Woodburn Commission

Woodburn School Redevelopment Commission Minutes of Wednesday October 17, 2018 Members present: Chris Haddox, Marti Shamberger, Ron Dulaney, Kate Levine-Freeman, and Carol Wilson. The meeting was called to order by Chair Chris Haddox at 6:00 p.m. at Woodburn School. The minutes were corrected and accepted as presented. Guests: John and Danielle Trumble, Woodburn Neighbors and Chris Fletcher Director of Development Services for the City of Morgantown. Members of the Commission and guests introduced themselves. Chris Fletcher, Director of Development Services for the City of Morgantown gave an update on the Community Block Development Program (CBDG) and distributed a handout outlining current and future projects for the Woodburn building. The CBDG is grant funding applied for by the City each year for specific projects/categories funded by HUD. Currently there is $349,068.29 available for ADA improvements at the Woodburn School building. To date the following improvements have been made: paved accessible parking space, and route improvements to the primary entrance of the building with a handrail installed, and bollards (car stops). 2019 the goal is to try to address the issue of the automated door entrance, accessible men’s and women’s bathrooms on the entry level and the installment of an elevator from the basement to 3rd floor. Chris Fletcher agreed to keep the Commission updated periodically on the scheduled projects. Two vacancies exist on the Woodburn Commission with the resignations of Kevin Cross and Bob Merrow. Ron Dulaney reported that there are two applicants pending for the Commission. Discussion was held to engage the current property stakeholders to get their views on where they are and their future plans. The following members agreed to contact FDOC-Chris; MT Pockets-Ron; Pop Shop- Kate: Boys/Girls Club-Marti. Marti shared her discussion with Denny Poluga regarding the Boys and Girls Club, the group plans to be here for a long time! Everything was going reasonably well with the City as far as responsiveness to maintenance issues. The paving of the parking lot, new doors, updated bathroom fixtures and steps to the playground were very helpful. Currently the Boys and Girls Club is in each elementary school, so the students from Eastwood (mainly neighborhood kids) come to Woodburn. During the summer and on snow days, kids from all over the area attend the Boys and Girls Club at Woodburn. Others will report on their contacts with stakeholders at the next meeting. Danielle Trumble stated that she will be filing “Friends of Woodburn Community” paperwork with the State of WV in the next week or so. Ron Dulaney state that he would get a copy of the bylaws used by other groups that could be used as a template for the Friends group, then the 501 3(c) application can be sent to the IRS. The Commission agreed that bollards for the new parking lot need to be installed as a safety issue. The City will be contacted. The next meeting will be November 15 @ 6 at Woodburn School due to Thanksgiving holiday. The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.