Our next meeting is Thursday April 15 at 7:00 pm at O'Malley Elementary School.

Agenda

• 7:00 pm Introductions and approval of previous minutes
  • 7:05 Presidents' & FCC reports
  • 7:10 Assembly report and Legislative teleconference
  • 7:30 Old & New Business
  • 7:35 Context Sensitive Design Ordinance
  • 8:15 Title 21 Comments ?
  • 9:00 Adjourn

There's a movement under foot that seeks to steer us from the course where roads are built solely for the sake of efficient driving. This new path leads to road designs that reflect the neighborhood in which they are built. The Mid-Hillside and Hillside East Community Councils headed this way with our November 2004 resolution regarding DeArmoun Road where we stated in part:

WE REQUEST that the DOT reject the notion of "route continuity" for the DeArmoun Phase 2 project and instead design for neighborhood consistency. This area is not continuous with Phase 1. The road design should change driver expectations to match the character of the neighborhood, rather than change the neighborhood to meet "route continuity."

At our March meeting, Mike Flister and Jeannie McQueary, representing a citizen group called the "Anchorage Road Coalition," requested that we pass a resolution supporting "Context Sensitive Design." This is an important issue as the planning for DeArmoun Road is not yet finished and O'Malley Road is still in a stage where we can nudge it a bit.

At our April meeting, we will consider the proposed resolution. This is just a proposal and can be rejected completely or modified by our council. There are links to related web sites at the councils' website www.weddleton.com/CC . If you have an opinion on this, remember, you have to show up to be counted!

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Resolved that: Whereas the citizens of the Municipality/State have found their ability to participate in and influence the planning functions of the Municipality and the State to be inadequate we request that the Mayor/Governor adopt the following policy and require that MOA/State planning organizations adhere to it:

New Executive Order for Context Sensitive Solutions

• This new Executive Order directs MOA /SOA employees to implement Context Sensitive Solutions tools on all department projects.

Context Sensitive Solutions

Context Sensitive Solutions is a model for transportation project development that has recently received much discussion and broad acceptance. Its essence is that a proposed transportation project must be planned not only for its physical aspects as a facility serving specific transportation objectives, but also for its effects on the aesthetic, social, economic and environmental values, needs, constraints and opportunities in a larger community setting. MOA/SOA endorses the Context Sensitive Solutions approach for all projects, large and small, from early planning through construction and eventual operation.

This means that MOA/SOA employees working on projects and facilities should:

• Engage from the project's inception with representatives of affected communities, including elected and appointed officials and a widely representative array of interested citizens.

• Assure that transportation objectives of projects are clearly described and discussed with local communities in a process that encourages reciprocal communication about local views and needs in the overall project setting.

• Pay attention to and address community and citizen concerns.

• Ensure the project is a safe facility for both the user and the community.

• Context Sensitive Solutions is a process that places a high value on seeking and, if possible, achieving consensus. MOA's belief is that consensus is highly advantageous to all parties and may help avoid delay and other costly obstacles to project implementation.

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HILLSIDE DISTRICT PLAN The Hillside District Plan is much talked about but exists now only as an anticipated component of the Anchorage 2020 Comprehensive Plan. The HDP would guide development in our area for years to come.

The hold up is getting the $1 million or so it would take for the Municipality to write the plan. To get over this hurdle, the Hillside Area Community Councils under the umbrella of HALO have started taking steps to write the plan as a citizen project.

Our Assembly representatives Dick Tremaine and Janice Shamberg have generously offered $1,000 to help the process. A meeting on April 3 kicked off a discussion of how we will work together and with the city to complete this plan as soon as February 2005.

We hope you will take part in this. Your work on this plan will leave a lasting legacy. _________________________________
Capital Projects On April 6, we voted on numerous bonds for projects in Anchorage. Through your Community Council, you are part of the process for identifying projects funded through these bonds.

That process begins now. At our April 15 meeting, we'll have a list of projects currently on the MOA's Capital Projects list for our area. We can add projects, delete some and then rank them all.

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LARGE ANIMAL ORDINANCE At our January and December meetings we discussed the "Equestrian" ordinance in the works. Largely through the hard work of Huffman-O'Malley CC Chair Ryan Stencil, the ordinance is being revamped.

A meeting on March 25 unveiled a version prepared by local property owners, including a good number from the MHCC and HECC. Assemblyman Dick Tremaine has been actively involved. The ordinance is now broadened to cover "Large Animals." This version underwent extensive critique at the meeting. The result is linked to this newsletter at the councils' website. Expect it to evolve over the next few months.
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Electronics Recycling 2004 This year you can safely get rid of your toxic electronics for free! Households can drop-off on Saturday, May 8th 10am-4pm at the former FedEx Warehouse at 3444 Old International Airport Road. That's the S.W. Corner of Jewel Lake and International. For more information call Green Star, Inc 278-7827 or http://www.greenstarinc.org
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LEGISLATIVE TELECONFERENCE. While the legislature is in session, we typically set up a conference phone so we can chat with our reps while they are in Juneau. These cover a broad range of topics. Big issues this year!
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CONNECTING TRAILS At a March 23 lunch with Community Council representatives, Mayor Begich said a priority is to connect existing trails. We have a few orphaned sections of trail in our area.

We'll have maps and pens at our meeting Let's draw some lines.

Proposed connections can be added to the Capital Projects list we submit.

Mid-HillsideBoard Members
John Weddleton President 349-8370 john@weddleton.com Brian Johnson Vice President 345-5883 brian.johnson2@akanch.ang.af.mil
Tom O'Grady Secretary 345-6948 ogrady@gci.net
Linda Perkins Treasurer 346-2558 miniaturehorses@alaska.com
Amy Johnson 258-0168 ajohnson@gci.net
Shirley McGrath 345-1606 smcgrath@alaska.net
James Perkins 346-2558 miniaturehorses@alaska.com

Hillside East Board Members
Tom Newins, President 345-8881 newins@gci.net
Bjarne Holm, Vice President robinholm@ak.net