Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Doris Hale Facility 100 Green Street Thursday, December 1, 2022 @ 7:00 PM James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm at the Doris Hale Facility. Attendance: Members Present: John Cash, Cindy Fritz, Pamela Geleff, Andre Hoaglin-Jackson, James Moreno, Kjersten Sullivan, Yvonne Powell, Faye Washington Members Excused: LaMarr Mingle, Pat Shellenberger Guests and Visitors: Officer, Tommy Engle, Code Enforcement, Officer Gorman Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the November 3 minutes was made by Pamela Geleff, seconded by John Cash. Motion carried. Correspondence and Announcements: Dec. 14 there will be a meeting of the Planning Commission in the commission chamber at city hall. There are three items on the agenda. Two are about adult use marijuana facilities. The third is about a special use permit for a daycare facility at Kingdom Builders, the old SE Junior High building. Committee and Staff Reports Police: The police officer distributed printed reports and went over how to read the report. The first page is arrests made (20 – 4 felony, 16 misdemeanor). Page 2 is crimes. Part 1 crime is property crime and violent crime, part 2 crime is property and misdemeanor assaults. Later are pie charts depicting the crime, but those are hard to read being in black and white. Last item was a listing of foot patrols and traffic stops. Code: Tommy distributed his report, and a sheet to share concerns, and an informational brochure about a program for financial assistance for Minor Home Repair and Lead Abatement. There was a conversation about front yard parking. Properties cannot be cited unless there are cars actively parked in the yard. Evidence of front yard parking is not enough for code enforcement to act on. Beautiful Battle Creek: Station #3 nominated for Beautiful Battle Creek Award; Pamela Geleff moved that Station #3 be recommended as a winner of Beautiful Battle Creek. John Cash seconded. Motion approved. If you know of any candidates for this award, please bring the address to the next meeting. Membership: Reminder to invite neighbors to join the NPC. You don’t have to live in the neighborhood, you can also work or own property in the neighborhood. Commissioner Comments: None Battle Creek Public Schools: None Old Business: We will discuss NPC Bylaws at the January meeting. James will ask that copies of the bylaws be mailed out with the minutes. There are some parts of the bylaws that are open for discussion. Others, like that a quorum consists of 7 people, are set by the city. One way our NPC differs slightly from some others is the timing in when we hold elections. There was a question if the city still makes guidebooks for new NPC members and if they could be distributed to our new members. New Business: Brainstorming Session We discussed issues we want to focus on in the coming year. Housing – Availability of quality affordable housing is a major issue in Battle Creek. Could an invitation be made to Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing to speak to our NPC about housing and how we could be involved. There was also a discussion on the possibility of Tiny Homes. The group was generally open to the discussion, but there were questions around zoning, structure, etc. Will invite Planning Administrator to talk on this subject. Economic Development – There used to be small businesses in Post/Franklin, and there are less and less. Since Main Street Market closed there is no walkable access to fresh food. Dairy Queen is an anomaly in being an incredibly successful local business. What could be like Dairy Queen? Will invite Assistant City Manager, Ted Dearing to discuss this. Social Media coverage – How does the city manage its social media presence to distribute news and information? Maybe the communication specialist from the city could come share with us about what they do. Member Comments: December 10 is the rescheduled date for the Christmas Parade Public Comments: None Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm Next Scheduled Meeting: January 5, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Doris Hale Facility. Respectfully submitted, Kjersten Sullivan