Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Thursday – January 7, 2016 Vice Chair James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. at CA Board Room. Attendance: Members Present: Linda Carmona, Cindy Fritz, James Moreno, Yvonne Powell, Pat Shellenberger, with Diana Quigg and John Cash via phone. Members Excused: Katie Hubbard Guest and Visitors: Darren Campbell – BC Engineer, Officer Burke – BCPD, Sgt. Will Gensch – BCPD, LaMar Mingle – BCFD, Amy Rose Robinson – Calhoun County Land Bank, David Kemp – SWMCDC, Kate Flores – City Commissioner, Dennis McKinley – Battle Creek City Inspections Manager. Additions and Deletions to the Agenda: None Approval of Minutes: Motion was made by Yvonne and seconded by Diana that December minutes be approved. Motion carried. (Diana Quigg and John Cash were on conference call.) Correspondence and Announcements: Jim informed us of the Calhoun County Styrofoam #6 recycling event is this Saturday, Jan 9 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the Battle Creek Dept. of Public Works, 150 S. Kendall St., Battle Creek. The next recycling event is April 20, 2016 for Electronics and Styrofoam #6 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., this is a joint collection with the City of Battle Creek. Also, residents of the Post/Franklin area along with the Committee to Keep Fire Station #3 open; presented over 500 signatures to the City Commission at their Jan 5th commission meeting. We will have other opportunities for residents and community to assist in this effort. Individuals seeking further information may call 269-968-3110. Amy Rose Robinson from the Calhoun County Land Bank informed us the new Land Bank website – www.calhounlandbank.org. She updated us on the Neighborhood Mow and Maintenance Program. Groups or organizations can earn $3,000 to fund neighborhood projects, mission trips, outreach programs or activities. This project runs from Apr – Oct, 2016. Application Deadline is February 10, 2016. Contact info: www.calhounlandbank.org or call 269-781-0777. There will be a March Madness Spring Lot Sale on Mar 5 from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. This will allow homeowners next to a vacant lot to purchase said lot. There will be a $100 recording fee. Committee and Staff Reports: Police: Officer Thomas Burke distributed the Crime Report. Sgt. Gensch was also in attendance. A conversation of speeding within the Post/Franklin neighborhoods was discussed. Sgt. Gensch is looking into a traffic sign that identifies your speed. This is similar to the one on Riverside. A question was asked about the population count for Post/Franklin and they identified the website http://www.city-data.com/city/Battle-Creek-Michigan.html as a possible place to look. The following was reported: Driving the wrong way on Newark at Post/Franklin School 423 Main St. – on going front yard parking – police reported that they have driven by a various time and have yet to see any incidents – resident said it is still on going. They will keep a watch on the situation. Code: Dennis McKinley distributed the Code Report. He updated us on the following from last month: 374 Main St. has it power restored and has stopped running his generator; 20 E. Kingman is owner occupied; 33 Walnut (burn out) is waiting for money to demo; 17 E. Kingman has permits to work and will be reviewed again Feb 29. He reported that 555-563 E. Michigan is scheduled for demo. The following addresses are in the bid process for demo: 108 High St., 108 E. Kingman, 116 Marjorie, and 89 Euclid. Dennis also reported that starting this week, residents will be able to receive Same Day Permits for installing new water heaters, updating plumbing. The exceptions are permits for commercial properties, applications that require plan review, and for properties that have received an all- trade safety inspection in which violations were found. These will continue to take 3-5 business days. It was reported that a residence on High St. has a continuous yard sale. Beautiful Battle Creek Award: A motion was made by Linda to nominate Fire Station #3 on Cliff St. and seconded by Pat. Motion carried. Lt. Mingle will send a picture of the Station from the summer. (A photo was attached to minutes submitted). Please use this photo for the Beautiful Battle Creek Award. Membership: Motion was made by Yvonne and seconded by Cindy to renew the following for membership to the council: John Cash, Diana Quigg, Linda Carmona, Jim Moreno and Cindy Fritz. Motion carried. Names will be forwarded to Neighborhood Services. Requesting cleanup of the Membership list for this NPC, see attached pdf document. NPC01_2015 Membership Update.pdf If you see a property that you feel deserves a BBC Award you may nominate that property, all that is required is the address. The council will then vote and the address is submitted to City Neighborhood Planning Office, who then proceed with the issuing of the Award. Note – once we submit the addresses the City takes control of the process and we have no say when an address will be awarded. If any member should have a question regarding an address that was submitted they need only ask and the inquiry will be made to the City and the outcome will be documented in the minutes. Commissioner Comments: Comm. Flores updated on the latest happenings of the commission. A workshop was held prior to the Jan 5th commission meeting on Welcoming Communities of Michigan. The workshop focused upon how we as communities can build relationships with people immigrating to our city from other countries. MDOT and the City are working together to update the traffic signal at Mc Camly and Jackson. Fresh Coast Capital (FCC) will be planting trees on the old Wilson School property. Once the trees start maturing they will be cut down in staggering years. The trees will regrow from the cutting/stump. This means that it will not be necessary to remove stumps/root systems to replant new trees. (Commissioner Flores contacted Secretary after the meeting and reported that NPC #3 was very excited about the project and all attendees present at the meeting were in support. FCC is responsible for all maintenance and has committed to hiring a local contractor/designee responsible for all maintenance. This will help in the restoration of the neighborhood. Kate also thanked everyone working on saving Station #3. Old Business: None New Business: Yvonne introduced David Kemp, Community Builder from Southwest Michigan Community Development Corporation (SWMCDC), which is the new name for Neighborhood, Inc. David stated that he wants to engage the neighbors and will work with us to help encourage residents to attend the neighborhood meetings. Welcome David and we look forward to working with you. Yvonne also informed us that the Landlord Luncheon Group will be hosting a dinner on January 27, 2016 from 5 – 6:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army. Legal Services is the speaker. Call Kenja Moorehead at The Haven to RSVP – call 660-2945. Darren Campbell of the Engineering Division – City of Battle Creek distributed a map which outlined all of the 2016 road Treatments for NPC #1. The following streets will be resurfaced – Jericho St. from Lathrop St. to E. Kingman, Grenville St. from Cliff St. to E. Kingman and Bennett St. from Main St. to Elm St. A chip seal treatment will applied to Oakhill Dr. from Willow St. to Echo St. He also had a map of the entire city for all street treatments until 2020. Council thanked him for the information and asked that he keep us informed if there were changes to the plan. Members Comments: None Public Comments: Dennis reminded council that Chris Lussier has applications for Mini-Grants for home repairs. These grants can be for $5,000 - $10,000. Call Matt Flanders for an application. LaMar Mingle thanked Pat/Jim and Cindy for their hard work/dedication and great efforts in the petition drive to keep Fire Station #3 open. Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: February 4, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the CA Board Room. Respectfully Submitted by Cynthia Fritz, Recording Secretary