Neighborhood Planning Council 4 - Northeast

Call to Order & Welcome: 7PM Attendance: Members Present: Marcia Austin, Kaytee Faris, Rick Harrison, Andy Helmboldt, John Hennink, Daniel Rall, Dean Newsome, David Neilsen, Jonna Siano, John Walton, John Whitaker, Kim Yarger, Chuck Yarger Member Absent: Tricha Grajek, Helen Van Valkenburg, Sherry Sofia, David Salerno, Laurie Sullivan, Mark Jones, Mary Conklin, Nathan Grajek Guests: Jennifer Newsome, Ryan Thayer BCPD, Todd Nowicki City , Jack Langford, Chris Lussier City, Art Kale County Commissioner, Wendy Rominger, Jennifer Bowman Enquirer, Liz Neumeyer Speaker, Steve Hills, Becky Hills, Clayton Wirisma, Terris Todd County Commission, Lucy Johnson. Approval of Minutes: Moved by David Nielson. Andy Helmboldt seconded. Motion passed Chair Notes/Announcements: Andy Helmboldt awarded member of the month. Update your email address on the attendance sheet if you aren’t receiving NPC correspondence. Additions & Deletions to the agenda: None Program: Liz Neumeyer presented the history of Kellogg Community College Correspondence (Sent/Received) None Motions/Discussion/Vote: None Reports/Announcements: City Commission: Dean Newsome explained the 2.75-3% increase to Waste Management costs starting in 2015. He reminded everyone that senior and disability discounts were available. He announced a Park Party for the neighborhood Aug 2, 2014. Location to be announced later, likely Quaker Park or Piper Park. Andy Helmboldt said the visioning session for the city manager evaluation process will be held April 22 in the Airport Building. County Commission: Art Kale said that budget revenue and expenses better this year. Health and wellness DPW is going well, projected one million dollar savings per year. Millage would double VA budget for the county. Regional Law Enforcement Center will be a collaboration between the city of Marshall, the county sheriff and the state police. Evidence storage, records, locker rooms, etc will be shared. Co. Commission will discuss roads on April 22 at 7 pm. Ott Reserve will open 5 miles of new trail on April 25. April 26 is Recycle Rama at KCC 9AM-1PM. Terris Todd said they voted today to support transporting compost to Sprout Urbam Farms. Check Shopper News for specific items that will be accepted at Recycle Rama. They also need volunteers. Battle Creek Police Department: Officer Thayer explained a dangerous situation at Riverview and Perry involving an argument with guns which lead to a vehicle stop. BCPD found meth, gun and other paraphernalia. FOIA request can be made at clerk’s office for details on this or any other crime. Officers can only legally share certain information. John Hennink provided Officer Thayer with a list of specific incidents. He will update us on the highlighted items at next month’s meeting. John Hennink asked about enforcement of speeding, loud noise, and litter. City Code Compliance: John Hennink gave Todd a stack of violations to look into. He will not be here next month but will let John Hennink know where these violations stand. Todd Nowicki said that the city is doing survey of whole city. He shared that housing code means that it is after survey date and time for infraction. Chris Lussier will be at next month’s meeting so fill out violation sheet to give specific info so that action can be taken any violations. John Hennink encouraged members to use his forms when reporting violations so that enforcement officers have complete information. Zoning Board: Nothing in our area was discussed. Planning Board: Nothing in our area was discussed. Historic District Board: Advent Village was approved for new fencing. Housing Board of Appeals: Chestnut house is moving to court. Committee Reports: Membership: None Beautiful BC Awards: None Neighborhood Planning: Please stay after meeting for Discussion 30. Old Business: Todd Nowicki says that nothing has changed at 255 Cherry St. The resident is back, illegally. Todd will contact Jim Grafton at BCPD to pursue eviction. We will leave this under old business. The buildings on Capital Ave NE are in the process of being taken down. New Business: Project 20/20 and the Beacon Community Project will be conducting community conversations with NPCs as part of the city manager search process. David Neilson will make arrangements on behalf of the NPC to set up this conversation. He suggested to them having this conversation at May’s meeting. Chuck Yarger gave an update on cleanup on April 12, 2014. He suggested that the city fine property owners (landlords) for garbage and litter generated by their tenants. John Hennink added that other neighbors saw what was going with the clean up and started raking and picking up their own lawns, too. Marcia Austin wants enforcement of raking yard waste into street. Chris Lussier attended a Leadership Institute focused on blight reduction. It was four days of intense strategy training. We have 2000 older or obsolete housing units which are considered the least competitive not likely to ever be competitive. These units affect everyone's property value. He said that it was exciting to learn about and see possibilities to address this issue. Comments for the good of the order: Public Comments: Jennifer Bowman said the meeting was entertaining and positive. Terris Todd liked the sheets for reporting code violations and thanked us for a well run meeting. Member Comments: John Hennink reminded everyone that Neighborhood Clean Up would be 9-11AM on the second Saturday of each month. David Neilson pointed out that the next meeting date was actually May 21st and that a food truck discussion would take at 6pm on April 23 at the Public Works Building. Adjournment: 8:285PM Next Meeting Date: May 21, 2014