NOBL
Minutes
June
10, 2008
Welcome
Present were Joe Berens, Phil
McConahy, (Acting President) Bob Roosenberg, Jayne Johnson,
Jessica Doane, Officer Neil Gomez, Andy Johnson, J.D. Formaz and
Walter Taylor. (Chairman Pete Stieler was not present.)
Joe Berens motioned to approve
the Meeting Minutes from May; Phil McConahy seconded; all were in
favor. The motion was carried.
The Financial statement
was discussed. Walter Taylor motioned to accept, Joe Berens
seconded; all were in favor. The motion was carried.
Committee Reports:
Officer Gomez spoke before the board about catalytic converters and
how they are being stolen from vehicles. He also mentioned that
there have been a couple of arrests at Coit Park for narcotics.
Kristi DeKraker spoke about how the Safety Committee sent a letter
on behalf of the neighbors to the arraigning judge, expressing zero
tolerance for criminal activity (i.e., drugs) in our park. By
sending such letters (and showing up on arraignment days), we hope
to send a clear message that criminal activity of any kind will not
be tolerated. She went on to say that this process was very
effective in the late 1990’s. Bob Roosenberg asked if there
was a way to get photographs of the suspects in question so they
could be posted at prominent places in the neighborhood.
Photographs can be found on the Internet at: www.accesskent.com
Officer Gomez stated that there was a shooting at Coit Park which
seemed to be an isolated incident. There were no victims and, to
his knowledge, it was not gang-related. Safety Committee Chair
Jayne Johnson said that she has witnessed groups of young males
walking down the street carrying baseball bats at 1:00am. Officer
Gomez spoke about enforcing curfews.
BBC: Chair Becky
Karwoski mentioned the progress of their plantings at Cultivating
Hands and Sunny’s Garden…things are coming along pretty
well and both gardens are prospering. Mrs. Elton’s class was
at the Children’s Garden and the kids really enjoyed
themselves.
New
Business
The 4th of July
was discussed. BBC will sell glow-in-the-dark necklaces and
bracelets, pop, chips and water to make money for future endeavors.
Kristi DeKraker will create pamphlets for Livingston and Fairview
regarding the use of illegal fireworks and street accessibility, not
to mention the “open container” policy. Walter Taylor
agreed to deliver the flyers on Fairview and Brian Bremer agreed to
help deliver flyers on Livingston.
The 5th Annual
Back to School Bash will happen on August 7th at Coit
Park. No backpacks will be handed out this year. There will be
food and fun. The Grand Rapids Police Department and the Grand
Rapids Fire Department will be on hand to usher in the new school
year.
National Night Out will
be on August 5th at Coit Park.
Walter Taylor made a motion to
remove Pete Stieler from his position as President of NOBL; J.D.
Formaz seconded. A discussion was held and votes were cast. All in
favor were Jayne Johnson, Jessica Doane, Andy Johnson, J.D. Formaz,
Phil McConahy and Walter Taylor. All opposed were Joe Berens. The
motion was carried. Pete Stieler is now suspended from office
until the next meeting (7/8/08), at which time he will be given the
opportunity to defend his actions to the Neighbors of Belknap
Lookout.
Bob Roosenberg stated that he
will act as Chair pro temp at the next meeting until there is
a vote for a replacement.
Walter Taylor also made a
motion to remove Pete Stieler as a Board Member of NOBL; J.D. Formaz
seconded. A discussion was held and votes were cast. All in favor
were Jayne Johnson, Jessica Doane, Andy Johnson, J.D. Formaz, Phil
McConahy and Walter Taylor. All opposed was Joe Berens. The
motion was carried. Pete Stieler is now suspended as a member
of NOBL until the next meeting (7/8/08), at which time he will be
given the opportunity to defend his actions to the Neighbors of
Belknap Lookout.
Acting-Chairman Bob Roosenberg
stated how displeased and disgusted he was with Pete Stieler’s
actions during the last public neighborhood meeting.
Jayne Johnson spoke about how
the Block Captains would each like a copy of the
redevelopment/rezoning draft so they can go through it (at their
leisure)with the neighbors on their block. They want to feel free
enough to be able to say what they like (or don’t like) about
the plan without developer intrusion. Essentially, they expect a
safe venue (away from the prying eyes) upon which to discuss the
plan anonymously.
Public
Comments
Jayne Johnson mentioned that we
have to come to some kind of consensus and common ground amongst the
block captains and the neighborhood regarding new development.
Pastor Carol Faas questioned
the procedure of inviting only Block Captains to the Public
Charrettes, versus inviting all the neighbors living in our
neighborhood. A discussion was held.
Steve Faas stated that if
anyone has any information that they would like to get out to every
neighbor, he has the resources during the next few days to
accommodate that need.
Gretchen Warnimont spoke about
her run in with Pete Stieler and requested that he be removed from
office before he hurts somebody else. “As a concerned and
scared neighbor, when I can’t walk down my own street, we all
have a problem…”
Angel Gonzalez spoke about the
Area Specific Plan and the importance of redeveloping portions of
the Belknap Neighborhood. Walter Taylor responded that many people
in the neighborhood are suspicious of the developers, due to the
fact that many neighbors never even received a flyer, let alone
heard of the, “public meetings.” He offered that
perhaps the developers should create enough flyers for the entire
Belknap Neighborhood next time they plan to hold a Public Charrette.
Pastor Carol Faas questioned
the intentions of the development consortium and mentioned that she
was personally upset that they seemed to have made themselves
available at all of the tables, in an effort to cajole the decisions
of others.
Officer Neil Gomez talked about
the charrette meeting and having to police the situation if needs
be.
Jayne Johnson offered that
there must be a balance when it comes to participation from both the
developers and the people from the neighborhood.
Ben talked about the zoning
ordinance and its approval. He presented a road map of all the
properties in the neighborhood; including properties owned by the
Beckett’s, the Gonzalez’s and the Horling’s.
Angel Gonzalez voiced that
their Area Specific Plan is just a road map of what is possible in
the Belknap Neighborhood.
Jayne Johnson responded by
saying that Area Specific Plans are designed to give a voice to each
person in the community, and not just a select few…
Jayne Johnson motioned to
adjourn the meeting and J.D. Formaz seconded; the motion was
carried.
The meeting ended at 7:39pm
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