Council of Neighborhood Associations

October 2024

October 14, 2024 CNA Meeting Minutes


Attending:
Tim Smith, (City Staff); Melissa Allen (Bigelow Highlands), Dana McAvoy (East Bay Drive NA), Karen Sweeney (Eastside NA), Robert Vanderpool (City Council), Gerald Apple (South Capitol), Larry Dzieza (Chair and Nottingham), Judy Bardin (NWONA), Marty Worcester (Redwood Estates), Stu Olshevski (SWONA), Keegan Wulf (Downtown), John Saunders (South Capitol), Bob Jacobs (Gov. Stevens), Jefferey Showman (Wildwood), Leslie Wolf (NWONA), Micele Horaney (Evergreen Pointe HOA), Kim Kondrat (City staff)

Overview
The group discussed their neighborhood association activities. They also addressed concerns about property subdivision, unit density, and the impact of new legislation on property development.


The meeting involved discussions about neighborhood activities, challenges, and updates on various projects and initiatives. Key topics included the need for better communication with the city, the ongoing issue of speeding on East Bay Drive, preparations for potential security concerns around the election, and the city’s approach to addressing homelessness. The meeting also covered updates on major development projects in the city, the roles of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, and the introduction of the Land use and Urban Design element of the Comp plan process.

Neighborhood Reports

Larry welcomed new members, including Stu Olshevski, and noted the potential late attendance of City Councilman Robert Vanderpool.
Marty Worcester (Redwood Estates) discussed the challenges her neighborhood is facing with landscaping, leaf pickup, and sidewalk repairs, and the need for better communication with the city. She also mentioned the need for improved visibility along a heavily trafficked street. Martha, Larry, Bob, Karen, and Judy discussed various neighborhood activities, with Bob informing Martha about the contact for the Olympia Public Works Department.
Karen Sweeney (Eastside NA) shared her experience with the fall festival that included apple pressing with the new apple press funded through the city grant. Tables with kids activities relating to apples including adding peanut butter to apples for feeding birds. Lots of apples were donated and pressed and they gave away 20 gallons of apple juice. Said they are likely to do it again next year.


Bob Jacobs talked about the upcoming annual all member meeting of the Governor Stevens Neighborhood Association.


Leslie Wolf (NWONA) from the Northwest Olympia Neighborhood Association shared updates about their upcoming events, including a successful summer fest and a fall fest on October 27th and they will be doing an apple press as well. There was a discussion of past clean-up events at Volunteer Park and the use of MailChimp for event promotion. They bought pumpkins and will be giving them away to the neighborhood. They got permission from Garfield Elementary to hold their annual in-person meeting there on November 14th. They hope to have the city talk to them about a planned stormwater project or perhaps more about the Capital Mall Triangle project.


Stu Olshevski (SWONA) said he is new to the Board and there are many new Board members and expressed interest in learning from other groups and increasing engagement. Their next meeting is in December.

Keegan shared that they had a quarterly meeting where they learned about a backlog of membership forms needing updates to their list and the need for better outreach. Keegan discussed the progress of updating their website, considering different platforms, and the need for a more mobile-friendly design. Larry shared his experience with using WordPress for their website, highlighting its user-friendly features and the support of a large community.


Jeffrey Showman (Wildwood) expressed concerns about finding board members and the need for a new chair. Said he plans on stepping down from the Board and can’t find those who wish to be the Chair. He praised the South Capitol Neighborhood’s work on getting the city to address the traffic speeding issue. Larry suggested that getting more than one person to share a position removes some of the concerns people have in volunteering.
Dana from East Bay Drive Neighborhood Association reported a successful annual meeting where they held an election and added two new board members, and the repainting of a large mural and had 8 volunteers help. Dana also shared a presentation made to the group about the Hands-On Children’s Museum’s expansion plans, which include doubling their size and building a new facility.


Dana discussed the ongoing issue of speeding on East Bay Drive, which has been a problem for 15-20 years, and looking at data from the city some drivers hit over 60 mph and in all that time there has only been one speeding ticket. They have a committee working on addressing the issue and hope that we can get some good ideas from South Capital.


John said at the last board meeting they were joined by the Director of Campus Security for the Department of Enterprise Services who discussed the preparations being made by the Department for potential security concerns around the election and the upcoming Halloween event in the South Capitol neighborhood.


Michele from Evergreen Point shared that her neighborhood was preparing the storm ponds for the fall and winter, and would be hosting a Zoom meeting for transparency. One issue mentioned was leaves are blown around and neighbors not taking responsibility for cleanup.
Judy, who was away, mentioned a meeting about the Land Use and Urban Design chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, and the city controversy about raising the minimum wage. Judy also discussed an upcoming emergency ordinance for housing affordability, which aims to expedite the approval of affordable housing applications and potentially modify engineering design and development standards. She also mentioned grants for infrastructure, such as sewer or water, to be paid for by a 1% increase in utility tax, and reduced permit fees.


Melissa from Bigelow Highlands reported that her neighborhood association was at risk for continuing but new members stepped up to join the board. Melissa also raised concerns about the safety and comfort of bus riders. The idea of bus ambassadors was suggested as a potential solution to address these concerns.


Councilmember Update
Robert Vanderpool, who was unable to attend earlier in the meeting due to a conflicting meeting, provided updates on the city’s minimum wage discussion and budget planning for the next year. He emphasized that the minimum wage discussion is in its early stages and that the city is working to ensure a manageable and sustainable budget. Robert also mentioned the city’s ongoing work on the comprehensive plan and the public forums for discussing statewide initiatives.

Judy asked about the affordable housing ordinance, which Robert confirmed is still in the drafting stage. Tim Smith added that the affordable housing ordinance is being worked on by staff, with a potential proposal to be brought forward in the near future.


Improving Public Awareness of Recognized Neighborhood Associations
Larry initiated a discussion about the article written by Gerald Apple about South Capitol Neighborhood Association’s activities.


Larry also expressed his desire to receive articles about community activities from the attendees, which he would edit and potentially submit to the local newspaper, The JOLT. Gerald shared his experiences, including a conversation with Matt Jones and a discussion with Melissa about community improvement. Larry expressed his willingness to assist Melissa with editing articles. Melissa appreciated the initiative to discuss neighborhood issues through the JOLT.


Development Projects
Tim Smith, the interim director of the Community Planning and Development Department in Olympia, provided an update on major development projects in the city, including the Henderson Apartments, Lansdale Point Apartments, Malt House, and 99 Flats. Tim also discussed the Patterson Street plan and the Chick-fil-A project and mentioned the Nisqually Healing Center and the Briggs development.


Homelessness
Kim Kondrat, the Homeless Response Coordinator with the city gave her background including her nursing background and discussed her role in addressing homelessness in Thurston County. She emphasized the city’s compassionate and accountable approach, focusing on housing solutions and non-punitive methods. Kim also highlighted the challenges of managing tiny home villages and the need for additional funding. She mentioned the Governor’s safety initiative and the importance of an equitable housing entry process.


Kim addressed the new Supreme Court decision that allows local governments more discretion in enforcing laws regarding homelessness. She said Olympia has already started seeing a few folks recently from Aberdeen sending homeless away from Aberdeen as they began enforcing their laws. She said we’ve had some folks from out there come in, but we haven’t seen a huge influx yet. So, we’re just kind of waiting and seeing. Olympia is not going to take a hard line with them because things are already tough for them.


Larry asked if his perception is correct about the burden of homelessness falling disproportionately on Olympia and not being shared by all the jurisdictions in the county. Specifically, he said it doesn’t feel like financial aid is coming from them in proportion to what the homeless population shifts are. Kim acknowledged this while emphasizing the need for better grant writing and fundraising efforts. The conversation ended with Kim estimating that there are more people housed now than when she started but noted that some people who have never gotten into housing continue to be a challenge. She also believes that it is a good thing that people are coming to our city because it is a sign of a really good and wonderful city.
Larry also highlighted the need for system-wide coordination between the courts, mental health, and health departments.


Kim discussed the city’s ongoing collaboration with the county, particularly with Tom Webster and Keeley Marino, for various grants and projects. Kim emphasized the importance of working with the police

department’s neighborhood policing unit for issues concerning unhoused individuals and also the need for open communication and transparency. Larry expressed concerns about the well-being of people he occasionally sees in distress around the lake downtown, and Kim reassured him that her team is involved in transporting and assisting these individuals.


Kim advised people to report any potentially dangerous situations to the police, who would send the appropriate response depending on the severity of the situation. She also suggested using the city’s Q Alert system for non-emergency situations. The attendees expressed gratitude for the information provided and Kim encouraged them to reach out to her for any suggestions or ideas.


Halloween Activity and Housing Forum Updates
The meeting discussed how neighborhoods could share Halloween activity ideas. Larry said Nottingham will be distributing glow sticks for safety during trick-or-treating.


The housing forum, originally planned for this year, has been postponed to early 2025 due to the city’s focus on the 2025 budget. Tim mentioned the introduction of the land use and urban design element of the Comp plan process, which will be briefed to committees. The group approved the September minutes and Tim agreed to check with Pamela Braff about the availability of the climate response plan.


Meeting Date Change
Because the next regular meeting date falls on a holiday it was decided to move the meeting to the next Monday, November 18th.


Next steps

Gerald to write an article about South Capitol neighborhood’s Halloween event for the JOLT.

  • Melissa to send an article about her neighborhood to Gerald for editing.
  • An appeal to RNAs to write articles about their activities for the JOLT.
  • Larry to take down Kim Kondrat’s phone number and the request for services link from the chat Request for Service 360-753-8101
  • Tim Smith to check with Pamela about her availability to present on the climate response plan.
  • Tim Smith to follow up with Lisa about how the climate plan within the comprehensive plan coordinates with the city’s climate committee.
  • Larry to move the next CNA meeting from November 11th to November 18th.
  • Planning staff to brief the CNA group in November on the land use and urban design element of the Comp plan process.
  • City staff to prepare for the Housing Forum in early 2025.
  • Neighborhood associations to consider using the Q Alert system for reporting homeless-related issues.