Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Doris Hale Facility 100 Green Street Thursday, June 1, 2023 @ 7:00 PM James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm at the Doris Hale Facility. Attendance: Members Present: Cindy Fritz, Pamela Geleff, James Moreno, Kjersten Sullivan, Yvonne Powell, Pat Shellenberger, Faye Washington Members Excused: Andre Hoaglin-Jackson, Ryan Hoaglin-Jackson, LaMarr Mingle Guests and Visitors: Chris Lussier, Community Development, Ted Dearing, Deputy City Manager, Corporal Emily Leach, COPS Officer, Helen H. Guzzo, Calhoun County Senior Services Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: Senior Mileage, Affordable Housing Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the May 4 minutes was made by Yvonne Powell, seconded by Pamela Geleff. Motion carried. Correspondence and Announcements: June 3, Taste of Battle Creek is taking place in the Festival Market Square downtown. June 14, from 3-6 pm at the Department of Public Works there is a meeting to discuss improvements and repairs to the business loop and I- 94. Committee and Staff Reports Police: Corporal Emily Leach is the new officer assigned to Post/Franklin. Corporal Leach is part of a new grant funded COPS program that placed eight officers in neighborhoods around the city to improve community policing. She wants to make a difference and help improve neighborhood. If there are any issues or concerns, please use her contact information she provided. Code: Chris Lussier distributed the code report, most code violations are junk accumulation and weeds. He asked if there were any items to report and he would get them over to Tommy. There were no items to report. He also presented on Get the Lead Out, a grant sponsored lead abatement program. Post has a high percentage of kids testing positive for lead. Of the 40 active abatement projects around the county, 36 are in Battle Creek but only two are in Post, so there is need to raise awareness of this program, which will do full lead abatement for families, whether they are owners or renters, regardless of tax status. In Calhoun County, most lead comes through paint, not water. Battle Creek has the largest lead abatement grant in the country, with 120 completed projects already. The average cost per project is $30,000, which is totally covered for families. Help get the word out. Beautiful Battle Creek Award – None, will provide names in September. Membership: The mailing with information about NPCs went out prior to the meeting. We were also present at the May 30 Post/Franklin Elementary School carnival to share the flyer. There are more tri-fold brochures available if anyone is interested. Commissioner Comments: None Battle Creek Public Schools: None Old Business: None. New Business: Affordable Housing: Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing shared there is an Affordable Housing Developer based out of Chicago who is looking to build Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) for people experiencing chronic homelessness and one of the considered sites is in NPC 1. Permanent Supportive Housing is housing along with wraparound services to help residents maintain housing and basic needs. Upholdings Inc., the Chicago- based company, is unique in that they provide all the services instead of simply building and selling. Assistant City Manager Dearing shared there are a lot of pieces to unfold yet, zoning, permits, etc., but he encouraged NPC members to look at Upholdings other projects so we could get a sense of their work. He asked for our support to move this forwared. Senior Mileage: Helen Guzzo from Senior Services distributed information on Calhoun County Senior Services and all of the supportive services from the senior mileage fund. The county is also in support of the PSH project as there are seniors in this demographic that would benefit from this project. Member Comments: Freeze Pop Tuesdays start at Trinity Lutheran Church on June 20 from 2-4 pm. Anyone is invited to come have a freeze pop. Public Comments: None Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm Next Scheduled Meeting: No July Meeting. August will be a picnic potluck at 6 pm on August 10, bring a dish to pass; Doris Hale facility. Next regular meeting will be on Thursday, September 7 at 7 pm. Respectfully submitted, Kjersten Sullivan