LAURELHURST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Board Meeting Minutes
December 21, 2004

DRAFT
The meeting began at 7.10 at The Laurelhurst Club.

Present were the following individuals. There were not enough board members in attendance to have a quorum.

Gary Naylor Goudarz Eghtedari
Barbara Pierce Kristen Wiener (SEUL)
Lyle Howard
Barbara Horton

Newsletter: Barbara Horton reported on recent research into making changes to the newsletter to decrease cost. It was determined that available cost savings would decrease the quality of the newsletter and would not add value to the neighborhood. The current newsletter is funded by the advertising and results in a break-even scenario. The board agreed to maintain our current quality, which is often admired by other neighborhoods around the city.

There was discussion about the current space for advertisers and the method of selection. The amount of advertising space is set at a level which will pay for printing but does not yield a profit. While the board agrees that the newsletter should be a forum for neighborhood information and not be ad heavy, there is some concern that residents who wish to purchase new ads do not have a fair opportunity. Ads for 2005 have been sold and processed already and Barbara has started a waiting list for 2006. In recent years, there have not been enough volunteers to process advertising requests throughout the year, and thus the current system evolved. In an effort to open opportunities to new advertisers in ’05, the board agreed to consider a special insert in the spring newsletter. The final decision will be made once Barbara has an opportunity to review content and determine if there is enough material and ad commitment to fill the space and cover costs. While this effort is an agenda for the board, there is no guarantee for advertisers on the waiting list.

Neighborhood Networking Group: Resident Yvonne Buchanan would like to form a Laurelhurst Networking Group for business owners, artists, and self employed people in the neighborhood. While the board thinks this is a great idea, it will not take a position of endorsement of the group. Any such group should feel free to form within the neighborhood. A suggestion was made that the website be available to neighborhood networking groups for posting to members. This could not be a means of advertising for business, but a means of communicating openings within the group, etc..

Benson High Drug Free Grad Party: At the November General meeting, resident Dennis Johnson spoke about the need for funding for the annual event. He has provided Gary Naylor with detailed information and requested that the LNA make a donation. The Board has determined that donations to schools should be for academic purposes only. The request for funding for the graduating party has been denied.

Announcements:

*The Good Neighbor Agreement with The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church has been finalized. There will be a yearly meeting between the church and Kerns neighborhood to assess the success of the agreement and address any issues with the new school and parking issues. Laurelhurst will be notified of the meeting and invited to participate.

*The Good Neighbor agreement with La Fortuna has been signed and reports are that is all going well with the exception of some noise complaints. There is a meeting scheduled to address the noise for 1/4/05 with a time TBD.

*Hollywood Boosters Business District Association has invited LNA to participate in their meetings in an effort to improve communication between adjacent neighborhoods. Gary attended a recent lunch meeting with the group. The primary topic of conversation was the issue Hollywood is currently having with transients. There has recently been aggressive transient behavior which is making shoppers uncomfortable and is costing local establishments business. In addition, there is a problem with refuse and the local businesses and residents are having to take on the cleanup.

*The Providence Medical Center height adjustment application has been approved by the city.

*Goudarz announced that SEUL has had their meeting to finalize the 3 goals for member neighborhoods for 2005. The 3 priorities for the year were set as:

-Livability Package
-Improving neighbor involvement with Infill
-Neighborhood Diversity

Discussion Items

*Proposed changes to the LNA By-Laws: Gary presented his proposed changes and board members in attendance agreed to all changes. Gary will poll other board members to obtain a quorum. The changes will be presented at the January General Membership meeting. The ultimate goal as presented by Kristen is for all neighborhoods to get their by-laws consistent with the new ONI standards

*LNA statement on presentations and endorsements: The board reviewed two proposals and agreed that there are points from each that need to be combined into one document. While we want to finalize this policy statement, we all agree that there is still work to be done. The draft will be finalized at the next board meeting and the policy will be presented at the General Membership meeting in March.

*Lisa Brenner has stepped down from her position as Coe Circle chair. This post is now vacant and the board is seeking a replacement for Lisa.

*Park options: As a follow-up to recent solicitation for involvement in park safety, and the November park presentation, the board discussed how to proceed with a program. There have been no volunteers to sign up for Foot Patrols, but 7 people have signed up to participate in “Adopt a Park”. We are all in agreement that “Adopt a Park” is the best program for the neighborhood and will allow members to get involved in the park in multiple ways. This will be discussed at the January General Membership meeting.

*Treasurer: Some neighborhood committee members are concerned that the LNA treasurer is not regularly available at meetings. Gary will contact John and encourage a more active role.

*The Environment Committee has been vacant as long as current board members can remember. The board feels that the responsibilities of this committee are covered by other existing committees. The decision was made to eliminate the Environment Committee.

*Future presentations for General Membership meetings:

-March: SEUL presentation on the newly adopted goal for livability
Discussion should include the traffic calming project that has been approved to take place on 39^th south of Stark.

-May: City of Portland Transportation Options Division
Provide update on the 2005 walking and biking program and hand out the packages of maps and coupon books discussed at the November meeting.


The meeting was adjourned at 9.13pm.


Barbara Pierce, Secretary