07-08-13 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING JULY 8, 2013 the neighborhood. Everyone loves Rick and he loves everyone and shows them respect and respect in shown the neighborhood. That’s all I have to say, thank you. Carl Clark, 437 S. Albert Avenue, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he believes this would be a great idea for Ricky to have this. Right now it is kind of hard for small businessman to survive out here alone. Now that we have an opportunity to have a small businessman open up something start investing in the city especially over there in that area. I think that one person could make a difference and bring more business to that area. So I think it would be a great idea for the Council to approve that. Speaker unknown and not audible. The following individual spoke in opposition to the bill: Jacob Hughes, 22815 Hartzer St., South Bend, Indiana, Tobacco Prevention Coordinator for St. Joseph County Minority Health Coalition. He stated that he is here tonight to give a statistical understanding and research type understanding on the effects of corner store gas stations. He stated that they have a lot of research and analysis to come to an understanding that a lot of our culture is influenced by the foods that we eat. Now this real big undertaking for the coalition because we specifically focus on community, specifically community that deals with a lot of disparity and don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Councilmember White asked Mr. Hughes if he is speaking against the project. Mr. Hughes stated that the reason why he is speaking against the project is culturally what corner store gas stations have done and I’m speaking not specifically even talking about you know to any regulations or stricter regulations on this interest per the Minority Health Coalition. Readily accessible foods that corner store provide are high in sugar and calories. These are usually foods with long shelf lives. They also understand that the foods that are available in corner stores are not only unhealthy but costly as well. On average a person will buy an item that is approximately 357 calories per visit. He has a fact sheet that discusses a lot of disparities and health issues that with these corner store gas stations and if you are talking about accessibility let’s talk about our youth. Approximately 50% of students go to the corner gas stations before school; 48% of students go after school and let’s think about what they are eating. A lot of the foods are high in sugar and have a lot of calories. Also when they go into these stores they are seeing drug paraphernalia, tobacco products and advertisements for them right on the front of these corner store gas stations. You have to understand that over 9 billion dollars are put into advertising when it comes to tobacco. So you think about these kinds of things and you have to understand that these gas stations are doing more harm than good especially with lack of regulations. A lot of research shows that there are a lot of stop and go’s in corner store gas stations are perceived as generators of violence in part because of onsite sales of alcohol; drug paraphernalia, and illicit drugs. So you have to think about that as well. Many residents lack personal transportation and rely heavily on small and medium size food stores in their neighborhoods, many of these stores lack variety of healthy food options and are usually more expensive than larger stores in addition there are many carry out and fast food restaurants in the city that offer fried foods and high calorie foods. So with that being said it is our educated and positive opinion that corner stores need stricter regulations so that they can provide a service to the community rather than disservice. (Mr. Hughes handed facts sheets to Clerk John Voorde) In Rebuttal, Mike Danch addressed two of the items that Councilman Dieter had brought up. Councilman Dieter wanted to add to the written commitments. He asked Councilman Dieter for clarification on the items for the commitment that were talked about. And address some of the items Mr. Hughes who was just here brought up. If we could submit and Council approves this, this would also give the ability to add two additional items that may help the residents that Mr. Hughes had just mentioned. The problem right now is that he is pretty much limited because of the size of the building and what’s there. If the improvement could be done he could expand what’s sold on the site to residents that walk or also residents who drive in. If you have any questions for us we’ll be happy to answer. 7