Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Thursday – April 7, 2016 Chair Diana Quigg called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. at CA Board Room. Attendance: Members Present: Cindy Fritz, James Moreno, Yvonne Powell, Diana Quigg and John Cash. Linda Carmona and Pat Shellenberger via phone. Members Excused: Katie Hubbard Guest and Visitors: La Mar Mingle – BCFD, David Kemp – SWMCDC, Ted Hanson – Battle Creek City Building Official, Dennis McKinley – City of Battle Creek, Kate Flores – City Commission, and Deb Belles. Additions and Deletions to the Agenda: None Approval of Minutes: Motion was made by Yvonne and seconded by James that March minutes be approved. Motion carried. (Linda Carmona and Pat Shellenberger was on telephone conference call.) Correspondence and Announcements: Changes to Main/Post Bus Route starts Monday Apr 11. Due to challenging pavement conditions, the bus no longer will stop in the Main St. Market parking lot. The closest stop to the Market will be at the shelter located at Kingman West and Main St. Transit will add temporary stops at Massachusetts Ave and Main St. and to better serve residents at the River Oaks Apts. at Taft and Kingman West St. These changes will be in effect until further notice. Transit hopes to be able to provide service closer to Main St. Market in the future and appreciates the use of its parking lot. 2016 Fair Housing Conference – Opportunity Building: A Do-It-Together Project, Apr 29, 2016. RSVP by Apr 18. The new Waste Mgt. carts will be delivered to residents beginning Apr 11th and continuing thru Apr 22. You may begin using your recycling cart as soon as you receive it. Every home will continue to have weekly trash and recycling collection on your usual pick-up day. Committee and Staff Reports: Police: Not present. Code: Dennis McKinley distributed the Code Report. He introduced us to the new City Building Official, Ted Hanson. Ted informed us that they are working on re-writing the Abandoned/Vacant building Ordinance. He distributed a spreadsheet of the Vacant/Abandon Building in Post/Franklin area. There are 3 scheduled properties to be razed and 4 more that are potential razes. Dennis distributed a survey for Willard Library. They are requesting feedback on their services. The following issues were reported: 24 Kingman E. – Garbage can at curb-continually left there and Code drives by routinely. 117 Cliff St. – Garbage 273 Main St. – Status of house as it seems construction is being done. – Update – It was bought and permits have been issued for work It was asked to have the status of the Police chase on Academy St. at the next meeting. Beautiful Battle Creek Award: James nominated 162 Grenville for a Beautiful Battle Creek Award, it was seconded by John. Motion was approved. 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. Membership: None Commissioner Comments: Kate updated us the City Budget Process is still being worked. They are looking at the Goals and setting a base line. Welcoming City will be voted at the Commission Meeting. Old Business: The city forum on Station 3 was well attended; there were about 45 residents, 4 City Commissioners, City Manager, Fire Chief, and 2 Facilitator volunteers. Residents, Station 3 Preservation Committee and Post/Franklin Planning Council relayed to the City that we are adamant that the Station remain open and in its current location. The City Manager assured us that when options package was fully reviewed and ready for public comment, there would be another City Forum held so that residents would be able to see and discuss the package. Once that was done it would then be scheduled and brought before the City Commission for a decision. New Business: Yvonne spoke on the new SWMDCD – Federal Home Owner program. It has three tiers which are determined by 80% of the median income guidelines in our community. Attention home owners and home buyers – 3 ways to help with home buying and home repairs. They include: HOP – Home Ownership Opportunities Program – you can receive up to $5,000 to purchase a home. NIP – Neighborhood Impact Program – up to $7,500 is available for Home Repair AMP – Accessibility Modification Program – up to $15,000 is available for accessibility. Also, Apr 19 – Renters Round Table at 5:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army Gym. For more info: call 269-968-1113. New business for May meeting will be Membership. Members Comments: It was stated that we missed Battle Creek Public School representative being present. Could we see if we can get someone to attend? Public Comments: LaMar stated that it was a good turnout for Station #3 Forum and the Preservation Committee expressed their thanks to NPC#1 for their hard work. Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: May 5, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the CA Board Room. Respectfully Submitted by Cynthia Fritz, Recording Secretary