Planning Commission Report Coming Soon

UPDATE:  meeting report will be published sometime on the weekend of March 23-24, but can't be more specific.

N.P.R. is delaying the report of the March 20th Planning Commission Meeting due to the busier than usual schedule of Editor, Mark Greene, this week.  This report will probably be published late tonight (Friday, March 22nd).  N.P.R. only stayed for the first hour of the meeting like last time (due to the editor's schedule), but a lot of interesting things are said in the first hour (generally speaking).  Incidentally, there were some relatively minor revisions, today, on the previous report, "Big Divide."  Also, a reminder that there is a moderated "comments" section on this blog.

[revised on 3/22/2013; updated on 3/23/13]

Big Divide

City of Newcastle -- Council Meeting of March 19, 2013



A careening tension-filled atmosphere fell over yesterday's meeeting as Councilmembers Carol Simpson and John Dulcich debated over whether there was city favoritism based on wealth and locality regarding parks, trails and recreation on the city's "rich" East Side and "poor" West Side (the two sides are divided by curvy Coal Creek Parkway).  Simpson implied that the city was concentrating services on the East Side, but Dulcich counteracted by saying, in so many words, that any perceived bias in favor of the East was a myth, and then proceeded point-by-point to indicate where city money for improvements and services was spent in the West.  Simpson was not appeased as she was often the lone dissenter on several 5 - 1 votes by the Council (Councilman Steve Buri was absent) on matters involving parks, trails, recreation, and the newly named Community Activities Commission that will continue to oversee parks, etc.  The expressed reasons for Simpson's opposition on these votes were varied and not based on the East - West divide in every case, however.  Simpson also opposed the general Council's appointment of Mayor Rich Crispo as the Council Liaison for the Community Activities Commission, saying that it concentrated too much control of the Commission in the mayor's hands.  Regarding the revision to the Comprehensive Plan's "Parks, etc." element, Councilman Dulcich complimented Planning Commissioner Tom Magers for doing most of the heavy lifting through the Ad-Hoc Committee (Parks and Planning).  Also, it was noted by Parks Commission (now, Community Activities Commission) Chairwoman, Diane Lewis, that Koleen Morris resigned from the Parks Commission.  The major votes of the meeting were as follows:

• Amendments to Parks Commission Name and Role [essentially, renaming the commission and adding additional responsibilities] (passed 5 - 1; Carol Simpson dissenting).
• Resolution authorizing a Council Liaison for the Community Activities Commission (passed 5 - 1; John Dulcich dissenting).
• Resolution appointing Mayor Rich Crispo as Liaison (passed 5 - 1; Carol Simpson dissenting).
• Revision to Comprehensive Plan's Parks, Trails and Recreation Element (passed 5 -1; Carol Simpson dissenting).
• Revision to Comprehensive Plan's Capital Facilities Plan (passed 5 - 1; Carol Simpson dissenting).

This was one of the most heavily attended regular Council Meetings in the last year, if not the most, and a number of audience members spoke from the public podium.

Update:  the economic characterizations of the  East and West sides noted in the essay are not N.P.R.'s, but were heard at the Council meeting from one or more councilmembers.

[revised on 3/23/2013; updated 4/15/2013]

Earthly Times

City of Newcastle, WA -- Parks Commission Meeting of March 13, 2013

The Parks Commission continued their review of the proposed Trail Guidelines, yesterday, regarding the routing, design, construction and maintenance of city trails.  Parks Manager Michael Holly said that he and former commissioner, Peggy Price, came together -- apparently, before she recently resigned -- and went over details of the guidelines, thus reaching a concensus according to Holly, which was approved at yesterday's meeting through a somewhat complicated parliamentary procedure guided by City Clerk, Sara McMillon.   The latter was necessary, because the motion regarding approval of the sub-meeting proposals or revisions involved amending. 

One of the most important decisions regarding the review was leaving the classification of trails in Newcastle at either Class 4 or Class 5 among five total classes.  The higher the number, the higher the grade of the trail.   Former Commissioner Price had wanted some or all of the unclassified trails to be classified in the lower ranks (below Class 4), thus making them official, but this was rejected by the wider Commission at the contentious February meeting by a vote of 5 - 1.  At that meeting, Price explained that these lesser trails should at least get a minimum amount of maintenance, but the pushback to her general proposal was largely based on city liability issues.

Mayor Rich Crispo took the stage for a few minutes to explain the restructuring changes for the Commission as he mentioned, among other things, the newly added Council Liaison position that will soon be a part of this soon-to-be-officially-named Community Activities Commission.  The mayor wasn't sure who the liaison would be, but seemed to indicate that the position would be filled by either Gordon Bissett or himself.

The Commission discussed other issues during this rather sedate meeting, such as a dog park (they seem to want to put one in), and Newcastle Days (Vice-Chairman Angela Ursino wants to appoint a point/lead person to run things).  Council Candidate, Mark Greene, spoke and told the Commission, in so many words, that his Democracy In Election Process organization would be helping to beautify Newcastle on Earth Day next month (he needs volunteers).

[revised on 3/16/2013]

Update:  If you would like to volunteer for Mark Greene's Earth Day Project in Newcastle, write to Mark@partyofcommons.com or to the postal box address in one of the column boxes to the right.

Commissioners in Attendance:  Chairman Diane Lewis, Vice-Chairman Angela Ursino, Craig Belcher and Jesse Tam.  Absent: Koleen Morris.



Correction

In the next to previous post, "Not Exactly Mayberry," N.P.R. made a mistake, and thus a revision, about the rate of vehicle thefts, which has actually declined since 2008, not increased.  It is thefts from vehicles that has increased, especially in 2010, but has leveled off somewhat in the last couple of years.

Thefts from Vehicles in Newcastle (parentheses show attempted thefts):

2008 - 62 (15)

2009 - 84 (14)

2010 - 104 (24)

2011 - 74 (9)

2012 - 89 (8)


Thefts of Actual Vehicles in Newcastle:

2008 - 26

2009 - 25

2010 - 21

2011 - 13

2012 - 21

Source:  City of Newcastle, Annual Police Service Highlights & Data 2012

[revised on 3/16/13]

Chief Irvine: Poise and Steadiness

N.P.R. likes to josh about politicians and city officials every now and then in order to keep this blog from being too dull, but if Newcastle is anything like "Mayberry," then that's a tribute to Newcastle Police Chief, Melinda Irvine, who has done a great job in her years as Police Chief.  For younger readers of N.P.R., who may never have seen "The Andy Griffith Show," the Sheriff of Mayberry, Andy himself, was competent, courageous and kept the order in Mayberry.  It was Andy's inept deputy, Barney Fife (Actor Don Knotts), that provided a lot of the laughs. Nothing in the previous post, "Not Exactly Mayberry," is contrary to what N.P.R. believes is the poise and steadiness of Chief Irvine, who has also been praised by the current City Manager and the Council.

[revised on 3/11/2013]

Not Exactly Mayberry

but close ....

 

City of Newcastle -- Council Meeting of March 5, 2013

Newcastle Police Chief, Melinda Irvine, could easily be cast as the Sheriff of Mayberry and not notice a great difference between Newcastle and that fictional North Carolinian town, but if Deputy Barney Fife could be catapulted from the old "Andy Griffith Show" to this small city, he might want to find an extra excuse or two to stay back in the office and guard the "menacing" town drunk.

Chief Irvine gave a report to the Newcastle Council on crime in Newcastle, and the general essence of her report and statistics were that Newcastle's crime rate is relatively low for a city of this size, around 10,000 population, and has remained more or less steady for the past five years. The most significant increases in crime since 2008 were burglary, larceny, and thefts from vehicles. Burglary, however, especially jumped since '08 to more than double.  Larceny and thefts from vehicles showed increases.  Thefts of actual vehicles, however, declined since '08.  Violent crime in Newcastle is very low.  The number of incidents of violent crime in Newcastle has been in the single digits for every calendar year since '08 with the exception of 2010, but even that year showed only 13 reported incidents of violent crime, with aggravated assault accounting for about 2/3 of those.  There have been no murders in Newcastle during this 5 year period. Chief Irvine said that a burglary ring was recently broken up by police, but that repeat offenders could or have posed a problem after serving their time in jail. Irvine also said that Newcastle needs a full-time detective to work on cases and extra patrol officers (Newcastle currently has a part-time detective).

In other Council business, Washington Dept.of Transportation Toll Division Director, Craig Stone, gave a report to the Council on the I-90 Tolling Project. Stone basically said that Interstate 90, between I-5 and I-405, will be tolled for the dual purpose of managing traffic and providing funding for the construction of State Route 520 from I-5 to Medina Project. He also stressed the environmental review that must take place, which he says will include outreach to affected communities. Councilman Gordon Bissett implied that community equity was being disregarded as far as this project is concerned, questioning why I-5 wasn't being tolled and implying that the political powers in Seattle had significant impact on decision-making in this regard. Stone didn't seem to disagree much, but said that questions of equity were being evaluated. After noting that mostly non-city residents drove on it and the high impact on the city's budget, Councilman Bill Erxleben asked Stone if Coal Creek Parkway could be tolled?  Stone replied, basically, that there was nothing that says that Newcastle can't toll Coal Creek.

City Manager Rob Wyman reported that Parks Commissioner Peggy Price resigned. Price was at the center of controversy during last month's contentious Parks Commission meeting. Wyman received statements of commendation for his work in managing the city from a number of council members, and an almost 4% pay raise. Councilman Bill Erxleben was especially pleased that Wyman's expertise saved the city a bunch of money after a road repair financial crisis, but he also was the only councilmember that directly criticized Wyman at the meeting. Overall, however, Erxleben said that Wyman was a good manager. The Council, generally, praised Wyman's staff hires as excellent and Wyman received a unanimous de facto vote of confidence via the pay raise vote.

This Council's general non-enthusiasm, to put it kindly, for so-called affordable housing was on display, again, as Councilman John Dulcich wanted Community Development Director, Tim McHarg, to review it for the Comprehensive Plan, and it didn't appear as though in the pro-active, pro-affordable housing sense.

Planning official, David Lee, told the Council that only 13 of the 25 legal requirements for the Comprehensive Plan have been met by the city. The Council and Lee seemed to agree that these statutory requirements should be the minimum standards for the Plan.

Council candidate, Mark Greene, requested that the Council, for environmental reasons, ban plastic bags (shopping) and styrofoam (packaging), as he noted similar bans enacted by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, regarding the former, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, regarding the latter.  Greene said that cities and towns, generally, needed to be more aggressive in mandating recycling reforms, reminding the Council of the gigantic waste dump in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

[revised in March of 2013]

Mid-February Meetings

Updated and Revised on February 22nd, 2013

City of Newcastle -- Council Meeting of Feb. 19, 2013

 

 The proposed Parks Commission restructuring plan of the January Retreat turned out to be more an elaborate window dressing, though one with fancy adornments, than a complete renovation of the shop after the most recent Council meeting.  Parks Commission Chairwoman, Diane Lewis, spoke early on and said she had a difficult time getting the last Parks meeting under control and suggested that the Council might want to get a new chair. Councilman John Dulcich, later, commended Lewis's work as chair and suggested that she continue on as chairwoman of the now newly named Commission. Lewis also spoke about the Commission's work on the 2013 Work Plan, Trail Guidelines, and the need to get volunteers and services planned for Newcastle Days, soon. 

 

The Council rejected the call to disband the Parks Commission by a vote of 4 - 3 as Deputy Mayor Jensen, Simpson, Dulcich and Buri voted to keep the Commission intact.  However, the Council changed the name of the Commission to "Community Activities Commission" by a vote of 6 - 1 (Simpson dissenting), allowed two private organizations (Newcastle Trails and the Newcastle Historical Society) to nominate commissioners, presumably one each, by a vote of 6 - 1 (Simpson dissenting), allowed for the appointment of a Council Liaison, though experimentally until the end of the year, by a vote of 5 - 2 (Dulcich and Buri dissenting), and added responsibilities for the Commission, including volunteer activities and festivals, by a vote of 6 -1 (Simpson dissenting).

Basically, all of Mayor Rich Crispo's main points regarding changes for the Parks Commission were adopted except disbandment, although there appears to have been a number of  relatively minor details from the mayor's plan that were either modified or discarded.  The mayor left the meeting about halfway through, after the "Parks Commission" votes, because of illness, and Deputy Mayor Lisa Jensen thence took over the proceedings.

 

The rest of the meeting could be capsulized as follows:

• Revision of Comprehensive Plan's Parks, Trails and Recreation Element
• Update to Comprehensive Plan's Capital Facilities Plan Project  List
• Franchise Agreement for Fiber Optic with the Zayo Group
• Mutual Materials Affordable Housing Agreement Termination

All of the above passed the Council without much dissent, and the latter two unanimously by 6 - 0 votes.

Council Candidate, Mark Greene, spoke from the public podium about the fiber optic agreement.  Greene noted that some of the fiber optic installation in Newcastle would be above ground and in sight of the public, and thereby a potential hazard to eyes because of the laser applications involved.  Greene requested that the Council table the motion to approve the agreement until further study could be made (rejected).  However, City Manager Rob Wyman, explained that the particular technology in concern would be transmuted in a way as not to be hazardous to eyes.  Greene thinks councils and legislatures all over America should keep a closer watch on the risks to public health regarding new technology, generally, which hasn't received a lot of attention to date.

City of Newcastle -- Planning Commission Meeting of
Feb. 20, 2013

N.P.R. attended the first hour-or-so of this meeting, but had to leave early for other work.  The commissioners kept it monotone and to-the-point for all the time that N.P.R. was there, which didn't exactly make for grabbing headlines.  No incredulous statements, temper tantrums, walkouts or grandstanding -- just gentlemanly, studious, conversational and civic-minded discourse.   Commissioner Tom Magers started out  the meeting by reporting on his activities on the Ad-Hoc Committee (Parks and Planning) and putting emphasis on the community fabric of the city as it relates to organizing work and comprehensive plans.  Jon Simpson and Vice-Chairman Allen Dauterman were pretty much the philosophers of the early part of the meeting, as Simpson said that "All great cities had a vision for what made them great," implying that Newcastle should follow in their footsteps.  Dauterman said that Newcastle needs to look more towards the future as it relates to developing a social and community fabric.   Chairman John Drescher pointed out some of Newcastle's attributes such as parks, green space, sense of community and the city's access to the great economic centers, as he and the other commissioners reviewed the Comprehensive Plan Vision Statement and "draft scope of work" for the plan (Year 2015).  Drescher said, in so many words, that the long term health and independence of the city was at stake.  Tim McHarg, the new Community Development Director, stressed what the city could directly control and future focus, among other topics he discussed.

Much of the early conversation was about Coal Creek Parkway being merely a thoroughfare for drivers who don't live in the city.  Although, a comment or two was made about tolling, which didn't seem to be taken too seriously by the commissioners writ large, the concensus seemed to be that this was something that Newcastle just had to live with, but potential economic opportunities from the Coal Creek traffic should be taken advantage of.   Paraphrasing Commissioner Rob Lemmon, "When handed a lemon, make lemonade."  N.P.R. didn't hear anything about how Coal Creek was already contributing to Newcastle's economy, but presumably, the commissioners think that whatever economic advantages presently exist, they could be further enhanced.  There was discussion about how the city could work with businesses in the downtown core to draw off potential customers from Coal Creek.  Aside from the Coal Creek Parkway discussion, there was also talk about developing pockets of commercial activity outside of the downtown core, but one gets the feeling that this commission, in the general sense, isn't too big on developing commercial activity outside of the downtown core and that this will eventually be an area of contention amongst themselves and with the Council.

Commissioners in Attendance:  Chairman John Drescher, Vice-Chairman Allen Dauterman, Tom Magers,  Jon Simpson and Rob Lemmon.  Absent:  Karin Blakley and Elizabeth Thompson.

[revised on 2/22/2013]