Update: Antioch etc., Planning & Environmental Commission

Hi, all--It's been a busy week.

1) Village Council update: Our Village Council meeting, including a long executive session, on Monday went til midnight; we moved forward on three resolutions connected to the improvements to our waste-water treatment facilities, finalized our goals for the year (yes, in April!), briefly discussed the noise ordinance and concerns about Antioch College noise, had special reports on the King Street detention basin, our website & the visioning process, and, during Citizens' Concerns, heard from a lot of you on the Antioch College situation. (Exec. session focused on Village Manager employment agreement).

Re: Antioch crisis: We passed a resolution to write a letter urging the Antioch U Board of Trustees to meet with the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, face-to-face. It's now being reported to us that such a meeting will happen. Meanwhile, we're seeing plans move forward for a non-stop Antioch, regardless, which are intriguing and exciting, as reported by ACCC spokesperson Ellen Borgeson and student Jeanne Kay.

I am concerned about the College campus and what the University's plans are for securing it, given the announced layoffs. I am planning to ask our legal council to look into what rights we as a community have to expect that that campus be secured and maintained by the owners if it should be empty for any length of time. If others of you have thoughts about what our community interest is in regard to local consequences to this potential shuttering of the campus at the heart of our town, please let me know.

The Electric System Task Force will be making its Phase I report at our next meeting on the 21st, and we'll be reviewing our Sidewalk Policy.

2) Planning Commission: The proposed planned unit development of the Barr property (321 Xenia Ave) will again dominate our meeting tomorrow night (Mon. 4/14, 7 pm; Council Chambers). Our PC packet is thus thick this week again with letters and thoughts, positive and negative, about the FCC's plans for this property that lies in a key residential area adjacent to our downtown. Our village manager, Eric Swanson included a note in our packet that the PUD process is a two-step process: we are at this point looking at the "concept" stage, not the final plan: we will vote either that we like the concept (go forward with hammering out the details) or we say that the differences are too great to be worked out. But in either case, the plan will then go to the Village Council.

I have already stated that it is my intention to support this effort, although I recognize the plan is not perfect and that many of my supporters oppose the plan--my stance is posted in the previous entry on this blog. I respect all of you who disagree with my position on this issue. Please know that I am still listening to all the voices and reading the letters of folks on all sides of this public debate. In general, I believe that it's been a healthy debate and that people have engaged in it in good faith. I genuinely thank everyone for making me feel the complexities raised by this plan, which are not trivial.

3) No office hours tomorrow: I have to be at Wittenberg for an interview during my normal office hours, and also have to meet with students who are working on end-of-term projects. So I will be at Wittenberg all day.

4) Environmental Commission: We are also a busy group with several important events planned ahead of Earth Day. First, I hope you all received the notice about "green pricing" in your utility bill this month, which allows you--if you wish--to pay a little extra as a support for building and investing in greener energy resources. We need 10% of us to sign on for the project to fly, so let's do it.

Corrected costs: It costs only $0.015 (1 1/2 cents) per kilowatt hour to add this optional plan to your bill. So, if you use 500 kilowatts of energy, it would only cost you an extra $7.50 that month (that's 500 multiplied by .015--there is a typo on our original flyer). This is a great way to start on a path of greater energy efficiency, to put pressure on yourself to reduce your family's usage--and reduced, more efficient usage is the best source of energy we have. Given that our Council voted against coal, we need to move in this direction, right now.

"Spring Fling" Earth Day Events this coming weekend:

Friday night 7-9: Death to the Incandescent! That's our rallying cry. We'll be stationed at a table on Xenia Ave, in front of Living Green, with information about green pricing, the value of switching your regular bulbs to compact fluorescents (CFL), and how to recycle CFLs responsibly.
Saturday early afternoon 12-2:30: More death to the incandescent! Same as above.
Sat. late afternoon 3:30-5:
FREE Film Screening: "Garbage: The Revolution Starts at Home!" Little Art Theatre! Co-sponsored with other good people/groups. Bring friends! Bring family! Bring people you don't even really like! Here's the film's website: http://www.garbagerevolution.com/
Immediately following: SHORT Panel discussion of the issues raised by the film, with local experts Bob Brecha, Donna Haller, and others, centering on the plan of starting with the concrete, practical step of turning entirely to the CFL.

Why I support the FCC plans for the Barr Property

The Planning Commission will meet on Monday night 7 pm, in the Bryan Center; we will once again be considering the Friends Care Community plans for the Barr property on the corner of Xenia and Limestone.

I plan to support this plan, although I agree with many residents that it is not perfect. A resident whom I respect very much left the note at my home, and, after all that I've read about this property and these plans, this writer sums up my feelings very well:

"Dear Lori: I am not savvy about writing or emailing Council or Planning Commission as a group, so I will leave this note at your home.

My request is that we do everything wise and possible to make the Barr property Senior Housing apartments happen. While it is not large enough to accommodate every senior household looking for in-village center living, it is a terrific step forward.

As my 84-year-old mother has had to give up driving she has become homebound and somewhat isolated. Mom lives in a bustling suburban area where going out the door to 'take a walk' is not safe. While she lives in a setting that provides lonely meals and many amenities, she is virtually a prisoner of her home. Family members visit her frequently and take her visiting, shopping and to medical appointments. However, she has lost so much spontineity (sp?--sorry!), independence, and confidence because she cannot simply walk down the street on her own.

I am not a perfectionist. My view is generally what can we do with the resources available within the time frame allowed? Usually the outcome is pretty great. If we focus on the architecture more than the lives of our citizens, we will fail our community.

Make no mistake--this is a selfish interest as well. Though [my partner] and I own a home within 'walking distance' of downtown... we often use our autos to move around the village. If the day comes when we must release use of personal cars or caring for the yard and garden are not practical anymore, I truly hope the options of applying for a residence on the Barr property is an option! When it comes down to it all of our villagers need that option, sooner or later.

It will not only be frustrating but heart breaking if this golden opportunity slips from our grasp."

I am concerned that, particularly in this instance, we not place largely aesthetic concerns, which are of course fairly subjective--and nevertheless important--over the needs of real people for affordable, centrally located housing. Many villagers have spoken to me over the past few weeks, particularly elderly residents for whom this housing is desperately needed, for all the reasons so simply stated in the letter I copied above.

I realize that not all of you agree with this stance, but I must vote my conscience. Nevertheless, I welcome hearing thoughts on all sides of this issue, and hope to see many of you at the meeting on Monday night.

Environmental Commission will be meeting next Thursday; we'll be discussing the "death of the incandescent bulb" and our efforts to speed its demise!

Retreat, next meeting, and the knit-knot tree makes national news...

Hi, all--Just a note that our next Village Council meeting, on Monday, we'll have the first reading on the budget for 2008--7 pm in the Council Chambers on the second floor of the Bryan Center.

I'll also be doing my normal "office hours" on Monday, in the Emporium, 12-1:30. Stop by! There's lots to discuss--economic development, the Barr property, and budgeting are all hot topics right now. And I'm sure there are some I'm not aware of.

Tomorrow (3/15) we're mainly discussing group process/dynamics, philosophies of governance, and procedures to help make our meetings productive and efficient at our retreat, from 9-3 pm.

Finally, last Monday the knit-knot tree downtown made national headlines and, according to one reading, helped boost our image as an arts town in a way that a massive expenditure by Las Vegas on an arts project did not. Thanks to Corrine Bayraktaroglu and Nancy Mellon for this lovely addition to our town--it makes me smile every time I pass it.

Budget/ Pools Parks and Rec?/ Regenesis?

Council meeting: Tuesday Jan 19, 7 pm

Office Hours today: I will be in the Emporium today from 12-1.

3 things:

1) We had a budget meeting on Saturday, in which there was much confusion as to the actual state of the budget, but in which we did manage to increase Greenspace funding to $50,000 for this year, as opposed to the $35,000 that Eric had initially earmarked. I do not believe that $50K is sufficient. I am going to be pressing for a commitment closer to $125,000 and am working on creative methods to reach that goal. Continued community pressure will help me make that case.

2) There is a library commission, but there is no Pool, Parks, & Rec. Commission. This seems strange to me. The planning commission has bemoaned the lack of an up-to-date master plan for our parks and rec department, and constituents are writing me with legitimate concerns that the pool, in particular, seems to be too-readily sacrificed in times of financial crisis. I wonder if that would be less likely to happen if there was a Commission.

Here are my questions:
* Can anyone with longer history here explain to me why there's no Pool Parks and Rec Commission?
* I sense that we need one. Do you agree? Do you think this would be something worth my working toward this year?
* By the way, as I mentioned in our meeting on Saturday, there's also no equivalent organization to the "Friends of the Library" group for the Pool etc. This also seems strange to me. "Friends of the YS Pool and Parks" would seem to be a logical group to be formed by local residents who use and value our pool, parks, and recreation facilities. I spoke to Kathleen Boutis and I think there may be some interest out there in forming such a group.

3) About 70 of us heard from the Regenesis group yesterday. It was a very intriguing, intellectually stimulating discussion, but rather short on specifics as to how the group would interact with and work with the entire community, and what the process would be that could result in tangible results. My impression is that they are quite expensive. Ted Donnell will be making a presentation about the group and what they might offer YS at our meeting tomorrow night. I would very much appreciate your attendance and feedback.

Here's their website: http://www.regenesisgroup.com/RegenerativeDevelopment

Thanks,
Lori

Council Notes and Office Hours this week

1) OFFICE HOURS I have to move my office hours up an hour this week to accommodate meeting with my Wittenberg students Monday afternoon. So, Monday 10-11:30am is when I'll have coffee/brunch at the Emporium.

2) PLANNING COMM. MONDAY @ 7pm: We'll be considering, again, the Friends Care Center's proposal for the Barr property. In the Planning Commission packet there are several impassioned letters speaking against the current plan, largely but not exclusively from neighbors (we received none in favor of it this time). Also included in the package is a drawing indicating what looks to me like a fairly significant redesign. Please let me know your thoughts.

2) VISION / ECON DVPT: I've been reading Howard Zinn and several other historians today (see my new signature quotation below for a flavor!), and wrestling with the notion of a) what ARE the roots of our Council/manager form of government--both the truly progressive elements of its history and also its conservative, socialism-busting elements--and b) with envisioning our village's future. Basically, the conflicts we're experiencing today have long roots, and involve significant differences in political and economic philosophy.

I hope that you all had a chance to read the articles in the past two weeks of the Yellow Springs News about differing notions of economic development: first on the Shuman model adopted by St. Lawrence County NY, Ann Arbor MI, and Carborro NC and others (1/31), and, second, the vision being proposed by the YSA described in this past week's paper (2/7). Please do share your thoughts with Council on this important issue.

3) REGENESIS? The Regenesis group, from Santa Fe NM is another group that Ted Donnell and others have been working to bring to Yellow Springs:

"Ben Haggard of The Regenesis Group is visiting Yellow Springs next weekend. He will be giving a presentation to all interested community members on February 16 on the Regenesis approach to community planning. The specific time and location will be announced as soon as it is determined. Please share this with other community members you think might be interested.You might be interested in visiting their website http://www.regenesisgroup.com/index.php."

4) REVIEW OF VILLAGE MANAGER: The Council will be doing an annual review of the work of manager Eric Swansen, and we invite public input. Many positive letters were in our packet last week.

5) BUDGET: HELP? If any one out there is good at reading complex budgets, I'd really love some help when I finally see ours, with examining it and thinking through how to make it fit our community's values. Let me know if you can assist!

Peace!
Lori

Here's a fuller version of the quotation I'm now using as part of my email signature:

"There can be no doubt that democracy distrusts the expert . . . and there is no doubt also that much of this distrust is well grounded and thoroughly justified. This is due partly to the air of unwarranted superiority which the expert too frequently assumes and partly to the fact that history presents a long record of self-constituted experts who have been discredited. . . . In earlier times there was an expert class in theology that proposed to do the thinking for the human race in matters religious. There have been military castes, self-confessed experts who have succeeded more than once in imposing not only their professional but their class interests upon the civil population. The only kind of expert democracy ought to tolerate is the expert who admits his fallibility, retains an open mind, and is prepared to serve."

--Charles Beard, "Democracy and the Expert" 1916 (Charles Beard is one of the most respected historians of the early 20th century; he helped work out many progressive era public policy changes, including the development of the council-manager format. He went on to found the New School, in NYC).

Office Hours for the New Year, Community Forum Tomorrow!

For the next several weeks I will be having lunch at the Emporium on Mondays from 12-1, and will be happy to speak with people at that time. Please also see the contact information on this blog if you'd like to make an appointment to see me, or call me. I'm in the red book.

Also: Don't forget the Smart-Growth Task Force and the Village Council are jointly sponsoring a forum on coal-fired power with presentations from the NRDC and others. Elisa Young, from Meigs County, will be present. Her presentation yesterday at Glen Helen painted a devastating picture of the effects of coal power on the health and welfare of Meigs County residents. There are 5 new coal plants proposed for that same region, where the devastation from "old coal" is still being experienced. Please come!

What: Community forum on Coal-Fired Power
Where: Rooms A/B in the John Bryan Center
When: 7 pm January 15

Letter from Council to Ohio Board of Regents

At our meeting last week, the Village Council unanimously voted to send this letter, which I drafted, to the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents and other state, local, and regional officials:


To the Honorable Eric Fingerhut, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents:

We, the Village Council of Yellow Springs, in one of our first Resolutions of the new year, Resolution 2008-04, have expressed our support for the combined efforts of Antioch University and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation to come to an agreement that will keep Antioch College operating. Specifically, we expressed our support for Antioch College Continuation Corporation’s efforts to seek clarification on the issue of maintaining the Certificate of Authorization with the Ohio Board of Regents, as long as the standards outlined in Administrative Code 3333 continue to be met in the future.

We have therefore directed our Village Manager, Eric Swansen, to write a letter to you and to state and local officials expressing our concerns about this important decision, particularly focusing on the likely economic impact of even a temporary closure of the college on our village.

With this letter, we not only underscore Eric’s careful analysis of the gravity of this decision for our village’s economic sustainability, but also wish to emphasize the importance of Antioch College as the key institution in our village’s 155-year history, and its importance our current social, cultural, and artistic liveliness, which is key to our village’s attractiveness to so many people.

As Eric notes, Antioch College has been, historically, the powerful engine behind many industries that have made their home in Yellow Springs and the region during the twentieth century. YSI, the Antioch Company, Morris Bean & Company, Anthrotech, and others, all got their start at Antioch and today remain vital employers in our village. They have, with Antioch College and University, continued to help draw in a highly educated, democratically engaged, and artistic demographic that uniquely characterizes Yellow Springs as a village in Southwest Ohio.

Perhaps less tangibly, the ideals and philosophy of Arthur Morgan, who revitalized the College in the first half of the 20th century, have helped create a community that sustains successful non-profit ventures that comport with his vision of the small community, rich with green spaces and human-scale endeavors, as vital to democratic life and a sustainable civilization—including, most directly, groups as Community Service, Inc., the Glen Helen Ecology Institute, but also many others that provide valuable educational and other services to the region, attracting significant numbers of visitors to conferences, camps, and other events.

Antioch College is vital to our current identity as an arts community, which is both a source of economic revenue for our village, and, we believe, vital to the broader human need to craft creative responses to the problems we face in our world. Not only do many resident artists in town—not to mention many internationally-known artists, actors, and musicians—have Antioch ties, but many key events vital to our town’s cultural life are held on the campus.

The annual African American Cross-Cultural Works Blues Fest is held in the Amphitheatre on campus each September, attracting business vendors throughout the region to the festival area and emphasizing to the thousands who attend for the wonderful food and music the value of diversity in our world. The Yellow Springs Kids’ Playhouse—which provides children from the entire region with the opportunity to learn vital skills and perform and produce original theatrical works, at almost no cost to themselves or their families—uses Antioch College theatre facilities for all its efforts. These are just two annual arts events of many others held in Antioch facilities during the year. They not only draw in vital revenue and attract regional tourists, but help build and sustain community life.

Moreover, campus facilities are a part of our daily life as a community: many residents use the swimming pool and physical education facilities as part of their daily exercise regime. Many families regularly walk in the Glen. Students and residents alike use the Antioch College library. Most recently, in collaboration with Antioch Alumna Coretta Scott King and the Martin Luther King, Jr., family, the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom was established on the campus with a key goal of helping both Antioch and Yellow Springs imagine and work towards socially-just local, national and global communities. The center brings artists and speakers to the area, and many local groups now use their facilities to try to carry forth the King family vision in Southwest Ohio.

We are therefore gravely concerned not only about the practical problems that may come with prospect of a vacated campus in the heart of our village for at least several years into the future, but also about the loss of this historical grounding for our cultural and artistic life, and our very identity as a village. We urge you to carefully consider the importance of the continued existence of both Antioch University and Antioch College to our village life as you evaluate their request for continued accreditation.


Sincerely,

The Yellow Springs Village Council