Neighborhood Planning Council 4 - Northeast

Fremont/Verona/McKinley Neighborhood Planning Council #4 Meeting Minutes Date: December 19, 2012 Call to Order at 7:00 pm Attendance and Introduction of Guests: Members in Attendance (13): Marcia Austin, Mary Conklin, Mark Jones, Szenoria Smith, Sherry Sofia, Laura Adams, Helen Van Valkenburg, David Nielsen, Glenn Holmwall, Marcia Holmwall, Teresa Poole , John Hennink, Rick Harrison, Members Absent (7): John Anderson, Katy Faris, Dave Salerno, Jonna Siano, Laurie Sullivan, John Walton, Mark Whittaker Guests in Attendance (8): Karyl Childs, Jim Childs, Stan Fountain, Debi Fountain, Brad Sansom, Devon Clark, Sherry Horton, James Robinson Elected and City Officials: Battle Creek Police Department • No officer present City of Battle Creek: • Todd Nowicki (Code Compliance) City Commissioners: • Lynn Ward Gray (Ward 2)-absent • Sherry Sofia (Ward 3)-present • Andy Helmboldt (At-Large)-absent County Commissioners: • Jim Haadsma (District 3)-absent Changes to Agenda: add Downtown Transformation Survey Approval of minutes: motion to approve by Glenn Holmwall, seconded by David Neilsen. Unanimous13-0 Governmental Reports: Police Department Report: no officer present Code Compliance Report: discussion of registered rental report, still not provided. All addresses where front yard parking was reported have been contacted and ticketed if necessary. Todd noted issues with vacant/abandoned and unsecured houses. Requested that people contact them if they notice an unsecured house so it can be boarded up. John Hennink asked for a copy of the listing of vacant and abandoned buildings in the city so that residents can know which houses to keep an eye on them. Discussion of commercial buildings on Capital NE between Liberty Market and Mix hardware being an eyesore. Report of numerous unoccupied properties with long-term code violations on North Union. City Commissioner (Ward 2) Report: Not present City Commissioner (Ward 3) Report: Big discussion about representation on boards and commissions and whether or not they accurately represent the demographics of the city, has predominated commission and public comments the last two meetings. Ward commissioners were asked to nominate houses for the lighting contest through the IFOL and she nominated one on Charlotte Street, one on Central Street, and several on Garrison. Contest is open to anyone within the boundaries of the City of Battle Creek. City Commissioner (At Large) Report: Not present County Commissioner (District 3) Report: Not present NPC Reports: Chairman’s Report: • Zoning Board of Appeals: continued their review of zoning ordinances • Planning Commission: “ditto” • Historic District Commission: Hennink’s building on Michigan Ave., and discussion of boundaries which split some buildings in two, and consideration of redrawing them (schools are exempt from the requirements, it is voluntary as the district chooses) Vice-Chairman’s Report: • Housing Board of Appeals: Affirmed the order on numerous dangerous buildings, two filled out the appeal, one that had to be dealt with-a slumlord sold a house to people on a land contract for $4,500, without notifying them that it was on the dangerous buildings list after being vacant and abandoned and requires a considerable amount of work to remedy the code violations and no funds. Had to affirm the order. • Dangerous Buildings Committee: no report Committee Reports: • Membership Committee: no report  • Beautiful Battle Creek Award: requested nominations for properties • Neighborhood Crime Watch: another set of diaries sent out recently • Zoning ordinance ad hoc committee: on hiatus in December Neighborhood Associations: • Freedom Acres: Meets second Tuesday in January distributing free produce at First Congregation starting at 1:00, every Tuesday. Third Tuesday of the month will be the nursing clinic. • Merritt Woods: no report • Merritt Commons: no report • Piper Park: no report • Calhoun Street Community House: waiting to hear confirmation from the Virtual School as to opening a site there. Program: None Old Business: No discussion New Business: David Neilsen serves on the Advisory Board for the Downtown Transformation has put together a survey regarding the project, and requested that members complete a brief survey at the close of the meeting. David will email NPC members the membership list for the advisory board. Election of Officers: Chair turned the election over to Sherry Sofia because she has to abstain from the election. Open offices for chair, vice-chair, and secretary. Mark and Laura nominated for chair, David Neilsen for vice-chair and nobody for secretary. Question as to whether or not a secret ballot is permitted. Discussion indicates that prior elections involved secret ballot, so it was determined that a secret ballot would be used. Vote totals: Mark Jones: 4 and Laura Adams: 8 Laura Adams elected as new chair, chaired the remainder of the meeting. Member and Guest Comments: Mark Jones shared information about the IFOL, including the Ice Carving on 12/22, the laser show on Saturdays (6 pm and 8 pm) and the lighting contest. David Neilsen noted that he asked for the old lighting from the downtown for Capitol Avenue, and they were put in Quaker Park and Fremont Street, complimented the city on doing so, Szenoria Smith addressed the guests and let them know that your voice is heard by becoming a member of the NPC and encouraged them to join. Helen VanValkenburg invited everyone to view the holiday sign on her house at 33 S. Union. Action Items: None Property Concerns: 255 Cherry, which was reported in November, has been ordered vacated by the City, and there should be no utilities. Still reported to be occupied. 117 N. Union Street is using tarps as a roof on the house and the garage which is also falling down. Unoccupied. 123 N. Union Street is using tarps as a roof on the house and the garage. Stuff laying all over in the back. Railings on the side porch is falling down. Unoccupied. Prior owner gutted it and walked away. 138 N. Union. Junk and trash all over the yard. Unoccupied. 139 N. Union problems with one side of the roof and mold on the exterior. Unoccupied. 165 N. Union. Owner reported is on a program with code compliance where he pays a monthly fee, and this has been going on for years. House is unoccupied, has flooded several times, vermin infestation affecting neighbors. Has done some work on one side of the house, including painting and roof repair. Has been going on for over a decade. Police Issues: No officer present Meeting Adjourned at 8:34 pm