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NWGNA Meeting, 2/03
"White Crepe Myrtles"

by Tom Smith, Secretary
February 2003

North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association
Word of Faith Church
February 25, 2003
7 – 9 pm

Call to Order: 7:05 pm, Alison England, President

Announcements:
Hummingbird Park dedication occurred Saturday, February 22, 2003 at the corner of Bird and Fisk Avenues. The tot lot is well received by residents. Councilman Ken Yeager and other city staff were at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren is hosting Town Hall meetings on Saturday, March 8, 2003. Zoe will be appearing at four locations. A flier has been sent out to local residents. For more information call: 271-8700. It was mentioned that those interested in the flood control issue may want to attend.

Item 1: Traffic Calming Measures
Jim Bittner, Bill Harris, Ed Lau, Laura Wells, and Dan Leehy gave a status report regarding input they received from the October 30, 2002 NWGNA meeting. The plan is 95% complete and is being circulated among the city departments. Comments will be received in the next 4 – 6 weeks. Our projects will be combined with the projects of four other neighborhoods so that the City can receive volume pricing and keep a consistent quality of work.

The team utilized visual aids to illustrate the proposed changes at 3 intersections:

1. Bird and Hull. The temporary island will become a permanent island with embossed asphalt at the crosswalk. Evergreen, flowering shrubs will be planted (pink India Hawthorne).
2. Coe and Delmas. 3 way stop sign installed.
3. Willow and Delmas. The choker feature becomes permanent. The island becomes raised and longer in length. The curb return radius is tightened. The walkway bulb out connects the existing sidewalk through the existing crosswalk. Two crepe myrtle trees with white flowers will be planted as well as Lily of the Nile and India Hawthorne. Work is proposed to begin in early June of 2003 and require 18 months to complete.

Item 2: Flood Control
Maria Angeles, Floodplain Manager, Dept. of Public Works, SJ.
Maria distributed three handouts: the flood insurance rate map of the local area, possible flood insurance savings for properties in FEMA zone AO, and an elevation certificate.

Maria explained that our area is located in panel 25 and panel 31 of the FEMA plan.

Areas that may flood were noted in gray. This survey was taken August 2, 1982 before the Guadalupe Parkway was built. Most areas are designated flood zone AO and would flood 2 feet. Non-shaded area is zone D. This area is not required to carry flood insurance.

Property owners in a flood plain may file an elevation certificate to determine if their flood insurance premium may be lowered. The elevation certificate is used to record property levels. Insurance agents writing flood insurance policies must also use the form to properly rate many types of buildings.

Eligible buildings for insurance premium rate reduction must meet two criteria:

-Structure must be Pre FIRM construction (that is buildings constructed before a FIRM was created— August 2, 1982 for the City of SJ).

-Structure does not have a basement of any type.

Individuals may contact a surveyor to complete the elevation certificate. It was discussed that the association would pursue the cost to an individual property owner for a survey. It was also discussed that the association receive an estimate for resurveying the area. The plan would be for those interested property owners to contract with a single surveying company for this group of homeowners so that a volume discount price can be obtained.

The next steps were discussed:
Obtain estimate to survey the area and update the 1982 FEMA map. Based upon the inaccuracies of the map and the fact that the survey was completed before the Guadalupe Parkway was constructed, can the map be changed to redraw the flood zone? If this cannot happen, then we need to track the flood control project and review at the project milestones. Very important to work with Councilman Ken Yeager’s office and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren’s office so they understand support our efforts. This effort will include all impacted neighborhood associations and local homeowners.

Item 3: Other Business
A. 4th of July grant. We will know in the next two weeks if we will receive the grant for the block party.
B. The newsletter grant has been received and deposited in the bank.
C. The proposed date for the NWGNA garage sale is targeted for late April/early May.
D. For those with email there is a yahoogroups email list: NWGNA@yahoogroups.com. It was suggested that there be a phone tree to alert residents who do not have email.
E. There will be a grant writing workshop Tuesday, March 18th, 6:00 – 8:30 at the United Neighborhoods Meeting Hall. Contact Alison England for details.
F. There will be a grant writing workshop Saturday, March 8th, 8:30 – 1:30 pm, at Kirk community Center, 1601 Foxworthy Avenue, SJ.
G. Idea to form a committee to evaluate small project cleanup projects in the area (example: replace a fence that is falling down, etc.). To be discussed at next month’s meeting.
H. Idea to have an informal "meet your neighbors" dinner at Sangria restaurant. Each person would pay for their own meal. Date to be determined later.

Item 4: Next meeting agenda
Discuss writing our NWGNA neighborhood plan . Obtain other neighborhood plans such as the Rose Garden plan to use as boilerplate and modify to fit our unique needs. Obtain plans from bordering neighborhoods to see what specifically is occurring in their area and to provide continuity between their plan and our developing plan.

Meeting adjourned at 9 pm.

That's all, folks!

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