Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Doris Hale Facility 110 Green Street Thursday, April 3, 2025 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, Rev. Kjersten Sullivan, Yvonne Powell, Pat Shellenberger Members Excused: Mary Fields, LaMarr Mingle, Faye Washington City Staff/Commissioners: Tommy Engle, Code, Patrick O’Donnell, Ward 3 Commissioner Guests and Visitors: None Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None Approval of the Previous Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the March 6, 2025, minutes was made by Yvonne Powell, seconded by Andre Hoaglin-Jackson. Motion carried. Correspondence and Announcements: The Big Cheese Macaroni and Cheese Festival is coming up on Saturday, April 19, from 3-7pm at the Kellogg Arena. The Battle Creek Association of Realtors is hosting a series of workshops. April 10 is a Homeowners Workshop and Mat 8 is a Credit Building Workshop. Committee and Staff Reports Police Report: Officer Mears is on vacation. He has a written report, which James will send out. Note: BCPD is on the agenda for next month to talk about a potential new program to use a drone as a first responder on certain crime scenes. Code: Tommy distributed the code report and circulated the Code Request sheet. He had some updates on concerns from the previous meeting. 23 E Kingman is fixed. There is still no update on repairs to the sidewalk on E Michigan. 14 Highway is a building code for an addition. There was a question about what will happen with 31 Inn Rd after it was heavily damaged by fire. It is in the hands of insurance now, and this can be dragged out. Beautiful Battle Creek: It’s still a bit early in the season to add addresses. The pocket park at 387 Main St will be recognized at the Commission Meeting on April 15th. Commissioner Comments: In addition to recognizing our Beautiful Battle Creek recipient, Commissioner O’Donnell also shared that April 15th will be the hearing for the new consolidated plan. Last meeting we discussed the possibility of a new award in the style of Beautiful Battle Creek, called the Champion of the Neighborhood award. Commissioner O’Donnell shared the idea with the mayor, and he liked it. Names can be submitted the same way they are for Beautiful Battle Creek. Exciting update on the Fire Station! The plans have been reevaluated, and there are now plans to build a new Fire Station 3 in a new location, but still on this side of the train tracks. The property is at corner of Main St. and BL94 just before the tracks. In May there will be a workshop on ambulance services for the city. The City Manager selection process is moving along. Three candidates have been identified, and interviews will take place next week. There is a meet and greet of the candidates on Wednesday, April 9 from 5:30 to 7 and the Doubletree Hotel. A special commissioner meeting will take place on Thursday, April 10 to interview the candidates. A question was raised about the letter that went out from the Department of Public Works regarding water quality. The issue came from working on new wells, the work shakes up sediment on the floor of the aquafer that contains the particular bacteria that has entered the water supply. The water really is ok to drink, but whenever the levels exceeds state and federal water safety standards, the city has to send out written notification to the public. Old Business: The Land Reuse Strategy work continues the hour before the meeting. We are moving along and nearing completion, thanks to all who are participating. New Business: Whitney Wardel, President and CEO of Neighborhoods, Inc. was with us to share about their work in the Post/Franklin neighborhoods. Neighborhoods, Inc. is a non-profit housing organization. Currently it is home to housing resources, property management, and some home repair. In Post Addition, Neighborhoods, Inc. owns several rental properties, a few of which are in the process of being prepared for new renters. The properties are 83 Lathrop, 129 Lathrop, and 103 Euclid. 83 Lathrop is part of their new rent-to-own program called Path to Purchase. For their rehab work, they received $1.2 million from MSHDA for home repair projects. That funding is coming to an end. They are applying for a new round of funding in October, and if the application is successful, opportunities to apply for that funding for homeowners will be available on their website. Member Comments: Thank you everyone for coming. Ryan shared on behalf of Battle Creek Public Schools a reminder that there is a vote for a bond proposal for a no-increase mileage to pay for infrastructure repairs for BCPS schools. There is more information on the specific projects on the BCPS website. Please vote yes on May 6. Public Comment: No public comment Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:16pm. Next Scheduled Meeting: Thursday, May 1, at 7pm, Doris Hale facility. Land Bank Reuse Meeting at 6pm. Respectfully submitted, Kjersten Sullivan