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. April 10, 2023 at 6:00 PM MINUTES 1. Call to Order & Welcome @ 6:07 PM: Pastor Monique French called to order. 2. Attendance [Renew/Join (R or J); Member (M); Guest (G); City Rep (C)]: Monique French (M), Larz Martin-Bey (M), Bettie Robertson (M), Ron Sweet (M), Whitney Wardell -- NIBC (M), C), Jenasia Morris (C), Corporal Brad Gentry (BCPD), Yolanda Johnson (C),Duska Bruman (C), Todd Gerber ( C), Harnoor Singh (G). Excused: Jeff Breedlove Absent: Lynn Ward-Gray, Samuel Gray (M), Prentice Thompson (M), Joe Hooper, Mary Bourgeois 3. Approval/Amendment of Minutes: Moved and supported to approve the March 13, 2023 minutes: Motion Carried Unanimously. 7 votes for, 0 against. 4. Adoption of the Agenda: Moved and supported to adopt the April 10, 2023 agenda with following corrections: 1) Upholdings presentation was removed because no representatives were present. Motion Carried Unanimously. 7 votes for, 0 against. 5. Correspondence (sent/received) & Announcements: Rock the Block will be in the Washington Heights Neighborhood on 4/15/23 from 9-3pm Habitat for Humanities are looking for volunteers. 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 March. Written report handed out. Overall NPC was 5th out of 8. Relatively low statistics. b. Elected Officials: Comm. Morris shared that there will be Workshops held prior to City Commission meeting. 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: None 7. Presentation: Duska Brown, from City of Battle Creek Parks and Recreation Division discussed Survey that captures residences voice (what would they like to see happen in the community). Asked for each committee member to complete and share with other members in the community. Information will be used to develop 5year plan. Harnoor Singh, local entrepreneur shared vision and plan for converting the old Family Dollar store into a Market in the Washington Heights area. The plan is to address the food desert. A slide show was shared with Architect Conceptual Design. Old Business: Lighting on Graves streets. Update French spoke with John Banks owner of the Motor Shop and he was going to send Mike to evaluate and provide recommendations. Todd Gerber stated that City of Battle Creek could possibly assist with putting LED lighting in area. French read update provided by Jeff Breedlove on Claude Evans park: “Jeff, Thanks for reaching out. I am working with Commissioner Morris on next steps. We have a new drawing, but no cost estimates currently. We will put the new map online, with labels as requested at the last NPC meeting. We will also label the previous map and have them both up. For additional community feedback, our city team may be back at Juneteenth to share and listen with the two maps. We are still working through what that looks like. Rebecca” Todd Gerber, shared revisions from recommendations provided by NPC 2 with an addition smaller parking area that will create more parking spaces. Committee pleased with recommendations. Betty Robinson suggested that the City move forward with plans. 8. New Business: No new business 9. Public Comments/Member Comments: 10. Next Meeting: Monday, May 8, 2023 at 6:00 PM @ Washington Heights UMC. 11. Adjournment: @ 7:28 PM by Monique French, Chair Minutes submitted by: Monique French, NPC2 Chair 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