Neighborhood Planning Council 9 - Rural Southwest

Rural Southwest Neighborhood Planning Council Southside Bible Church – corner of S. Minges & Beckley Rd. Minutes of the March 11, 2014 Meeting Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:35 PM by Linda Morris. Members Present: Durward McCleary, Linda Morris, Robert Harland, George Wytko, Sally Wytko, Harry Zimmerman Citizens Present: Cindy Snyder, Robert Snyder City Officials: Planning Supervisor Christine Hilton, BCPD: Shane Schwarz and Andrew Winer New BCPD Officer, Shane Schwarz was introduced to the council. Officer Winer distributed the February 11 to March 10, 2014 Crime Search report. He thanked members of our council for communicating to our neighbors the necessity for calling the department immediately when we see suspicious activity. Another good idea would be to tell neighbors when you are going to be away so that they can identify vehicles and/or people that do not belong at your house. He also suggested that we “Like” the department on Facebook (under City of Battle Creek and through Nixle) in order to receive immediate updates. If we need to contact an officer, call 966-3306. Chris Hilton distributed the Code Compliance Report and discussed “Property Surveying”. This entails looking for violations of peeling paint, screens which are not intact, etc. and is done every several years. She answered questions about the online City Income Tax forms. Linda Morris stated that they are much easier to complete than they have been in the past. As a follow up to a previous question, Chris suggested that we call Phil Lahr at the city to have tree limbs on city property picked up. The city will begin this process in the spring. She also informed us that the city has approved the Special Use Permit requested by Scott Ganton of the Reflections Memory Care facility to build an addition. We discussed the landscaping requirements for this facility and we are confident that Reflections will follow through. As a result of this NPC’s past experience, it is suggested that the city establish more exact definitions of their landscaping requirements for future projects. Old Business: Answering a previous question, we were informed that in order to find out who your neighbors are, look at Address Search under the City of Battle Creek. New Business and Approval of Minutes: Robert and Cindy Snyder requested membership in NPC 9. Their names will be submitted to the city. Following their appointment, we voted to approve the November, 2013, January and February, 2014 minutes. Regarding city leadership, Mike Sherzer is looking for ideas on what we want to see in a city manager. He may be contacted through the city. Robert Snyder suggested that we need someone who will return calls and communicate with the public. On another note, we thanked Chris Hilton for excellent communication she has with our NPC. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Next meeting: Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 6:30 pm at Southside Bible Church