Neighborhood Planning Council 10 - Lakeview west

WESTALKE/PRAIRIEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL #10 Meeting Notes January 25, 2016 The meeting was held at Lakeview Senior Living, 14661 S. Helmer, Battle Creek Michigan Call to Order & Welcome Chair, Jeff Koteles called the meeting to order at 7:03pm Invocation: A moment of silence was observed. Attendance: A quorum was not present so this meeting was informational only with no action taken. Members: Chairman: Jeff Koteles, Vice Chair: David Weaver, Secretary: Linda Patenaude, Tom Rose, Diana Cole, Joyce Garrett Guests: Donna Kowalski, Mary and Jack Ludlow, Matt and Rebecca Fleury; City Manager, Mayor Dave Walters, Tom Lipps, City staff: Jason Francisco, Officer Derick Walters Chair Notes/Correspondence/Announcements: Joint city and NPC meeting upcoming on Monday January all are invited. Copy of the Battle Creek Area Transportation Study was handed out. Additions/Deletions to the Agenda: none Minutes: No action taken Police Report: Officer Walters passed out written reports on crime statics in our area. Assaults are up. B & E’s are down. Retail fraud was up because of holiday shopping. A lot of new rookies are on the force. A ring of interstate gift card fraud was thwarted in Battle Creek. Fugitive of the Month program is working well. Public Service Announcements from Commissioners: Mayor Dave Walters shared that the commission is working on priority based budgeting. Jeff Domenico was instrumental in using the new system for budgeting. There is an airport advisory committee made up of stakeholders at the airport and Linda suggested that a member of our NPC sits on that committee. Binder park golf course is having financial issues and there was a workshop to look at creative ways to help. Possible winter park use including snowshoeing and fat tire bikes and winter festivals. Rebecca Fluery shared the city is working on establishing a quiet zone downtown from the train noises. The trains make too much noise downtown for hotels/living spaces. Many entities are involved in making this happen. Road closures and reconfigured, new crossings, quad gates and much more will be required for this to happen. Hoping to have this worked out during 2016. Committee Reports: a. Membership: Looking for new members. Westlake Presbyterian would like to join, with Tom Lipps as its representative. He also lives in our area. A church in our area could be represented as a member, according to our bylaws. b. Beautiful Battle Creek Award None at this meeting. c. Neighborhood Planning: none d. Woodland Park Joyce Garrett shared that the new website has over 15,000 hits. There will be a spring clean-up in May. The committee will be focusing on the boardwalk and observation deck on the pond. The 5th Eagle Scout project is completed. City Staff Report: Jason handed out written code reports. Election workers will be needed since we will be having the presidential election. Contact the city clerk for more info. Snow removal around schools and around business is a priority. Jeff was worried about the lack of snow removal for school walkers on 24th Street along with speeding traffic. Old Business: Elections will be held in February. Anyone interested in being an officer please let us know. Special Presentation: David Kemp introduced himself as the community building and engagement coordinator of the new Southwest Michigan Community Development Corporation (SWMCDC) formerly Neighborhoods Inc. The organization still does home ownership programs, financial literacy programs and assists the NPC’s. Funding is available for NPC’s programing up to$1,000` . Comments for the Good of the Order: Orange poles along the roads for snow plows have been removed in many places. Where did they go? Dave Weaver invited guests to join our NPC Jeff thanked everyone for starting the New Year with us. Please consider becoming an officer for the NPC. Joyce thanked everyone for coming. Adjournment: 8:37pm Next Meeting: February 22, 2016 Submitted by Linda Patenaude Members who will not able to attend our meeting for an excused absence, please call Linda @ 269-962-8514