NOBL Agenda 09-09-2008

Neighbors of Belknap Lookout

Board Meeting

Tuesday, September 9^th, 2008

6:00pm

Belknap Commons

751 Lafayette NE

1. Call to order

2. Additions to the agenda

Presentation by Bill Mohr

Presentation by Jim Stein- Thierica expansion

3. Approval of minutes and financial statement

4. Committee reports-

Safety- Jayne

Housing- Andy- 534 Clancy appeals

Executive- Bob

Finance- JD

BBC-Becky

5. Staff report

6. Old business

NOBL’s blog/website update- Marty

Fundraising committee- JD

7. New business

Nominating committee and annual elections (Nov. 11)

Kristi’s affiliation with other organizations

6. Public Comments

7. Adjournment

NOBL Minutes 8-12-2008

NOBL Minutes

8-12-08

• Welcome to all

• Meeting officially called to order at 6:03pm. Present were Bob Roosenberg, JD Formaz, Joe Berens, Phil McConahy, Jayne Johnson, Andy Johnson and Walter Taylor. Guest speakers were David Swartwout and Suzanne Schulz.

• No additions to the agenda

• Approval of last month’s Meeting Minutes and financial statements: Phil McConahy motioned to accept the Minutes and financial statements and JD Formaz seconded. All were in favor and the motion was passed.

Committee Reports

• Safety: There hasn’t been another report about the man who was flashing neighbors late at night. There was a B&E on the 600 block of Livingston. The hotspots in the neighborhood are being worked on.

  • Progress in Coit Park about signage and utilizing the restrooms is positive and ongoing. Around dusk, we need the police to come and shine their lights in the park to dissuade troublemakers and drug transactions.

  • People driving go-carts around the area late at night need to be called right into police dispatch.

• Housing: Andy Johnson went by the 600 block of Coit and noticed improvements. Bob Roosenberg mentioned that he heard that some of these houses were having difficulties with some of their tenants and asked if Andy Johnson could follow up on some of these places to make sure that they’ve gotten their certification. David Swartwout said that he would be willing to help Andy with certain housing issues that need to be addressed. Are there specific houses that need to be mentioned?

• Executive Committee: We have not met formally and have nothing to offer.

• Fundraisers: JD Formaz is wondering if anyone has come up with any fundraising ideas. There was a committee that was formed last month (Sondra Loukes Wilson, Becky Karwoski, Chris Thompson, Jayne Johnson and Brian Bremer). Within the next week, he will contact these people and get back to the board with ideas. It was mentioned that we need more volunteers in the neighborhood.

• Belknap Beautification Committee: The community garden is going well. Some of the vegetables that were planted didn’t grow as well as was hoped for, but all in all, everything else looks great. Ms. Elton’s class from Coit Academy will also be back at the garden next week. There should be between 20-25 children. The BBC Chili Cookout is set for October 11, 2008.

• Staff Report: National Night Out went well. There were 100-200 people at the event. There was food, games, gifts and prizes, like bike helmets for the children. The money used to put on the event ($654) was from a grant, so nothing came out of NOBL’s general fund. It went really well, so we’re going to do it again next year.

  • We need to fundraise for next year’s event, because we can’t rely on the grant again.

  • Back to School Bash: there were a couple of snafus: there were only supplies for 100 children and not 400 as previously thought. Urban Health paid for the hotdogs and the rest of the supplies for the event were donated. All in all it was a great event.

  • Thireca plans to expand: Suzanne Schulz said that the owner of Thireca wants to purchase the 3 homes to the north, allowing him to expand his building into where his parking lot now sits. He would then create a new parking lot just behind Clancy Street Ministries. He also wants to buy 3 homes on the other side of Matilda and tear them down to build another parking lot. He has talked to people in the neighborhood and has not met resistance to his plans. Kristi DeKraker will call the owner of Thireca and ask him if he would be willing to present his plans to NOBL before his meeting with the City.

• We commend our Crime Prevention/Community Organizer Kristi DeKraker for working so hard on the National Night Out and the Back to School Bash events.

• NOBL Board Candidates:

  • David Shannon moved into the neighborhood in 1988. He purchased his property at 510/512 Coit back in 2001. He strongly believes that everyone living in the Belknap Area has a say in what goes on; whether they be renters or homeowners. David is a Block Captain. He also belongs to many different groups and organizations outside of the Belknap Area.

  • Marty Morgan moved into the neighborhood in October of 2007 and lives at Newberry Place. He his happy to be here and wants to be the first representative of Newberry Place on the NOBL Board.

• Phil McConahy thanked both candidates for their interest in offering their services and reminded everyone that there will be many NOBL positions open come November.

• Paper ballots were handed out to all board members at the table for a vote. They were then collected by Kristi DeKraker, with the results to be read near the close of the meeting.

Old Business

• L&L Extension of Hours: JD Formaz requested that the discussion for the extension of hours be tabled. Jayne Johnson asked why and Sunny Sodhi, the owner of L&L Party Store, stated that he wanted to show everyone how committed he is before a decision is made about the extension. Bob Roosenberg asked if Sunny could open up some of the space in the store for more grocery items. Sunny said that he already has a lot of groceries in his store, and that if anyone needs anything in particular, all they have to do is ask and he will make sure it is stocked. Bob then said that he received some e-mails with concerns about some of the product that is being sold in the store, such as rolling papers. He asked if Sunny could cut back on sales of some of those products. Sunny responded by saying that many people still roll their own cigarettes in this neighborhood; especially when packs are running well over $5.00. He reminded the board that everything in his store is legal to sell by law, and that he cannot stand in judgment over whom to sell certain items to, let alone be responsible for how those items might be used. Bob Roosenberg mentioned an article in the paper about tax breaks for neighborhood grocery stores.

• Tentatively Proposed NOBL Policy: The Policy was mailed out to Block Captains and the process is coming along well.

New Business

• David Swartwout proposed his Belknap Lookout Neighborhood Area-Specific Plan Alternative. Copies of the plan as well as color-coded maps were then passed out to Board Members. He stated that unlike the developer’s Area Specific Plan Draft, his plan follows the current and existing land use and zoning classifications offered by the City’s Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance. While drafting his proposal, he noticed some obvious discrepancies between both the plans and rectified the problem by harmonizing them. A discussion was held.

• Suzanne Schulz spoke about the developer’s Belknap Neighborhood Area Specific Plan Draft, the Discussion Guide, and the Quick Questions sheet. September 25, 2008 will be the public meeting before the City Planning Commission. Postcard reminders will be sent out ahead of time to those living in the Belknap neighborhood. The planning commission is looking for information from residents on how to proceed. She encouraged all those with questions or comments that can’t make it to the meeting to send their letters or e-mails to City Planning Commissioners. There was a discussion as to whether residents had enough time to read and respond to all the information included with the draft packet. Jayne Johnson responded by saying that most block contacts were pleased with the Quick Questions sheet (versus the lengthy Discussion Guide).

• On The Hill Newsletter: Walter Taylor will put a disclaimer on the newsletter stating that it is a privately owned newsletter and not affiliated with NOBL.

• Phil McConahy brought up the fact that NOBL is required to have its own informational newsletter or flyer. It was mentioned that our neighborhood had a newsletter that came out four times a year, but ever since Anita Prins resigned, that niche has been filled by On The Hill.. Marty Morgan offered that perhaps NOBL should consider a blog instead and offered his assistance to anyone who might be interested in creating one.

• Bob Roosenberg brought up concerns about Walter Taylor recording Suzanne Schulz’s conversation without her consent. Walter Taylor addressed the situation quickly by first apologizing to Suzanne Schulz, but added that under Michigan law it is totally within his legal right to record any conversation, so long as at least one of the parties involved know about the recording. He assured Suzanne that in future conversations with her, as a courtesy, he would let her know whether or not she was being recorded.

• Appointments: All the paper ballots were counted and the results of the vote were announced… Marty Morgan won and is officially the newest NOBL Board Member.

Public Comment

• Angel Gonzalez mentioned that Suzanne Schulz did a great job of putting together the questionnaire and mentioned that it’s important that we get the information out to everyone.

• Suzanne Schulz stated that this is the first plan, and it is interesting! Hopefully everyone can live with the end result. Perhaps it’s something that everyone can be proud of…?

• David Swartwout gave out his e-mail address.

• Sunny reiterated that if anyone has any problems regarding his store that they should come to him before they go to anyone else.

• Jayne Johnson motioned to adjourn the meeting and J.D. Formaz seconded. All were in favor and the motion was passed.

• The meeting was adjourned at 7:16pm

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