Hello, Neighbors!

Thank you to all that came to the neighborhood meeting last week! We are so happy to have had such a great turnout. Here is a summary of updates presented and issues discussed, and how neighbors can get involved.

  • Meeting Date: February 07, 2019
  • Meeting Location: Library! at Collister large conference room
  • Collister Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board Members Present: Suzanne Stone, President; Sarah Taylor, Vice-president; Tim Willmorth, Treasurer; Sarah Thueson, Secretary.
  • City of Boise Representatives Present: Kathleen Lacey, Neighborhood Coordinator, Planning and Development Services.
  • Meeting began at 7:00 pm, ended at 8:10 pm
  • Approximately 34 neighbors in attendance

Votes

CNA Board members unanimously approved minutes from January 12, 2019 meeting.

Neighborhood Projects and Grants

Neighborhood Improvement Projects (NIP) are grants from the City of Boise (https://energize.cityofboise.org/toolkit/nip/). CNA submitted three NIP project applications, prioritized as follows:

  1. Neighborhood Identity Kit: An identity/branding package for the Collister Neighborhood including a logo, color palette, and theme
  2. Historic Research Project: Gathering, researching and recording our neighborhood’s rich history
  3. Sidewalk Completion Project: Completing the sidewalk connecting Catalpa Park to Bloom Street, at the back of Collister Elementary

These projects were submitted January 2019. Project funding will be announced by the City in July 2019. If approved, these projects will be implemented starting October 2019.

Mini Grants (part of NIP) are for projects with a budget of less than $2000. CNA applied and is planning on using these funds for our annual neighborhood picnic, providing snacks at neighborhood meetings, increasing outreach to neighbors, etc.

Art Grant. Our neighborhood has a pending art grant for nearly $30k from the city’s Arts and History Department. It was originally scoped to be used at the Fire Station on Sycamore, but now will be used elsewhere in the neighborhood. Karl LeClair with the city’s Arts and History Department will present more information about this at our next meeting (May 9).

  • Get involved! Initial feedback was requested for suggestions on theme and possible locations. If you have ideas, share your suggestions by emailing secretary@collistercna.org.

Transportation Priorities Discussion

Kathleen Lacey, City of Boise representative, joined the meeting to share an update on the transportation priorities list the CNA had submitted in December 2018.
CNA surveyed residents and discussed this priorities in December. The Board recommended prioritizing:

  1. Taft Street improvements for calming traffic and increasing safety that could include sidewalk continuations, bike path, crosswalks, bulb outs and chicanes from 36th Street to Sycamore.  Protruding traffic calming is desired to deter the use of Taft Street as a bypass when State Street is congested taking into consideration the new seven lane State Street upgrade and also that Taft St. is part of the Low Stress Bike Route adopted in 2018.
  2. Implementing the proposed Low Stress Bike Route by installing continuous signage (e.g., wayfinding or branding signage), appropriate crossings of collector and arterial roads, and on-street markings (e.g., sharrows or bike lanes) through the Collister neighborhood section of the Regional Low-Stress Bikeway Network to include: Taft, Sycamore, Catalpa, Collister, John’s Landing, Elmer St. to Pierce Park
  3. Collister Street Improvements Concept Study. As referenced in The Northwest Boise Neighborhood Walking and Biking Plan “a concept study to do additional public outreach and evaluate different alternatives is needed before recommendations are implemented”.

Priorities were selected based on neighborhood feedback, as well as how the priorities “ranked” against the city and ACHD plans for our neighborhood. The higher the “rank,” the more likely to be implemented. For example, the low stress bike amenities correlated to ACHD’s Roadways to Bikeways Master Plan.

If you would like more information on this request from the city, review this document: 2019 Neighborhood Association Annual ACHD Prioritized Projects List 

Kathleen informed us that the city will look at what the priorities are and how submitted projects fit into the overall plan. By the end of February we’ll have a better idea of what projects will be prioritized/implemented.

  • Get Involved!
    • Attend ACHD open meetings. Debbie Lombard, Collister resident, noted that commissioners can use discretionary funds for smaller projects, and are more likely to do so if neighbors show up en mass and request them.
    • Attend the ACHD Budget Hearing (March 15, 5:30PM): The way to alter is to attend the budget hearing and understand ACHD’s 5-year work plan.

Committee Assignments

As we start a new year with a new neighborhood board, we would like to invite neighbors to join one of the following committees:

  • Executive and Membership Standing Committees: (Required by Articles of Incorporation, Article VIII). If interested please contact Suzanne, CNA President, at president@collisetercna.org
  • Special Events Committee: Our 2019 Collister Community Picnic is Saturday, June 22. We are looking for more people to participate in this fun planning committee. If interested please contact Tim, CNA Treasurer, at treasurer@collisetercna.org
  • Historical Research Committee: Help gather the Collister Neighborhood rich history! Our first meeting is scheduled for March 5 at 5:30 pm. If you are interested in joining, contact Suzanne, CNA President, at president@collistercna.org.
  • Transportation Committee: After our transportation and growth discussion in the meeting, a Transpiration Committee was organized. Currently 9 members of the neighborhood signed up for this committee. If you are interested in joining, contact Sarah Taylor, CNA Vice President, at vicepres@collistercna.org.

Open Floor Discussion

Floor was opened for residents to talk about concerns. The following issues were discussed:

  • State and Collister Intersection Construction. Neighbors wanted to know when this construction project would be finalized. Expected completion is Fall 2019. To learn more about the project please see ACHD’s website: http://www.achdidaho.org/Projects/proj_intersection_state-street-and-collister-drive-intersection.aspx
  • Street Lights. One neighbor requested more street lights, feeling her street was too dark. A suggestion from Kathleen (City Representative) was to speak with to city lighting specialist, but it was also mentioned that in our neighborhood plan we are a “Dark Sky Neighborhood” eliminating light so that we can see the stars. Suzanne (CNA President) noted that the City lighting specialist has installed covers to help reduce “spillover” and glare for neighboring homes. If neighbors are interested in covers for their lights, they can contact the City at (208) 608-7526.
  • Speed Limit Enforcement. Another neighbor brought up the need for more police enforcing speed limits. Suzanne noted the local district officer had just contacted the CNA asking for suggested locations to install more speed check devices. The residents suggested Hill Road, Sycamore and Catalpa near the school zones. She also relayed that the police department is stretched pretty thin as force has not increased to match the growth of the city. CNA Board will follow up with police department and invite a representative to one of our next meetings to learn more about what we can do as a neighborhood to help support them.
  • Hill Rd. Speed Limit. Neighbors asked for lower speed on Hill Rd. on areas where the speed limit is 35 mph to be reduced to 30 mph.
  • Future Foothills Development. Neighbors brought up concerns about future development north and northwest of our neighborhood, and in the foothills, asking how do we as a neighborhood influence growth. A new committee on transportation was set up and attending neighbors signed up to participate (see “Committee Assignments” above).
  • Future Foothills Development Education. It was requested that we get someone to come and explain Foothills development. Kathleen (City Representative) recommended to contact City Foothills Planner Tom Laws. He has been invited to present at an upcoming neighborhood meeting.
  • New Development Collister Foothills (5357 N. Collister). Neighbors have concerns such as traffic and preserving the open space and addressing the floodway/flood plane challenges. Next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting that will address this development will be April 1. If you would like share your opinion, please plan to attend this meeting·
  • Collister/Outlook Intersection. A neighbor brought up that she feels the intersection of Collister and Outlook is not safe and dark, has low visibility and is dangerous for pedestrians.
  • Boise Neighborhood Association Network. Kathleen (City Representative) suggested CNA join this network, where we can find commonalities with other neighborhood associations and work together.
  • Pedestrian Crossing on Hill Rd. Neighbors brought up the need for safe pedestrian crossing on Hill Rd.
  • State Street Development. Concerns with growth and development of the State Street Corridor and what impacts this may have on our neighborhood were brought up. Suzanne and Sarah Taylor discussed meeting with neighborhood associations adjacent to the corridor to discuss commonalities and how we might advocate as a unified body.
  • City of Boise Updates to City Code. Kathleen (City Representative) shared that the city looking at changes on city code that may affect residents: Visit https://www.livboise.org/liv-stories/2019/accessory-dwelling-units/ for details.