Neighborhood Planning Council 2 - North Central

Meeting Minutes NORTHCENTRAL NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL #2 Washington Heights United Methodist Church - Hub of Hope, 153 N. Wood St. March 13, 2023 at 6:00 PM MINUTES 1.Call to Order & Welcome @ 6:05 PM: Pastor Monique French called to order. 2. Attendance [Renew/Join (R or J); Member (M); Guest (G); City Rep (C)]: Monique French (M), Lynn Ward Gray (M), Joe Hooper – Faith Temple (M), Larz Martin-Bey (M), Bettie Robertson (M), Ron Sweet (M), Jeff Breedlove -- Scientology (M), Whitney Wardell -- NIBC (M), Rebecca Fleury (C), Jenasia Morris (C), Bettie Robertson (M), Corporal Brad Gentry (BCPD), Jennifer Brower (BCPD), Yolanda Johnson (C). Excused: Samuel Gray (M), Prentice Thompson (M), Absent: 3. Approval/Amendment of Minutes: Moved and supported to approve the February 13th, 2023 minutes with corrections: 1) Spelling of Larz Martin Bey be corrected under Attendance and Committees 2) section 5 part a: should read “until end of 1/31/23.” 3) Section 5 part c: Remove “in the building” add “when discarding and at the curb.” 4) Section 6: Adding recommendations of clearly labeling areas on map and expressing the need for more parking space. 5) Section 8: corrected to read the pharmacy is open to the public 6) Sections 9 &10: removing entire content. Motion Carried Unanimously. 9 votes for, 0 against. 4. Adoption of the Agenda: Moved and supported to adopt the March 13, 2023 agenda with following corrections: 1) Addition of names of guests presenters: City Manager Rebecca Fleury and Commissioner Janasia Morris. Motion Carried Unanimously. 9 votes for, 0 against. 5. Correspondence (sent/received) & Announcements: Lynn Ward Gray: Home ownership workshop tomorrow (3.14.23) at Second Missionary Baptist Church. Dinner at 5:30pm. Program starts 6pm. Also, March 17th NANBPWC and A Philip Randolph hosting woman’s history at Kool Family Community Center at 530pm. Pastor French: MISHDA opening up housing vouchers. Computer lab is available at the church and there will be someone there to help guide people. Opens on April 5th and closes on March 22nd at 11am. Whitney Wardell: BC Housing Commission opening up Section 8 applications from April 10th – April 14th closes at 2:59pm 6. Committee & City Staff Reports: a. Police Department/Fire Department: Corporal Brad Gentry relayed crime statistics in the month of February. Written report handed out. Overall NPC was 5th out of 8. Relatively low statistics. b. Elected Officials: Comm. French already made announcement. c. Neighborhood Services: Y. Johnson reviewed written report provided. d. Beautiful Battle Creek Award: none e. Membership: none f. Committees: None g. Battle Creek Public Schools: Pastor French will get with Superintendent regarding meetings and representatives. 7. Presentation: City Manager Rebecca Fleury and Comm. Janasia Morris discussed proposed change at Claude Evans Park and how the plan came about. The plan came about because of the storm sewer and the problems from that. Concerns of people regarding the park were mainly safety and parking. Safety was focused on smart cameras. Neighbors agreed cameras were a good idea. Plan also includes fiber optics to run to the park which would allow neighbors to have free wifi for a period of time. Police proposed 20 cameras. Total budget to date is 1.4 million. This is an estimate and will need to go to bid to exact figures. Discussion was had about adding more parking. Also, more feedback was requested from neighbors around the park. 8. Old Business: Lighting of streets. Per discussion it was determined that Graves St. would be a good candidate for lighting. Per discussion there have been numerous large parties and shootings in the past. Pastor French will follow up with John Banks to ask about feasibility or solar vs electric and cost estimates. Also, Consumers Energy to be asked about the lighting to ensure all street lights were working. Corporal Gentry will talk to Sgt. Corey Chaplain about patrols on the street during the parties. Whitney Wardell will check with MSHDA to see if NEP 8 grant will apply. 9. New Business: Pastor French will look for grant dollars for this project. Comm. Janasia Morris and Whitney Wardell will report any grant dollars they find and report at next meeting. 10. Public Comments/Member Comments: 11. Next Meeting: Monday, April 10, 2023 at 6:00 PM @ Washington Heights UMC. 12. Adjournment: @ 7:28 PM by Monique French, Chair Minutes submitted by: Jeff Breedlove NPC2 Member NPC 2 Mission: To improve the quality of life by listening and engaging residents. NPC 2 Vision: A safe, friendly, family-driven neighborhood where everyone wants to live. The City of Battle Creek will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, such as signers for the hearing impaired and audiotapes 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 Office (269) 966-3348/TDD Mailing Address: City Hall, 10 N. Division St., Room 104, Battle Creek, MI 49014 Phone: (269) 966-3315 ~ Fax: (269) 441.0380 ~ Web: www.battlecreekmi.gov