Disclaimer: These notes are subject to revision and corrections from all participants. The contents herein represent the notes and recollections of the Comstock Neighborhood Council’s scribes and representatives, and may not have captured the true intent of all statements made by the participants. For clarification of any details of these notes please contact the Comstock Neighborhood Chairperson. For clarification of any statements attributed to the participants of this meeting please contact the individual for clarification before passing judgement on the words contained herein.
MEETING AGENDA:
• Welcome
• Public Safety – Police Report
• City Council Members’ Report:
• Neighborhood Services Report
• Library Report
• Community Assembly Report
• Clean and Green Report
• Next Meeting –Wednesday February 19; 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM, Sacajawea Cafeteria
Welcome
John Schram welcomed the attendees and called the meeting to order at 6 PM
Public Safety – Neighborhood Resource Officer Report – Detective Ty Snider
• Last 28 days. Pretty good overall. 6 assaults; 8 other crimes of theft and vandalism.
• Map (see attachment) – Can be found on the internet.
• Comstock’s NRO is Kelly Mongen kmongan@spokanepolice.org (509) 625-3383
• Crime overall is down over than the last 3 years.
• Change of borders for downtown changed to Sherman Ave on the east border.
• Homeless discussion: The “POD” concept is being started again. The cold weather has forced homeless into the shelters.
• Property crime question/comment about property crime and porch pirates: what are police doing to address this? Ty answered: the victim needs to file a report in order for the police to respond. It is suggested to call Crime Check so crime activity can be recorded and tracked.
• There was some discussion about the homeless issue and our general hope for an equitable solution to the dilemma.
City Council Members’ Report: – Betsy Wilkerson (bwilkerson@spokanecity.org) and Lori Kinnear (lkinnear@spokanecity.org)
• No report.
ONS – Neighborhood and Planning Services Report – Carly Cortright:
ONS PROGRAM UPDATES:
• Traffic Calming
• Mobile Speed Feedback Applications are open, linked here.
• For speeding concerns, contact the Spokane Police Department’s Traffic Unit Hotline: 509.625.4150
• Council President Beggs and Shauna Harshman will be attending February’s PeTT Committee meeting on the 23rd, to discuss the changing Traffic Calming program
• Issue Identification Webinar Series: there will be one-hour training sessions for each City Council district, going over the issue-identification submission process for the new Traffic Calming program. Representatives from ONS and City Council will be present. See Neighborhood Calendar for meeting links.
District 1: Tuesday, March 2nd, 5:30-6:30 pm
District 2: Tuesday, March 30th, 5:30-6:30 pm
District 3: Tuesday, March 16th, 5:30-6:30 pm
• Community Engagement
• Upcoming Community Engagement Grant training and info session by the CA Budget Committee on February 25th, 6:30-7:30 pm via WebEx. Check the Neighborhood Calendar for the meeting link as the date gets closer and the event is updated, and contact Annie Deasy (adeasy@spokanecity.org) for further info.
• Applications open March 1st, close April 30th
• Clean-Up
• March 24th, 6—7:30 pm: 2021 Clean Up Program Training. Check the Neighborhood Calendar for the meeting link as the date gets closer. Contact Gabby Ryan for further info.
CITY UPDATES:
• COVID-19 Updates available here. Washington State Department of Health Vaccine Phase Finder here. We are currently in Phase 1B tier 1 of vaccine distribution:
o The vaccine is available to anyone 65 and older, and all people 50 and older who also live in a multigenerational household. This is in addition to populations eligible during phase 1A including health care workers at high risk for COVID-19 infection, first responders, people who live or work in long-term care facilities, and all other workers in health settings who are at risk of COVID-19. Learn more about who gets the vaccine and when.
• Town Hall format different this year, at least in first part, as a result of COVID restrictions. District 2 neighborhood councils are signing up for individual City Council meetings to present during the first part of the year. Comstock is signed up for April 26th.
COMMUNITY ASSEMBLY AND STANDING COMMITTEES:
• Next CA Is Thursday, March 4th
• CA Land Use Committee: Thursday, February 18th at 5:30 PM
• CA BSN Committee: Monday, February 22nd at 12:00 PM
• CA Budget Committee: Monday, February 22nd at 6:30 PM
• CA Admin Committee: Tuesday, February 23rd at Noon
• CA PeTT Committee: Tuesday, February 23rd at 6 PM
OTHER DISCUSSIONS:
• Question about monies to be used for trees in Comstock…Carly will look into the use of our grant monies for trees. Continued discussion about getting trees planted in Comstock park. The city forestry department may have money allocated for trees in the park.
• Green bins can be put out as garbage. It will be billed as a trash pickup.
Library Report – Dana Dalrymple ddalrymple@spokanelibrary.org 509-444-5404
• No Report.
Community Assembly Report
• No report
Clean and Green Report
• There is a focus session being planned. John will follow up on the scheduled date for the planning.
Open Forum for Neighborhood Members:
• Water Tower in Hamblen Park. The Park Board is still in the listening mode, but they appear to be leaning to allowing the water tower in the park. John Schram encouraged attendees to write to the Park Board and city officials to express your opinion about your thoughts regarding the use of park lands for construction purposes.
• Banners: John and Terryl are working on MOUs for the hanging banners. The delay is due to the need for a certified contractor to put the banners up. Problem is that we have no funds to hire a contractor. We are seeking a contractor who is willing to donate time to hang the banners.
• Mobile speed signs: The allocation choices not necessarily in order of preference are: Hatch Drive near Manito Country Club, High Drive to enforce 20 mph; 37th and Sky View near Jefferson Elementary; 33rd near Comstock; 37th between Bernard and High Drive.
• Further discussion about mobile speed signs indicated that a preference is to put the sign on 37th between Bernard and High Drive in order to collect data for the purposes of using it for our neighborhood traffic calming proposal.
• Review of previous projects: Sidewalk projects on the east side of Bernard between 37th and High Drive and blinking lights on Hatch by Manito Country Club.
• Projects discussion: 37th Ave and 33rd Ave have a critical need to slow down traffic. It appeared that the consensus of the group was to advocate for a solution of speeding cars between Bernard and High Drive on these two streets.
Upcoming Meeting:
• Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Look for a notice on Nextdoor for the Zoom meeting link.
