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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-16-10 (CCAC) Community/Campus Advisory Coalition~Yi 3.r~Z"_s,aEt v. ti~,...v~ r =~ ~~r. ;~ x"" ,~ Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) tw wr fAi.. ~:: ,, ~~ ~~ ~ _. The March 16, 2010 meeting of the Community/Campus Advisory Coalition was held in the informal Common Council meeting room, 4th floor, County-City building. Due to the prior commitments of Councit Members Kirsits and Puzzelio which delayed their arrival, the meeting was called to order at approximately 3:36 p.m. by South Bend Common Council Attorney, Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand. Attorney Cekanski-Farrand welcomed everyone in attendance and asked that everyone introduce themselves. Attendees included: Mayor Stephen Luecke, Assistant City Attorney Ann-Carol Nash, Common Council Members Ann Puzzelio and AI "Buddy" Kirsits, University of Notre Dame Representatives, Student Body President Grant Schmidt, Incoming Student Body President, Catherine Soler, Bill Kirk, and Tim Sexton, Holy Cross Representative Dan Cochran, Saint Mary's Representatives Meg Griffin and Patrick Daniel, Robinson Center Adult Program Coordinator Marguerite Taylor, Attorney Richard Nussbaum, Landlords of Off-Campus Housing Representative Mark Kramer, Neighborhood Resident, Matt Costello and South Bend Tribune Reporter Margaret Fosmoe. NOTRE DAME Tim Sexton announced the next Safety Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 17th at 4:30 at the "firehouse". On the agenda is a request for money to provide "Neighborhood Watch" signs. He stressed that this safety committee is not just for the benefit of students in the neighborhood, but rather the neighborhood as a whole. Grant Schmidt announced that there is a new website rent.nd.edu which lists apartments available in the area. Students are allowed to rate apartments and list square footage, etc., but are not allowed to rant. The website has already generated a lot of interest from the students. Grant also announced two upcoming events, the Community Summit on March 26tH at 10:00 a.m. at Downtown Notre Dame and Communiversity Day on April 10th At the Community Summit attendees will break into groups to discuss, among other things, transportation, the arts, community engagement and safety. Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) March 16, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 2 ' Communiversity Day is an annual event in which students perform many and varied services for members of the community. Last year 700 students painted homes, cleaned yards, conducted activities for children and taught members of the community how to utilize various types of electronic equipment. Again this year a bus tour of the Notre Dame campus will be offered to area residents. In the afternoon there will be a picnic. ~ , TRANSPO Grant Schmidt reported that the late ~ night Transpo runs are still very popular. Approximately 150 students are taking advantage of the Friday and Saturday late night runs. Riders receive coupons for local businesses as well as other items. TRAFFIC SIGNAL Ongoing discussions concerning the dangers of the Twyckenham and Vaness intersection have led to approval of a traffic signal being installed.. Once ordered, the signal is expected to be delivered in six to eight weeks. Installation should be completed sometime in June or shortly after. SAINT MARY'S Meg Griffin said this Saturday members of student government will be serving brunch at the Center for the Homeless. Dorms at Saint Mary's are sponsoring not-for-profit organizations. All year, students collect items and raise money for the dorm's chosen non-profit group. Meg also noted there would be a Diversity Conference held this week. Holy Cross Dan Cochran said Holy Cross will be holding student government elections in a couple of weeks. This Saturday the Youth Services Bureau is sponsoring a Dodge "Brawl" at the Pfeil Center. NEIGHBORHOOD Neighborhood resident, Matt Costello, said he is very pleased with student behavior this year and appreciates how polite they have been about. parties. Snow removal and putting away trash cans and recycling bins remains a problem, but on the whole there has been great improvement. Community/Campus Advisory Coalition {CCAC} March ifi, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 3 RENTAL PROPERTIES In response to a recent email sent by neighborhood resident Bill Stenz concerning the condition of certain "Kramer properties", Mark Kramer announced- that the pictured properties were no longer his. Mr. Kramer recently sold 70 of his properties including Notre Dame Apartments. He still owns 75 properties in the Lafayette Square area. A national firm, Campus Housing, purchased the properties, but has not yet named a permanent manager for this area. The firm owns properties across the country in university towns. Mr. Kramer said that he ,has been in discussions with the company and wants them to continue his policies. Students living in the homes Mr. Kramer sold are to call the new owners with problems. Mr. Kramer has let the students know that if they cannot reach the new owners, they should call him and he will either get in touch with the owners or will personally send help to assist them. Mayor Luecke asked if Mr. Kramer will keep security at the properties he still owns and if the new company will still have security at the properties they purchased. Mr. Kramer said he had signed a new two year security contract prior to the sale and he hopes Campus Housing will continue the contract after that. Two police officers are still living at Notre Dame Apartments and that shouldn't change. The officers work different shifts, so at least one squad car is usually present. He believes the security has helped cut down on burglaries. He noted that none of the three reported burglaries that took place over spring break were at his properties. Bill Kirk said he felt bad for Mr. Kramer after Mr. Stenz's email incorrectly described the pictured houses as Kramer properties and was glad that the error was corrected so quickly. It was noted that there have been vast improvements in student/neighbor interactions, but there will still be peaks and valleys. Mr. Kramer said he has always had a good working relationship with Code Enforcement. If a problem is reported to Code they call Mr. Kramer and advise him of the situation. He in turn contacts the students and gives them a short time to correct the problem. ~ If it is not taken care of in a reasonable length of time, Mr. Kramer will send his maintenance crew out and the student(s) will be billed. He plans to give Code Enforcement an updated list of his properties so that this practice can continue. As soon as a permanent manager for Campus Housing is named, he/she will be invited to take part in any future CCAC meetings. Bill Kirk said he would like to see owners of footba(I weekend rentals attend future meetings as well. Mark Kramer said he knew some of the owners and would see if they would be interested in attending. Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) March 16, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 4 CITY Snow Removal Kathy Cekanski-Farrand said that the Common Council is considering changes to the snow removal ordinance. Currently anyone who does not remove the snow from their sidewalks can receive a letter requesting the snow be removed, but there is no provision in the current ordinance to ticket the homeowner. She noted that Goshen and Elkhart are currently fining homeowners for not removing snow in a timely. manner. Bath cities have provisions for elderly and disabled residents to be exempt from the fine, but they must register their addresses in order to be exempt. Even though the property owners are exempt from fines, the snow still needs to be removed. Kathy asked if students would be willing to volunteer to remove snow and suggested that coordination of this effort could be done through student government. The City would provide a list of property owners needing assistance and in turn, student government could match students will to help with snow removal. The general consensus was that this would be an excellent community service project. Mr. Kramer also offered to let his tenants know through his email newsletter. Taxi Ordinance Work on amending the taxi ordinance.is continuing. Discussions have been held with cab companies, the airport authority and City administration. Work will continue on standardizing cab rules and regulations. For example, the current City ordinance says a cab is a vehicle which can transport 7 passengers, but the Airport Authority defines a cab as carrying 12 passengers. Grant Schmidt said he would really like to see driver identifications posted on the back of the front seat in much the same way Chicago does. Both Ann-Caro! Nash and Kathy Cekanski-Farrand agreed. Kathy Cekanski-Farrand said the City's website should list licensed cab companies and rates and we expect that to occur after the taxi ordinance is amended. Bil! Kirk would like to limit the cab companies allowed to pick up at Notre Dame by allowing only those companies shown to be "good cab partners°. The goal of the Common Council is to have a revised Taxi ordinance in place by the end of July. GOOD BYE TO GRANT Dick Nussbaum thanked Grant Schmidt for a great year. Bill Kirk said that Grant set the bar high but incoming president, Catherine Soler is up to the challenge. Grant thanked Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) March 16, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 5 the Mayor for the award he received at the South Bend PAlice Department awards ceremony and is pleased that everyone is working together so effectively. Buddy Kirsits thanked Grant for working so hard this year and accomplishing many of the goals he set at the beginning of the-year. The next meeting will be will be held on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. and is tentatively scheduled to be held at Saint Mary's. Council Member Kirsits thanked everyone for attending. The meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~~ ~ i 1 r~ ~j ~ `- Council Member AI " u dy" Kirsits-Chairperson Community/Campu visory Coalition (CCAC) Charles S. Leone, Recording Secretary Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC)