Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Doris Hale Facility 100 Green Street Thursday, May 2, 2024 @ 7:00 PM DRAFT James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm at the Doris Hale Facility. Attendance: Members Present: Mary Fields, Cindy Fritz, Andre Hoaglin-Jackson, Ryan Hoaglin-Jackson, LaMarr Mingle, James Moreno, Kjersten Sullivan, Yvonne Powell, Pat Shellenberger, Faye Washington Members Excused: Pamela Geleff City Staff/Commissioners: Tommy Engels, Code - City of Battle Creek, Cpl. Emily Leach, BCPD, Jenasia Morris, Ward 2 Commissioner, Sherry Sofia, Vice Mayor Guests and Visitors: Amy Rose Robinson, CCLBA, Quinton Hay, CCLBA, Travis Henley, Robert and Gail Guth Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: Review of the meeting at Station 3 Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the April 4, 2024, minutes was made by Yvonne Powell, seconded by LaMarr Mingle. Motion carried. Correspondence and Announcements: AAUW (American Association of University Women) hosts a monthly book sale to promote literacy and fund scholarships for women in their 3rd or 4th years at local schools. The May sale will be May 22nd from 10am to 3pm at 34 W Jackson St. May 8 from 4-6pm there is a used tire recycling event at DPW on Kendall. Rims must be removed, and no commercial tires will be accepted. May 20 from 4-6pm there is an electronics recycling event at DPW on Kendall. The city manager and fire chief will be at the next NPC meeting on June 6th to discuss the proposed changes to the fire stations, including the closure of Station 3. May 21st at 7pm in the City Commission Chamber there will be a public hearing to discuss the budget. The meeting for the commission to vote on the budget is in June. Committee and Staff Reports Police Report: Cpl. Leach reported that the crime rate is down right now. Most crime currently is destruction of property, assault, and a few larcenies. Car theft also remains down since the arrest of one individual. With the upcoming closure of the 209 Shelter, the police are unsure what effect that will have. There was a discussion about kids riding quads and minibikes. These are not street legal and need to be properly licensed and insured to be driven on city streets. Concerns regarding the numerous speeding vehicles and individuals doing doughnuts in the middle of intersections within the Post Addition. Cpl. Leach was asked about the number of cars parking the wrong way on city streets, she shared that vehicles parking the wrong way on street are not an item she will cite. Code: Tommy Engels distributed the code compliance report and shared updates on what has been done about a variety of concerns raised at the April meeting. There is a new code officer handling weeds, Megan Root, and she has jumped into the work. There was a question about boarded up buildings. Code will check and make sure there are no intruders, but other than that, Code doesn’t handle the length of time a building can remain boarded up. Beautiful Battle Creek: Motion to submit 23, 31, 56, and 63 Grebel, along with 341 Main – which smells wonderful, 13 Midway Ct. – which is a cute little yellow house, and 222 Cliff Street to Beautiful Battle Creek. Motion made by Cindy Fritz and seconded by Andre Hoaglin-Jackson. Motion approved. Thanks to the Post Company for being such good neighbors with keeping their property clean and well mowed. Commissioner Comments: Jenasia Morris, Ward 2 Commissioner shared that the Transit Authority is starting an education project in preparation to propose a millage to rebuild the transportation system. They are considering such issues as needs for weekend service, more stops, and longer hours. Sherry Sofia, Vice Mayor shared that with the announced retirement of City Attorney Jill Steele, the city has begun a search process to hire a new city attorney. Old Business: Calhoun County Area Land Bank: Amy Rose Robinson and Quinton Hay were with us once again to follow up on the formal motion made at our April meeting to work with the Land Bank to create a land reuse strategy for the 107 land bank owned properties in NPC 1. The plan is to go through all 107 properties and decide how best those properties should be used within the Land Bank’s variety of programs. There are two approaches we could use, either do this work through the existing NPC or create a separate advisory committee to work on this project. NPC 2, who are in the midst of this work, created a separate advisory committee. But they began during the pandemic when NPCs were not meeting, so that may not be the best model for us. Commissioner Morriss invited us to attend the next meeting of the NPC 2 advisory committee, which meets Wednesday, May 8 at 8pm at the Link Event Center, 311 W Michigan to see what their group looks like in action. She felt the NPC was a good place to start, possibly with some additional targeted outreach to connect with underrepresented groups, such as youth. The NPC officers and land bank will meet to discuss options and bring suggestions back to the NPC. 56 Lathrop is a land bank owned property that is scheduled to be rehabilitated. There was also a conversation about vacant land bank properties. They are mowed every three weeks. Which, it was acknowledged, in this season of the year, means the grass gets long. But every three weeks is what the budget allows for. Also, in addition to citywide recycling events, the county is hosting one on May 13th from 12-5pm. It will accept scrape metal, tires, etc. New Business: Review of meeting regarding Fire Station 3 There was a great turnout at the meeting on Wednesday. The City Manager and Fire Chief will be at our June 6 meeting to continue the conversation. The council and visitors had a discussion about what was covered at the Wednesday meeting and some concerns. Among the concerns, there was a similar study done in 2015, what ended up happening with the information covered in that study? Also, who did the most recent study? Member Comments: Thank you all for coming, especially thanks to our two commissioners. See everyone in June. Public Comments: Final comment about Station 3. “I don’t care what the studies say. If my house is on fire, I want someone to be there. The train tracks slow things down.” Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:47 pm Next Scheduled Meeting: Thursday, June 6, 2024, at 7 pm, Doris Hale Facility. Respectfully submitted, Kjersten Sullivan