Minutes

1. Pledge

2. Introductions – 21 people present

3. City Council Report: Carol Wood was present. Randy Williams and Brian Jeffries were unable to attend.. Carol presented the five-year parks plan. A new council year just started. Mr. Lehman is President, and Mr. Jeffries is Vice-President.

4. County Commissioner’s Report: Chairman Vic Celentino was unable to attend, as he was hosting a public meeting to find a new comptroller, since Jerry Abrose is now working for the new Mayor.

Commissioner Dale Copedge was present and spoke. He talked about the comptroller and Jerry Ambrose going to the city of Lansing. He also talked about the re-entry program for people coming out of prison settings. Those placed in neighborhoods will not be people convicted of violent crimes.

5. Minutes: Minutes were read and approved.

6. Treasurer’s report: $167.11 in savings. Refreshments compliments of L & L.

7. Police Department’s Report: Again, make sure that you keep you garage doors closed and your car locked. Also, if you run into a convenience store, do not leave your car running. This is an offense that can land you a ticket! ($35.00) The issue of parking in front of Lewton School was raised. Officer Jason can write tickets but when people complain, the process of answering the complaints takes a lot of time. Carol Wood mentioned that the city is looking at making school security officers able to write tickets, and she will keep us updated.

8. Guest Speaker: Joe McDonald from the Mayor’s office. Joe is now Special Assistant to the Mayor. He talked about some of the new ideas being generated, for example, a city of Lansing museum in one of the old houses in the city. Joe’s phone number is 702-4754, and his email is jmcdonald@ci.lansing.mi.us. He talked about some of Mayor Virg’s ideas to cut costs, and resolve turf issues. He mentioned www.lansingsfuture.com the web site about the transition. He answered questions from those attending the meeting and in short, was most informative.

9. Chris Lewless, is running for House of Representatives, and he came to the meeting. He is running for State Representative as a Democrat. His web site is www.chrislewless.com

10. Unfortunately, Representative Gretchen Whitmer was unable to attend tonight’s meeting, thus Councilwoman Carol Wood talked on her behalf, as she is a candidate for State Senate (Mayor’s Virg’s seat). She stated she has done excellent work on the appropriations committee - which is a tough committee to be on.

11. Code Compliance Officer’s Report: Greg Scrimger reported that it’s a new year and they are working on trash and debris already. He is stopping at homes and talking to people. 2500 Victor is now untagged and work is happening. Greg talked about front yard parking. You may not park a vehicle in the front yard, but only in the driveway. Boats and trailers cannot be on the yard either. Snow policy—you are required to clear your walks within 24 hours of snowfall. There are numbers in the phone book to call about lights out, tall grass, etc., and also this information can be found on the Lewton-Rich website.

b. Reception for Tony Benavides, on Jan. 24^th from 5-7 p.m. at Lansing Center, all are invited, if you can attend, you should call 484-3850.

c. Joan Bauer is doing her kick-off at 11:00 a.m. at Foster Center on Jan. 24^th and all are invited.