Neighborhood Planning Council 11 - Lakeview east

NPC 11 February 27, 2019 Meeting Agenda Minges Brook/Riverside Neighborhood Planning Council (NPC) #11 Central Christian Church - 713 Riverside Drive Battle Creek, MI 49015 1. 7:00 PM – Welcome and opening – Leah Ortiz 2. Attendance sheet: Coleen Jewell, Dan Buscher, Frank Egland, Helen Larder, Sally Goss, Tate Trujillo, Tim Martinovich, Ryan O’Connell, Jim McDonagh, Megan Duke, Andrew Duke, Cathy Lucas, David Lucas, Jake Smith, Jim Haadsma, Elizabeth Insley 3. Additions or deletions to this agenda: None 4. Approval of the Jan. 23 meeting minutes distributed via email – Approved 5. Correspondence sent/received and upcoming events: None 6. City staff reports and Commissioner Comments:  State Representative  Jim Haadsma – State House Representative i. Lots of sessions happening but not much voting going on yet. ii. Next voting is on civil forfeiture laws. iii. Jim is on the Energy committee, and Transportation committee iv. Vote on repeal of Senior Pension Tax in committee. May cause budgetary issues. v. Michigan Municipal League has been in talk with Jim over Battle Creek Budget Deficit ($2.4M shortfall this fiscal year). Jim and Battle Creek City Manager have been in touch. Not sure what he can do for us now, but is working to try to resolve a way forward. vi. Governor’s budget is to come out March 5. vii. How do we get best in contact with Jim? 1. JimHaadsma@gmail.com JimHaadsma@house.mi.gov (517-373-0555) Cell 269-317-5502 Land 269-968-3659.  City/County Commissioners’ remarks  Jake Smith – County Commissioner: i. County complexes are being maintained ii. Citizen group looking for County to raise 1.0 Millage for maintenance of County Parks. Citizen group may start putting out more word on this. If citizen group moves it through, it would need to be voted on a ballot vote (Citizens would vote on it, not a commissioner vote).  Police Department Report  Officer O’Connell i. Not too much going on in NPC last month. ii. Biggest news item was counterfeit bills being used throughout Battle Creek. iii. Resident voiced concern about more homeless growing in numbers around Capital and I–94 area. Officer asked to call Sherriff’s office to notify BCPD to try to help.  City Representative Report  Yolanda Johnson – Code Compliance i. Highest offense is front yard parking. You can park on “improved surfaces” (Gravel, concrete, etc.). If you are looking to “improve” your land’s surface, you can reach out to Code Compliance office for correct ways to do an improvement. 7. Committee reports:   Beautiful Battle Creek Award Nominations – Dave Hawks – APPROVED i. Thomas and Peggy Brown; 438 E. Hamilton 1. Beautiful landscaping; Attractive updates, including garage door  Neighborhoods and Land Use – Dan Buscher John Godfrey i. No active petitions ii. Informational items discussed: 1. New suggested land zone/use plans – Will bring in material eventually to solicit NPCs about new plans to re-zone/use around Battle Creek. 2. They discussed about 2019 - 2024 major projects (basically prioritizing “wish list” of improvements around the city). iii. Resident brought about concerns about having so much red-tape around Battle Creek due to “Historic” classification of buildings 1. Dan recognizes that it is extremely burdensome to work with “Historic” classes. 2. Resident suggested that there should be a “De-classification” method to try re- evaluate a site’s Historic relevance (e.g. is it just there because someone famous visited there for an hour and left?). Battle Creek is an old city, but it seems there is a possible Over-classification of “historic” buildings. 3. Dan agreed and will look into if this may be possible. Dan acknowledged that Battle Creek’s Historic zone areas is a hog podge all over the City and this could possibly help the city attract new developers if they are freer to do with the property as they please.  NPC 11 Programs – James McDonagh 8. Any suggestions for items happening Community or want to hear about something, contact James at JMcDonut@SBCGLOBAL.net 9. Old business:  None 10. New business:  Monthly informational Program: Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) – Briefing over program. i. Started in 2014 in Calhoun County. ii. Veterans committed some type of low-level crime, and may have a lot of other issues (mental, alcohol, family, etc.). Veterans are unaware of VA benefits that are offered to Veterans to assist with their issues. iii. The VTC will review veterans’ case to see if they would be good for the program. iv. If approved, court will order the Veteran to go to these programs and upon completion of getting the help offered by VA, they can get their original charges reduced, but they still have to pled guilty. v. If a veteran wants help before they do start getting in trouble, they can reach out to the VA themselves and voluntarily get assistance. If they vi. ***Below is Brochure Handout for your information*** vii. If you are interested in being a Mentor in the VTC, you can contact James McDoungh (((Or see Brochure POC information))) viii. This is court is not unique, this is one of many different courts to help individuals with low level offenses to get back on their feet (e.g. sobriety court). 11. Public Comments:  Resident brought up about bylaws about missing meetings and then being removed. Tate Trujillo responded to not be concerned about it, we (the leadership team) are not worried about it.   Resident brought up Beaver Dam issue – Dan Buscher responded he has not heard of any new news on it but will try to follow up on it. 12. Members’ comments:  Member wanted to speak and thank Jim Haadsma to continue to try to work with the others in the state legislative to work for the people. 13. Next meeting: March 27, 2019 at Central Christian Church - 713 Riverside Dr  Program: TBD 14. Adjournment - 8:15PM 14.  CITY OF BATTLE CREEK NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL (NPC) 11 MEETING PUBLIC COMMENT PROCEDURES & RULES Welcome to this NPC 11 meeting. We appreciate your taking the time to attend. Everyone will be given an opportunity to speak. Question may be ask when the Chairperson or program speaker invites them. Speakers will be provided an opportunity to address the NPC with general comments during the public comment portion of the agenda Please understand that the meeting participants may, or may not, answer questions from the public that are raised during public comments portion of the meeting. In order for us to have an effective meeting, we ask that you abide by the following rules: 1. Please wait for the Chairperson to acknowledge you before you speak. 2. Begin by stating your name and address, and please write down your information on the sign-in sheet. State your comments, opinions, or questions on the issue being discussed and direct them to the Chairperson. 3. To ensure that everyone has time to speak and that we can address other items on today’s agenda, each speaker is ask to limit comments or questions to no more than three (3) minutes at each meeting, except that a speaker’s time may be extended by decision of the Chairperson. Speakers are requested to speak one at a time on any item and to refrain from repeating the comments of previous speakers. 4. Please be respectful of your neighbors and presenters. Again, thank you for taking the time to attend this Neighborhood Planning Council meeting. Minges Brook/Riverside Neighborhood Planning Council (NPC) #11 Calendar of Upcoming NPC Meetings (4th Wednesday of the month unless otherwise noted) Chair: Leah Ortiz Vice Chair: Tina Yost/Dan Buscher Secretary: Tate Trujillo All times are 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Location: Central Christian Church - 713 Riverside Drive Battle Creek, MI 49015 DATES: Wed Mar 27th 2019 Wed Apr 24th 2019 Wed May 22nd 2019 Wed Jun 26th 2019 Wed Jul 24th 2019 Wed Aug 28th 2019 NPC 11 meetings have moved to a new location at Central Christian Church – 713 Riverside Drive. This is across the street approximately 1/5th of a mile south of our old meeting location, Riverside Elementary School.