October 28, 2009 General Meeting Minutes
General Meeting
Minutes
Wednesday 28, 2009
6:30 to 8:30 pm
Choir Room at Lynbrook High School
Welcome –Kim Worrall, President
Meeting called to order 6:35
Welcomed members from both the Miller NA and the Murdock association. Reviewed the agenda letting everyone know that we have a tight agenda.
Treasury Report- Rich Woodward, Treasurer
We have money in the budget, doing well. Need your $15 dues to help keep us going.
CAP grant $2,413 ops, mtgs, picnic, but we can not rely on CAP grant after this one.
Recognition of Website Development- Kim Worrall
Kimberley Toy, a student at Lynbrook High School was awarded an honorarium in the amount of $200 for her dedication and hours of help with the website. Kimberley urged the audience to check out the site if they have not already done so.
Celebration of a Neighbor!- Rich Lukon
Kim Worrall spoke about a new feature where we celebrate a neighbor. At the picnic we celebrated Ramya Auprem, an 8th grader at Miller who got 5th place in the Nat’l spelling bee in Washington DC. She asked if members know or want to be featured please e-mail us on the website at the contact info listed on the websiste.
Rich Lukon was introduced who has written a book called The Longest Half Mile. He has been featured on the television show- “the better part” in Cupertino, and also in the C, which covers Cupertino news.
The book delves into many levels of self-actualization. An intro was read about the book, and that the books are available at amazon.com, barnes and noble.com. Richard spoke briefly about the book at the end of the meeting, and had some books that he was happy to sign! Congratulations Rich!
Guest speakers
San Jose Police Department update- Introduction by Ron Olson
Officer Chris Passeau of the San Jose Police Department spoke about a recent incident regarding two girls jogging the creek trail when a man tried to grab them. This creek historically has never had a problem before and is considered a safe. Keep your cars locked, and don’t keep valuables in them. With Christmas season coming up, crimes usually increase so be extra cautious and keep doors locked. Don’t use cell phones while driving. Petty theft crimes have been sporadic. Keep the neighborhood clean and kept up.
Lynbrook Stadium renovations- Polly Bove, Superintendent of the FUHSD, and Bill Wilson, Board member
Bill Wilson- filled in for Barbara Nunes as she has been taken ill this morning. There was an introduction about thee bond measure, problems with the fields, drainage, irrigation and the number of sport fields needed to keep up with the growth in participants using the fields. Considered a classroom without walls.
The process has considered input from various stakeholders, and has made changes accordingly. Concerns of the negative impact of traffic, noise, lighting pollution will be studied by experts and come back in the environmental impact report. Bond monies are being used for various projects, like science labs, solar power etc and needed a way to look at this in a systematic way, and a way to get all the facts. Glen Evans, Derek and Judy Shanley,the President of David J Powers and Associates, Inc all made presentations and answered questions for an hour. Some items noted were, the change in the North/South orientation of the field, ADA compliance requirements, concession building and restrooms, lights, scoreboards, and the new fields. New fencing that would be 20’ high to protect the homes, one natural turf filed, others synthetic turf. Scoreboards would be 20’ high and lights would be 80 to 90’ high with down turned lighting which directed downward, which only one field would have the lights. Questions about the original agreement between school and neighbors that were voted on not to allow lighting and night games at Lynbrook were asked and why is this process not being used again? Answer: The EIR will override the vote. The Draft EIR will have a 45 day circulation period from Feb to April and will be posted on the District Website.
There was more interest in continuing after the time allotted, so they asked to stay after and answer more questions till after Pete’s half hour presentation.
District 1 Councilman, Pete Constant
City issues- budget deficit is growing and will be worse next year. Looking at possible $91.5 million in deficit. City employees 8,000 last year, now at 7,000. Major infrastructure is $750 billion behind and there is a backlog of projects at $1.7 billion.
Healthcare for employees is a 50/50 split with employees paying half and taxpayers paying the other half.
He would like to set up a priority system that looks at line items on a Must fund, Should fund, would Like to fund, and should Not fund basis.
Not every dollar is equal, meaning some projects should take preference over others. One example he gave was the sub station being built in South San Jose. Spending on an art vs basic building needs. Public safety and sanitary systems should take priority. Pensions need to be fixed. The assumptions built into pensions, a 9% growth rate. We can’t afford the benefits, but if hired with those benefits in place, can’t change them. Negotiations with the unions are taking place. State took $23 million out of our budget to help balance their budget.
Pete also spoke on a new project which is an application that is available on the I-phone and coming soon on the blackberry and others. This application will help the neighborhoods with many problems such as street repairs, blight, and graffiti. The user would take a picture of the problem, state the problem and send in the information which would automatically include the exact coordinates using GPS to the city to log and process the complaint. The city would not need to send someone out to survey, so it saves time and money.
8:30 pm
Book signing and talk- Rich Lukon- the longest half Mile
Rich Lukon was asked to come up. He said that he felt that he was a pacifist in a war zone right now and he would be available after the Lynbrook questions were done if anybody was interested.
Meeting adjourned at 8:35
People stayed until 9:30 asking questions.
Next Meeting January.27, 6:30 Lynbrook High School Choir Room
That meeting is for elections of new officers! Please come and vote.
Happy Holidays!