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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-28-10 (CCAC) Community/Campus Advisory Coalition,. ,~,:' >~, ~, ~~ ,,.~. ~"~' ~ y' i ,,. ~ , ,,,s <.:~~r.: Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) '~s ,( 1c ,,~.~. .~ ~n ,~.~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ © m The April 28, 2010 meeting of the Community/Campus Advisory Coalition was held in the Warner Conference Room at Saint Mary's College. The meeting was called to order at approximately 3:36 p.m. by South Bend Common Council at Large Member AI "Buddy" Kirsits. Mr. Kirsits welcomed everyone in attendance and asked that everyone introduce themselves. Attendees included: Assistant City Attorney Ann-Carol Nash, Code Enforcement Director Catherine Toppel Common Council Member Ann Puzzello Common Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand, University of Notre Dame Representatives, Student Body President, Catherine Soler, Community Relations Chair Claire Sokas, Bill Kirk, Brian Coughlin and Tim Sexton, Holy Cross Representative Dan Cochran, Saint Mary's Representatives Student Body President Rachael Chesley 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, Alcoholic Beverage Board Member Mike Carrington and South Bend Tribune Reporter Margaret Fosmoe. SAINT MARY'S Rachael Chesley said the feedback from students about Eddy Street Commons has been very positive. Students are very interested in seeing a student representative on the Common Council. She also said the late night TRANSPO bus service is very popular and students want to see that continued. NOTRE DAME TRANSPO Student representatives said that last weekend the late night bus service had 679 riders, the largest ridership ever. The bus service has been a huge success. It will be discontinued over the summer and start again the third weekend in August. Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) April 28, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 2 TRAFFIC SIGNAL It was announced that through the efforts of the University, City and County officials, the traffic signal at Twyckenham and Vaness was installed approximately two weeks ago. Outgoing Student Body President Grant Schmidt was instrumental in bringing the dangers of this intersection to the attention of the Coalition. COMMUNIVERSITY DAY Communiversity Day was recently held with 700 students helping community members with various home improvement tasks and offering activities for children. Marguerite Taylor said the afternoon picnic was well attended. Ann Puzzello said she worked with several students raking in City parks. She found the students to be pleasant and enthusiastic. She said the Parks Department was very appreciative of all their labors. 2010-2011 PROJECTS Student representatives said they will again be sending out reminders to incoming and returning students living off-campus to be good neighbors. Student government is interested in having a coupon program with locally owned businesses or perhaps discounts for students showing student id's. Buddy Kirsits commented that in the South Bend Tribune today there is an article about a new director at the Chamber of Commerce. He feels strongly there should be a greater connection of South Bend with Notre Dame. He suggested students might want to contact him. Taxi Ordinance Of priority interest is the passing of a new taxi ordinance and students would like to be involved in this process. Work on this ordinance is on-going and it is hoped that language for the ordinance will be finalized by fall. Ann-Carol Nash had a meeting with the Airport Authority and City Central Services yesterday. New taxi inspection forms have been drafted. Kathy Cekanski-Farrand said the Council is interested in phasing in proactive positive changes with the taxi companies. They do not wish to drive companies out of business by requiring cost prohibitive changes all at once. She said many cities with large universities have instituted a requirement for in-car cameras as a safety precaution for both passengers and drivers. Holy Cross Dan Cochran said Holy Cross security is working with Notre Dame police to improve communications between the two departments. Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) April 28, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 3 NEIGHBORHOOD Neighborhood resident, Matt Costello, said .things are going very well. He thanked students for the emails reminding students to be good neighbors. He said most of the problems occur during the fall and anything that can be done to remind students to be good neighbors would be much appreciated. In the past police have come out and talked with students about neighborhood expectations. Mike Carrington said if you set the tone right away you will have fewer problems. Mr. Costello mentioned that there was a large party on St. Peter Street on Saturday, but it was during the day and he didn't notice any problems. A discussion ensued about an ordinance which required a permit to hold a party. Ann Puzzello received a complaint from a local attorney that no permit had been issued for the party. Kathy Cekanski- Farrand said that the portion of the ordinance dealing with a party permit had not been activated. It was not activated in an effort to give the Coalition members time to work together and try and resolve off-campus party problems. The Coalition has achieved success in this area, thus it has not been necessary to activate that section of the ordinance. Cathy Toppel did advise the Coalition that there were "port-a-potties" available at the party which was a violation of the ordinance. She said that tickets are being issued to the addresses where the "port-a-potties" were set up. STUDENT BLOCK PARTY Plans for the student block party held on the campus of Notrs Dame the weekend students return for the fall semester were discussed. The first block party was held last year in an effort to deter individual, large parties off-campus. Around 5,000 students attended last year's party which featured live entertainment. The University made every effort to insure minimal noise in the surrounding neighborhoods by bringing in sound engineers to determine the least disruptive locations for speakers used during the entertainment. The live entertainment ended at 11:00 p.m., but students continued the party for several hours without complaint. University officials drove through the surrounding neighborhoods to make sure the sound level wasn't too disturbing. There were some noise complaints made to the police department and a communication breakdown between shifts was a problem. This year's block party will be held on Saturday, August 28th. The University will again be employing sound engineers. They have met with the Mayor who has assigned Assistant Mayor Lynn Coleman to liaison between the police- and the University. The general consensus was that the block party was good for the neighborhoods because it effectively limits the number of off-campus parties which can be much more problematic. Neighborhoods should be made aware of the party and that entertainment will stop at a reasonable hour. Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) April 28, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 4 Marguerite Taylor said things have been relatively quiet in her neighborhood. She will be meeting with the new manager of Notre Dame Apartments to discuss neighborhood expectations. She also commented that the Notre Dame summit held on March 26tH was very informative. Residents, students from Saint Mary's and Notre Dame and City officials came together to discuss a variety of topics. MISCELLANEOUS NOTRE DAME BOARD MEETING Tim Sexton said that he will be meeting with the Notre Dame Board to discuss relations between the City and the University. He is happy to be able to report to the Board there is lots of positive momentum. He said he will be using quotes from Coalition members to illustrate how the Notre Dame/City relationship has improved. He thanked Dick Nussbaum for his comment "The relationship has never been better, but it can't be taken for granted". CODE ENFORCEMENT ISSUES Cathy Toppel thanked students for their participation in the Rebuilding Together project. Still of concern to the Code Enforcement Department is the ongoing problem of too many students occupying rental properties. A newer problem Code Enforcement is aware of is rental of rooms to students in owner occupied homes. As the rental properties and owner occupied homes are identified, letters are being sent out informing property owners of the limit of two unrelated persons living in single family dwellings. Bill Kirk suggested putting the ordinance on the new housing website (rent.nd.edu) to help make students aware of the limitations. Mark Kramer asked Cathy Toppel to clarify when a grandfathered multi-family dwelling that is vacant would lose its grandfather status. Cathy said if the multi-family dwelling remains vacant for 12 months it is no longer grandfathered. UNDERAGE DRINKING Mike Carrington reported that the Excise Police have raised the level of enforcement for underage drinking. At the Local Alcoholic Beverage Board meeting earlier today there were eight or nine establishments that had to appear due to violations involving serving minors. In many cases minors were using false ids. Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) Apri! 28, 2010 Meeting Minutes Page 5 SNOW REMOVAL ORDINANCE Kathy Cekanski-Farrand said the snow removal ordinance has been drafted. Homeowners needing assistance with snow removal will have to sign up. The Board of Public Works has a system in place for this. Student volunteers will still be needed to help. She hopes the ordinance will be in place this fall. Matt Costello wanted to know if there would be public hearings. Kathy assured him there would be. CCAC members will be notified about the public hearings for this ordinance. INCOMING STUDENT BUS TOUR Buddy Kirsits said that Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications and Special Projects for the City, as in the past, is planning a bus tour of the City for incoming students. No date has been set yet. Buddy suggested that a "Welcome to South Bend" celebration could be held on the gridiron of the College Football Hall of Fame, possibly on August 29'h. The next meeting will be will be held on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. and is tentatively scheduled to be held at the Robinson Center. Council Member Kirsits thanked everyone for attending. The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~~~~ Charles S. Leone, Recording Secretary Community/Campus Advisory Coalition (CCAC) Council Member AI " Community/Campus Kirsits-Chairperson y Coalition (CCAC)