Neighborhood Planning Council 1 - Post-Franklin

POST/FRANKLIN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Doris Hale Facility 110 Green Street Thursday, May 1, 2025 James Moreno called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm at the Doris Hale Facility Attendance: Members Present: Cindy Fritz, Pamela Geleff, Andre Hoaglin-Jackson, James Moreno, Rev. Kjersten Sullivan, Yvonne Powell, Pat Shellenberger, Faye Washington Members Excused: Mary Fields, Ryan Hoaglin-Jackson, LaMarr Mingle City Staff/Commissioners: Mitchell Mears (BCPD), Alex Barton (BCPD), Will Gensol (BCPD), Lt. Jim Martens (BCPD) Guests and Visitors: Jay Henry (BCPS Admin), Rhonda Washington (Verona Elementary Principal), Cassandra Quearry (Dudley Elementary Principal) Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: BCPD is with us to talk about a potential new drone program. BCPS is with us to talk about the operating milage; which is a zero increase request. Approval of the Previous Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the April 3, 2025, minutes was made by Cindy Fritz, seconded by Andre Hoaglin-Jackson. Motion carried. Correspondence and Announcements: Smoke detector installation is available. This includes devices to help notify those who are hearing impaired. See James for a flyer. May 8, 5:30-7:30pm, 15 Capital NE, there is a program on financial literacy for home buyers, May 14, 4-6pm, DPW Open House Committee and Staff Reports Code: James will pass code concerns on to Tommy. Police Report: Officer Mears is still working with North Branch Apartments. The current plan is getting license plate cameras. He is also still working on the former homeless encampment north of E Burham, citations have been issued to the owner of the land. On Friday at 9am there will be a memorial procession for Staff Sgt. Troy Collins from Bailey Park to Fort Custer. 31 Hannah, motorcycles continue to be a concern, he is working with the city attorney. Wrong way parking continues to be a concern. Officer Mears is focusing on it, however the ticket for wrong way parking is $5, so there isn’t much motivation. Lt. Martens was asked to help impress upon individuals working our sector to be more mindful of this activity. There were questions on how to educate residents on information, such as wrong way parking. One way is mailers in the water bill. Beautiful Battle Creek: The weather is nice again, time to go out and look for candidates for Beautiful Battle Creek. The city is working on a Beautiful Battle Creek yard sign for award recipients. Going forward individuals will provide addresses for BBC and a review of the submission will occur before a motion is made to accept or deny the proposed BBC candidate(s). Membership: Remember to invite your neighbors. Flyers are available if you need help. Commissioner Comments: The commissioners are all at a budget workshop tonight. They send their regrets. New Business: BCPS – May 6 is election day for the zero percent increase milage to support BCPS. The milage will maintain the existing operating milage as it is, so there will be no tax increase for voting yes. A yes vote will also result in money for important repairs to school buildings, including security improvements, HVAC, safety, and others. The average age of BCPS buildings is 75 years. These improvements could also provide long-term savings through improved energy efficiency. All were thanked for their attention and consideration. BCPD – Presentation on a potential drone first responder program by Lt. Jim Martens. The jurisdiction of the BCPD is the 3rd largest geographic jurisdiction in the state, but even fully manned (which the BCPD is not) we are only the 12th largest police force. The current drone program is a line-of-sight program, which means the drone operator has to be able to see the drone at all times. The current drone program has already been incredibly helpful, even life- saving, in locating missing people and helping officers find suspects. The new drone program would be a first responder program, which means the drone would fly to the site ahead of the officer(s) and provide real time feedback on the scene. This will improve response time, allow for a more efficient use of resources, give real time information so everyone is safer, assist with de-escalation, and assist in locating criminals. The drone will live on top of the police station and will be deployed in a two-mile radius. It will have recording capabilities but will only record when the operator sees the thing for which the drone has been deployed. The department is working on it Privacy, Data Retention Policy, and determining budget for this program. This proposal will need to go before the City Commission for their review and approval in order for it to be implemented. Currently there is no set timeline. Old Business: The Land Reuse Strategy completed section 1. We will start work on section 2 in June, break for the summer, and continue in September. Member Comments: Location of new fire station is exciting. Public Comment: BCPS says thank you for having us. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:34pm. Next Scheduled Meeting: Thursday, May 1, at 7pm, Doris Hale facility. Land Bank Reuse Meeting at 6pm. Respectfully submitted, Kjersten Sullivan