Neighborhood Planning Council 11 - Lakeview east

NPC 11 April 24, 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 (Members are in BOLD UPPERCASE): DAN BUSCHER, FRANK EGLAND, FRAN O’NEIL, HELEN LARDER, JAN FRANTZ, LEAH ORTIZ, LINDA PHELPS, RANDALL CHAMPLIN, TATE TRUJILLO, TIM MARTINOVICH, Jason Francisco, Ryan O’Connell, Pat & Roger Fosdick, Darren Cambell, Eric Feldt, James McDonagh, Cyd Deane, Randy Kidd, Cathy & David Lucas, Jim Haadsma 3. Additions or deletions to this agenda: None 4. Approval of the Mar. 27 meeting minutes distributed via email: 100% Yays, 0% Nays, motion approved. 5. Correspondence sent/received and upcoming events:  BCATS Flyer (See end of minutes)  Update from Lakeview school district on Riverside construction (See end of minutes) 6. City staff reports and Commissioner Comments:  Jim Haadsma – Battle Creek Representative for State Legislator – Any questions/concerns feel free to contact him (517-373-0555 or jimhaadsma@house.mi.gov)  City/County Commissioners’ remarks: None present.  Police Department Report  Officer O’Connell: i. Not too much change from last month with the exception of an increase of Breaking in and entering for past few weeks. Make sure your doors are locked and keep valuables out of plain sight from accessible windows. They have been breaking in around 4 AM when residents are sleeping. ii. Non-Emergency Police number (police department): 269-966-3322. Can call for suspicious actions or if you have general questions.  City Representative Report  Jason Francisco: Code Compliance i. Front Yard Parking still one of the higher findings. You can call report front yard parking violations after hours as well to the Non-Emergency Police number 269- 966-3322. ii. Yard waste is now being picked up again. Please put yard waste in paper bags or approved garbage bin. NO PLASTIC BAGS, Waste Management will not pick up the yard waste if in plastic bags. iii. Mattress Bags are still available at City Hall to wrap up and throw out your unwanted mattresses. iv. **WASTE MANAGEMENT FLYER – SEE END OF MINUTES** 1. Please be sure to only recycle authorized items. If in doubt, waste it out (i.e. put it in regular trash). Non-authorized items will ruin the recycling process. 7. Committee reports:  Beautiful Battle Creek Award Nomination i. For consideration of member approval during next NPC Meeting (May 22):  ii. Gerald and Sharon Geesin, 144 S. Minges Road: Very crisp maintenance and careful detail to landscaping  Neighborhoods and Land Use – Dan Buscher i. Vacant parking lot across from BC central – 7 square acres owned by City now. City is welcoming any ideas to develop the land. Anything from Shops to housing to public space, etc. ii. Resident questioned: Any movement on Pasche’s housing development? Dan Buscher/Eric Feldt response – it has been re-zoned, but no building permits have been submitted as of yet. There is still a traffic study to look at potential impact to Columbia Ave.  NPC 11 Programs – James McDonagh i. Possibly invite out Waste Management to be informed about their operations. ii. Possibly have Police Chief Blocker come out to discuss City Police activities. iii. Possibly see if the City has a person who works/oversees assisting the poor/homeless. Is there any data they could provide on homelessness? Does Battle Creek have a poor/homeless problem when compared to other cities/towns? iv. In regards to working with Waste Management – instead of calling them (non- responsive), send them an email online as it goes directly to the local waste management (who replaced their bin within the week) 8. Old business:  None 9. New business:  Monthly informational Program: Battle Creek City Planners – Eric Feldt – Discuss/Feedback Non-Motorized pathways (aka sidewalks/trails). i. Handed out information (**See end of minutes**) ii. Several events happening to gather more input for Battle Creek’s pathways. 1. It is encouraged to attend as much of the meeting if you do plan to come. iii. Will have a survey online for residents to give feedback for the future of pathways. iv. Funding for future walkways will probably come through multiple sources (city, state, federal grants). v. Can contact Eric directly: esfeldt@battlecreekmi.gov (269) 966-3320  Darren Cambell – Civil Engineer – Road treatments in NPC 11 i. Road work will be starting June/July ii. There will be flyers hung on residents’ doors to alert them of the treatment if it is impacting their street along with other press releases. iii. Resident voiced concerned that chip seal did not last (applied last year) Chapel Hill area. Potholes, and debris (chips) going down drain. Darren will take a look at the area. iv. South Capital (south of Beckley) will go under chip seal mid-July. 10. Public Comments:  Resident voiced concern about lack of Waste Management (WM) support to city. Customer service from WM was very slow and unresponsive for replacement of his trash bin. Another resident voiced same concern but stated that calling them will probably not result in a quick action. Emailing though, will go directly to the local WM for support. He stated that they also needed their trash bin replaced and they got one within the week of sending an email through WM website.  Resident voiced displeasure over city not testing his well for PFAS/Arsenic even though he is paying a water bill just like everyone else in the city. Resident is within city limits and wants his well tested. o Other resident said you can take a sample from your well and send into health department for analysis.  o Tate Trujillo also informed that if resident has any issues with the city, he should contact them directly (Water dept. or Department of Public Works). City is very good at responding to resident concerns/issues and I am sure the City of Battle Creek can help guide him in right direction. o For background on the PFAS issue, you can read about it in Detroit Free Press new article: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/04/25/pfas-contamination-michigan- water/3301354002/ 11. Members’ comments:  Tim Martinovich: Has been a while since Police Chief has come to a NPC Meeting.  Fran O’Neil: could 7 acres be directed to be utilized for low-income housing? o Dan Buscher Response: Could be, but a question will be who would fund such a project? Idea can be submitted to the City for consideration though.  Helen Larder express concern that the city is not concerned about homelessness i.e. who is working to help the homeless. o Eric response: Battle Creek is concerned about the homeless. o Dan Buscher response: There is the Battle Creek foundation that are trying to help. o Resident response: Although there are resources for the homeless, sometimes they don’t want the help and want to live the way they are. 12. Next meeting: May 22, 2019 at Central Christian Church - 713 Riverside Dr  Program: Church to briefly talk about their garden project. James McDonagh to pursue program ideas. 13. Adjournment - 8:10PM  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.