Lewton-Rich Neighborhood
Association
May 19, 2005
- Welcome—meeting called to order at 7:00p.m.
- Pledge
- Introductions
- Minutes were read and approved
- Treasurer’s report: Our Chairwoman presented a check
for $1226.00, (with $1126 for street sign toppers, and $100.00 as a stipend
for our picnic); this check was from a grant from the City of Lansing.
- Michigan Senator’s report: Joe McDonald brought flyers
about GM Appreciation Rally (Tues. May 24) at the Capitol building from 5:00
p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Also the Senior Activities Fair, Friday, June 3, at South
Precinct from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Free transportation to this event is
provided by Dean Transportation. Call 373-1734 if you need a ride.
- Police Department’s Report: Officer Jason Bock was
present and reported that he is and has been very busy and apologized for
not being able to attend the last couple of meetings. He reported on crime
in the area, and mentioned a party in the neighborhood wherein four officers
responded. We have a new Sgt. assigned to Team 10 and that is Sgt. Frank
Koenigsknecht, (272-7488).
- Also mentioned was a house at the intersection of
Hampden and Hanover with many cars in the street, (making driving on that
street difficult) driveway and garage.
- He mentioned having a Team 10 meeting on June 13 at
7:00 p.m. at the South Precinct, which is a good time for people to come and
voice their concerns to the police. Officer Jason’s email is jbock@ci.lansing,mi.us.
- County Commissioner’s Report: County Commissioner Vic
Celentino introduced the new Animal Control Director, Jamie McAloon Lampman.
He also mentioned how many calls he receives regarding animal control
issues. Ms. Lampman talked about the issues that she deals with day in and
day out. The number one issue is Cats, which is a national issue. (The web
site for the Ingham County Animal Shelter is ICAS_Volunteers@yahoo.com ).
- Some of the outreach efforts include mobile adoption,
a reward program in neighborhoods (arresting people for dog-fighting, is the
number one sport for drug dealers). The phone number is 676-8370.
- Ms. Lampman is trying to establish a hotline for
anonymous tips. They are trying to enforce dog licenses, by going
door-to-door. They have written many citations for non-licensure. City of
Lansing law is that you can have four (4) dogs in your home. They are
working on spaying and neutering all animals before adoption. The capacity
for the shelter is around 200 animals. Over half of the 5600 animals they
take in a year, are cats (2400). In the past year, they have adopted out
1600 animals, euthanized 1501, redeemed 805. (65% were cats).
- They handle 6500 complaints a year. People reporting
“barking complaints” must provide their name in order for the officer to go
out on the call. With barking complaints, you should call animal control.
Animal Control will take almost any animal-related complaint.
- You should report cat issues—problem of free-roaming
cats (any cat outdoors, or any feral cats). There are a number of efforts
going on, such as “T, N, R”—trap, neuter and release. This is a big effort
to reduce the number of cats. Volunteers are needed at the shelter. As a
community member, keep your eyes open for dog-fighting, dog-barking, neglect
and cruelty.
- An idea was raised about having birthday parties for
kids and having the presents be gift-items for dogs and cats (food, blankets
etc.); items needed can be found on their web site. Jamie’s direct line is
676-8376.
- Code Compliance Officer’s Report: Greg Scrimger
followed up on some issues from our last meeting. He has been very busy and
working on many issues that we have brought up at our meetings. A new
seasonal code compliance officer Ron Dishoff will be working on grass
issues, trash etc. His phone number is 483-4380. Having Ron’s help frees up
Greg to work on housing and zoning issues.
- For issues like basketball hoops in the sidewalk, call
483-4457 and talk to Faith, and ask her to email Carol Wood about the
outcome along with yourself. If you have problems, take pictures, and talk
to Greg. A question was asked about the red-tagged houses in the city and
why only 14 of the 500 tagged houses are being ticketed. Councilwoman Carol
Wood responded that there was a spectrum as to the length of time that a
house has been red-tagged, so they won’t do all of them at once.
- City Council’s report: Councilwoman Carol Wood talked
about passing the city budget this past Monday. It took about ten hours of
televised budget time (meaning a lot more previous to that). The budget had
a number of proposed cuts. Council came up with a number of decisions
including: no fee for pools (but reduced hours), no banquet center at
Grosbeck, no consolidated garage plan, eliminated funding for the public
relations position, reinstated funding for the community programmers at all
of the community centers, reinstated funding for four police positions, the
residency incentive, sewage fund renewal, and other items that require
administration to develop plans to be more efficient.
- A question was raised about having an early retirement
option, and Carol said it hasn’t been decided yet. The issue of the trailer
park was raised, and that issue was bumped back to code compliance, who said
that there have been inspectors in there making sure trailers were up to
code. The issue of consolidating the police departments has been raised, and
a plan is supposed to be brought up in September.
- Neighborhoods-N-Bloom: Flower pick up is June 1st.
- Public Comments: Question about the garage sale
(flyers are being distributed) Our neighborhood is having one on June 18th,
2005.
- Kathy Dunbar brought South side flyers, and a
discussion about the community centers. The idea is to look at serving
at-risk youth, seniors, and veterans. She mentioned putting together
flyers for other garage sales (which is in the South side news. It can
also be put on our web site)
- New Business:
- We will suspend the June and August meetings. July
will be the picnic. We’ll get a flyer out between the garage sale and the
picnic.
- Comment on Agenda Items
- Raffle
- Adjourn
Respectfully Submitted,
Micki
Micki Fuhrman, Secretary