Http://www.rtpnet.org.durhminc

Minutes of Meeting of June 26, 2001

MEMBERS PRESENT

Karen Fried	Placid Valley NA
Larry Mitchell	Forest Hills NA
Mike Peterson	Forest Hills NA
Fred Mowry	Colony Park
Cheryl Sweeney	Northgate Park NA
Chris Bishop	Morehead Hills NA
J. Clinton Rogers	Dunbarton
John Dagenhart	Trinity Park NA
George Carter	Forest Hills NA
Shela W. Wilson	Parkside NA
Johnea D. Kelley	Duke Park NA
Lynwood D. Best	City of Durham Housing & Comm. Dev.
Robert Larson	Grove Park NA
Pat Carstensen	Cross Country NA
Beth Acierno	Woodlake NA
Eric Larson	Tuscaloosa Lakewood NA & City Council
Mike Shiflett	Watts/Hillandale NA

Administration and Announcements

Mike Shiflett called the meeting to order at 7:10PM.

Mike mentioned that he is working with four new neighborhood associations currently forming with the assistance of INC’s outreach efforts. They are: Rockwood Area, a group of residents in the Downtown area, 15 homes in Pickran Estates off Randolph Road and Whipporwill Park

The current checking account balance is $628.73. The prior months minutes were approved as written.

Programs

Officer Jim Adams of the City of Durham’s Police Department presented a program on Crime Prevention. He encouraged all neighborhood associations to invite him to their meetings to help them set up and learn home security techniques. He also offers Home Security Inspections that can be scheduled by calling him at 560-4582

Officer Adams pointed out that we must recognize and anticipate the presence of crime risk and work to reduce or remove as much of the risk as possible. Since there are only 469 allocated police officers to a population of 180,000 the responsibility of risk removal

must lie with the individual homeowner. There are three elements to crime: a criminal, a victim and opportunity. We have control over the opportunity element.

Officer Adams suggested we practice ‘Target Hardening’ CPTED Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design would encompass such practices as keeping bushes near windows below the 3’ height and having trees near the home limbed up to at least 6’. For interior strategies change all locks to double cylinder dead bolts with double keys not flip latches. This is a loss reduction technique in that doors are unusable for removing valuables from the home. Also the latch plate should be secured with 3” screws that go all the way through the frame and into the supporting interior framework. Random lighting timers were also suggested.

He stressed that we must work with law enforcement and not merely rely upon it. This would include home inventories with serial numbers listed for all appliances, personal safety programs, reporting all crimes, setting up neighborhood watch groups, joining Partners Against Crime and attending the Citizen’s Police Academy which can be done by calling Lt. Byrd at 560-4438. There are also bike safety programs that combine safe practices with introducing the policemen figure as a child’s friend.

Our second program of the evening was presented by Amanda Arnold of the Triangle Transit Authority. The current TTA findings were started in 1995 as a study with a rough draft begun in 1998. The now completed study is available on CD for $8.00 and in hard copy for $35.00 Currently TTA provides bus service, and car and van pool matching.

Phase I which is to include Durham, RTP, Morrrisville and Cary will use existing railway corridors alongside freight and Amtrak trains. Phase II will include Chapel Hill and North Raleigh in the system. A series of public hearings was to begin on June 28^th. The publics input is vital to making final decisions on how the project will be built. Some of the things to be considered are building one or two tracks and the frequency of trains.

Also vibration issues, whistles, retrofitting cross roads and many other details.

The current timeline places selection of components in 2001, final study in 2002, with the first part of Phase I to be completed by 2007. The actual cost of the project varies from $400 to $600 million whereas actual road improvement projected cost figures are running in the vicinity of $10 billion.

Lynnwood Best reported that all Community Life Court cases had been held over until the July 17^th court date.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20PM.