C.O.N.O.

Minutes August 7, 2001 General Membership Meeting

Sep 10, 2001

COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORS AND ORGANIZATIONS
(CONO)
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
7 August 2001

Business Meeting ?–At 7:10 PM on 7 August 2001, Jan Doran, CONO President, called the CONO General Membership Meeting to order at the Colorado Springs Senior Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Board Members present included Jan Doran (Pres) and Larry Bagley (Sec). The Agenda, Treasurer?’s Report, and the July Meeting Minutes were distributed. The minutes were approved as amended, and the Treasurer?’s Report, showing a balance of $1,952.41, was approved.

Introductions and Discussion ?– Jan Doran asked for and received introductions from attendees around the room.

Guest Speakers: Councilwomen Sallie Clark and Margaret Radford presented an ?“Update on SCIP and What CONO needs to Know?” relating what the Council has done and plans to do as a result of the election defeat of SCIP as presented on the ballot. Both agreed, the reasons SCIP wasn?’t passed include: it was too big, it wasn?’t focused on the essentials, there was no sunset clause for the increase in taxes, and it was an all or nothing proposition with no choices. As presented and discussed there are five areas being considered for funding in some form ?– 1) Transportation, 2) storm water/flood prevention (minus County projects), 3) Public Safety (.3.5 of a cent new tax), 4) Public Works (.1 of a cent new tax), and 5) Parks and Recreation (.1 of a cent new tax and 6 year sunset clause). Most ?“enhancements?” have been moved into the areas above where the best fit is achieved. The plan is to have no new tax and no sunset clause for areas 1 and 2 (transportation and storm water/flood prevention). These could be funded from a $115 Million bond against Revenue increases and from budget cuts. This plan would avoid the TABOR cap and allow the City to charge development fees and recoup fire and engineering review costs from developers for services rendered by the City Departments. The County is planning a mil levy (property tax) for storm water and flood prevention projects, and the City could move those city projects that qualify and have relatively low priority to the County projects. Included in the Parks and Recreation area there are currently two swimming pools included. These were not in SCIP originally, but were added since April based on the success story of the Wilson Ranch pool. Many comments were made regarding the inclusion of two pools ?– most did not support the pools being funded at this time. The general impression seemed to be there is now a choice being offered to the voters regarding ?“SCIP?”, and that citizen inputs in past have been ignored, removed, or overlooked. It was moved, seconded, discussed and approved by a 16 to 0 vote, ?“That the lists of projects which City Council assigns to each of the five categories proposed by the new SCIP, shall be based upon the prioritized lists formulated by the original Citizens Committees, with no additions exparte.?” Leon Kirk suggested the selling point for the new concept for ?“SCIP?” is there have been budget reviews and cuts, and extraordinary efforts to find alternate sources for funding projects.

Old Business/Committee Reports

Concerns about Affordable Housing Criteria ?– Rose Kliewer (OWN) distributed the Five-Year Master Plan from Neighborhood Services, and presented a short video to demonstrate the concerns regarding affordable housing criteria. Basically the concerns are safety, mixing set backs and other standards within a neighborhood, and the creation of ?“instant slums?”. There appears to be no agreed to definition of ?“affordable housing?” and the definition used depends in part on the agenda of those involved. After much discussion, ?“affordable housing?” seems to be the politically correct euphemism for ?“subsidized housing?”.

Membership ?– Carl Willenbrock reported there have been very few responses from the membership mailing. Carl Willenbrock, Roy Ayala, and Leon Kirk, as the membership committee, will continue efforts to enlist new members.

Stramside Overlay and Project Impact ?– John Himmelreich is leading the CONO committee (Tom Thomas, Roy Ayala, and Jeff Hovermale) to provide inputs and support the Guideline for Streamside Overlay Ordinance, and has been attending meetings. Gary Park is scheduled to make a presentation at the September CONO meeting.

Project Impact is just getting starting and getting sponsors signed up for support. The purpose of the Project is to build disaster resistant communities through mitigation, planning, and preparation.

Mixed Use Development Task Force ?– Walter Lawson and Ron Kuhns are the CONO leads on this effort. Many projects are grandfathered out of consideration for mixed use such as Stetson Hills. There is much confusion regarding which Comprehensive Plan applies since much from the old one was not brought forward into the new one. There is a National Conference 10 September on Mixed Use Development. A new Ordinance is being written.

CONO Web Site Walk-Through - Tom Thomas (tsquarerr@aol.com) reported the new CONO web site (www.cscono.org) is up and getting many ?“hits?”. He requested support for the site in the way of buying advertisement and using the site. There are a multitude of valuable links on the site already that may prove useful to Homeowners Associations, and there are more to come.

Public Safety ?– No report.

Red Rocks Canyon ?– Joe Fabeck reported sewage also seems to be problem in addition to a source of water for use in the area.

Neighborhood Updates ?– In the Norwood/Austin Bluffs/Woodmen area (Mike Gilardino) there is a problem with auto parks going in next to residential area and illegal grading. The area has been rezoned from agriculture to commercial then to residential. There is no grading or drainage ordinance to control the grading.

Kent Brady asked for help getting a Rental Property Owner?’s Association started for the Mazatlan Circle area where there are 32 buildings (Quad-plexes).

Paul Gentry asked for help getting a Neighborhood organization started.

Park Hills continues to be the shining light of a new neighborhood organization ?– getting very active very fast with lots of participation by homeowners.

Jeanne Matthews reported on a ?“blatantly illegal?” operation going on in her neighborhood. A person is selling tickets for a night of music in his home for $10 a head. The resultant parking congestion is a safety hazard in the neighborhood. One suggested solution was taking him to Small Claims Court to get an injunction.

New business ?–

Neighborhood Network Forum for 2002 ?– Will be starting to work this in the near future.

Nominating Committee in September ?– Will establish the nominating committee at the next meeting for the 02 election.

Announcements ?–

9 Aug 01- 7 PM, E/W Mobility, 105 N. Weber
14 Aug 01 ?– City Council: Urban Renewal, Mill Street Railroad Spur.
4 Sep 01 ?– 7 PM, Next CONO meeting.
Newsletter - Newsletter items are to be submitted to Peggy Pantoja (tpan401437@aol.com, 473-9296). Inputs are always welcome. Minutes are posted to the CONO website at (www.CSCONO.org). Next Meeting - The next CONO meeting is 7:00 PM, 4 September 2001 at The Senior Center, 1514 Hancock Avenue, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM by resounding unanimous consent.

Respectfully submitted,

Larry C. Bagley
Secretary, CONO