Boylan Heights

Monthly

March 2005

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March BHA Meeting

Come hear the news and share your views

The next meeting of the Boylan Heights Association will be Tuesday, March 29, 2005. 7:00 to 8:30 PM at Project Enlightenment, 501 S. Boylan Avenue, Room 311.

NOTE: Dan Howe, Assistant City Manager, will attend to discuss the Probationary Rental Occupancy Permit (PROP), which has recently gone into effect, the planned use of Dorothea Dix property to dump fill dirt from the Convention Center excavation, and the proposed closing of part of Mountford Street.

AGENDA

I. Announcements and requests for additional items for the Agenda.

II. Review and approve the February 2005 Minutes - Santiago Hernández, Secretary

III. Finance Report - Leslie Kellenberger, Treasurer

IV. Special Guest: Dan Howe, Assistant City Manager

V. Reports from Committees and Special Neighborhood Projects:

a. Beyond the Neighborhood – update on Dorothea Dix Property by Jay Spain

b. Website Committee – Chris Weedy report on Committee’s action regarding Privacy Issues Regarding the Associations Web Site and LISTSERV

c. Directory Committee – Evelyn Fahy

d. Other Committee/Special Project Reports

VI. Old Business

VII. New Business

a. Appropriate Restrictions for the Association E-mail Listserv’s – Joseph Huberman

b. Other

VIII. Adjournment

Next Meeting: April 26 in Room 304, (room change for this meeting) 7:00 to 8:30 PM.

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PINK TRUCK DAY

Friday, April 1

For more information, to volunteer with time, or money to support this effort, please contact Jessica Macaluso, Garden Club Chairperson @ 828-2772

or jjschrider@hotmail.com

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For a list of annual events held in Boylan Heights go to BoylanHeights.org.

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CLOSURE OF MOUNTFORD STREET

The City of Raleigh, Administrative Services Department, Real Estate Division has requested the closure of the Mountford Street right of way which extends into the prison property from the west side of the railroad bridge approximately 600 feet. At the March 15 Council meeting, the Mayor asked for additional information and notice to the Boylan Heights Association. The City is not proposing to restrict access over the bridge, nor close the bridge itself. There is no public right of way beyond this segment of Mountford Street through the prison property existing or proposed for the future.

This item will be discussed again at the City Council on April 5th. Please notify the Planning Department @ 890-3125 if you have any questions or concerns about this right of way closing.

Daniel T. Douglas AICP, Director

Raleigh Urban Design Center, Phone (919) 807-8441

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For important information on city services, downtown street closings, downtown projects, etc go to BoylanHeights.org

and click on links of interest.

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SUMMARY OF BHA FEBRUARY MINUTES

A draft of the complete minutes is available at WWW.BOYLANHEIGHTS.ORG under Association/ Recent Minutes. The draft of the complete minutes will be distributed at the March 29 meeting.

Attendance: 47 association members and one guest.

I. The following finance report was approved:

Treasurer Leslie Kellenberger reported:

Opening Balance as of 1/1/2005: $2,636.61

Total Revenue for the past month: $34.00

Expenses: 0; Ending bank balance as of 2/21/2005: $2,670.51

II. A motion to establish the following was adopted:

BHA WEB SITE AND LISTSERVE MISSION STATEMENT

The Boylan Heights Association Web Site and Listserve is an open forum whose purpose is to keep the neighborhood and those interested in the neighborhood informed regarding facts and events concerning or related to Boylan Heights.

BHA Web Site Guidelines

The BHA Web Site Committee maintains the BHA Web Site. We will follow NC law regarding free speech including defamation. The Boylan Heights Web Site shall not post any private information (information not in public record), even if true, if the disclosure of such information would be objectionable to a reasonable person. (For example, an article that refers to a member of the neighborhood having an affair.)

The Boylan Heights Web Site shall not post any private or public information, if the information is not in keeping with the mission statement of the Web Site. (For example, we would not publish the fact that someone is getting divorced [a fact in public records], or was arrested for a crime [also in public records,] unless such facts are of concern to the neighborhood. We would publish that someone was arrested if it were due to a break-in in the neighborhood.) We will retract all factual inaccuracies when notified in writing. If a member wishes to object to the publication of any material on the Web Site, such objection must be made in writing to the Web Site committee chair. The web site committee will determine by majority vote whether the objection is reasonable and warrants revisions to, or deletion of, information on the Web Site.

A decision will be made within 3 business days of receipt of the letter.

BHA ListServe Guidelines:

The BHA listserve is maintained by the BHA Web Site Committee. The listserve is open to anyone who wants to belong. The listserve archives is password protected. Boylan Discuss and the Forum are not moderated except for spam and unless abused. Boylan Announce is moderated for appropriateness.

III. A motion was adopted to: Remove all references to Kim Stone from the article "Movers and Shakers" on the Web Site.

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UPDATE: FRIENDS OF DOROTHEA DIX PARK

As you are hopefully all aware, I have been involved with the organization Friends of Dorothea Dix Park, www.friendsofdix.org regarding preservation of the green space on Dorothea Dix campus.

We have set up a petition at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/411dix/petition.html

You can access the petition and email your representatives and the governor from our web site.

I am setting up a Dorothea Dix property advisory committee for our neighborhood. I am seeking

5 to 8 members. Our goal will be to make a recommendation to the BHA to establish our position as the BHA on the property. Please email me if you would like to serve on this committee or currently have a position you wish voiced to the committee.

I anticipate that we can decide on a position in one or two meetings this month. I encourage you all to get involved as soon as possible on this important issue to Boylan Heights. Thanks for your support.

Best, Jay Spain, Friends of Dorothea Dix Park

contact: friendsofdix@earthlink.net

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For the latest on real estate in Boylan Heights go to BoylanHeights.org.

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RECENT CHANGES WITH

BOYLAN HEIGHTS LISTSERVS

The Boylan Heights listservs are undergoing some changes in functionality and use. The functionality change is that the lists will be changing names

from "neighborhood" and "boylanchat" to

"boylan_announce" and "boylan_discuss" respectively.

The use of these listservs took effect recently

to reflect the following:

/boylan_announce/ will be used solely for announcement of events. Only factual information in the form of an announcement will be permitted.

Submissions that are of are opinion in nature will be rejected and request made to repost to the boylan_discuss listserv.

/boylan_discuss/ will be used solely for discussion of any type, as long as it does not violate North Carolina law, including any and all opinion pieces.

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LUNCH WITH SINATRA

The City Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department Arts Program presents Lunch with Sinatra throughout April.

"Lunch with Sinatra" is an outdoor lunch-time concert featuring the music of Frank Sinatra as performed by vocalist Bill Stonehouse.  The performances will be held at the patio area located behind the Pullen

Park concessions, 520 Ashe Ave.,Wednesday April 6, 13, 20 and April 27 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

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NEIGHBORHOOD WELCOME COMMITTEE

A new committee has been established to welcome new residents to our great neighborhood. The Neighborhood Welcome Committee is developing a packet of information about Boylan Heights, including trivia, helpful hints, event information and maps. The committee plans to welcome newcomers with friendly faces and tasty treats. Please let us know as you become aware of new neighbors so that we can make them feel right at home. Also additional committee members are needed to help in our welcoming. If you know of new neighbors or would like to be a part of the committee please contact Lyman Collins, 603 S Boylan Ave; email: lyman.collins@townofcary.org; phone 462-3861 (day), 821-0899 (evenings). Thanks!

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UPCOMING RALEIGH

CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS

Location: Council Chambers Room 201,

222 W. Hargett Street

· April 5, 2005

· April 19, 2005

· May 3, 2005

· May 17, 2005

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14^TH ANNUAL TELEPHONE BOOK RECYCLING PROGRAM

Please direct any questions to Solid Waste Management

(919) 856-6186, or www.WakeGov.com

Raleigh locations:

January 24-May 23, East Millbrook Middle School, Leesville Road Elem School, Lynn Road Elem School, North Wake Mulit-Material Facility, Wake Co. Office Park, West Millbrook Middle School
February 14-April 11 in Raleigh BellSouth Building, Jaycee Park, NC DOA (McDowell Bldg), NC DOT (1300 Blue Ridge Rd), NC State (Avent Ferry Convention Ctr.)

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The Neighborhood Directory Committee wishes to acknowledge the support of the following businesses that purchased sponsorships for the upcoming 2005 directory. Please consider reciprocating their support!

Full Page Sponsors

Ann-Cabell Baum Andersen, White Oak Properties

www.anncabell.com

821-4665

Paul Setliff, Keller Williams Realty

www.paulsetliff.com

882-5644

Half Page Sponsors

Capital Fitness Spa Health Club

www.capfit.com

834-8400

Steve Guth, Guth Sound & Electrical Service, Inc.

821-4884

*Boylan Heights Resident*

Peter Rumsey, Prudential Carolinas Realty

www.peterrumsey.com

971-4118

Chris Yetter, York Simpson Underwood

www.chrisyetter.com

582-1691

Quarter Page Sponsors

Judy Murray, Baja Burrito

834-3431

*Boylan Heights Resident*

Jerry Stifelman, The Change Marketing

www.thechangemarketing.com

834-5484

*Boylan Heights Resident*

Phizzy King, Prudential Carolinas Realty

www.phizzy.com

602-6028

Lynn Longest, Hodge & Kittrell

622-3877

*Boylan Heights Resident*

Moonlight Pizza Company

755-9133

Signs by Tomorrow

www.signsbytomorrow.com/raleighdowntown

833-8988

Debra Smith, Prudential Carolinas Realty

www.myraleighhouse.com

349-0918

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THE BOYLAN HEIGHTS MAILS GROUPS,

THEIR HISTORY AND FUTURE

A policy proposal for this Association meeting to permit free speech on the Announce email list.

The lists started in 1998 when Joseph Huberman began compiling and editing messages from neighbors into an e-newsletter. In early 2002 some people felt stifled by the edited newsletter style, so Joseph and Jeff Groves collaborated and changed it to an un-moderated list in May of 2002.

By June, many felt that the volume of mail was too high, and after a good bit of discussion we split the list into "Neighborhood"(now called Boylan_Announce, I'll refer to it as Announce) and "Chat" (now called Boylan_Discuss I'll call it Discuss). Announce permitted comments and announcements of any nature, however, responses were directed to Discuss.

This system worked well between mid 2002 and the end of 2004 with Joseph and Jeff as the moderators. Either could approve an email, so the approvals were quite prompt, and there were never rejections based on subject matter. In mid 2004 Jeff removed Joseph's moderator status.

In early 2005, Jeff, without soliciting comments from the list, decided that the Announce and the Discuss duel list system was unfair. He reasoned that if someone announced something that presented a personal point of view to the larger group, then the opposing reply could only go to the small subset of the group that subscribed to the Discuss list. Thus he declared that only "facts" were permitted on the Announce list. Opinions on issues, and political speech, could only be on the Discuss list. In practice, however, it turned out that some opinions were permitted, and some facts were excluded. Finally, in February 2005 the Association adopted the Website Committee's policy for the Announce List, which was simply: "Boylan Announce is moderated for appropriateness."

This latest ruling has resulted in rejections without any apparent reason. The policy proposal outlined below, and a report on the success of the Rocky Branch cleanup were both rejected solely because they were deemed inappropriate by the moderator without any further explanation.

With this historical background we can now develop a policy that preserves free speech, fairness, and keeps the volume of mail low. I have combined this historical perspective with over 20 conversations and emails from subscribers to the lists, so I can offer these policy points for your consideration.

Suggestions for List Content Policy:

1. No personal attacks or foul language on any list

2. Any topic is OK on Announce -- political, association business, anything except personal attacks or foul language.

3. Replies to messages on Announce go to Discuss except, when a policy position is taken on Announce, then there can be one rebuttal on Announce, before replies must be directed to Discuss. (These preserve freedom of speech, maintain fairness for opposing viewpoints, and reduce the traffic on the list.)

4. Only the preceding two to three weeks of messages are retained in the archives. (This allows people to join a conversation in progress, but doesn't keep old stuff hanging around forever.)

Suggestions for Moderator Policy:

1. Three moderators for the list (This takes the responsibility off of a single person, improves performance, and accommodates moderator vacations.)

2. Any one moderator may approve a message.

3. There must be a unanimous decision of the moderators to censor or redirect a message from Announce to Discuss. (These make it easy to approve a message, but difficult to reject it.)

-- Joseph Huberman, Joseph@Treklite.com, (919) 828-6068

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CONVENTION CENTER

GROUNDBREAKING, APRIL 6

The public is invited to join City of Raleigh and Wake County officials at noon on April 6 for the convention center groundbreaking at the corner of Salisbury and Lenoir streets. For more info: Jayne Kirkpatrick, Public Affairs Director, Public Affairs Department, 222 W. Hargett Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, (919) 890-3100

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DOROTHEA DIX PROPERTY SUBCOMIITTEE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Based on the meeting of the Dorothea Dix Property Subcommittee meeting on March 21, the committee unanimously agreed to put forth the following motion at the scheduled BHA meeting on March 29.

I move that:

· Whereas the Dorothea Dix property is of significant historical value to the capital city and the State of North Carolina and

· Whereas it is the last extensive open space adjacent to downtown and

· Whereas the character and use of the Dorothea Dix campus has and will have dramatic and significant impact on the Boylan Heights neighborhood and the City of Raleigh;

· Be it resolved that the Boylan Heights Association supports the goals and purposes of the "Friends of Dorothea Dix Park" organization and

· Be it resolved that the Boylan Heights Association desires the establishment and support of a vital historic capital park on the Dorothea Dix campus, saving the existing open space and preserving the historically significant buildings

-- Jay Spain, Friends of Dorothea Dix Park, Boylan Heights Resident.

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We appreciate the contribution from the following business to help fund this month’s newsletter:

KWIKLEAN CLEANERS

1004 South Saunders St.

Raleigh, NC 27603

834-2053

7:30AM-6:00PM M-F 8:00AM-4:00PM Sat.

SHIRTS Laundered $1.15 5 shirt minimum
PANTS Drycleaned $1.59 5 pant minimum

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BH Newsletter circulation…For announcements for the April BHA newsletter, please contact K. D. Reeve at 919-755-1066 or catdreeve@yahoo.com by Tuesday, April 19, 2005.

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BHA Leadership Team 2004-2005 Officers

President: Jimmy Creech 919-755-3558 (h)

JimmyOmaha@aol.com

Vice President: K. D. Reeve 919-755-1066 (h)

CatDReeve@yahoo.com

Secretary: Santiago Hernandez 919-833-7456 (h)

Santiago@Adteco.com

Treasurer: Leslie Kellenberger 919-833-9678 (h)

ljberger@mindspring.com

Standing Committees

Beyond the Neighborhood Chairperson: