HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-08-26-GMA-min
Grain Mill Alley Ad Hoc Steering Committee
Meeting Minutes 8/26/15
Fred Johnson, Chair, reviewed the agenda and noted that both Lynn Hopkins
and Paul Ross were in attendance from the HDC. All other committee members
and liaisons were present other than Mr. Gunn, who could not attend. Three
representatives from GroundView were also present.
The minutes from the prior meeting were reviewed and approved.
Melissa Tintocalis informed the committee that there are informational
pages up at Facebook and MySidewalk.com regarding the current temporary
installation (with comments), and that she has also been receiving direct e-mails.
She estimates that there are about 150 comments and e-mails, and that more than
90% are positive. She noted that there were many favorable comments about the
interactive and child-friendly features. Fred Johnson asked her to look for any
other patterns of reaction in the feedback.
Fred Johnson noted that there had been some negative comments from
owners or tenants in the Hammond building. There is a meeting scheduled to
further explore their concerns. Jay Trani reiterated that the building owners want
the adjacent space to be as quiet as possible and primarily used as a passage, rather
than a place for large groups to congregate. Mr. Johnson noted that, consistent
with this, the driving concern at the inception of the project more than 10 years ago
was to provide safe and attractive passage from the bikeway area to the street. Mr.
Trani also observed that to the extent there is a child-friendly design on the end of
the park along Mass. Ave., that design should include some sort of barrier to try
and prevent children and/or movable items from going into the street.
The Bank of America has provided its written guidelines for landscaping of
adjacent property. They did not raise any new concerns beyond what Eric Gunn
had already forecasted for us.
There was a review of the meeting with the HDC earlier this week. The
HDC requested: (1) that the current temporary installation end in mid-October,
rather than at the end of October, and (2) that the solar paper lanterns be removed.
Regarding the permanent project as a whole, there was a preference expressed for
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some sort of continuity of design along the park as a whole (despite the need for
specific features in certain areas, the bike node), and a discussion of how to
e.g.
make the space changeable while still complying with approval processes. There
was also a discussion of the multiple constituencies that need to be served by the
park, pedestrians in the Center, the property owners, bikepath users, and
e.g.
individuals with disabilities. Lynn Hopkins emphasized that the HDC is
supportive of the overall project.
For the benefit of the GroundView representatives, Mr. Johnson reviewed
the nine criteria set forth in the minutes from the July 29 meeting.
Mr. Johnson reiterated the cost parameters determined by the committee,
i.e.
$200-300,000. GroundView acknowledged the range, and stated that they give
price estimates on design proposals from inception.
There was discussion of providing for some sort of changeable, vertically-
oriented art installation along the Hammond building wall. There was support for
the concept, with two major caveats: (1) any fixture would have to be removable
in the event that the Hammond building is reconfigured to include a window or
door at that location, as opposed to the current wall (and this would likely need to
be specified as a condition in the legal document governing the easement); and (2)
there would need to be a custodian or curator of the space, to take responsibility for
selecting art (which would need to be compatible with outside conditions),
installing it, and periodically changing it. Possible involvement by the Arts
Counsel and/or Cary Library was discussed. Mr. Johnson pointed out that the
“background” fixture or armature should be designed so that the space is still
attractive when art is not in place. The GroundView representatives said they
would respond to this point in their proposed designs.
There was preliminary consensus around designing the Mass. Ave. end of
the park to include a child- or family-friendly feature.
GroundView will prepare several design concepts for presentation to the
committee, with the possibility of getting some preliminary input first from Mr.
Johnson and Ms. Tintocalis. They stated there is sufficient funding for this under
the current CPA allocation. It has not yet been decided whether GroundView or
another firm will prepare further designs after that point.
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Mr. Johnson stated that we will schedule another committee meeting in late
September, after GroundView has had time to do its work.
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