Board and Commission - Regular Meeting

Um, it's 5 31 and, um, I'm Heather Washburn, the chair, and we're going to start the meeting. Um, and we'll start with a roll call. Um, Patrick Brennan, Patrick, I saw you up here, but I'm here, Heather.

Sorry. I'm here. Okay.

Thanks. And then, uh, uh, John Biggs. Here. Kelsey?

I am here.

Jim Farren? Present. Annie? Here. Kim Andrews? Let's see. Kim, I see you, but... I don't see you.

I don't know. There I am.

Okay. I got to know. Got to know. Okay. And again, I'm Heather Washburn. And I'm here too. So we're going to go through the approval of agenda. Did anybody have any questions on the agenda tonight? It's going to be the approval of the past minutes. Hopefully everybody's read those. And then the main part of this is going to be figuring out who the new chair is going to be and talk through chair, co-chair. And I don't think that anybody has come up as to be rotating on thus far. So those are the two items. Okay. Any questions? Can I get a motion to approve the agenda?

Motion to approve the agenda.

Okay. Can I get a second?

I'll second. Jim, go ahead and give it. Jim approved. Jim second.

Okay. Thanks, Kim. And then can I call to vote? And if I'll raise your hand or yes.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Looks like it's unanimous, so motion carries. Are there any announcements?

No, staff doesn't have any announcements or petitions. Okay.

Did everybody have a chance to read through all three months of minutes?

Yes.

Okay. Did anybody have any questions or need to make any adjustments to the minutes? I'll take the silence as that we're good to go. So can I have a motion to approve the minutes?

I make the motion, Heather. I make the motion.

Thank you, Patrick. Can I get a second? I'll second. And was that Kim?

That was Annie.

Oh, Annie. Okay, thank you. Sorry, if I look down, I can't see. All right, so... next item is oh sorry we need a vote um can let's vote for approval of the minutes if you approve please just raise your hand aye it's to me like it's all um eyes so the motion carries and we can go on to new business um So we can have a discussion of, let's do this. Does anybody have a nomination for chair that you would like to put forward?

I'd like to nominate Patrick Brennan as chair.

I can't do that.

Patrick, how do you feel about that?

That sounds great to me. Thank you. I'm honored. Appreciate that. Thank you.

Okay. Does anybody want to speak on behalf of Patrick and why he would make such a great chair? I've enjoyed having him as my co-chair.

I would say that he had been vice chair, very good comments, and he is the longest serving member of the board and given the current board members. So it's a great choice.

I agree. I think moving forward, it's going to be important to have somebody that has had some history with some of the projects that they come back through and has had some time to see kind of how this commission works and I think would be a very good leader. Can we vote? Actually, can we make a motion to nominate Patrick for chair?

I make a motion to nominate Mr. Brennan for chair of the CDC.

Can I get a second?

A second.

We got John as the second. And are we all comfortable if I just ask you to raise your hand in acceptance? So if you agree, just raise your hand. Great. So that passes unanimously.

Heather, can I say just a couple of words?

Yes.

Okay. I just want to thank everyone for the trust they're showing me. You know, we talk about community and we talk about what it means to be a citizen. I think it's all of us showing up once a month and wrestling with these hard questions. you know, we don't have to be here, but we all choose to be here. And just so grateful to be a part of a group of people who wants to collaborate, who wants to work together, who wants to challenge each other and make our town a better place. And Heather, you know, we hope to make you proud. You are a chair. So we we We will learn from your example and you will be on speed dial. I'm sure you know. So you've set a wonderful example for how to work collaboratively and how to build consensus. And we really appreciate your leadership. And if it's appropriate, I'd like to also nominate a vice chair potentially.

I am fine with that. Who would you like to nominate?

I would like to nominate Kim Andrews as the vice chair.

Kim? How do you feel about that?

I think that would be great. I appreciate the nomination.

Good. Because I would second that. You were on my list. So it's a good day today because... It's a good day. Okay. So can we have... We've got a nomination for Patrick. Can we get a second for Kim?

I second that.

All right. That was from Annie. Again, if... You agree, please raise your hand. Fantastic. Uh, unanimous motion carries. And, uh, I would like the floor just for a moment. Uh, so it was really hard to make the decision to roll off. Um, but I feel like this commission is in really good hands and I can go on doing other civic things. Things that I would like to leave you in thinking about is that when you're evaluating projects that are coming to the CDC, Think of it in terms of Chapel Hill as a fabric, not an absolute that it has to look one way. It has to have one material because a fabric of a community is deep and everlasting and having some differences between is actually what makes a community because their personality comes through. So, always kind of try to put yourself into their shoes. And when I say their shoes, I'm talking about the community that's going to be in that space or moving around that space. So, that's been a big thing of why I was on the CDC was what I could bring to it as far as the building and community building and planning part of it. So you guys have my email. If questions come up, please feel free to email me. Jim's emailed me. I try to respond in a relatively quick manner, but I'm happy to answer any questions as things come up because you guys are going to see projects that have come up before. And sometimes it's nice to have somebody that has the history. Patrick's got some history, but I've also been able to reach out to previous CDC members when I've had questions. So I want you to feel free that that door is open.

Thank you. Thank you, Heather. Thank you. Big shoes to fill.

So go ahead.

I just want to say one more thing. We are so grateful for your service. And I know I keep saying that, but you've been really led by example.

Good.

Kim and I are chair and vice chair. I view every voice on this commission equally as important and working to build consensus and learning from each other. And so Jim, Annie, John, Kim, Kelsey, you know, we're going to lean on you guys and look forward to sort of getting to know each other better this process as well. So thank you.

Annie, I see your hand raised, but I'm not sure if that was the vote or if you wanted to speak.

No, I was just hoping to say a few words as well. Yes. A bit hard to follow after Heather being such an important member of the commission. But if somebody wasn't here when I shared this a few months ago, I am also rolling off of the commission today. When I was first appointed, it was because I was filling in for somebody else who left halfway through their tenure, and theirs would have ended during this meeting as well. I was asked if I would like to continue, and I'm very sad to say that I won't because after I get married in August, I am moving to Philadelphia. Congrats. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. If I were staying in the area, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. So even though I've only been able to be a part of this for about nine months or so, it's been a great honor. I've learned so much from you. I hope to join something similar in Philadelphia. I've lived in North Carolina my whole life and this area is very special to me. So I just wanted to say thank you for welcoming somebody very young who doesn't know anything at all and letting me learn from all of you.

Yeah, we hope you spread your civic duty wide. It takes a village. Okay, so any other business that we need to address? Otherwise, I'm going to adjourn.

Just one final point. Heather mentioned about responding. She was very good at response. You may want to consider sharing. My last email to you was just your thoughts on evaluating projects. And I noted it and it was very helpful. I've done a little research on evaluation of CDC type things and you came back to me with more thoughts. So definitely a great resource and hopefully you'll be open if we do have questions.

I absolutely will be open. And Jim is referring to this email in which he had said that, I'm just going to read verbatim. In evaluation, I seek to be both objective and consistent with Jim talking. With the CDC, I've not been aware of any points in viewing evaluation. I came across some tips to help in decision making. One, does it fit the neighborhood context? Two, does it present enough visual interest? And three, is it functional and human, i.e., an accessible entrance, screen mechanicals, for example? And then four, does it use high quality materials? And then he asked me what I use to project evaluation. And I agreed with the ones that he listed. I said, I also look at scale. Does the exterior feel overwhelming in mass, height, material changes? Does it feel welcoming, in harmony, and comfortable? I also look at a project's impact on the environment. its maintenance costs, and does it provide opportunities for community interaction? For developments, I always want to know how they are handling their stormwater runoff. Are they building community or are they building individual silos? Are they providing opportunities for mass transit or are they promoting our car culture?

Those are great points. Yeah, thank you.

And I'm going to leave you with, my door is open. Please ask questions. I love our community. So whatever I can do to help support. All right. I'm letting you guys go. And I'm saying bye-bye.

Thank you.

Bye. Bye.