West Central Neighborhood Association (WCNA)

Plan Committee Meeting

Minutes

April 12, 2010

Attendees: Joanne Bruce, Tom Cain, Russ Garriott, John Simerman, David Long, Nancy Schoenle, Susan Smethers.

The minutes from the last meeting were approved as submitted.

Other items discussed were as follows:

Susan Smethers as chairperson for the committee. WCNA President John Simerman introduced Susan Smethers, association secretary, as the new chairperson for the Plan Committee. He said that this was done because no one on the committee at present wanted to be the chairperson and, since Susan is an officer of the association and, as such, a member of the board of directors, this would increase communication between the committee and the board. During the discussion of the need for better communication, it was noted that it is important for the board to communicate issues that it wants the committee to tackle and for the committee to make the board aware of issues that arise during its meetings. It was also decided that it would be important for members of the committee to become more familiar with the West Central Plan. This was an item for discussion on the agenda for the meeting, but because of the low attendance, it was decided talk about this later in the meeting. David said he would look for the matrix that Jill Downs developed that tracked the goals of the plan and would email that to all members. (This was sent April 15.)

Neighborhood Housing Study. This discussion centered around the meetings that were held by the city for Laurie Volk of Laurie Volk & Associates. Briefly, the Volk study focused on market potential, and thus was a series of recommendations for attracting residents to West Central. According to Ms. Volk, West Central should be able to attract about 5% the people moving to or within Fort Wayne every year, which is a total of about 2,800 households. Their study also showed that about 65% of the potential homebuyers in Fort Wayne are singles or couples – not the traditional family nor the extended family of some groups. The percentages for potential renters and buyers are: 18% empty-nesters, 19% traditional and non-traditional family units, and 63% younger singles and couples. She said that the housing mix that West Central should be offering to attract newcomers is 35% rental, 23% condos, 13% row-houses, and 29% single-family homes. She went on to discuss various possible solutions to adding the condos and row-houses, etc. to our area, with slides showing what other communities are doing.

Other issues that came up during the discussion: Tom Cain wondered if we couldn’t have a committee to look into promoting investment in the neighborhood. Nancy Schoenle asked if there isn’t something the neighborhood could do to reach out to Kevin Gilliam, general manager at GE, to see if there are any plans for the GE parking lots north of the railroad tracks and other tracts GE owns in West Central. It was brought up that another area that might be ripe for development are all the parking lots on Baker St. between Ewing and Harrison, just south of the new stadium.

Brick stacks and NCE. John Simerman brought up a recent Code Enforcement violation that was charged against Judy Cole of 1226 Jefferson for having several pallets of old bricks behind her garage. John opined that since West Central is an historic neighborhood, residents should not be cited for keeping historic building materials on their property. He said he does this as well and that old bricks are not the sort of thing you can go to Home Depot to purchase when you need them, so keeping them on hand for future projects seems reasonable.

Neighborhood Plan. Because of the low turnout, the discussion of the neighborhood plan was delayed. It was decided that it wouldn’t be necessary for each member to read the entire plan, but for individuals to read one section and report back to the committee. Obviously, the goals of the plan are not in question as much as reviewing the possible actions to achieve the goals. As such, Nancy Schoenle volunteered to report back on the Economic Development section, Tom Cain on the Housing section, and Susan Smethers on the Neighborhood Organizational Issues section. They will report at the May meeting.

Other Business. John Simerman announced that the neighborhood might use its CHDO powers to acquire and rehab 825 West Washington to stimulate development of the much-discussed 800 block of Washington. David Long announced that the Junior Class from Canterbury High School would once again perform a Day of Service in West Central. The date is May 26. If anyone can think of a possible use for 75 or so students between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm, let him know. Last year’s Junior Class cleaned the park strips and gutters in the neighborhood. David also added more information about the Emmanuel Lutheran Church’s Summer of Service program. Information about that program is in the e-newsletter and the printed newsletter.

Respectfully submitted,

David Long