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REGULAR MEETING August 8, 2016 decrease if all the surrounding blocks have fresh new streets and sidewalks and his does not. Sidewalks and properly maintained yards are as important if not more important than the house itself when dealing with property values. He reiterated his wife's (Ms. Reed) request that their block be included in the City's sidewalk program. Angela Sodi, 1318 North Lafayette Blvd South Bend, spoke about issues she is having with the City regarding taking care of her easement. The City is requiring her to take care of and trim the trees in her easement but there are far too many, possibly one - hundred (100) trees, for her to maintain without help. The easement belongs to the City and she finds it unfair that she has this undue burden upon her. The property in question is almost two - hundred (200) feet of wooded area that she never knew was her responsibility. These are really old trees that require a tremendous amount of work. Ms. Sodi stated she has been threatened that she may lose her house if she does not take care of this issue. She requested some answers from the Council for why residents are never informed that they need to take care of the easements that they do not own. She stated she needs help and this is not right. Glenn Hosea, 1514 South Michigan Street South Bend, stated South Bend has a problem of people sleeping under the bridges and it ruins the image of the City. The Council should get ahead of this issue before it gets any worse. Also, Mr. Hosea expressed it is nice that the City beautified the west corridors but they have not taken care of the side streets. They need more street sweepers to come down those side streets to keep them nice not just the main roads. Charles Smith, 2023 South Taylor Street South Bend, stated that the homeless under the bridge will be cleaned up this week. He stated the animal control ordinances of South Bend are some of the best in the country but unfortunately they are not being enforced. The excuses are that they do not have the budget or staff to fully enforce the ordinance. This has lead animals to suffer in our community on a daily basis. Actions speak louder than words, just because the words are on the paper doesn't mean they are going to be enforced. Terrell Porter, 3305 Dunham Street, also spoke about concerns for the sidewalks on Dunham Street. He stated his neighbor's daughter tripped on a bad sidewalk and hurt her face falling on his car. Those sidewalks really need to be repaired as well as their street. He stated the road is damaging all of their cars because it destroys their shocks. He asked the Council to please do something about their road and sidewalks. Doris Caldwell, 3309 Dunham, stated all the people who have been reporting on bad sidewalks have been telling the truth. The City has done a lot of improvements to the neighborhood but not Dunham. The street is terrible in addition to the sidewalks. It is not fair that their block has not received the same attention as the other streets near them. Ms. Caldwell stated she keeps her house looking nice and the City has not reciprocated. Jason Banicki - Critchlow, 3822 West Ford Street, challenged the Council to handle a serious situation better than St. Joseph County did last year. There is no doubt that heroin and opioid addiction has attacked South Bend just like it has the rest of the nation. And yet the County Commissioners and Sherif decided the best way to handle this problem is to spend $1 million reconstituting a drug unit that last time they had it was rife with corruption and made zero (0) impact on the effect that drugs have on our community. Mr. Banicki- Critchlow stated he hopes this Council can see that the proper way to tackle the problem is not through criminal legislation and unfair enforcement of laws but to say that we can make our community better by putting dollars into treatment programs that will reduce the amount of people that use drugs. The way to reduce dependency is through treatment and care and reduce the demand for drugs not the supply. If you arrest one (1) drug dealer another one (1) will simply pop up a week later because there is currently a demand. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, Vice President Oliver Davis adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m.