Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCBC 04-03-2014MEETING NOTICE April 3rd, 2014 THE CITY BEAUTIFUL COMMISSION WILL HOLD ITS REGULAR MEETING AT 11:30 A.M. ON THURSDAY April 3rd, 2014, AT CURRAN HALL, 615 E. CAPITOL AVENUE AGENDA CALL TO ORDER: CHRIS MINOR ROLL CALL: DANA APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: March 6, 2014 VARIANCE REQUESTS TREASURER'S REPORT: • EXPENSES REPORT WALLY COMMITTEE REPORT: UPDATES • COMMUNITY PROJECTS 0 1-630 TREES WALLY o CITY HALL SOUTH YARD STEVE/LYNN ■ PUBLIC RELATIONS o WEBSITE LYNN o Social Media CHRIS MORGAN r + KLRB (UPDATE) (4th Wed / Noon) WALLY • ADOPT -A -STREET COORDINATORS CHRIS MINOR • INFORMATION / COMMUNICATION STEVE • EYE OF THE BEHOLDER CARRIE, ED, WALLY • LANDSCAPE AWARDS STEVE • Tree Funds ... NEW BUSINESS: ANNOUNCEMENTS: NEXT MEETING - THURSDAY, May 1st, 2014 ADJOURNMENT LITTLE ROCK CITY BEAUT€FUt CO M M isSION The City Beautiful Commission held its regular meeting Thursday, April 4, 2014, at 11:30 at Curran Hall. Chairman Chris Minor called the meeting to order. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chris Minor Chris Morgan Ed Peek Carrie Young Bill Wiedower Chip McCulley Lynn Warren Cassie Toro Wally Loveless MEMBERS ASSENT: Steve Homeyer One open position ALSO PRESENT: Beth Carpenter, City Attorney's Office Dana Carney, Zoning and Subdivision Manager, Department of Planning and Development, City of Little Rock. D. Tracy Spillman, Plans Development Administrator, Department of Planning and Development, City of Little Rock. APPROVAL OF THE MARCH MINUTES: Commissioner Warren called for a correction of the March 6, 2014 Minutes. Under NEW BUSINESS it was written "City of Little Rock $2,500.00 annual donation to the CBC has been allocated" to "City of Little Rock has provided the annual $2,500.00 budget to the CBC". Motion: Chairman Minor made a motion that the Minutes be approved with changes. Second: Commissioner Warren seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF THE 2014 RETREAT MINUTES: Commissioner Warren called for a revision of the Minutes - Page 2, Paragraph 2, Website:, line 5, Commissioner Warren requested the sentence "Also, adding specialized areas for the Iris Society, Rose Society, or Master Gardeners to attract more attention to the website was discussed." to "Also, adding partners areas for the Iris Society, Rose Society, or Master Gardeners to attract more attention to the website was discussed." - Page 2, Paragraph 4, Adopt -A -Street:, line 1. "Commissioner Peek stated this was started through KLRB." This sentence is incorrect. Commissioner Warren then explained that Adopt -A -Street was started with the CBC in 2002. - Page 3, Paragraph 6, Commissioner Warren requested that an additional section should be added that defines the CBC committees and list the chairpersons. - Page 4, Paragraph 1, City Hall South Landscaping: Commissioner Warren stated that she and Commissioner Homeyer have been on this committee from its beginning and requested that the wording of the sentence referring to "Commissioner Warren volunteered to serve" reflect Commissioner Warren volunteered to continue to serve. - Page 4, Paragraph 4, Landscape Awards: Commissioner Warren clarified that she has volunteered to continue to serve on this committee. Commissioner Toro stated that she had volunteered to serve on this committee. - Page 5, Paragraph 6, Landmark Award: Commissioner Warren stated that she is also serves on this committee. Motion: Commissioner Wiedower made a motion to approve the Minutes with the changes. Second: Commissioner Loveless seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. TREASURER'S REPORT: Expense Report: Commissioner Loveless stated that there were no new expenses and the balance remains unchanged. Additionally it was clarified how the cities funding for the CBC is to be accessed. Commissioner Warren stated that receipts for any qualified CBC expenditures would be forwarded to The City of Little Rock's Department of Planning and Development, Administrative Assistant, Venita Harris for reimbursement. COMMITTEE REPORTS: UPDATES: Community Pro'ects I-630 Trees: Commissioner Loveless stated that he had spoken with Mark Webre at the parks department concerning the boundaries of the city property and the highway department property in the area between University Avenue and Fair Park Boulevard adjacent to War Memorial Golf Course. He stated that after reviewing maps for this area with Mr. Webre it was determined that the highway department has as much as forty (40) feet of land inside the fence on the western end of this area. It was also stated that the highway department has an agreement with the city to maintain this land. Commissioner Loveless continued that most of the trees in this area are on the outside of the existing War memorial fence. Further Commissioner Loveless stated that he is investigating to find a contact person at the highway department that would be responsible for this property. Commissioner Warren stated that this area could be cleaned up considerably with selective pruning. It was also suggested that finding a group with knowledge of pruning be approached. Commissioner Warren further suggested that the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) or KLRB may be able to provide support with this task. Commissioner Loveless agreed and said he would speak with Mr. Bob Callans with the ASLA. Commissioner Wiedower and Commissioner Peek stated that they would like to meet on site with Commissioner Loveless to review the existing conditions. City Hall South Yard: In Commissioner Homeyer's absence Commissioner Warren stated she is unaware of any new issues. Public Relations Website: Commissioner Warren noted that the website is up to date and has added the results of the last two variance cases. In addition Commissioner Warren stated that the questions addressed to Aristotle concerning their service and how it could benefit the CBC website have not been answered. Social Media: Commissioner Morgan stated that he had spoken to Ben Thielemier with the City of Little Rock Public Relations and stated that Mr. Thielemier would be willing to come to the next CBC meeting and address the commissioners on social media. Commissioner Morgan stated that he and Mr. Thielemier had discussed two different social media approaches that could benefit the CBC. First, any emails covering CBC events could be forwarded to Mr. Thielemier and these could be posted on the City of Little Rock's existing social media outlets. The second would be creating the CBC's own media source. Commissioner Morgan further stated that in his opinion the first option may be the most beneficial since the user base (followers) has already been established. Commissioner Morgan stated that he had spoken with the editor of Soiree Magazine, Amada Hoelzeman. It was determined that it would be difficult for the CBC to have an article placed in the springisummer issues because there is an approximate four month lead time to be published. However, it would be possible to place an advertisement announcing the Landscape Awards. Commissioner Morgan also stated that he had contacted Justin Lewis with KATV who had given him the email addresses of several producers that could be contacted with any forthcoming news from the CBC. KLRB: Commissioner Loveless reported that he was unable to attend the last KLRB meeting and had no additional news. He also stated that he would contact Mr. Bob Callans with KLRB and update the commissioners if there is anything to report. Commissioner Wiedower stated he had received an email from Bob Callans concerning Envision Little Rock. In addition he stated that the he had also received and email stating that April loch will be the Little Rock Sustainable Summit. Commissioner Loveless stated that the City Wide Cleanup had taken place the Saturday following the last CBC meeting and had been successful. Adopt -A -Street: Chairman Minor stated that there had been a cleanup prior to the last CBC meeting. Another cleanup was scheduled for 8:00 am, May 3, 2014. Commissioner Loveless stated that south of the bridge area at Markham 1 Bowman has become overgrown and trash accumulates in the underbrush of this area. In addition he stated that there is an area at the top of Bowman Hill that has also become overgrown. Commissioner Loveless stated that he will make a call to the City to attempt getting these areas cleared back in an effort to eliminate trash accumulation. Eye of the Beholder: Commissioner Young stated that she has updated the cards and purchased decals for the signs. Commissioner Young passed these out to the other commissioners. Landscape Awards: In Commissioners Homeyer's absences Commissioner Toro reported that she was unaware of any additional news. Commissioner Toro also stated that she will volunteer for next year's Garden Show. T.R.E.E Fund: The Commissioners inquired about the status of the War Memorial T.R.E.E. Fund project. City Staff Member Carney stated that the bids for the project had come back over budget and changes are to be made in the specifications and this will be released for bid again. A spread sheet and corresponding maps was delivered to the commissioners detailing the - T.R.E.E Fund areas and the monetary allocations within each area. City Staff Member Carney explained to the commissioners the accumulated amounts for each area as shown on the maps. Chairman Minor further explains the operations of the T.R.E.E. Fund to new Commissioner McCulley. NEW BUSUINESS: Chairman Minor calls for introductions. Commissioners and Staff introduce themselves and briefly describe how they became involved with the City Beautiful Commission. ANOUNCEMENTS: Chairman Minor announced the next CBC meeting will be May 1, 2014 and the next Adopt -A - Street pick up will be May 3, 2014 at 8:00 am. ADJOURNMENT: Motion: Commissioner Wiedower made a motion to adjourn. Second: Commissioner Loveless seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 12:47pm LITTLE ROCK CITY BEAUTIFUL COMMISSIOM DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT - 723 WEST MARKHAM - LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201 PHONE: 501 371-4864 FAX: 501 371-6863 E-MAIL: DSPIL N- 1TTL OC ORG WEBSITE: WWW.LRCITYBEAUTIFULCOMMISSION.ORG �e