June Minutes 2012
NEXT MEETING DATE: July 31 at 4:00 p.m. at FLS ENERGY
Approve Minutes to May 29 Meeting
Hedy move to approve the minutes, Pattiy seconds
Membership Dues are up for Renewal/ Membership Forms
RADBA is one year old! $100 per business or ownership entity
July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013
Renew Your Membership–RENEW BEFORE JULY 1 FOR FULL YEAR OF BENEFITS
Send form on page above:
Matt Sprouse c/o RADBA, Sitework Studio, 352 Depot St # 120 Asheville, NC 28801
Treasurer Report $4,180 in the account as of today
Elections?
Not proposing we have elections now; we will float a slate of candidates for July and do the votes in August–more info later
Question–Can you have a lower membership level for artists?
Pattiy–we started RADA for artists and if artist business owners want to join then they pay the RADBA fee the same as every business (people who have a substantial stake in the neighborhood)
Matt-$100 membership per year seemed to be a good level of buy in for voting; people can still attend the meetings
Maybe there could be flexibility about quarterly payments
Matt–we have a strong relationship that’s happening with RADA and meet quarterly and figure out where we can interface; we can talk about the quarterly payments
Fundraiser outcome for Green the RAD and One Neighborhood + Clingman Circle Celebration
Parade was wonderful! It was a lot of fun.
The fundraiser was a little under-attended. May have raised about $1,000 for Green the RAD and One Neighborhood with silent auction and tickets
Ginger Huebner with Roots + Wings School of Art is going to start working with artists and neighborhood kids
Maybe not do it first week in June (with stroll that weekend)
Asheville Public was giving out 10% off coupons and lots of people went there; it would be great to have them as RADBA members
Changes going on at Asheville Public with ownership
Matt–we need a Membership Committee
Paris of the South is now being held next to Asheville Public
RADA
Studio Stroll Outcome – Daniel McClendon, RADA liaison
Daniel is not here. Any member of RADA give us feedback about the Studio Stroll. Lots of different feedback so far.
–Joe Seemed like a lot more local people this year and more traffic than in the past (due to better signage), but they weren’t buying
–Lots of people enjoyed themselves but didn’t buy
–Curve and Pink Dog–less traffic than both strolls last year; significantly down from November
–From other artist: little 8 year old selling cookies in her space made more money than the artist did
–Pattiy–highlight was 2010 and downhill from there in terms of money and people
Brian–good stroll for one may not be a good stroll for others
Pattiy–what percentage of studio stroll is yearly gross? This is how it needs to be viewed.
Trip–daily average is going up; but Stroll is no longer the big pop that it once was because daily sales are up
Matt–the stroll is good exposure and connection with the community, not necessarily just for sales
Joe–More foot traffic day-to-day, so shifting gears with my business to keep the doors open
Pattiy–business model in the RAD is taking a serious shift
Joe–conflicted about it–in the middle of something and it’s hard to communicate with visitors; would like to see a venue to sell work
Pattiy–the gallery model is hard to financially support; it’s hard to make any money; and it’s different from what the RAD is
Trip–that’s what the tourists and customers love
Brian–Odyssey is a hybrid (have a gallery and studio)–it works; sales are up 80%
Joe–what about a co-operative gallery
Hedy–something you bring up to the RADA; Ariel is another co-op gallery
Pattiy–Kitty at the Arts Council has talked about that
Matt–Trip and Ben, The Junction have a rotating gallery
If you’re interested, talk with Trip about how to get a gallery going like the one at Clingman Cafe
Stroll Parking
Dave Steel parking that opened up was arranged by Tim Schaller (he paid the insurance)–the grassy area along Roberts
Trip is talking with the railroad about the corner lot at the 5-way stop
Pattiy–what if RADBA paid the insurance all year long to keep that parking open?
Susan–offered to take the graffiti off and didn’t hear back
City of Asheville update on RAD issues – Stephanie Monson
RiverMusic Festival–permitting–they are going to get a provisional permit. As long as they adhere to the permit and there are no major problems, they will be allowed to get a permit to do the festival.
Permit stipulates:
Parking: asked for parking in 6 or 7 areas in RAD
14-30 Riverside across from Curve–the city is not allowing RiverLink to use that area for parking
Instead, they are using area adjacent to North Mill Bridge and Riverside Dr. for parking and they are creating a pedestrian passage
Clean up, as well as reseed that lot after the events in the fall
Brian–where will the bands be?
It will be right across from Cottonmill; they will be pulling in across from the Ice House through an egress on the south end of that street
They are not running any shuttles.
Evan–Will have at least 6 safety officers due to the unknown number of people and alcohol. May make Riverside Drive for temp fire lane for no parking; all of us will be working at the end; will keep traffic moving; RiverLink will have volunteers out helping
Friday, June 29 from 5 – 10 p.m.
Parking agreement runs until midnight
They did rent 4 lamps on poles, so there will be lights–will put one down near Jean Webb Park; Ice Plant and on city-owned property under the bridge
Pattiy–suggest RiverLink maintain the remnants of Cottonmill Studio which they own–make sure to keep it up
Susan–they are working hard to get the festival site set up
Brian–RiverLink through the years has cleaned up a lot down there; they have probably tried not to increase the value of the property that they are trying to get a hold of
What constitutes it not working?
If they do not hold up the requirements, then they will not be permitted again.
Pattiy–is there a mechanism where neighbors can give feedback?
RADBA and informal input
We do not have a process for this, so that’s what we’re learning.
Brian–what is their ultimate goal?
It’s a fundraiser for RiverLink
Brian–we have intentionally tried to keep the RAD not a festival atmosphere because we don’t want a festival, we want the attention to go to the artists in their spaces and their studios and that’s what’s so unique about what we have here
Pattiy–the next one is July 15, so I’d be happy to communicate input to Stephanie Monson and the City from the neighbors
Brian–it seems like the interest can continue to build and it would be great to hold it to a certain number
Steph–Fire will have a specific interest
Hedy and Pattiy–potential for fundraising for future events for parking; will check it out this time and then next time we will charge for parking
RiverWhisperer blog indicates that there are no parking areas in the RAD
New Business
Master Plan the RAD – Ben Mixon
Ben–no planning that he knows of, but we need to start connecting the RAD with sidewalks, plan to connect everything that includes pedestrian paths and walking
How do we increase the bike and foot friendliness in the RAD–not the Wilma Dykeman, not the New Belgium plan, but the RAD?
Matt–Town Branch (from McDowell down Choctaw to Ralph near the Glen Rock Depot) and Clingman Forest Greenways are in a process of choosing a design firm–part of the larger picture. It book ends the RAD. It does not address the internal stuff.
Steph–the City has $100,000 to do this plan to script an RFP for an urban design team that includes WECAN, Hillcrest, South French Broad, RAD neighborhoods–prioritize where people are and what we do in what order
The idea is to serve the people who need it the most–the highest levels of poverty
Pattiy–how can we help?
Demand the city provide you with an RFQ (get that done)–chair of the RADBA chair make the ask
Go to Planning and Economic Development Committee of the City Council
Find a mechanism that it gets done–status reports at each RADBA meeting
Ben–define boundaries of RAD and make sure the city has the same definition (how does the city define it?)
Pattiy–representatives from RADBA want to be on any steering committees
Steph–don’t want to discourage you from coming together to define what your needs are
Ben–we should put our needs together and say “this is what we need” rather than a study defining what we need; would like New Belgium to be involved
Joe–central Roberts Street is a problem with high pedestrian and speeding traffic; it is very dangerous; post a speed limit on Roberts Street (20 MPH zone)
On street parking is traffic calming right now
Trip–would love to see it become one-way
Ben–Is RADBA as a group interested in advertising with the artists?
We did a trolley banner for the stroll
Matt–there are a couple of items we need to discuss in the next meeting
Non-Profit status for RADBA?
Reason: with One Neighborhood and other potential funding that might come our way, we have no way of managing those funds
We are looking into cost now as well as category.
Pattiy–With the limited funds that we have, we don’t need to be a non-profit right now.
Susan–partner with a non-profit and put it into restricted funds
Hedy–if we donate to the Arts Council then that looks good to the State Arts Council
Pattiy–prefer not to spend RADBAs money to the non-profit
Green the RAD
Would like to ask for more money to maintain Clingman Ave. Streetscape
Matt–when we caught it last May, we took it from the point of no return and brought it back under control.
Had an impromptu meeting with a Council member and he had no idea we were paying for it. He suggested we write a letter and get it in front of Council and get it to Council.
Pattiy–we could also have a neighborhood work day (not in the center median)
Rebid the project–yes, they will rebid the project for landscaping
Accounting–would like a recap of accounting from last year
Toastmasters in RAD
We can only do it at 7 a.m. at the FLS Energy Boardroom
Could do it at the Glen Rock Depot boardroom
Need at least 20 people. Please contact Joanna at FLS Energy: joanna@flsenergy.com