General Meeting Minutes
November 2, 2022 6pm @ French Broad Brewery
In attendance: 16 total; 4 board members present
Michael Stratton: Introduction
ONA has been functioning for about approx. 1.5 years
We have by-laws, voted on our boundaries and submitted a Plan-on-a-Page to the city
It’s time to pass the baton to new people
Please nominate yourself for an open position if you have interest
We will have a president, vice-president, treasurer, secretary, communications chief and 4 at-large board members who will go and sit in on city council meetings/Buncombe county board of commissioners meetings and keep us informed
Gina Smith (coordinator@ Asheville Buncombe Food Policy Council)
The council received a grant for $5000 for outdoor pantries and community refrigerators
Community refrigerators are just like outdoor pantries, just for refrigerated items
There is already one on S. French Broad
The council would like to put one in Oakley
It could be electric or solar
Timeline: council is hoping to have it in by June
Where would be a good place to put it? At the Garden, Community center/fire station, maybe WNCAP?
Comment: there is already a composting collection site at community center
This is part of the Neighborhood Food Preparedness Emergency Plan
Outdoor pantries are available as well
Comment: county will be sponsoring a food drive drop-off at the library November 15th-19th
Meredith Friedheim (City of Asheville Neighborhood Services Specialist)
Her job is to be a liaison between us and the city
Updates are planned to the Murphy-Oakley playground
Committee Updates
River Link- Deb
Oakley was bequeathed ¼ acre on Thompson Street that leads right down to the Swannanoa River
Feasibility of usage studies are still being completed, but it seems like an exciting opportunity for the neighborhood
Location: near Glendale Bridge and Ruff Life
Jack at RiverLink is contact person
Tree Keepers- Alison
Tree Keepers Mission: to help landowners preserve existing trees and to plant new ones
We did a tree give away at Open Streets
We promote Asheville Greenworks Treasure Tree program
Had a big event at WNCAP for their tree which is estimated to be about 210 years old
Oakley has a lot of those large oaks
We did not get approved for the second grant
A main goal of ours is education
Fairview Road Resilience Garden- Michael
The garden came out of the unknowns from Covid
First year it produced approx. 800 lbs of produce
Second year it produced more than that
Third year produced more than the second year
Trying to impact food insecurity and Oakley’s food desert
It’s a lot of work, but man power has decreased
Michael is leaving the country for a few years but neighbors are welcome to keep up the garden
Transportation- Elizabeth/Michael
GAP program- stands for greenways, ADA, Pedestrian
COA (city of Asheville) is behind in this sort of infrastructure
City council voted to adopt a plan and Oakley was highly prioritized partly because of our greenway frontage
Next step is Swannanoa portion and the state is going to fund that
Also looking at intra-neighborhood greenways that would potentially be a path for neighbors to get to the greenways
The city really wants our input
Events- Michael
Does anyone have any ideas for events?
Neighborhood Advisory Committee- Elizabeth
The GAP plan (greenways, ADA, pedestrian) being approved is a big deal and Oakley was prioritized
MMTC (Multimodal Transportation Committee) working on how Asheville is going to expand transportation- Asheville currently has approx 25 buses
NAC (Neighborhood Transportation Committee) is in charge of volunteer spotlight of the year and our very own Michael Stratton was chosen (3 total were chosen)
Nominations for open board positions- Michael Stratton
3 Open seats- president, vice president, communications chief, plus 3 at-large seats
Will take office between now and January 25th (next meeting)
President: nomination- Elizabeth Wallace (not in attendance)
Result: by show of hands- Elizabeth gets majority vote
Vice President seat: no nominations- seat is left open
Communications Chief: self-nomination Kylie Ryan
Result: by show of hands unanimous vote yes
At-large seat: Michael Romanello (result by show of hands- unanimous yes)
At-large seat: Ross Pritchard (result by show of hands- unanimous yes)
At-large seat: Erin Hunt (result by show of hands- unanimous yes)
Michael Stratton: Feel free to email the ONA with anything you’d like to see on the agenda