Neighborhood Planning Council 11 - Lakeview east

Meeting Minutes Minges Brook/Riverside Neighborhood Planning Council (NPC) #11 Riverside Elementary School Library 650 Riverside Drive Battle Creek, MI 49015 Wednesday – March 25, 2015 1. 7:00 PM – Welcome and opening – Nola Baker for Randall Champlin 2. Attendance sheet: Nola Baker, Rudy Barda, Frank Egland, John Godfrey, Dave Hawks, Laura Herzing, City Rep: Marcie Gillette, Battle Creek Police Department Rep: Mike Wood, 3. Additions or deletions to this agenda: Rudy Barda would like to speak about NPC Nominations. This will be added to new business. 4. Approval of the previous month’s meeting’s minutes. John Godfrey moved to approve and Dave Hawks supported the motion. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Correspondence sent/received None. 6. City staff reports: City staff reports and Commissioner Comments: • City Commissioners’ reports: Terris Todd, who is now the Director of District Relations at the Michigan House of Representatives, told us that budgets need to be locked in by June. Representative John Bizon will hold a coffee meeting from 8-9 a.m. on Saturday, March 28th at the Urbandale Ritzee. This would be an excellent time to bring any concerns that you may have to Representative Bizon. • County Commissioners’ reports: None. • Police Department Report: Officer Mike Wood reported that with the weather warming up that the department usually sees an increase in burglaries. He stressed the fact to keep cars, doors, and outbuildings locked and to report any suspicious activity in your neighborhood. The warm weather also brings disposal of meth labs alongside roads. Be cautious of bottles and cans alongside roads. If you see bottles or cans in a pile of garbage or with straws sticking out of them, it could be a possible meth lab. There has been a crackdown of speeders in the area. One officer recently issued 29 citations for  speeding. The question was asked, "What is a non-aggravated assault?" It is an assault that does not require medical attention. • City Representative Report: Marcie Gillette spoke to us regarding the Code Compliance Report. The main focus this past month was on snow removal so that residents could move safely in the area. The City of Battle Creek will be releasing a press release that yard waste pickup will begin on March 30th. Items must be placed in the paper yard bags or totes. Marcie also told us that some NPC Councils have went into inactivity. How do we support them to reactivate? Policies addressing these issues are in the process of being created. A draft should be available within the next week or so. Residents should be encouraged to clean debris away from storm drains. Dave Hawks had a concern about a build up of water and orange cones present at Riverside Drive and South Moorland Drive. • Todd Gerber, from the City of Battle Creek Street & Parks Department attended to answer any questions that we may have regarding the streets. He is visiting the NPC groups. Question: Does the city Clean up storm drains? Answer: We try to do so. We work on the major routes first then we work on the residential areas. Two sweepers are ran at one time following one another. MDOT has also talked about minor repairs on Riverside Drive near the I-94 overpass. 7. Committee reports: • Beautiful Battle Creek Award Nominations – Dave Hawks - Dave submitted Leslie Savio-Ullrich 492 E. Hamilton Lane for a Beautiful Battle Creek Award. • Neighborhoods and Land Use – John Godfrey – The Capitol Improvement Plan (CIP) was voted on unanimously to take to the City Commission. Scott Ganton, owner of the Heritage Facilities requested a Special Use Permit to increase to 11 units at the Lakeview Facility. This was approved unanimously. Scott would like to break ground on this project by May. John also shared that he has a chart available for us to look at after this meeting of the Adult Foster Care and Licensed Child Care Facilities listed by NPC groups. • NPC 11 Programs – Nola Baker – Filled until May 8. Old business: None 9. New business: March Program - Christine Kosmowski Calhoun County Water Resources Commissioner - Christine gave as a visual presentation so that we could understand more about her position and what happens in her department. Calhoun County is part of the Kalamazoo River and the St. Joseph River Watershed. What projects require a petition? A petition is needed for projects that cost over $5,000 per mile. Examples of this are to add a branch or expand an existing culvert. The petition process consists of the following 1) Petition 2) Board of Determination 3) Design 4) Permits/Property Acquisition 5) Bids 6) Apportionments/Assessments Christine stays neutral on this process as committees are appointed for the petition process. Maintenance projects are usually done on an annual basis. In the past these were mostly addressed through complaints. When Christine took over her position, 190 of the 500 county drains had not been assessed. Does the State of Michigan set the lake levels? No. The courts set the lake levels. They receive input from the DNR or the DEQ. Based on the input received, the judge decides the lake levels. Do the lakes have a drainage area to them? This depends on the lake. There is an artificial drain into Goguac Lake from Minges Brook. NPC Nominating Committee - Rudy Barda spoke about the fact that it is time to be thinking about nominations for our NPC Officers for next year. If anyone is interested in serving, please contact Randall Champlin. Public Comments: None. Member Comments: None. Next meeting: 7:00PM Wednesday, April 22nd, at Riverside Elementary School Library. Program: Linda Freybler - CEO of the Calhoun County Visitors Bureau. Ms. Freybler is responsible for the direction, management and policy oversight of the Calhoun County Visitors Bureau. The CCVB attracts visitors to the county through meetings, conventions, sporting events and attractions and generates over $30 million in economic impact to the county. Adjournment: - 8:15PM ==========================