Neighborhood Planning Council 5 - Urbandale

URBANDALE NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING COUNCIL Minutes from March 12th, 2018 E-Mail: Besteele@gmail.com Phone: 269-274-0029 1. Call to Order & Welcome: Chairperson Robert Whitfield called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 2. Attendance: Secretary Brian Steele, Chairman Robert Whitfield, Vice Chair Freeman Thomas, Deborah Owens, Fred Bachman, David Moore, Sara Schmanske, Hal Longman, Kathy Antaya, Curtis Roberts, Terry Lancaster, Beverly Case, Nancy Hoard, Wayne Hoard, Roger Ballard, Regina Kilgore, Kristin Blood City Staff: Police Chief Jim Blocker, Officer Nathan Hopkins, Eric Morris, Commissioner John Griffin, Catherine LaValley Guest: Bernadette Llewelyn, Valanders Martin Excused: Patricia Graw, Paula Scarbrough, Walt McILroy, Joshua Fausey 3. Announcements: None 4. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None 5. Approval of Previous Minutes: The previous month’s minutes were approved. 6. Police Report: Officer Nathan Hopkins gave the police report. The biggest noteworthy event was an arson on Stringham Rd. Officer Hopkins said they will be enforcing speeding vehicles more in the coming months. Officer Hopkins also took community questions and listened to concerns. 7. Guest Speaker: Police Chief Jim Blocker spoke about unmanned aircraft systems that he hopes to use in the future and distributed printed material on them. Chief Blocker explained the purpose of these systems, commonly referred to as drones. He showed the practical benefits as well as the financial benefits. He then took questions from the council. 8. Committee Reports: School Report: Catherine LaValley thanked everybody for the card that was sent due to the loss of her mother and was grateful to be back at the NPC. LaValley announced that more administrators and faculty will be moving into the Battle Creek School District so that teachers and administrators have an increased presence in their neighborhoods and city by becoming homeowners. LaValley also announced the election that is going to happen on May 8th about Renewing an important millage so that the school district will be able to continue the building and site sinking fund that expires with the 2018 tax levy. Code Report: Eric Morris distributed the code report and addressed concerns around speeding. He then took community questions. Beautification: 336 Miller Avenue 9. Old Business: Terry Lancaster distributed a sign-up sheet for the Adopt-a-Highway program clean up on April 21st. Kathy Antaya gave an update on the Urbandale Fall Festival. It will be on September 15th. The next meeting is March 20th, noon at Spankys. They have meetings the third Tuesday of every month at noon at Spanky’s. Roger Ballard also announced that Tom’s Donuts is going to reopen. 10. New Business: Secretary Brian Steele announced that he will be moving out of the area in June Kathy Antaya announced about the Truth and Racial Healing initiative that is starting in the Battle Creek area. The purpose of this group is to see how individuals can collaborate to make this a better community for everybody. The next meeting is on April 21st from 3:00-5:00 at the Burma Center. Chief Blocker also talked about the joint efforts between the fire and police departments, which he is both head of. 11. Nominating Committee: Nothing to report 12. Public Service Comments from Commissioner: Commissioner John Griffin says it has been quiet at the city but they are considering raising the pet licensing fee. They are going to use that revenue to establish an online database. Chief Blocker said the purpose is so the city can have a better animal count in the area and to make it better for the consumers and explained it is being used by many cities throughout the country. They are trying to move the animal control process from a print to online database. 13. Comments for the Good of the Order: Public Comments: None Member Comments: Hal Longman announced on March 28th at 6:30 at the Kool Family Community Center candidate for Governor Bill Schuette will be having a gathering. Kristin Blood announced that the Southwest Development Corporation can tap into $1.4 million to work on home renovations and did not use all that last year so applications can be used in our NPC area. 14. Next Meeting: April 9th, 2018 15. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 p.m.