Neighborhood Planning Council 11 - Lakeview east

Minutes Minges Brook/Riverside Neighborhood Planning Council (NPC) #11 Riverside Elementary School Library 435 Lincoln Hill Drive, Battle Creek, MI 49015 Wednesday March 28, 2012 1. 7:00 PM – Welcome and opening - 2. Attendance sheet: Randall Champlin, Beverly Vallillee, George Vallillee, Commissioner Jeff Domenico, Susan Bedsole, Frank Egland, Ann Wyson, Commissioner Elizabeth Fulton, Country Commissioner Jim Haadsma, Commissioner Mary Lou Ramone Guests: Karl Dehn, Al Egnatuk, Delite Budas, Ron & Jayne Cook, Paul & Jean Kline, Jay and Tonia Rideout, Tom & Tara Begley, Rick & Jill Babas, Rosemary Keagle, Randy Schmitz. 3. Approval of the Feb 2012 meeting’s minutes was motioned by George Vallillee and supported by Bev Vallillee. 4. Correspondence sent/received – Thu 3/8 - Phase II NPC Leadership Symposium @ 9:00 AM Saturday, March 17 Burnham Brook Community Center - joint partnership between Neighborhoods Inc, Nonprofit Alliance, Humanergy, and the City of Battle Creek. 5. City staff reports - Police Department Report - No officer in attendance – Copper stealing City representative Susan Bedsole:  Approximately forty rental registration-renewal notices sent out  Jim Haadsma ask about Main St. and Yuba park tree debris - is the city going to clean this up.? A: The city has 500 vacant lots. This is one of them. CAA is thinking of purchase of this land. It is on the list for cleanup City/County Commissioners’ reports:  Commissioner Jeff Domenico ask about the 571 w Colombia property . This is across from the Hunt Club. Will it be demolished? .. He stated that the property doesn’t look good . Would like to see it cleaned up or demolished.  City Commission will vote at an upcoming meeting to approve a ordinance that would let Registered non-profits pay a fee and then sell beer and wine at specific parks. This was done at the Leilapalooza. This was the festival and fund raiser for Leila Arboretum held July of 2011.  Jim Haadsma: 260 acre Ott preserve once again is generating issues about the Calhoun County Trailway Alliance proposed, 14-foot-wide “smooth-surfaced” trail The county continues to debate if should assume the road commission duties 6. Committee reports Beautiful Battle Creek Award –- Ann Wyson: - None CDAC and Membership – Wendy Rominger working. Commissioner Domenico provided an update. We do not expect funding to be distributed to non-profits from this source next year. . Neighborhoods and Land Use – John Godfrey – John sent an eMail that he would not be present at this meeting. The City of Battle Creek will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, such as signers for the hearing impaired and audio tapes of printed materials being considered in the meeting upon reasonable notice to the City of Battle Creek. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the City of Battle Creek by writing or calling the following: City Clerk’s Office (269) 966-3348/TDD  NPC 11 Programs – James Haadsma – Jim will invite Police Chief Jackie Hampton to provide an update after next months BC Traffic engineering update. 7. Old business from previous meetings: None 8. New business: Minges Brook Park Cleanup - Susan Bedasole stated that the city would work with the neighborhood by providing a truck to haul “Yard waste” type debris away if the folks in the area were willing to pick it up and load it into the truck. Karl Dehn President and CEO Battle Creek Unlimited, Inc. Program Topic: Battle Creek Downtown Development Karl spoke on Downtown transformation built on four Pillars, Infrastructure, Education, Private Investment, and Food Protection  60 M in new downtown payroll since 2008 .. the number of people that live in BC is less than we would like.  Try to compensate the lack of entertainment with special programs .. most of these are in the summer.  Trying to reduce the blighted buildings downtown. The remaining buildings are difficult to remove. BCU has a Building Momentum plan. 3-4 serious developers or individuals have shown interest in the buildings. Some could be demolished.  Commercial activity is picking up.  23 pages of information in all. You can get more information on the web.  Security Bank building (SBB) needs improvements. May need a large business to take over this building. The BC tower got a renaissance zone credit .. this is not available for the SBB. 9. Public comments: Al Egnatuk introduced the issue of school bus parking in neighborhoods. Mr. Egnatuk stated that the vehicles block the vision and impact the aesthetics of the neighborhood. It is a half school bus. The bus in question is owned by Dean Transportation. Per Susan Bedsole: People are allowed to drive a work vehicle home and park in the driveway or public street Other Dean Transportation busses have been seen parked near Brewer and Woods Street between Golden and Weeks. Susan Bedsole will put a synopsis together for the city commission. Commissioner Fulton suggested a workshop to get the information on the topic. Susan will look to see if there is a special traffic hazard with the buss. Many in attendance felt the bus was a safety hazard because it blocked the view of oncoming traffic. The owner of the rental home where the bus is parked noted that it was better to have people in the house and working rather that have the property abandon. The Next city commission meeting is April 10th . This issue could be brought to the entire commission at this time at 7PM at City hall. 10. Members’ comments: Jim Haadsma encouraged everyone to use Inspire Credit union 11. Next meeting: April 25th, 2012. Minges Brook Elementary, Gregory B. Rickmar, City of Battle Creek Traffic Engineering Manager 12. 9:00 PM – Adjournment The City of Battle Creek will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, such as signers for the hearing impaired and audio tapes of printed materials being considered in the meeting upon reasonable notice to the City of Battle Creek. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the City of Battle Creek by writing or calling the following: City Clerk’s Office (269) 966-3348/TDD  Respectfully Submitted: Randall Champlin NPC 11 Chair. The City of Battle Creek will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, such as signers for the hearing impaired and audio tapes of printed materials being considered in the meeting upon reasonable notice to the City of Battle Creek. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the City of Battle Creek by writing or calling the following: City Clerk’s Office (269) 966-3348/TDD