Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

-POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL- Thursday February 7, 2019 Chair James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. at CA Board Room. Attendance: Members Present: James Moreno, LaMarr Mingle, Yvonne Powell and Cindy Fritz. Pat Shellenberger and Linda Carmona (via phone). Members Excused: John Cash and Rev. Kjersten Priddy Guest and Visitors: Ofc. Clay Haggard and Kelly Dillman – BCPD (Be Safe), Tommy Engels - BC Code, Chris Lussier – Comm. Dev Mgr. BC, Brian Sturdivant – BC Fire Chief, Niki Cummings – NPC#1 Amb., Clarissa Corral, Deondra Ramsey – BCPS, Pam Geleff Additions and Deletions to the Agenda: None Approval of Minutes: No quorum. Minutes for Jan will be approved at Mar meeting. Correspondence and Announcements: Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a hearing on Tuesday, Feb 12th at 4pm City Commission Chambers. Sign dimensional variance sought by K Salon 32 W Mich. Welcome Niki Cummings – Neighborhood Ambassador. BCats update was distributed. Received notification from BCCF that our Byrne grant for the Pocket Park and Rain Garden was approved. Follow up meetings will be scheduled. Police: Officer Haggard reported on the stats for NPC#1. He displayed report via computer. Everyone viewed the charts on the screen. A copy will be provided via email for Council records. After reviewing the stats a discussion was had about creating activities for neighbors as summer gets nearer. This is to prevent crime as the summer brings an uptick in crime. Question about Post Park and the possibility of an increase in crime during the summer. This could be a location to promote multiple activities for the neighborhood. Community foot patrols are a good way to engage the community as the police are more assessable and can develop personal relationships with residents. The Fire Chief pointed out that Relationship building is key in this matter. Chair noted that front yard parking in the neighborhood is a problem that can lead to other issues/violations. The $5 Misdemeanor fine is too low and should be looked at by City Commission. Issues reported to the officer was the number of people running the red light at Post/Franklin Elementary when the crossing guard is assisting students crossing. Linda shared that all the street lights are working and the area is well lite in her neighborhood. Kelly introduced Niki Cummings as our NPC Ambassador. Niki shared she was excited and looking forward to working with residents. She distributed her contact card. Code: Tommy distributed Code report. He reported that enforcing shared driveway parking issues are a challenge within the neighborhood. Front Yard parking reported at 247 and 417 Main. Broken window reported at 417 Main St. Beautiful Battle Creek Award: None 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: Yvonne and Jim worked on a flyer for the NPC. It will be posted and sent to locations and organizations for distribution. This is an effort to increase membership. Jessica Vanderkolk agreed to place this on City’s social media platforms. A guest suggested that we translate the document so that we can outreach to our English as a Second Language residents. Guest were reminded if they are interested in joining council to let Chair or Vice Chair know and we will get a motion to add them to the membership. Commission Comments: Comm. Gray commented on the following: Budget Workshop brought out a lot of comments. The commission took them to heart and incorporated them into the budget. The next “Keeping you Informed” will be May 28th at City Hall from 6:30 – 8:00 pm and the topic is “Budget Made Easy”. The Distracted Driving Ordinance passed and goes into effect Feb 15. The State of the Community is currently airing on Access Vision. A shout out to the Kingdom Builders who are doing a lot within the NPC. The NAACP Quiz Bowl will take place Feb 16 at the McQuiston Center. Battle Creek Public Schools: Ms. Ramsey reported that the High School was opened to families during the Polar freeze. Over 200 families were served Jan 31. Re- opening Fremont as an International School is on schedule. STEM program has been extended to the Middle Schools. Old Business: The Chair introduced Brian Sturdivant Battle Creek Fire Chief. Brian spoke about growing up in Battle Creek and how he moved about the country honing his professional skills. He is glad to be back in Battle Creek. He is excited to be the Fire Chief here. He is also committed to finding partners to keep Station #3 open and viable. We as a council are glad to hear this and pledged our support to ensure this station remains where it is. Station #3 is near and dear to all in NPC#1. This facility is a community anchor and is responsible for saving many lives based on its immediate proximity in our neighborhood. New Business: Chris Lussier presented us the new tool on the city’s website. This tool enables residents to see properties within the city that are behind in taxes along with other information. Hope is that this tool will allow our neighborhood to be more proactive in addressing matters and concerns. This website is very informative. It can be viewed at https://mi-battlecreek.dynamo.city. Members Comments: Cindy stated that city services must come before fluff when slashing budget dollars. Chair thanked all for attending and for their input. He thank the Fire Chief and shared he had an open invitation to attend our meetings. Public Comments: Ms. Travis reported they are hiring as they are down 3 people. The CA Job Hub is open and eager to serve the neighborhood. Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: March 7, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the CA Board Room. Respectfully Submitted by Cynthia Fritz, Recording Secretary