UHNA Meeting Minutes
May 17, 2016
Attendees: 33
Guests: David Hampton,
Deputy Mayor; Officer Weir, IMPD; Lisa Laflin, Interim Neighborhood Advocate;
Scarlett Martin, Team Builder for Southside QOL Program; Jeff Miller, City
Councilman; Caitlyn Stypa, Liaison from South East Community Services; Judy Gray, Garfield Park Librarian
I.
Call to Order and Welcome: Debby Doan, Co-Coordinator
II.
Gratitudes:
a.
Attendees
b.
John and Karen Barten’s donation of a website
c.
Jim Pennell and those who assisted with the
Spring Cleanup of the park
d.
School #72 for hosting the QOL meetings
e.
Jim Pennell for printing minutes and agendas
f.
Jim Pennell for creations and distribution of
the neighborhood newsletters
g.
Mowing of the medians on Madison Avenue
h.
Installation of the flashing school speed signs
i.
Those who post the UHNA meeting notification
signs
j.
Ruth for printing the agendas
III.
David Hampton- Deputy Mayor for public safety, international
affairs and youth council, Senior Pastor of the Light of the World Church,
Graduate of UINDY
a.
Noted the passing of Coach Bless (former
Football Coach at UINDY)
b.
Requested that neighborhood improvement ideas be
given to Lisa Laflin and she will forward them to him
c.
Discussed the need to address the root causes of
issues:
i. Crime
prevention, recidivism rates, and re-entry to society. Noted that 40% of the jail populace is
mentally ill and needs treatment, however in jail they are not receiving treatment
which leads to a recidivism rate of 46%.
ii. Causes
of poverty and food insecurity – Work is necessary to go from food insecurity
to food sustainability. The Mayor
wants to partner with those already doing good work
1.
90% of food related aid is from faith based
institutions
2.
Need is not just grocery stores but a
comprehensive and holistic approach including neighborhood gardens
d.
Questions for the Deputy Mayor included:
i. Are
there to be increases in beat police (both veteran and rookie)? – Yes, they are
planned
ii. Will
there be an increase in dispatchers? – No
iii. Will
there be body cameras for the police?
-- No, there was a trial, but no funding at this time, not a priority
iv. Why
is there heavy reliance on faith based institutions for mental health or food distribution
and not making it a part of public policy? -- Reliance
will probably remain disproportionately with faith based institutions because
there is a $60 million dollar deficit.
At this time 70% of school children are enrolled in free lunch programs/
v. Is
it true that there is no school lunch program assistance for middle school
children? -- not true, school
lunch assistance is available for middle school children
vi. How
can we coordinate and work with the city to implement QOL recommendations? – He
made a commitment to work with implementation of the QOL plan – He will get
with Lisa Laflin in this effort.
It will not occur overnight but will work toward implementation.
vii. Is
there a decrease in the number of liaisons? – The program is not reduced. There are personnel changes with the
change of administration. There
will still be 9 liaisons.
viii.
What are the summer programs for youth? What are funding options and
activities? – The National Violence reduction conference had youth
representation.
1.
There is an increase in the numbers of young
people at the mall with nowhere to go and nothing to do.
2.
Parents are dropping them off and leaving them
unsupervised. The parents must be
held accountable for the youth.
3.
There are summer jobs, but there are a shortage
of applicants in parks and swimming pools
ix. Statement
made that there is a lack of advertising of available jobs in the parks on the
south side. – He will go back to the directors to be sure the south side youth
are on their radar.
IV.
Officer Weir, IMPD Introduced self and asked for questions:
a.
Report of an incident on Lawrence and Otterbein
where “roof inspectors” invaded a house.
The question was how can we find what the follow up was on this
incident? – Follow up can be done on line or through a call to Leah Weidner at
the Fountain Square Office.
a.
Introduced self and stated that she anticipates
a new representative for our area will be hired on June 1. She will inform of the new advisor of
the area’s situation and needs
b.
Follow up on report by Officer Weir: On line go to Maps.Indy.Gov and select
application for public safety.
Must know address of the crime.
c.
This site has multiple layers and will noon have
a layer showing abandoned houses.
There are over 3,300abandoned houses and more than 20 thousand rentals.
d.
Questions:
i. Are
there maps which indicate abandoned houses in our area? There are many and it will be difficult
to zoom in on an individual house.
ii. What
should be done to report overgrown lawns, maintenance issues and abandoned
houses? -- Report to the
Mayor’s action center. Once
reported the owner will be notified of the needed repairs/maintenance and be
given time to address the issues.
If they do not, the city will hire private contractors to do the work at
the owner’s expense. If the
neighbor chooses to do the repairs/maintenance themselves, they can do so
without worry about being prosecuted for unauthorized entry on the property.
iii. There
is an abandoned building at Hanna and Shelby of the Southwest corner. There is a truck filled with trash at
an abandoned house on the corner of Markwood and Madison. -- Call the Mayor’s Action Center.
iv. Is
there anything that can be done about the hole by the closed former Village Pantry
at Carson and Hanna? –The work is either to create or dismantle the gas
station. Lisa will look into it
and report back.
v. Can
flashing school zone signs be installed on Asbury for School 65? Drivers use Asbury to avoid the lower
speed limit on Hanna. They forget
about the school zone for School 65.
-- Lisa states the signs are coming in multiple phases from a federal
grant. She will look into where
School 65 is on the list.
VI.
Meeting Minutes for the March meeting were
presented. They were approved as
distributed.
VII.
Jeri Warner was introduced and presented for
election as Co-Coordinator. She
has lived in University Heights for 2 years and on the South Side for 20
years. She was elected
without dissention.
VIII.
Ruth Soper presented results of survey taken at
the March meeting:
a.
48 responses were received. The results were evaluated by concern
and counted.
Number of votes Problem
20 Public
safety: Parking, Increased police
patrols, crack down on party
Houses,
Slow traffic, neighborhood watch, better street lighting, less
Neighborhood
parking around the Health Pavilion
13 Creating
community
8 Beautification
of the neighborhood
5 Streets
and Alleys
2 Business
Development
Since parking around the Health Pavilion received the
greatest number of votes, it is being pursued first.
1.
Ruth spoke to Lisa Laflin and Jeff Miller and
DPW regarding assessment for no parking signs on one side of some of the
streets in the neighborhood. It
was done in 2013 and is due again.
2.
Parking on certain streets with no curbs is
causing issues with mud and disturbance of grass. Working with Pam Foxx on the parking by University property
3.
Parking by private homes on streets with no
curbs – the streets are public right of way for 10 feet from the center of the
street
4.
Limiting parking to one side of the street could
cause issues with neighborhood parking further from the Health Pavilion.
IX.
Jim Pennell reported on the neighborhood park:
a.
On May 22 Beech Grove High School Students and
on May 23 neighbors and UINDY students worked on park maintenance
b.
On July 9 additional work on the park is
scheduled. Need neighbors to
help. The shelter needs to be
sealed.
c.
There is a fall park clean up to be scheduled
later.
d.
Decisions need to be made about park use and how
to obtain permission to use park
e.
Tree watering – need 8 teams of 2 to take
responsibility for plant and tree watering. Each team will be responsible for 2 weeks.
f.
Volunteers can email Jim Pennell at JPennell@Uindy.edu
g.
17 of the trees now old enough that they do not
require watering. They will be
marked.
X.
Karen and John Barten report
a.
Website is now active – UHeights.US
b.
Facebook and Twitter are accessed by –
UHeightsNA look for logo and city flag
c.
Next Door – the best way to access is on a
mobile app
XI.
Scarlett Martin – Team Builder for Southside QOL
Program
a.
At least one University Heights representative
on each action team
b.
Meetings are every 4th Tuesday at
School 72
c.
About 30 presenters from local
businesses/organizations are scheduled to come to sessions. There will QA sessions.
XII.
Jeff Miller – City Councilman Report on issues under discussion
a.
Mass Transit Referendum – Tax vote in fall
(Impact .25% of annual income;
therefore annual income of $40,000 would bring a tax to $100)
b.
Drone ordinance – Use in public spaces must have
a waiver. Cannot stop flying over
residential areas
c.
Diversity funds – funding to increase diversity
in IMPD is being discussed
d.
Arts – Public Arts funding is available to
businesses
e.
Cat ordinance – limits number of cats per
household/ feral cats/and cat colonies
f.
Blue Indy – Franchise discussion. Use of public space at no cost, but in
future will net payments to the city
g.
Street lights – coming in 30 days – 100 new
lights and changing some existing lights to LED lights. Location list coming
XIII.
Caitlyn Stypa – Liaison from South East
Community Services – Youth Program Coordinator in Fountain Square located at 901 Shelby street
a.
Career Pathways – 3 week program for adults to
prepare them for work
b.
Job Fair on May 19 in Beech Grove
c.
HSE – High School Equivalency program available
at this location
d.
Website:
SoutheastIndy.org
e.
Language training – focus on Spanish and English
f.
Summer Camp – for 10 to 15 year olds – will have
25 spaces total
XIV.
Judy Gray – Garfield Park Librarian
a.
Garfield Park Summer Reading Program is
beginning
b.
Need new Children’s Librarian
XV.
Announcements
a.
WOW cards are available from Debbie
b.
Fireworks – please be considerate of neighbors
and especially veterans. Limit to
July 4
c.
INHP provides help for veterans needing
assistance with home repair
d.
Farmers markets are available on Saturdays at
Garfield Park and Southport
e.
“Lodge Coffee” – Indiana Christian Fellowship is
looking for funding. Hope to have
a “Later in the day Coffee Shop”
XVI.
Carson Heights Neighborhood Association – third
meeting will take place this month.
The meetings are the last Wednesday of the month at 7 pm. Meetings are held at 1532 Standish in
the church.
XVII.
Lauren Johnson, Principal School 65
a.
End of term activities list distributed. Neighbors welcome to attend
b.
Grants – Coming to the end of a 3 year
Grant. She is looking for others
XVIII.
David Wantz – UINDY – Bowling Alley on
Shelby. Potential new owner is
seeking rezoning for C-7 retail.
He would like to develop as a restaurant, coffee shop, possibly obtain a
liquor license. He feels this
would be an asset to the neighborhood and campus.
XIX.
4 houses on Bowman are for sale. Assistance requested in finding private
owners to purchase them to help prevent additional houses becoming rentals.
XX.
Thanks to Ruth Soper for completion of a second
term as Co-Coordinator.
Next meeting is scheduled for July 19
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