Meeting minutes, Monday, Jan. 9, 2006, 7 p.m.

Staring Lane Community Association
Meeting Minutes, Monday, January 9, 2006

Association President Dr. Gwynn Shamlin presiding.

Welcome/Introduction – Officers and prospective members introduced themselves to one another.

Purpose of Association – to try to save our homes

April 1st – official officers will be elected; temporary officers will be or can be replaced.


Report by Pete Territo, Vice President of Association:
- Informed the meeting attendees of the city’s intent
- City says it is responding to regional development changes
- 3 lanes will not handle the traffic
- Voters voted in a 23 year tax; we are trying to circumvent something that is already happening
- 5 lane with a 2-way left turn is maximum city wants to build with turning lanes at Boone & Staring Lane Motel
- What put Staring Lane at the top of the list to be expanded? It’s all about money
- Volume capacity ratio is higher, claims the city. Does it really? Lee Drive a greater amount of traffic than Staring Lane yet it is not being expanded.

Report by Patty Herke, Publicity Committee Chairman:
- She spoke to Chad Rogers, a talk radio talk show host. He’s also against eminent domain. To see more, refer to: http://www.thedeadpelican.com/
- Letters were handed out all along Staring Lane to gain interest in today’s meeting
- David Herke wrote a letter to the editor in The Advocate, which was published days before the meeting

Announcement by Brunetta Shamlin:
- Encouraged everyone to call the mayor’s office, write letters to the editor
- One meeting attendee suggested that we need to expand our target area to the neighborhoods surrounding Staring Lane; Dr. Shamlin agreed, stressing the importance of the neighborhood associations banning together
- There are three churches on Staring Lane that will be affected by the expansion
- Rev. Brown has purchased land across the street from his church; he plans to rebuild anyway, and has remained neutral with our cause.
- Baton Rouge Assembly, at the corner of Highpoint (the newest church build along Staring) provided 175 signatures from its church membership on the petition that Dr. Shamlin had provided to the mayor’s office
- New Life Church has been neutral; we believe they wish to relocate
- The plan is for Staring Lane to meander (and will not follow a straight line). The road will away to miss businesses, such as Keans near Highland
- The plan has been voted on; this is going to take place. We just need to make sure are feelings are heard. We want to have the road expanded to the minimum possible.

Howard Polk suggested that we need to come up with a list of phone numbers, e-mails and addresses of those in the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President’s office, including City Council Reps, etc. He said he can assist in finding this information.

Attorney Gwynn Shamlin Jr.’s Report:
- Drafted a letter to the mayor’s office; will mail it certified depending on the results of Dr. Shamlin’s attempt to reach Mayor Holden
- What does the law say? Judge makes decision of citizens vs. greater interest of city as a whole.
- What we’ll do is ask the judge to prevent the city from taking action

Dr. Gwynn Shamlin reminded the attendees that the bylaws will determine the budget, which will handle attorney’s fees, etc.

Attorney Gwynn Shamlin Jr. says that a countersuit would be a possibility, but should not be a real concern. One attendee suggested that we should get appraisals, and this information would assist with the lawsuit. Appraisals run around $350. Shamlin Jr. said we need to let the city know exactly what we want; the only way to find out the city’s plans is to subpoena and the only way to let them do this is to file suit.

What we need to know: a time frame and how many lanes.

Dr. Gwynn asked his son a question: Do we need more membership before we file a suit?
Shamlin Jr. said we can proceed now if we wish, but increased membership would be better. One attendee, Ben Dye, said he would like to serve on a small committee to research the city’s intent.

Memberhship Coordinator needed: Pamela Labbe volunteered

Treasurer needs to establish a Finance Committee and to review the suggested bylaws from last meeting. We were not able to reach the current Treasurer; she did not respond to several e-mail messages.

Dr. Shamlin asked what the general attendees wanted. Getting the boulevard out and taking equal distance from both sides of the street would be ideal. But the boulevard is typically used to clean out the sewer lines every decade or so. Many things are dictating the proposed design of having a boulevard. There are too many unanswered questions. Bottom line, the city wants to commercialize this area.

Howard Polk will be part of the Publicity Committee and will assist in finding contact information for the mayor’s office. Howard said that we need to contact mayor’s office to find out what their plans really are in writing.

In past meetings, the city claimed they were flexible with the Green Light Plan, and that although it said five lanes, they could go down to three lanes if necessary and that the wording for the vote on Oct. 15, 2005, was merely to ensure that they could get enough money for the project in case they needed it.

The next meeting will be announced soon, depending on when Dr. Gwynn Shamlin can get a meeting with a representative from the mayor’s office.