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Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations Meeting Minutes November 7, 2007 Albany Public Library I. Introduction President Howard Stoller made brief remarks and everyone introduced themselves. II. John Cirren,
Albany Public Library John discussed the Albany Public Library $29.2 million branch improvement plan. The plan includes new buildings for the New Scotland and Henry Johnson libraries. Two architectural firms will be involved in the process. Collins and Scoville will renovate the Delaware, Pine Hills and Howe branches, and Hom & Goldman will design the new buildings at New Scotland Avenue and Arbor Hill/West Hill. Cirren emphasized that the project was currently on time and on budget. He also stated that the 11/19 and 11/20 meetings were postponed until December. The meetings are now scheduled for 12/3 (Howe), 12/6(Delaware) and 12/10 (Pine Hills). Cirren also said that he is willing to go to Neighborhood Association meetings to discuss the project. Brian Levine mentioned that there was currently a vacancy on the board due to the passing of John Bach, and that a tribute for Bach is currently being worked on. III. Mike Yevoli,
City of Albany Department of Development and Planning Yevoli discussed the City of Albany’s Comprehensive Plan. He explained that the General City Law leaves open what a “comprehensive plan” is. He stated that it is a document that is regularly updated. It is not: n a detailed instruction manual, n Law, n
Details of an implementation process We must determine how we want to the community to look.
Some important areas: are parking, housing, street activity,
transportation, energy, sustainability, green design, and commercial
development. The first step was the Common Council adopting enabling
legislation. The committee is
currently reviewing resumes for the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC).
DDP will lead the project. Yevoli
then discussed the makeup of the CPC. He
also estimated that by the first quarter of 2008 they would have a consultant on
board. He emphasized that everyone’s input is needed: kids,
seniors, all neighborhoods, and all interests and concerns.
The outreach process will include: n
Information sessions n
Workshops n
Surveys n
A website n
Public Hearings Yevoli then answered questions from CANA members.
Areas of discussion included the Walgreen’s currently scheduled for
Holland Ave, zoning, and code enforcement. III. Minutes
Approved IV. Neighborhood
Work 8 Gene Solan discussed Neighborhood 8 sponsored by the Neighborhood Resource Center in cooperation with CANA. The event will be held on Saturday December 1, 2008 at the First Lutheran Church Hall on State Street. Gene then handed out flyers detailing the entire schedule. V.
Codes Eileen discussed a building on Washington Ave that was
declared unsafe because it did not have fire alarms and some windows wouldn’t
open. She explained the impact that
this designation had on families, and how easily problem could have been solved.
The United Tenants got the building manager to fix the problems and the
families were not thrown out of their homes.
She then discussed Albany’s vacant building problem and
that prevention and stabilization are better solutions then demolition. VI.
Committee on University and
Community Relations Tom Gebhardt informed everyone that Chief Tuffey will speak at an upcoming meeting about the Albany Police Department’s reorganization plan. He also mentioned recent flyers that were handed out. VII. Cable Committee Negotiations were ongoing with Time Warner.
The Mayor said that he had no leverage with them, and that they were
exploring other providers. VIII. Adjourned Meeting adjourned at 8:47 pm. CANA November 7,
2007 Meeting Attendees
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