Birchwood Elementary School, Tuesday, Nov. 17^th 200, 6:30-8:00pm

Welcome: Adrienne Battis, BNA President

Announcement:  Birchwood 5^th grade student, Sam Morgan, invited neighbors to participate in the Birchwood Elementary School Food Drive.  Drop off food during school hours through Nov. 25^th.  All food goes to the Lighthouse Mission.

Vision Committee: Becky Schlotterback described plans for the formation of a Vision Committee in early 2010.  This committee will thoroughly evaluate the information from our neighborhood survey.  That information will be used to guide future neighborhood decisions and plans.

Board Member Elections: Becky Schlotterback gave background on the re-formation of the Birchwood Board in 2005.  We will be holding an election for seven vacant Board positions at the  next Birchwood Neighborhood meeting on January 26^th, 2010.  To be a Board Member, you must live in the neighborhood or be a property owner or business owner in the neighborhood.  You must also be a member of the Birchwood Neighborhood Association.  Anyone interested in running for the Board should e-mail Barbara Campbell, campbell2920@comcast.net.  Please include your name and a few sentences about yourself and your neighborhood interests.   She will enter your name on the ballot for the January election. 

Bellingham Police Department:  Detective Allen Jensen, Bellingham Police Department, and Officer Kat Dearborn, Crime Prevention Officer, talked about their work on gang prevention in Bellingham.  There are six major gangs with approx. 600 members in Bellingham at this time.  There are four officers on the Neighborhood Anti-Crime unit that move from neighborhood to neighborhood as needed.  Call 911 when you see suspicious activity.  Call when you see graffiti.  This helps the Police determine what gangs are operating in our city.  

            Vehicle prowls and car fires have happened in the neighborhood.  Block Watch seems to cut this activity down a lot.  If you want to start a Block Watch, contact Kat Dearborn, kdearborn@cob.org. There must be 3 or 4 houses in a block with interested people in order to form a Block Watch.  One person needs to host meetings. 

            On the Bellingham Police Department website you can view crime statistics for all neighborhoods: www.cob.org/PIRCrimeStatistics/

Transportation Project  Ravyn Whitewolf, COB Public Works Engineering Manager, gave update on what is happening with Birchwood transportation improvement projects.

• A sidewalk will be constructed on Northwest under I-5 to connect with Bakerview. 
• Construction on a roundabout by I-5 at Jerry Chambers will start this fall.  Most work will be on storm drains, with more work to be done in Spring 2010.  The project should be finished in Summer 2010. 
• After completion of the roundabout north of I-5, work will start on the roundabout at Northwest and McLeod.  A roundabout will be put in that location because signals cannot be installed there due to potential of traffic back-ups on I-5.
• The crosswalk on Northwest at Albertson’s should be finished soon.  Public works is waiting for State to approve the signal light.
•  West Illinois extension is going out to bid soon.  Construction will start early next year.  
• Public Works was limited on determining the traffic access at Shuksan Middle School since it is reconstruction of a school and not a new school site.  The School District decided against access on to Northwest because it would dissect the play field area.
• Transportation project information is available on the City’s website.  www.cob.org/government/departments/pw/index-current.aspx

If you have questions about the transportation projects, contact Ravyn Whitewolf, rwhitewolf@cob.org or call 778-7900.

Kulshan Community Land Trust Affordable Housing Project  Paul Schissler gave information on how the KCLT helps people become homeowners by providing affordable housing.  KCLT also helps people afford land for farming, as well as providing classes for people who want to be 1^st time homeowners.  For more information about the KCLT, visit their website: www.KulshanCLT.org

Paul briefly described a potential KCLT affordable housing project in Birchwood neighborhood.  The area under consideration is between W. Indiana and W. Illinois between Madrona and Lafayette streets.  The KCLT invites anyone interested in more information on the possible project to a meeting at Bellingham Technical College, Building G, Room A-B on December 8^th, at 7:00pm. 

Birchwood Toy Store:  There will be an opportunity for families in need to buy very affordable new toys (75% off the original cost) at the Birchwood Toy Store.  The Toy Store will be in the Birchwood Elementary cafeteria on Friday, Dec. 11^th from 6-9 pm and Sat. Dec. 12^th from 9asm-12pm.  If you are interested in making donations of toys or your time, contact Cameron Garcia at cameron@mybirchwood.org or visit the Toy Store website: www.communitytoystore.org.

Birchwood Honorees:  Adrienne Battis noted that several Birchwood residents were being honored for their contribution to our City:

• Iris Maute-Gibson and Sarah Twiford, Bellingham High School students, for their work to preserve the Shuksan Middle School student made mural. 
• Dave Adams, Birchwood President and Kelly Morgan, 1^st grade teacher at Birchwood, for their work creating the Birchwood School Community garden. 

A special thanks to Little Caesars Pizza on Northwest for providing pizza for out meeting!

Meeting Attendance: approx. 40

Board Members in attendance:

Adrienne Battis, Pres.                  Barbara Campbell, Sec.     Linda Long, Treas.    

Sue DenAdel                            Rebecca Schlotterback            Stephanie Twiford      

Dan Welch                               Cameron Garcia                     Laurie Saling 

Neighborhood contact information: 

Birchwood Neighborhood website:  www.birchwoodneighborhood.org

Barbara Campbell, BNA Secretary:  campbell2920@comcast.net