Lancaster Lofts

Near East Side Neighborhood Association
1517 East Lancaster Ave.
Fort Worth, Texas 76102

I. Meeting Date: 03/25/09

II. Place: RBI

III. Attendance and Quorum
The following NESNA officers were present at the meeting. Their attendance constituted a quorum:
President: Steve Braun Tarrant County ACCESS ssbraun@tcaccess.org
Vice President: Neale Mansfield Feed by Grace feedbygrace@sbcglobal.net
Treasurer: Bob Gallant Eastside Marble and Granite Marbgran@swbell.net
Secretary:

Also in attendance were:
Flora Brewer Paulos Properties/RBI flora@lancasterlofts.com
Felicia Grantham CFW Outreach
Arron Head PNS rin_angel_red@yahoo.com
Tiffany Bunton FWPD – Narcotics tiffany.bunton@fortworthgov.org
Billy Cordell FWPD – Central Division billy.cordell@fortworthgov.org
Margie Blake MHMR of TC margeryb@mhmrtc.org
Wesley Coonce Paulos Properties logosreveal@gmail.com
W. R. Layton FWPD walter.layton@fortworthgov.org
Will Trevino City Council will.trevino@forthworthgov.org
Andre McEwing SEFW, INC amcewing@southeastfw.com
Br. Patrick Crowley Franciscan Friars of the Renewal brpadraig@gmail.com
Maureen Hagan State Rep. M. Veasey Maureen.hagan@house.state.tx.us
Dwayne Kinloch PNS dkinloch@pns-tc.org
Benita Hejazi PNS Benita_khalil@yahoo.com
Kevin Santos PNS ohyao_67@yahoo.com

IV. Call to Order & Introductions
• Steve Braun opened the meeting at 11:45 a.m.

V. Action Items
• Approval of Feb 25, 2009 NESNA Meeting Minutes
• Minutes were distributed by email with the meeting announcement. Bob Gallant’s motion that the minutes be approved was seconded by Neale Mansfield and was approved without discussion or dissent.

VI. Organizational Discussion Items
• Membership: Membership is open and we will keep you on our distribution list. There is no membership chair or committee. Role would be to maintain list of members and promote the organization. Contact Steve if you’d like to help with this.
• Agenda Development: If you have something you would like to put on the agenda, please send Steve an email and he will put it on the list. Steve will publish the agenda well in advance but will take the liberty of adding to the agenda as items come in.
• Logistics: New meeting time will be the 4th Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Food will vary. Donation of $5 per person will defray cost of food. Please offer suggestions of sources for lunches.
• Type of Organization: This organization might want to consider what type of organization it might want to become in the future. This could be considered by a governance committee. Steve welcomes thoughts and ideas by email in response to these comments.
• Neighborhood Association Registration: Steve will update our city registration.

VII. Committee Reports
• Steve suggested that we form committees as issues arise that require more work. Committees can then make reports. Steve recommended that we have both standing and ad hoc committees.
• Treasurer’s Report: Bank balance is $3791.98. The monthly revenue is $645 per month. Each property that faces E. Lancaster pays a pro rata share based on the linear footage owned on E. Lancaster.

VIII. Recap of Discussion Items
• Star Food Mart: Ms. Deanna Jefferson-Smith was not in attendance to brief the NESNA on the status of the liquor license. It was recommended that Ms. Jefferson-Smith provide a written status report explaining why the store continues to sell alcohol after losing its case.
• No Trespassing: In the absence of the property owner, it’s difficult for the officer to enforce trespassing. The owner can identify the trespasser by phone. An officer who is unfamiliar with the area has even greater difficulty knowing who is in authority to make a complaint of trespassing. If we post signs, the officers can issue citations. Under Texas state law you can use purple paint as corner boundary marks where the property is too large to fence (often in rural or ranch land situations but may apply in urban areas too). A property manager can represent an owner.
• Weed and Seed Grant: Bernadine attended a workshop on the development of grants for drug and alcohol prevention programming.
• Tower 55 Meeting: Bob and Flora attended the presentation by the North Texas Council of Governments. First option was to go west. Second option was to fly the trains over the south end of downtown. The preferred option would be to lower the north-south trains to grade and trench East Lancaster. The process will take 5 to 10 feet. We urged them to keep Lancaster open. This is a huge issue that impacts the national economy, homeland security and the environment. The trench would end at Kentucky. NTCOG promised to hold a meeting for the NES and other affected neighborhoods.
• Homeless County January 29th: Public meeting held at Salvation Army. There has been some reduction in the number of homeless people in the last 2 years. Methods for comparing numbers have changed since counts in previous years. The latest count combined street outreach by volunteers and ACCESS’ HMIS data to produce the count.
• CFW Transportation and Urban Village Plans: Patrina Newton brought a current draft schedule for the transportation improvements. The NES is a mixed use village with mixes of residential and commercial in the village and the same building. Phase I created a master plan for the NES Urban Village. Phase II is streetscape improvements. Freese & Nichols has completed their physical survey of the neighborhood. Three public meetings will be held. Patrina wants to know where we should have public meetings. She suggested the Salvation Army. The first meeting will be held at 30% design in May. Prior to the first public meeting, there will be a stakeholder meeting. This will be a discussion that includes what is doable for the money. Patrina suggested that we create an Urban Village Committee to meet with Freese and Nichol. Patrina suggested that the stakeholder meeting be coordinated with the Tower 55 meeting. Patrina recommends the stakeholder meeting be held after the artist selection on March 11th.
• Public Art: Anne Allen briefed the group on the CFW contract with the Community Art Center to manage its public art program. Three candidate artists were in attendance at the NESNA meeting for a project orientation. Flora Brewer and Kathleen Hicks serve on the panel selecting artists for the NES Urban Village. The artists will be interviewed and selected by March 11. The artist will be part of the design team for the Urban Village street improvements. Email Steve Braun if interested to watch the artist interviews from 3 to 5 pm at the Community Art Center.
• News Release: New Commercial Development at Masonic Home Site
• News: Officer Crim is leaving us for a position in a new unit that will focus on apprehension of violent criminals. The entire NESNA expressed both dismay and congratulations! Officer Crim has made a huge difference in our community over the last 11 years of association with the NES. He is one of the best!

IX. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

This is the blog for Flora Brewer, owner of Lancaster Lofts in Fort Worth, Texas.