Neighborhood Planning Council 5 - Urbandale

Urbandale Neighborhood Planning Council #5 Council Minutes – December 8, 2014 Meeting at Christ United Methodist Church 65 North Bedford Road Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM by Robert Whitfield, chair. Attendance: Robert Whitfield, Chair; Dale Stratton; Curtis Roberts; Deb Owens; David Moore; Hal Longman; Pat Graw; Stan Beckwith; Barbara Beckwith; Fred Bachman; Kathy Antaya. Excused absences: Sara Schmanske; Paul Sajtar; Rebecca Runyon; Walt McIlroy; Joshua Fausey; Carl Brockman. A quorum of at least seven members was present. ** Please call 269-963-7148 for “excused absence” (leave message) ** Guests included: Joe Britvec; Mary Lou Ramone, Taylor Hudson, Juli Hudson-Eakins, Bernadette Llewelyn, Dawn Smith (Summit Pointe) City staff included: Dennis McKinley; Officer Brad Gentry Previous Minutes: November 2014 minutes were approved by voice vote. Correspondence: Kathy Antaya and Pat Graw reported on attending an NPC advisory meeting, Dec 1 at DPW. Approximately 22 people were at the meeting. We were asked to comment on a proposed NPC policy, before it is presented to the City Commission for their vote. Entitled “NPC Dissolution and Reinstatement Policy,” city staff led a well-organized discussion of this draft version. The proposed policy would add written guidance and consistency in NPC procedural matters. If passed by City Commission, the policy would be added to the NPC Charter, which is the framework for our Neighborhood Planning Council system. Comments from the meeting will be incorporated into another draft version. Staff will continue gathering input and reconvene for another discussion in January. Fred Bachman reiterated the point he had made at the NPC Advisory meeting on 12/1: “The language in lines 6 and 7 is not understandable. Please speak plain!” Police Report: Officer Brad Gentry provided a written report for police activity in Urbandale in November. Cool weather may be to credit for reduction in vehicle thefts and vandalism – suspected perpetrators may have rode bicycles. A recent arrest may lead to resolution of several burglaries. Recovered goods can be returned to the owners if properly identified – so, please mark your personal property! Also, police depend on us being observant neighbors and calling in reports of suspicious activity. Guest Speaker: Topic: “Prescription Drug Abuse,” by Dawn Smith, Executive Director of the Substance Abuse Council (SAC). The SAC is a drug prevention coalition serving the community for over 27 years. Studies suggest that one in five teens will try a prescription drug to get high. Vicodin, Ritalin, Zanac, Adderall, Oxycontin are some of the most common. Teens are likely to steal pills from home or from a relative, taking one or two at a time, the loss is rarely noticed. Or pills are stolen during parties, Open Houses, etc. The SAC suggests, “lock your meds” away from theft or accident. (Lock boxes are available from the SAC.) In addition, dispose of all leftover or unwanted medicines. Proper disposal is vital! (Do not flush down the drain, this impacts water quality.) Drop off unwanted meds in the RED MED BOX located in all Police Departments, or at various community-based “hazardous waste disposal days.” Despite the false “glamour,” prescription drug abuse is a problem in Battle Creek, not just in Hollywood. Contact the Substance Abuse Council at 269-968-4699, or go to the website www.drugfreebc.org or email Dawn Smith at drs@summitpointe.org School Report: Urbandale NPC is in need of a representative from the Urbandale “school system.” Ideally, this would be a parent, teacher or Board member that lives in our area. However, anyone with a sincere interest in our schools is qualified! We only ask a willingness to provide a monthly report of school activities and issues to the NPC. Code Report: Dennis McKinley distributed a written report and gave a verbal report. Senior Code Compliance Officer Morris has been very busy lately with legal-system follow up work with cases. Code Compliance is currently performing annual “liquor license reviews” – inspecting the buildings for code and safety compliance. McKinley also answered questions from the group. Membership: The following Urbandale NPC members’ terms have been renewed through 12/4/17: Carl Brockman, David Moore, Deb Owens, Robert Whitfield, Kathy Antaya, Patricia Graw, Curtis Roberts, Paul Sajtar. Beautiful Battle Creek Award: none Commissioner’s Report: • BC enjoys extra protection afforded by specially trained and outfitted haz-mat team! As one of 16 regional response centers, BC’s Fire Department has state of the art Haz-Mat response equipment. There are currently 23 firefighters training for haz-mat incidents. • BC Vision is an economic development process, based on resident in-put, funded by WKKF and Kellogg Co. Up coming meetings are Dec 11 and 16. All residents are encouraged to participate. • The Chamber of Commerce Leadership Challenge has produced an award-winning project: positivelybc. com Fantastic new website with info on all BC events! Check it out. • Mayor Owens holds office hours in the Mayors Office, City Hall, Mon & Wed, 10 am – 1 pm. • Mayor Owens provides a weekly Mayor’s Report to citizens on Access Vision every Saturday, and for every biweekly commission meeting. Old Business: none New Business: Taylor Hudson requested NPC support for her new business at 387 Waubascon Rd. (She is requesting a variance for the property and BC’s Planning Dept recommends that applicants speak to their NPC.) The business is called “All About Kids Childcare” and will have between 7 and 12 children on property, between 6 am and 8pm. After several questions and a brief discussion, the NPC members in attendance agreed this new business might be beneficial for our neighborhood. The variance needed to operate her business does not appear to be an issue for our community. We voted unanimously in support of her business venture. A message was sent to the Planning Dept with our support noted. Nominating Committee: none Public Comment: none Member Comment: none The meeting adjourned at 8:03 P.M. Respectfully submitted by: Kathy Antaya