Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Doris Hale Facility 110 Green Street Thursday, January 4, 2024 @ 7:00 PM James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm at the Doris Hale Facility. Attendance: Members Present: Cindy Fritz, Pamela Geleff, Andre Hoaglin-Jackson, Ryan Hoaglin- Jackson, James Moreno, Kjersten Sullivan, Pat Shellenberger, Members Excused: LaMarr Mingle, Yvonne Powell, Faye Washington Guests and Visitors: Tommy Engels, Code - City of Battle Creek, Emily Leach, BCPD, Mary Fields, Jim Haadsma, Autumn Smith Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the December 7, 2023 minutes was made by Cindy Fritz, seconded by Kjersten Sullivan. Motion carried. Correspondence and Announcements: A concern was raised at the Dec. 7 meeting, regarding the Land Bank’s practices around the sale of odd lots. The land bank followed up to share that they are making a policy and setting criteria for when to and not to sell lots. They will be present at the February meeting to share this criteria. Committee and Staff Reports Police: Corporal Leech presented the crime statistics and shared that everything has been fairly normal for the season. There were shots fired on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Most crimes remain trespassing (often around the 209 shelter) and car break-ins. KIA’s are still being stolen, though one of the main suspects was arrested recently. Code: Tommy Engels distributed the code compliance report. There was a question about two pending enforcements on hotel, motel, tourist homes, Tommy will follow up to see if those are test cases or an actual enforcement. Questions were also addressed regarding dangerous homes, junk accumulation, and how many government buildings are listed on the enforcement list. There was a conversation about the need for code citation, neighbors helping neighbors, and discussion on various ways the NPC has helped neighbors with clean-up. A question was raised about the party store on Cliff and Mott. Last year there was conversation about expansion, Tommy will follow up as to where that conversation went. Beautiful Battle Creek: No new addresses were listed, we still have plenty in the hopper. Mary shared her appreciation of the downtown lights and music display. Membership: Last meeting, we recommended to the City Commission the renewal of two members (Mingle and Powell), and the addition of a new member, Mary Fields. We are waiting on City Commission action to finalize those recommendations. Welcome Mary! (And thanks for staying on LaMarr and Yvonne!). Next December, much of the council will be up for renewal of membership. We need to make note to renew those members, possibly at the November election meeting. City Commission: No commissioners were present at the meeting. The council thanked Vice Mayor Sherry Sofia for being present at the previous three meetings. Representative Jim Haadsma shared that the Michigan legislature will be back in session on January 10th. Due to two members winning their mayoral elections, there are two vacancies in the house, so there likely won’t be much business that cannot be passed along bipartisan lines until those seats are filled. The council offered congratulations on Representative Haadsma’s recent wedding. There were questions raised on how Secretary Benson is moving forward on vehicles without plates after the covid pause, he will look into it and share more information when he receives it. There was also a question raised about the false unemployment insurance claims filed during the pandemic. Rep. Haadsma shared that a new director has been appointed to the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), and they are researching and trying to recoup the funds. The main problem was the UIA was poorly funded and struggled to manage the workload of all the pandemic claims. Since many deserving people couldn’t get benefits during the pandemic, a lot of the checks were lifted, and that allowed bad actors to sneak in and take advantage of the system. Battle Creek Public Schools: None Old Business: None New Business: There was a reminder on the rules of the meeting. During a discussion, members are reminded to raise hands and be acknowledged so that everyone has a chance to speak and be heard. Also, remember to keep comments brief and to the point. The Land Bank will be here in February. Our March meeting will have Community Development Director Helen Guzzo to share the new brochure they are preparing on services available through Community Development. The Community Oversight Board is taking applications for new members. See the city website for more information or to apply. Remember to share your thoughts on MDOT’s proposed changes to I-194, see the minutes of the December meeting for more information. Member Comments: Thank you everyone for coming. Ryan Hoaglin-Jackson shared he is running for Battle Creek School Board. He is a former long-term sub in Battle Creek schools and an educator. Congratulations Ryan. Public Comments: None Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:04 pm Next Scheduled Meeting: Thursday, February 1, 2024, at 7 pm, Doris Hale Facility. Respectfully submitted, Kjersten Sullivan