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Present: Brendan Boyle, Jim DeWitt, Mark Grebner, Bill Hartwig, Kathy Jacobs,
Amelia Opubur, Joanne Russell, Liz Schweitzer, Kristi White
Excused Absences: Jim Bebermeyer, Mary Dudley, Jeff Friedle
Absences: Cynthia Craig, Dave Dornan, Roger Hamlin
Guests: Ana Cardona, Marcia Van Ness, Rachel Diskin
Meeting called to order at 7:40
Anna Cardona asked to speak first. She reported on the progress of the Red Cedar Café and passed out an outline of the tentative schedule of events, which will be held January 25th from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m. at Red Cedar School. She has put down $25 for the room reservation of which the RCCA will reimburse her. Mark Grebner will mail out an announcement about the evening this coming week. Joanne will bring a coffee pot, cream and sugar, cups, and napkins. Anna will bring cider. Liz Schweitzer will bring cookies. Anna will make up yard signs and Bill Hartwig will attach them to the wires and set them around the neighborhood on Monday. He also offered to take them down. Anna should let Bill know how many are needed. If the programs are successful she would like them to continue beyond March.
I. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Liz motioned to approve the minutes, seconded by Kathy Jacobs.
Jim DeWitt asked for discussion and mentioned there were a few items that needed follow up and he wondered if that had taken place. Joanne said that the follow-up can be discussed later under Committee Reports. She had been in touch with Darcy Schmidt about the Comprehensive plan for the Trowbridge corridor. Jim said it would be much easier to address problems if we could just get the comprehensive plan on the table and then see if the other things could fit into it. All were in favor of the minutes.
III. PUBLIC COMMENTS
IV. TREASURERS REPORT
Joanne reported that we have about $530 in the treasury. We still owe $75 to Red Cedar School for last year’s annual meeting which was never paid. Mindy Emerson wrote it off because she had to clear her budget for June. The question came up again of who worked at the table collecting dues and where the money is now. Marcia Vanness was present and explained that she manned the table, Roger Hamlin took over for awhile and then she finished up. Afterward she inquired what should be done with the collected dues and the membership list and it was suggested that she give it to Cynthia Craig. Marcia distinctly remembers going over and handing it to Cynthia. We need to get in touch with Cynthia again.
On another matter, Jeff had asked how much money we still owe the City on the benches. The bench cost $1,500, and we still owe $609. Liz said that the City is probably not expecting it at this point.
V. OLD BUSINESS
a.
Bill reported that there was a public meeting of the Planning Commission last night. They received a letter from Red Cedar with our concerns, and a letter from the Arbor Forest Apartments, plus Kathy Boyle spoke. Kathy questioned whether the proposal met the definition of an SUP, and also mentioned that the ad for selling the property for apartments was still running in the paper. The developer said he wasn't aware that it was still running. The architect was also at the meeting. Staff is supposed to address all of our concerns in a final report due in two weeks. The developer showed a diagram of the new units that he intends to develop. He has talked to the Hampton and Marriott hotel chains. He believes that it can be successful to have two different hotels on the site, the Howard Johnson's in the front one other in the back. Jim DeWitt said that there should be some clarification on the Special Use Permit to find out if it is for one site or two.
By the next meeting they are required to present a landscaping plan. They have enough parking to meet code requirements. Each room will have a microwave and refrigerator. The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 24. George Brookover told Kathy Boyle that it would be wise if a large number of residents show up and voice their concerns. Amelia said she would be happy to distribute flyers if necessary.
Liz Schweitzer asked Bill if the Planning Commission will look at the ethics of developing this property. Bill said that would be better for the City Council to consider it. She also had concerns about the access road issue. Bill will ask Planning about who has right of way, for fire trucks, etc
b.
Joanne received a letter from Police Chief Wibert saying that he had spoken to MSU Police Chief Dunlap about our concerns about cars being diverted into the neighborhood after games. Chief Dunlap responded that there is no easy solution on how to best route traffic. He will be passing this on the Kelly Beck for review.
c. Arbor Intersection Evacuation Plan
The Chief of Police, the Fire Chief, the Director of Public Works, and the City Manager will attend our next meeting which will be held February 8, at City Hall, Conference room A, at an earlier time of 7:00 p.m. Jim DeWitt will create a diagram of the area to show of the Arbor Intersection. We will talk about the evacuation plan, and we can also discuss parking in the neighborhood from Breslin.
d.
Mr. Gagliano has been emailing Joanne information about
VI. COMMITEE REPORTS
a. MSU 20/20 Plan
Joanne received a letter from the MSU planning staff. Steve Trost, the Campus Planner, told us that the Michigan State Police parcel has a lease through the year 2033, so the 20/20 Plan does not show a change in land use. MSU will be meeting with the City Planning Staff throughout the academic year. Liz Schweitzer has volunteered to be our representative at these meetings. They will forward agendas. He also said that Housing indicated that there will be no more development on U.V. property. They may make changes to any of their property which lies north of Mt Hope in the future, but they will keep us apprised of changes. Mr. Trost indicated that they very much appreciate our association's collective effort to review the draft material, attend public forums, and to communicate our issues.
b. Trowbridge Noise
Brendan Boyle spoke with an engineer from M-Dot named Larry Doyle and talked to him about what we could do about noise abatement. He gave Brendan a contact in the Grossbeck subdivision who explained how they attained their noise barrier. He received a package of material from Larry Doyle. We are considered a type two area, where the houses were built before the road went in. If the noise at 500 feet off the road exceeds a certain level we would qualify to be put on a list to receive federal money. however there needs to be a match of 10%. The next step is to meet with Vic Loomis to get the correct survey form before we survey any people affected. He suggests we bring all the noise issues at once to the City (train whistle, truck brakes, and highway). The train crossing can be fixed so that the whistle goes off at the crossing rather than way off in the distance. However it's very expensive.
c. Trowbridge Trees
The Highway Department took out all the dead trees and they have also replaced the entire fence. They are unsure of who will take all the brush out; Jim would like to see all the roots taken out too so it won't just regrow. M-Dot is planning on putting in some evergreen trees, at least 5 feet tall. Jim will continue to monitor the progress to see id they get the contract to put in the trees. There are still some problems with the brush left under the Consumers Power right of way. He will talk to the City's engineers about this.
Amelia brought up the look of the center island to see if it could be improved. Chief Wibert reported this to the City engineer and we can talk about this area and the turn off into
d. Trowbridge Corridor
Joanne has contacted Darcy Schmidt who said that after the first of the year she would work on getting some meetings set up. Joanne will follow up.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
Annie Lewis, Joanne, and the people across the street from her, plus the Blankenships on Lilac had their cars broken into last night, only money was stolen. Joanne mentioned that we don't have an email list to warn people in the neighborhood. She will include that in the newsletter.
Joanne asked Mark if he could get a newsletter out next week and he said he could. Kathy said she would help fold.
Kristi asked if we could meet in the future at 7:00 p.m. rather than 7:30. All were in agreement to the time change.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 8:50
Submitted by Kathy Jacobs, Secretary, January 12, 2007
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