Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Doris Hale Facility 100 Green Street Thursday, February 2, 2023 @ 7:00 PM James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:05pm. Doris Hale Facility. Attendance: Cindy Fritz, Pam Geleff, Andre Hoaglin-Jackson, Ryan Hoaglin-Jackson, James Moreno, Yvonne Powell, Pat Shellenberger Members Excused: Faye Washington, LaMarr Mingle, Kjersten Sullivan Guests and Visitors: Tommy Engle, Code, Ted Dearing, Assistant City Manager, John Hart, Development Director, Chris Lussier, Community Development, Kevin Farnham, BCPD Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Pamala Geleff Moved to approve the January 5, 2023, minutes. Second by Cindy Fritz; motion carried. Correspondence and Announcements: Reminder this Saturday at 3pm there will be Que the Creek barbeque event at Kellogg Arena. John Hart passed out coasters with information regarding event. All reminded of list of recycle events listed in last month’s minutes. It was noted that former member Linda Carmona passed away on January 27th at her home in Kentucky. Committee and Staff Reports: Police: Officer Farnham noted that Crime Report was not available due to this being first week of month and report has been compiled. It was noted that this is a known issue. He shared that department has brought on 15 new officers and they are trying to get resources balanced out to allow for officers to spend more time in their assigned areas. He asked if there were any concerns, we wanted to share with him. Speeding off of Main ST onto E. Kingman – gray Mercury SUV – it comes off of Main ST and then goes down E. Kingman and turns onto Jericho heading to Columbia, female driver. Usually in early morning and towards evening. Black Ford Truck – no hood on engine, and no plate. It speeds off of Main ST onto E. Kingman; at times going so fast that it fishtails. Fear is it will hit cars parked on E Kingman or individuals walking in the street. Code: Tommy distributed his report. He also circulated a sheet to share concerns. He was thanked for tagging the numerous trash cans being left out in neighborhood after pickup on Wednesday. He asked if anyone needed Yard Waste stickers, and gave individuals 1 to 2 stickers per their request; additional stickers were returned to Tommy. He was asked about status of 120 Highway – it is going to court. He was asked if 24 E Kingman would need to be re-inspected before it could be re-rented due to recent eviction; he replied no. Question was asked regarding a diversion court to address the numerous code issues, Assistant City Manager Dearing shared that the idea had come up and he would look at. Chris Lussier shared that less than 5% of the issues reported move forward to court, individuals take care of issue before it progresses to court. It was noted that it is the habitual offenders that typically create the issue(s); making this a revolving wheel that hurts our neighborhoods and our community as a whole. Beautiful Battle Creek: There were no new nominations put forth. All were reminded to look for nominations for this award. Criteria, house, business or an organization in our neighborhood can be nominated. Membership: We discussed idea of forming a Membership Committee at the last meeting, will look for individuals interested in serving on this committee at March meeting. John Cash is resigning effective immediately as he has sold his property on Academy. Motion made by Yvonne Powell to accept resignation, second Andre Hoagland-Jackson, motion passed. Cindy Fritz made motion to send letter thanking John for his years of service, Yvonne Powell second, motion passed. Commissioner comments: None Battle Creek Public Schools: None Old Business: At last meeting a request was made to Community Development about doing a targeted mailing of our NPC Brochure. This would be used in conjunction with a proposed neighborhood block party to attract new members. Chris Lussier shared that his department would be able to do so if council was amenable to including Minor Home Repair and Lead Abatement program information and help stuff the 1200 envelopes. There was no objection, we will collect names of members willing to help and work with Chris to arrange the date and time of this work in the April time window. New Business: Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing spoke about economic development process and how it related to work being done to address the affordable housing in our community. There is work at the state level to try and secure funding that could help in this work. There are a couple of projects in discussion that will help address affordable housing – the old Kmart site is being pursued along with a site on Cherry St facing the river. He and John Hart shared that they are attempting to leverage our district development process to address development gaps in our neighborhood and the community. We spoke about how there is a lot of open land available in both the Post and Franklin neighborhoods that would be well suited for in-fill housing, multi-family, duplexes, and potentially Tiny Home development. It was recommended that we look at areas and models that have been established and see if and how this might be used in our neighborhoods. John Hart asked council for their thoughts on the market on Cliff and Mott expanding – the overall feedback was not supportive due to ongoing safety and business practices. This spring boarded conversation into the need to attract business investment and development into our area. This will be the topic of conversation at our April NPC, John Hart, Development Director, will be our guest. Member Comments: All were thanked for their attendance tonight and participation. Public Comments: None Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm Next Scheduled Meeting: March 2, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Doris Hale Facility. Acting Secretary Cindy Fritz