Meeting called to order at 7:10 PM
PRESENT: [16 people present] Brian Ward (President) Loui Tucker (Secretary) Robert Solis
Linda Solis Scott Hraban Jesse Hraban Ruth White Michael W hite
Steve Rogers Robin Rogers Sabine Zappe Sally Henning Ken Henning Brent Jensen
Lan Tran (representing City Councilmember Pierreluigi Oliverio’s office)
John Myers (representing County Supervisor Ken Yeager’s office)
BUENA VISTA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION Minutes of the Meeting Tuesday, January 29, 2008
MINUTES - Minutes of the November 27, 2007 meeting were corrected and approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT None at the meeting, although Mikala presented a report via email a few days after the meeting:
Total in the bank today Still had not been billed by the magazine for the gift subscriptions Jordan is owed for the Polaroid film from Halloween Owed back to the grant Robert is owed for the B&B gift for homeowner Reimbursement for stamps That puts us at about
$561.34 $180.00 $58.43 $47.00 $43.00 $106.60 126.31
.STATUS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD John Myers, from Supervisor Yeager’s office, and Lan Tran, from Councilmember Oliverio’s office being present, members offered their input and observations regarding activities and circumstances in the Neighborhood.
All the lights on Scott Street appear to be working!
The informal car dealership and repair shop at 425 S. Willard is now on notice of numerous code
violations. Tom Upson is the investigator. A letter has been sent to the property owner and the tenant. They have one month to comply before the next step will be taken. Brian Ward provided license plate for four new vehicles.
Captain Pete Rode (pronounced ROHD-ee) has replaced Captain McGrady at the Sheriff’s Department.
There is a catering truck that drives around the Willard-Chiechi area late at night, honking its horn. I appears to be coming from Pan Mexicano in Dos Palos – or it’s a second-hand truck that has not been repainted.
The green Tracker is gone. Steve asked that we not use names when announcing or commenting on issues such as this one to avoid the possibility of someone finding out and retaliating.
The pothole at 500 S. Page is *STILL* there (has been reported repeatedly for the past 4-5 months)
The illegal garage being constructed at 467 Meridian was investigated and the owners were told to
get the necessary permits or remove the structure. The construction is still going on.
The red-painted curb at Page & Chiechi is being ignored.
There are two commercial vacuum trucks parked on Page that never move. These trucks are
bigger than standard cars.
The house at 398 Menker, next to Buena Vista Park, is looking great! We should send a letter to
the owner thanking them for cleaning up this property.
The house next to Robert and Linda has finally been cleaned up! Trash left by the prior tenant, and
ignored by the landlord is finally gone. Code Enforcement issued a citation, and a dumpster was
brought in and filled and the trash is gone. Success!
The house at 315 S. Menker is a mess. Can someone contact Code Enforcement about that
property? Is it owner-occupied or tenant-occupied? It is occupied at all?
Several residents have noticed teams of people walking around the neighborhood on the weekend picking up trash. They are probably doing community service for misdeeds, but the help is always
welcome.
Minutes of BVNA General Meeting 1/29/07
Use the Graffiti Hotline to report graffiti. This service appears to work fast. However, this is for PUBLIC property only. If it is private property, the City contacts the property and puts them on notice that they are required to remove or paint over the graffiti.
Reminder: if there is noise late a night or any continued noise nuisance ANY TIME, call the police.
CONSTRUCTION PENDING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The owners of 428 Page Street have registered a Planned Development Tentative Map to reconfigure two parcels into one lot for 7 residential condominium units on a 0.4 gross acre. Currently there is a house in the front of the lot with an apartment building attached at the back. Permit is on line: PT06-094
The owners of 326 S Willard have registered a Planned Development Prezoning from County to A(PD) Planned Development Zoning District to allow up to 12 single-family attached residences on a 0.465 gross acre site. The site is currently used as an informal half-way house. Permit is on line: PDC06-097
Property at 493 W. San Carlos, at the corner of San Carlos and North Willard (where they have a garage sale every weekend, and they appear to be trucking stuff in to sell), has a sign saying a 2- story office building is planned for the site. Nothing listed on City Permits yet.
There appears to be a lot of lag time between when permits are registered, when they are posted by the Planning Department on their website, and when concerned citizens are notified. Perhaps BVNA leadership needs to schedule a meeting with the Planning Department. We need to find out what is causing the delay in posting/notification. The Planning Department is being reorganized and staff is being rotated through various positions to gain experience.
John Myers reported that Ken Yeager has gone on record as opposing the high-rise buildings planned for the San Carlos-Sunol property. He has opposed similar projects in the past and will continue to keep building heights down.
The old VTA property is public land and should be developed for public, not sold for a profit!
OTHER BUSINESS
John Myer reported that the 19 sheriffs deputy positions that were funded for only six months have
now been funded for an additional six months. All 19 positions have not been filled, but at least the
19 positions are still open and funded.
Robert Solis reported that there is currently approximately $600,000 in the “in lieu of” fund that
developers pay into instead of actually providing open space when they put in housing. We actually
need $3-5 million to actually develop anything, but the money is there and waiting.
The park at Scott and Clifton is still held up waiting for the owner to clean the property.
Brian attended Mayor Chuck Reed’s State of The City breakfast and speech. Highlights of the
speech included that Mayor Reed wants to (1) go green; (2) avoid budget cuts; (3) not provide
raises for City employees; (4) win back the “America’s Safest City” award; and (5) build more parks.
Ken reported on the Deficit Meeting he attended. You had to register for this event and registering
meant explaining what your qualifications were to attend, and how you were elected or appointed. They had an expensive facilitator but Ken came away with the feeling that it was an exercise with no real impact or import, that they were more of a focus group. If neighborhoods are to be truly effective in the budget process, they have to get involved much earlier in the budgeting process.
Ken reported on another meeting at which they held mock elections for neighborhood delegates to the Neighborhood Development Center. Council members Oliverio and Chirco were there. All districts sent people to this meeting. This is a 2-year pilot program that will allow three elected neighborhood commissioners to work on tree issues, street improvement, traffic calming, preservation, etc. through the Neighborhood Development Center. They would be advisory to the City Council
The Home Tour has 2 houses confirmed and 1 maybe. Sally and Loui will be working to bring in 2 or three more homes for the home tour. Someone needs to apply for the grant to fund the Home Tour. Robert did the last one and is willing to “cut and paste” from last year’s.
The next BVNA General Meetings need homes to host them: Robert and Linda Solis offered their home at 359 Mayellen for February, and Robin Rogers offered her home at 540 Page for the March meeting (but people will need to bring chairs).
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Brian will not be able to attend next month’s meeting; he will be taking the State Bar exam.
There will be an Emergency Preparedness Forum on Saturday, February 2, 2008, 9:30 AM-noon at
the Willows Senior Center at 2175 Lincoln Avenue in San Jose. Flyers were distributed.
Minutes of BVNA General Meeting 1/29/07
c. There will be a Willow Glen Spur Trail Meeting (also known as the “3 Creeks Trail Meeting” on Monday, February 4, 2008, 6:30-8:00 PM at Gardner Community Center at 520 W. Virginia Street in San Jose. Flyers were distributed.
There will be a “Scott Street Celebration” once the weather is warmer. Because insurance will be required, it will need at least a month to 6 weeks lead time.
The next “Trashathon” is February 16 starting at 9:00 AM. Contact Loui at 408-287-9999 for details if you want to participate.
Members are encouraged to pay their yearly dues. Reminders will be sent out soon.
The meeting adjourned at 8:14 PM.
NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at the home of Robert and Linda Solia, 359 Mayellen Avenue.