuss this internally and make a recommendation
to the County. At that point, the County
would seek volunteers for these positions and those would be interviewed by the
Commissioner for final selection to 3-5 year terms. The formation of this Committee would help
facilitate the allocation of resources from the County to help with recommended
actions.
One last note, there will be a public
meeting on Monday 1/28 at 7PM in the Commissioners chambers to review requests
for site specific deviations from zoning rules for the Manchester area only; it
is anticipated there could be up to five such requests. Public participation is encouraged.
Foundation Program announcements:
Phil Paquette reported that the MCA is planning for this year’s activities which will include roadside clean-ups (next one likely May 3) and the Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day ceremonies at the Veterans’ garden.
Ron Rada reported that the group had an email request for help contacting our local Medal of Honor recipient, Bruce Crandall, which they were able to do.
Ron Rada reported that the two Foundation groups with treasuries (MCC & MCA) need to submit financial reports to allow the MCF to submit reports to the IRS.
Crime Prevention and Public Safety Group:
Bud Larsen said that one of their speakers, Jim Rodgers, Kitsap transportation planner had encouraged the community to provide the county with some direction and form a partnership to allow funding for projects in the area. This message was reinforced by Ray Pardo who suggested that we should review the new Manchester Plan’s transportation section for opportunities to engage with the County to move the goals forward.
Bud also reported that the new signs listing Port regulations have been completed (and are now posted at the boat launching facility). Citizens are encouraged to help keep the Port facilities enjoyable for kids and families by reporting any dangerous abuses of the rules to the Sheriff by calling 9-1-1. In conclusion, Bud suggested that we may all want to attend the next Port meeting on Monday February 11 at 7PM in the Library where the guest speaker will address the subject of seeking grants for public projects, such as Port enhancements.
Business meeting:
Review and approval of past meeting’s minutes: Minutes of the November 27th meeting were approved as written.
Correspondence: No significant mail was received other than membership renewals.
Reports:
Treasurer: Debby Trudeau reported the treasury balance is $651.76. A bill was submitted by the land use attorney in the amount of $439. Previously payment had been approved up to $400. A motion was approved to pay the full $439.
Sewers
Sub-Committee: Ron Rada reported that LID#9 has petitions with about 35% of
the properties affected favoring the project.
More approvals are expected with the majority likely to be achieved in
late spring. The work on the extension
of LID#8 along
MCC Action Groups:
-Downtown Design: No pressing issues. The Spruce House condominium project application is in process with public comment period open until February 28th. This project will place nine condominiums and retail/office space on three stories, in 54,777 ft2 of building space on the 0.53 acre site.
-Historic Village Character: No report.
-Partnerships with other Agencies: No report.
-Recreational
Venues: Helen Robinson suggested that we should take the County up on their
offer to conduct a “walkabout” to explore the potential of several walking
paths in the
-Village Commons: Next meeting is 1/23 at 5PM at Ron Rada’s home (subsequent meeting will be on 2/23 at 5PM at Rada’s).
-Land Use: Mattie Walters was not available for a report.
Old Business:
Ron Robinson led a goal setting discussion to help us develop MCC goals for 2008. He said that as a result of these goals, we might want to consider abandoning some of our previous Action Groups. The brainstorming session resulted in the following ideas and categories:
Create Pedestrian Friendly
*
Simplify drive-by mail drop
*
Alleviate traffic congestion
*
Mosquito Fleet trail walkway completion
*
Pave walkway on
*
Main St.: Madrone to
*
Post Office
*
Pedestrian Safety (
*
Walking/Bike Trails
***
Note: This group will meet to further discuss ideas on 2/7 at 2PM at the
Robinsons’.
Commitment to the Plan
*
*
Protect the Environment
*
Extend Sewer Service
*
Stormwater management
*
Commercial in Commercial zone
*
Develop underground utilities
***
Note: This group will meet to further discuss ideas on 2/19 at 6:30PM in the
Library
Improve & Expand Parks
*
Improve
*
Fishing
*
Concert in the Park
*
Beautify & add amenities to the Park
***
Note: This group will meet to discuss ideas on 1/29 at 7:45AM at the Manchester
Inn
*
Port acquire land
*
Community center with overnight parking
*
Property purchased for Community Center and Library
*
Expand community meeting place
***
Note: This group will meet to further discuss ideas on 1/23 at 5PM at Ron
Rada’s
Improve Downtown
*
Improve downtown parking
*
Identify parking areas
***
Note: This group will meet to further discuss ideas on 2/19 at 6:30PM in the
Library
New Business:
At the
urging of Katrina we discussed the issue of formation of a Citizens’ Advisory
Council. This needs to be community wide
and not just the MCC so no one will feel excluded. A benefit was that this would give us more
“clout” with the County. This brought up
the issue as to what would the relationship be with the MCC/MCF/MCA? A motion was approved to pursue the idea of a
MCAC with the County. Carole Leininger
will pursue this with Katrina.
John Winslow mentioned that we need
to consider a payment plan for MCC/MCF use of the Library meeting room for
2008. A motion was approved to make a
lump sum payment of $500 for the annual use of the meeting room (the following
night this was accepted by the FOML).
John also reminded all that we had a
conflict for use of the meeting room for the Executive Board on 2/7, 3/6, and
4/3. It was agreed that those meeting
would be held in the homes of Lyle Burbidge, Carole Leininger and John Winslow
respectively.
There being no other discussion from the floor, Chairman Leininger adjourned the meeting at 8:10PM.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday February 26th at
6:30-8:30PM in the Manchester Library.
Carole
Leininger and John Winslow will jointly develop an agenda for our next meeting for posting on the web-site,
several days before the meeting. At this
point the tentative agenda includes a speaker from the County Parks Department. If you have any additional items for the
agenda, contact John Winslow prior to 2/15/08.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
Winslow, Acting Secretary-Manchester Community Council