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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018 Residential Neighborhoods O�SpU TF1 � d ti U d W PEACE r^ a +s 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS MARCH 7, 2017 4:00 P.M. (ORGANIZATIONAL) Committee Members Present: Karen White, Jo M. Broden Committee Members Absent: Regina Williams-Preston, Sharon McBride Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Oliver Davis (late) Other Council Absent: Gavin Ferlic, Dr. David Varner, John Voorde Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Graham Sparks, Bob Palmer Agenda: Residential Neighborhoods Committee Organizational Meeting (Kickoff) Miscellaneous Committee Chair Karen White called to order the Residential Neighborhoods Committee Organizational meeting at 4:00 p.m. She introduced members of the Committee and proceeded with the meeting. Residential Neighborhoods Committee Organizational Meeting(Kickoff) Committee Chair White stated, We will begin by going through the 2017 Annual Report of the Residential Neighborhoods Committee. She provided copies(available in the City Clerk's Office) to individuals present. She continued, The Residential Neighborhoods Committee had five (5) meetings last year. Some of the areas discussed were the review of the 2016 Annual Report, the goals and objectives for the Committee for the 2017 year and the budget priorities for the coming year. The Committee focus has been on Quality of Life for the neighborhoods and working with the Neighborhood Resource Connection group, which we will start this ye off doing very soon. We also do District walking tours. Last ye, one (1) was scheduled for the I` Councilmanic District and there was a major storm. We had to cancel that one (1). We reached out to the other Council members to schedule tours and we were unable to do that. We do plan to start, this year, looking at those tours. We will be working very closely with TRANSPO in terms of transportation for those tours. I think it is very important for the Council members and the residents to really look beyond their own particular area in which they live and represent. This will provide a level appreciation and understanding that not all the areas are the same. As I indicated earlier,the 2018 Budget made me thrilled and pleased. We are beginning to look at the areas that really impact 455 County-City Building•227 W.Jefferson Boulevard•South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567•www.SouthBend[N.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA L.TIRADO JOSEPH R.MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS neighborhoods and citizens. Many have responded and have shared that appreciation. We really want to thank the Community Investment staff as they made sure this budget reflected those major Quality of Life issues we have been discussing for quite some time. The 2018 Budget Summary discussion page is online. Councilmember Oliver Davis arrived at the meeting at 4:07 p.m. Committee Chair White continued, That is good information and is very precise. If I were an average citizen, I think I would understand this very well because of how it has been presented. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler, with offices on the 4th floor of the County-City Building, stated, That sheet is not by itself online. It is within the Annual Report for the Department of Community Investment. Committee Chair White stated, I know City Controller Hockenhull created that and I used that out in the public as it was very helpful. We will also begin to look at Light-Up South Bend. A lot of good work has come out of that. I don't know if the Administration has heard from the EPA in regards to Beck's Lake. We are open to more opportunities and the work that will be before us. I do see some overlapping with other Committees. We will also be focusing on synthetic drugs. It was brought to our attention last year that our community, specifically our youth, is affected by this issue. We've had a number of community forums. This Council passed the extension of our chronic nuisance ordinance to address this particular issue. From those forums, it was clear that it was time for a call to action. We have all this information and we need to get this information out. We need to be sure the youth and citizens are aware of this issue. From a follow-up meeting that was held on February 28th,2018,we had excellent conversation and a lot of feedback. We are now able to divide up into different Committees and we came up with a theme for this issue and it is `Not In Our Community.' The Administration has been a part of this as well as Law Enforcement and the media. We are not tolerating this activity in our community. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, This is a big problem. We are looking at the numbers. There were over 1,700 overdoses admitted to Beacon, last year,which involved synthetic marijuana. We have to look at this and make an impact. The group of leaders involved with this want to actually make that impact. City Clerk Fowler stated, It was a really good meeting and I echo the sentiments already made. It was a good meeting with a lot of good takeaways. We came away with action items that were assigned to various people. The group of leaders is a good and diverse group. There is a lot of low- hanging fruit when it comes to things we can do with the students and with strengthening our ordinances. We are working with the Administration,the Health Department and the Prosecutor's Office as we all play a part in addressing this issue. Committee Chair White stated,Along with all this,we will continue with our neighborhood tours. We will start with the 3rd Councilmanic District. I am looking at April and more than likely it will be on a Saturday. The goal is to have members from the various neighborhood associations in those districts along with Council members as well as the key stakeholders from those districts. The reason I'm first looking at the 3rd District is because Light-Up South Bend will overlap with 2 that. The 6th District will be visited in May and the 1St District in June. We will then look at a location within each of those districts. We will end with coffee and then have some feedback. We will have representatives from the Administration come with us. I said a little bit earlier, for some individuals,they may not have visited their whole district and this would be a great opportunity to do so. I think everyone wants to live in a clean and safe neighborhood. Councilmember Scott stated, A lot of stuff happened last ye like hurricanes and such. A lot of AEP people were pulled to focus on those situations and they did not do a portion of the 11t and 2nd Councilmanic Districts for Light-Up South Bend last year. They are going to do it this ye . We met with Maggie Betz, as she is the new liaison person for AEP. We also met with Public Works and Engineering. They are on schedule to start that and they will let us know when. They will double up to play catch up. We looked at the 3rd and 6th Councilmanic Districts as well. There was definitely more need in those areas and then we will move to the 4th and the 5th Councilmanic Districts after that. We will do some kick-off press announcements as well. As of today, they say we have a need for three hundred and fifty (350). These are usually in the residential areas. He went on,Engineering will take input as well. What they do is they go out and they will actually map the lumen radius of each light to see how far it goes.Before that,we didn't even have a policy. It was just whoever complained got a light and whoever didn't say anything didn't get a light. Now, City Engineering is going out and measuring this. They have a GIS map with all the lights on it and that might be available to the public. I know they had been talking about it. Committee Chair White then stated,We will also be talking about curbs and sidewalks.Those will be addressed on our walking tours. We will be working closely with Administration on that. Councilmember Scott stated, I've been driving the bus routes to see where the stops are and they did not do a good job. I have one (1)that moved to be right after a stoplight. There are even some right before roundabouts. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, If you could put something together, that would be great. I am talking with people on TRANSPO and we will come make a presentation in April. Committeemember Jo M.Broden stated,I think there is a lot of energy in the neighborhoods about these placements of these bus stops. If there is a way to identify these locations and actually pinpoint it on a map, that would be beneficial. Councilmember Scott stated, I want to show examples and I was wanting to go to TRANSPO to be honest. Councilmember Broden is right because this is something we need to look at. Committeemember Broden stated, There needs to be a formal presentation and formal feedback. I would prefer to have that here because people know where to find us. They may not know where TRANSPO is. Committee Chair White stated, Council members should start looking in their districts too, prior to that meeting. 3 City Clerk Fowler stated,I was also thinking maybe the Administration,during the budget process, could maybe come up with a list of things that aren't funded anymore. One (1) of the initiatives for home repairs didn't get funding. But that is good to know because if people think we do have funding,it would be good to know that we don't because it also helps us budget. I would like a list of things that have historically been funded that will not be funded moving forward into the next budget cycle. Alkeyna Aldridge, Director of Economic Empowerment with offices on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, stated, It was a program that traditionally ran out of CDBG dollars. James Mueller, Executive Director of Community Investment with offices on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, stated,The issue isn't about getting the money as it is more about the timing of getting the money. So this gar's Federal dollars won't come until September, which is not convenient for doing home repairs during the home repair season. City Clerk Fowler stated, That would be good for the Council and the citizens to know so they aren't thinking it isn't funded anymore. Committee Chair White then stated, A meeting has been scheduled for the analysis on the residential market potential for Wednesday,March 21St. The Administration has reached out to me with that information.It will be at 5:30 p.m. It is going to be in the full Council Chambers. Mr. Mueller stated, This is the market study that we headed up last summer. We started up engagement in the fall and this is the final report. What we are looking to get from this report is the housing demand in different neighborhoods by housing types, income levels and we are hoping to address the resources and strategy moving forward. This is just an informational meeting. Ms. Aldridge stated, There will be a follow-up meeting on the opportunities for engagement on the following Thursday night at the library. Mr. Mueller stated, The incremental development workshop will be this Friday. They are looking more at the small-scale zoning and where there could be miniscule improvements to facilitate positive changes with small development. Miscellaneous Committee Chair White then opened the floor to discussion to members of the Committee and Council. Councilmember Scott stated, I have just two (2) things. I know this will be later on but I would like an update on the mentorship grass-cutting program for the City.We need to talk to Community Investment and Parks to see how that is going. It had a great last summer. The other thing is we need to address how close individuals can park to the end of the driveway. We've had issues where people get parked in. 4 Committeemember Broden stated, Something quick to get on everyone's radar is the transitional supportive housing percent,statewide,is two percent(2%).I think somewhere around 55,000 units are needed. I think that is a challenge and an opportunity for our community as we look to address supporting individuals. Another one (1), related to curbs and sidewalks, is street width and individuals parking on sidewalks and curbs. There are some neighborhoods that still have those issues. Councilmember Davis stated, What I would like to see, if possible, to look at our City by neighborhood, district, problem. A layman person should be able to look at it and know exactly how much money is being spent and where. We should be able pinpoint everything like that. District-wide and neighborhood-wide because the closer people can get to interpret the budget of where they live, the more they feel they have ownership. If we could take that concept, I think it gives a better understanding of what we do. Mr. Mueller stated, We are working to do that for our TIF dollars for sure, but it is a little more complicated if we are talking about everything, specifically utilities. If someone has a wastewater treatment plant in their neighborhood and there is a lot of capital spending there,that is still serving the whole City. Councilmember Davis stated, And maybe, I mean, more of the general budget. There's other expense and even that comes a lot of that too. Let's play with that in our head and then see where we are. Committeemember Broden stated, I would like some updates and the connection of those plans to neighbors and the neighbors themselves. We need to go back and check those things. I would also like to know how many people are participating in, or are involved in, an active neighborhood group. Are there areas of our City that are not organized?I would like some kind of understanding of that. Then, if that's not a great vehicle, can we go in a different direction or an enhanced direction? Committee Chair White stated,I think changes in leadership can affect the progress of these things. Mr. Mueller stated, We are working to come up with figuring out where we are with the plans. Generally, when a plan is over ten (10) years old, it needs to be revisited and updated. We are trying to figure out how to do that with our limited funding. We can only implement so many plans at a time so we are trying to come up with that for you. Councilmember Scott stated, March 19th we will have a meeting to have an update on CSO and sewer issues. That starts at 5:00 p.m. Committee Chair White opened the floor to the public. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, turned into the Clerk's Office a list of priorities she would like to see worked on and implemented. She stated, On the walking tours, you could recruit people from Neighborhood watch. We need to locate the problem dump areas. We need to identify safe places with those yellow signs for kids. The home repair needs to work with Real Services. We 5 need emergency funding. I went out and personally bought three (3) sump-pumps for friends of mine. If we had emergency funding to have heavy-duty sump-pumps available for when there is an emergency or something, that would be great. We need a pothole map. We need a paving schedule map. I know there is already a poverty map and that should be online. The street light program could be put in, honestly. The TRANSPO, it needs to be coordinated with work and school schedules. I hear from people the reason they don't use TRANSPO is because it doesn't match a time when they need to go somewhere. It needs to coincide with the natural workflows. There is a lot of ADA accessibility with TRANSPO. Also, with the neighborhood tour, have the neighbors tell you where those drug houses are. The other thing is the sex offenders. I'm hearing that mothers are talking about the school bus stops. Kids are having to walk past sex offender houses and that is a problem for mothers which I totally understand. There is a defined map where sex offenders live and so I think that has to be overlaid with where TRANSPO and the school corporation are picking up kids. Are we making the kids walk past a crack house, sex offenders, in the dark, winter morning, by themselves, to stand there? Are we putting our kids in an unsafe situation? The last thing I want to say is when you have pie charts with the percent, please also give the exact numbers, not just the percentage. With no further business, Committee Chair White adjourned the Residential Neighborhood Committee Organizational meeting at 4:44 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Karen White, Chairperson 6