2008 January Minutes

Avon Hills Initiative Executive Committee Meeting
January 30, 2007

Present: Peter Dwyer, Steve Plantenberg, Mike Leedahl, Lowell Rushmeyer, Bill Fahrney, Rachel Peterson

Review of Jan. 17 meeting
Bill attended the meeting and said that it was just the beginning of the process.  They are taking requests, input, and concerns from the public at this point.  The proposed physical change to the road will involve cutting curves to improve sight distance and design as a 55 mph road.  6-foot shoulders will also be added.

Bike paths are the current issue.  St. Joe would like a separate bike path to the new park; a bike path along the road would require at least an 8 foot shoulder.  Currently, the road near Saint John’s is the only one in the county with shoulders wide enough to be considered a bike path.

Suggested the contract will be let in 2009.  AHI will need to be supportive and kept aware of the issues and the time table.  Should include details of this in the next newsletter in order to facilitate dialogue in community and have info available at bike shops, running clubs, Tour of Saints, etc.

Comp Plan meeting Jan. 22
Things are proceeding.  Two more meetings before vote: Bill will attend all meetings.

CapX2020
Another meeting is scheduled for January 31 in Clearwater.  The AHI has been invited to this meeting, which means we have a place at the table for these discussions.  Bill, Tom and Peter will attend this meeting.

Our input for this project, which will almost definitely proceed, will be fine-tuning the route to make the most sense for them and for us.  Hope to avoid the NIMBY argument by suggesting that not every backyard is equal, and the Avon Hills area has already been validated as a special area, so we should be allowed some say.

Initiative Awards
Peter presented a proposal of annual Avon Hills Initiative awards called the Initiative Awards. Suggests we solicit nominations from the public, and the Exec committee will decide on the recipient and the manner of the award.  Exec committee will bring back ideas on categories and criteria to the next AHI meeting (February 27).