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. July 10th, 2023 at 6:00 PM (There were not enough members at this meeting to constitute a quorum.) MINUTES 1.Call to Order & Welcome @ 6:04 PM: Larz Martin-Bey called to order. Had people introduce themselves 2. Attendance [Renew/Join (R or J); Member (M); Guest (G); City Rep (C)]: Lynn Ward Gray (M), Larz Martin-Bey (M), Bettie Robertson (M), Jeff Breedlove -- Scientology (M), Whitney Wardell -- NIBC (M), Corporal Brad Gentry (BCPD), Mary Bourgeois (M), Patricia Martin (G), Yolanda Johnson ©, Rep. Jim Haadsma (C) Katherine LaValley- BCPS, Jenasia Morris (C) Excused: Monique French (M) Absent: 3. Approval/Amendment of Minutes: Were not voted because we did not have a quorum. 4. Adoption of the Agenda: Did not get voted on because there was not a quorum. 5. Correspondence (sent/received) & Announcements: None provided here. See below 6. Committee & City Staff Reports: a. Police Department/Fire Department: Corp Gentry: Went over reports by Corp Bryant. We don’t need people from out of town to coming in and shooting – so we are evicting them. Corp Bryant has been sitting at Parkway, looking for speeders. Tickets given to 129 Redner for parties. Is being labeled a Disorderly House. Kia boys got caught. One arrested. The car was towed. NPC2 is 3rd out of 9 for total events. Out of 142 traffic stops, 95 were verbal warnings. 4 homicides last month in BC. None is NPC2 b. Elected Officials: Commissioner Morris: Has an ask. Need support at Commissioner Meetings. Come to meetings. Regarding Claude Evans Park. So many kids playing down there. Start speaking up about violence. Need to come together. Tomorrow is a City Commissioner meeting, another one the following Tuesday. Diversity and Inclusion workshop tomorrow at 530pm. Smart Cameras at Claude Evans is held up because the need from Broadband. Construction possibly starting next year. Good feedback regarding design for parking at Claude Evans. Especially closing off Helen Montgomery so not a through street. Jim Haadsma: State Legislature passed budget week before the 4th. 500k to Albion Theater to retire debts. 300k to Star Commonwealth. 7 million BCU for commercial drone development. 1.7 million to Kingman museum to be white boxed. 750k to Burma Center for roof, parking lot and HVAC. Regarding affordable housing. Money allocated to extend opportunity to Brownfield areas. Some purely residential. Some to train local zoning boards to understand zoning better to fit needs of Affordable zoning. c. Neighborhood Services: Yolanda Johnson: Gives report. 129 Fox Ave. Still bring junk there. Met with him. Will write a ticket every day. Still working on Wilds and Hillsdale. Building a structure on the property. Tagging inoperable vehicles Did interviews to hire 3 new people Talked about sidewalk busted on North and Keith. Request sent to DPW. d. Beautiful Battle Creek Award: Had 4 last week. None this week. e. Membership: Three from last week. Have not been voted on by city commission yet. Lynn mentions it’s usually the 3rd Tuesday they get voted on. f. Committees: None g. Battle Creek Public Schools: Katherine LaValley: In process of recruiting teachers. Concerned with chronic absentee. More than 10 days in a short time period. Will make house calls this summer to address concerns and get them ready for August. This is the first time BCPS will be making house calls during the summer. 7. Presentation: none 8. Old Business: none 9. New Business: None 10. Public Comments/Member Comments: Dollar General at 170 Goodale. Debris and trash on property. Yolanda will put on list to visit tomorrow. 75 Stewart: Alert on house. Called code compliance. A lot of different people coming and going. Yolanda put on her list. NIBC: Is hiring. Awarded Shelter Diversion pilot – 2 years. Awarded 500k through MSHDA to rehab 18 projects. MI hope dollars. Awarded Housing Navigation – help fill applications Lynn Ward Gray: Need to invite Landbank to meetings to hear about vacant lots. Krista Trout Edwards. Community walk: Tomorrow. 6pm meet on West side of Hubbard and Helen Montgomery. Walk through Washington Heights. Following up at Parkway Manor at 640pm. Second Wednesday of month. Public Invited. NPC 2 area Neighborhood Advisory. Speed bumps: No longer being done by city because it damages snow plows. Another option for speeding is to put of more signage and digital signs. Carnival: July 22nd. Many churches collaborating. At Washington Heights. Free stuff. 11. Next Meeting: Monday Aug 14th, 6pm @ Washington Heights UMC. 12. Adjournment: @ 7:03pm by Larz Martin-Bey Vice 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