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. August 14th, 2023 at 6:00 PM MINUTES 1.Call to Order & Welcome @ 6:10 PM: Pastor Monique French called to order and welome. Introductions. 2. Attendance [Renew/Join (R or J); Member (M); Guest (G); City Rep (C)]: Monique French (M), Larz Martin-Bey (M),Jeff Breedlove -- Scientology (M), Corporal Brad Gentry (BCPD), Corp Shawn O’Bryant (BCPD), Mary Bourgeois (M), Lynn Ward Gray (M), Patricia Martin (G), Mr. Sutters (G), Yolandra Stutters (G) Debra Evans (G), Jennifer LaGrand-Williams Excused: Prentice Thompson (M), Absent: 3. Approval/Amendment of Minutes: No quorum. Minutes from previous minutes given out. 4. Adoption of the Agenda: Add presentation by Pastor French. Acquiring variance for neighborhood project. 5. Correspondence (sent/received) & Announcements: Lynn Ward Gray BCCF this wed. 4-6pm remarks by Brenda hunt, starting at 5pm. Carnival atmosphere. Elephant ears. Free and open to public. Invite anyone and everyone to come out. No rsvp. At Kool family. Public town hall meetings, as Brenda transitions. Listening sessions to see what community wants, virtual on the 21st. Can send invite. Question about membership. Pastor French: If you are member you have a voice and vote. If you attend, reserve comments to comment time but no vote. Pastor French: Washingtons Heights received MSDA Efficiency repairs. For zip code area 49037. My Hope funding. Start taking applications. If you know anybody, have to meet income requirements. Annie Burton. Has eligibility requirements under my hope website. Received $150k. 6. Committee & City Staff Reports: a. Police Department/Fire Department: Corp Brad Gentry Went over reports. Nothing that spiked up under part 1 crimes. City is having issue with stolen vehicles. None in NPC2 in July. Part 1 and 2 crimes. We are sitting at 4 out of 9. Arrests spiked up a little. Tied for 2nd. All events, last month 3 out of 9 this month 4 out of 9. Nothing spiked up. Nothing trending. Discussion about trash stealing. Talk about gray SUV that pops up. Corp O’Bryant: Had some complaints about 192 Hubbard. Everyone complained in block. Last week evicted. Teenagers used to go to 192, they are gone. Had so many calls related to shooting. In those homes. Since then crimes have come down. 129 Redner. Worked overtime. 9pm to 7am. Focus was Redner. Sat across street. Made contact to have discussion. They use their house as a club. People have been complaining. Made 4-5 arrests. Numerous traffic stops. Needed to collect stats. Loud and boisterous conduct. Helped with report of disorderly house. Submitted to city attorney and warrant has been issued for arrest for Jr. that lives at house. He will show up to court. 99% of 60 plus cars due to that house. Been driving through neighborhood putting stickers on abandoned vehicles. Want to make sure snow plows can plow the streets. b. Elected Officials: None c. Neighborhood Services: Yolanda Johnson. Been in contact with Corp O’Bryant. Have visited a couple houses. Summerset. Driveway with inoperable vehicles. Problem handled. Partnership has been effective. Gives reports. Weeds are high percentage. No one for enforcement on high weeds. Received officer in NPC3. Officer in 4 left. Have former Sherriff that might take job. We have a lot going on. Not going to slow up any time soon. Appreciate Ms. Martin calling and letting us know if she sees anything. We have hopefully resolved neighborhood dispute. Howland. Having an issue. Yolanda walked property on Howland. And talked to neighbors. d. Beautiful Battle Creek Award: 1) 99 E. Northside Dr. Lynn Ward Gray nomination. e. Membership: 1) nominate Deb Evans by Pastor French. f. Committees: Lights on Graves—heard back from that. Stop signs on Boise --They have to get traffic engineer out there. g. Battle Creek Public Schools: None 7. Presentation: none 8. Old Business: Beautiful battle creek awards regarding Washinton Heights Church. Yolanda said they didn’t have information regarding Washington heights. Cameras at Claude Evans park. Comm. Morris encouraged people to come to commissioner meetings. Construction will start next year. Corp O’Bryant talked about Broadband free in 2022. Discussion regarding broadband. French sits on Broadband task force. Working on getting in areas that don’t have it. Doing study on what areas do not have it. Gentry said they are running fiber up there, which is superior technology. French—county went after grant. Submitted for B grant. Not awarded. Looking at Robin Grant. Partnering with service providers. Mary B question: Meeting in Marshall about affordable housing. Proposal for supportive housing in Washinton Heights and denied. Pastor French—proposal put forth this year. Across from school. Did not get support because of school of choice. Will cause them to lose more people. Looking to do it in another area. Create a “Sunshine” area. Near the shelter. Trying to build a community. 9. New Business: French. Two things to share with you. 1)Development of Dolover building. Want to have open forum sending out invites. Looking to have 20 people show up. Have your voice to see what you would like to see happen. 2) W.H. recover neighborhood project. For existing home owners. Secure funding to do upgrades to homes. Adding amenities to bring up neighborhood. Conceptual designs. Infield housing. Moffit and Greenwood. Land we purchased from city. Have to apply for variance for two of the plots. Quarter off of 50 requirement. There are other plots that don’t meet that. .25 off. Looking to get variance. For two of the plots. Would love to have your support. Speaking as representative for Washington Heights. Plotted in 1911. The way it was plotted, it’s off O’Bryant: big hommies. Having their back to school “funraiser”. Parkway Manner. Aug 19th 1-4pm. On their facebook page. Pastor French: We are the NPC. A lot of times, environment mirrors the person. Person may not realize. There are things that can help. Engage with people. Little things we do can make a difference. Plant those seeds. I believe in the community. It’s going to take time. Talking about trash and litter. Yolanda: Dollar general. One of the problems. Have cage where they keep trash in. See trash blowing. Has gone in there. It is garbage blowing. They get it clean, but doesn’t stay clean. It’s ongoing communication. 10. Public Comments/Member Comments: Lynn Ward Gray suggests wanting the feeling of the room on the record. Put it out there as a consensus of support. Washington Heights Recover our Neighborhood project. Those in favor voice their support. All in favor of the variance. None opposed. Mary B: Question on Traffic stops. 120. Gentry: On par. Tied for 2nd. Out of 9. On a normal daily basis 1-2 officers in NPC2 plus gentry and O’Bryant. You could have 8 officers with the gang unit. 4 officers in training. Getting staffing back up. Corp O’Bryant. Makes traffic stops all the time. Gave examples. Ms. Matin. What is the white or black mask. O’Bryant -- because of smog from Canada. Jennifer LaGrand-Williams would like to be a member of NPC2 11. Next Meeting: Monday, Sept 11th, 2023 at 6:00 PM @ Washington Heights UMC. 12. Adjournment: @ 7:10 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