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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