Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Thursday, Apr 5, 2012 CAA Board Room 175 Main St. 7:00 p.m. The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the CAA Board Room. ATTENDANCE: Members Present: Linda Carmona, John Cash, Cynthia Fritz, Katie Hubbard, Deborah Perkins, Yvonne Powell, Diana Quiqq, Pat Shellenberger and James Moreno. Members Excused: John Kenefick and Eliose Fogg. Guests and Visitors: Commissioners Lynn Ward Gray and Sherri Sofia, BC Police Sgt. Chad Fickle, Ofc. Rabbit, and Ofc. Wilt, Nancy MacFarlane – CEO Community Action, and Jerome Watkins. ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA: No additions or deletions to Agenda, Motion to approve made by John C. and seconded by Diana Q. Support by all. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion to approve both Feb and Mar minutes was made by Diana Q. and seconded by Cindy F. – motion was supported by all. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: NIBC will be putting together another meeting and clinic for Planning Councils – it will be in September; as more information is available we will share. COMMITTEE AND STAFF REPORTS: Police: Police officers present, STAT report was distributed to all. They reported there were 4 B/E’s and 11 Larcenies this past month. Please be vigilant as they seem to be crimes of convenience. Report suspicious activity – call 911. Issues submitted: 247/249 Main St. – front yard parking 457 Main St – excessive noise from cars. Code: We were informed that there would no representation due to a scheduling conflict. We received the Code STATs and they were distributed. The following was reported to code: 42 Willow – Open burn out and it needs to be secured. James received an update on the following issues: 247/249 Main St. – Front Yard Parking: Enforcement is being handled by the Planning/Zoning Dept. A notice is being sent to the owner stating that parking occurring in the front is not allowed. Nor would improving the front yard surface be allowed due to maximum (40%) percent front yard square footage requirements. 52/56 High St. – Back Door Open – Abandoned Property: ABD/Vac Bldg – Unsecured enforcement is pending. If the owner fails to secure, the City will secure. 80 High St. – 1 Tree Cut others are still there: Contact has been made with the County for follow-up. Tree on Burnham St. leaning on wire by American Stamping:  Issue forwarded to Dept. of Public Works. Dennis McKinley informed Chair that the tree was no longer on the lime, it had fallen into field. Planning: None Beautiful Battle Creek Award: The following properties will be submitted: 98 E. Kingman, 122 E. Kingman, 131 E. Kingman, 30 Post, 71 Lathrop, and the Post Community Cr. Union on Cliff St. A motion was made by Yvonne and seconded by Pat. Motion passed and addresses will be sent forward. Thanks to Comm. Fulton for her submissions. Membership: None. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Comm. Gray reported that Mayor Baldwin had an accident in FL and had surgery there. (we wish her well on her recovery). Comm. Gray shared with us the upcoming City Comm. Agenda. They will be discussing a variety of topics, some to include: Greenwood Park, Special Use Permits for Liquor in City Parks, Re-surfacing some streets, City Budget and other topics. A question was asked on the NSP dollars and we asked for an update on the NSP funds. Battle Creek Public Schools: No representation. James will be inquiring about representation at our next meeting. OLD BUSINESS: James reported on the training workshop held for NPC’s by NIBC. For those that attended all thought the training was good. At the end of the training all present was asked to share an action item they thought they could work to, the following was shared by our members that attended. James will be contacting other NPC Chairs to start working together, Cindy – as Secretary committed to submitting minutes in the 8 day timeframe, Pat and Deborah – staying focus and getting the word out about NPC and sharing with other groups in an attempt to get more NPC members. NEW BUSINESS: Nancy MacFarlane, CEO of Community Action presented an overview of all the facets of her organization. CA helps thousands of families in Barry, Branch, Calhoun and St. Joseph counties. Most of the CA programs are focused on helping three groups of citizens: low- and moderate-income families, elderly residents and clients with disabilities. We are fortunate to have CA in the Post/Franklin neighborhood and we are grateful to hold our monthly meetings in their conference room. Nancy also updated us on the damage repairs to the building from last summer’s storm. She expressed concern regarding surrounding properties with storm debris that has not been removed. Properties are owned by the City and Country, as they are vacant lots. She also expressed interest in working with the Planning Council to clean up the area around CA campus. After our meeting concluded – she took us on a tour of the facility. Remember: Susan Bedsole, will be in attendance at our May meeting. MEMBER COMMENTS: None. Public COMMENTS: None. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Next Meeting is May 3, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Respectfully Submitted by, Cindy Fritz, Recording Secretary