Minutes

Tenney LaphamNeighborhood Association Council Meeting

April 4, 2007

Supreme Pizza, 912 E.Johnson St

Members present: Gigi Holland, Jim Sturm, David Waugh, Sean Gutkenecht

James Roper, Cheryl Wittke, Roth Rohlich, RichardFriehoefer, Richard Linster, Gay Davidson-Zielske, Susan Baumann-Duran, JoeBrogan, Pat McDonnell, Sandy Ward

Guests: AlderBrenda Konkel, Ed Jepsen, Officer Tim Radke

7:05 Call to order

1. Minutes of March 1, 2007 approved unanimously
2. EINPC – Report from Sean about last Thursday’s EINPC open meeting
1. About 40 attended
2. They discussed the desired future role of EINPC

                                              i. Neighborhoodcapacity building

                                            ii. Clearinghousefor information

                                           iii. Issueadvocacy

3. Next steps they want to take

                                              i. EINPCstaff will start to attend neighborhood meetings on a regular basis

                                            ii. Increasetheir volunteer base

                                           iii. Streamlinecommunication

                                           iv. Focuson action planning

4. The City approved their contract for the next year
5. The job description for the full time staff person will be re-worked. Pam Hathaway is in that position now.
2. MPD Report – Tim Radke
1. Car break-ins at Camelot occur on an irregular basis
2. The death on South Baldwin is being treated as a possible homicide
3. James Madison Park -- Tim alerted all Central District police to Pat’s report about the dozens of beer cans near the east bathhouse silo
4. There are no leads in the break-in at the Grocery store (Johnson and Paterson) on early Saturday a.m.
5. Vandalism on Johnson, Gorham and Livingston on Friday and Saturday nights

                                              i. 2males in their early 20’s have been arrested and charged with 4 counts

                                            ii. Oneof them lives on the 800 block of Gorham and the other is from out of town

                                           iii. DarylMonroe is the detective in charge

6. Gigi asked about having police get out of their cars and actually walk through James Madison to check for problems. Tim pointed that this is up to the officer’s discretion.
7. House party approach being used by the police

                                              i. Attemptto talk to those leaving the party to determine if they knew the owners, ifthey paid for the cup, and how many are at the party. Focus at this point is not on ticketing those leaving.

                                            ii. Tryto contact/talk to the resident of the house

1. If the resident is amenable to this, then they get relativelyminor tickets for noise

2. If the resident is not cooperative (won’t let the police intothe house), then police camp out and write tickets to the resident for everyunderage person who leaves the party

8. Cheryl asked about graffiti

                                              i. Isit gang related?

                                            ii. Timwill look into this issue and come back with further information

                                           iii. Ifyou see graffiti in progress, call 911

4. Alder report
1. James Madison Park Planning Committee

                                              i. Membershave not yet been named

                                            ii. Wereiterated that we wish Jim Sturm to be on the committee

                                           iii. Brendameets with George next week to discuss formation of the committee

2. BUILD – Plan Commission made a 90-day referral to examine

                                              i. Transportationissues

                                            ii. Designguidelines

                                           iii. Overlapwith other plans such as TL Neighborhood Plan and East Rail Corridor Plan

3. Conservation Districts

                                              i. Brendadoubts that this proposal will pass the Council

                                            ii. Manychanges have been made and the ordinance may no longer be what is really wantedby downtown neighborhoods such at Tenney and Bassett

4. Neighborhood Plan will go to Council on May 5^th and then be referred to committees
5. New dance club at East Washington near the Yahara (the old Big Pictures building)

                                              i. 15,000square feet on three floors

                                            ii. ownerwould live upstairs

                                           iii. Brendathinks the business plan looks very good

                                           iv. MarySchauf is reported to be please with the plan

                                            v. Trafficwill enter and leave via East Washington and should not effect ourneighborhood.

5. Litter problem – Sandy
1. An introduction to the problem was presented with an emphasis on how litter can negatively impact larger community goals such as owner occupancy of homes
2. Materials (attached) for an adopt-a-block plan were distributed
3. Jim moved and Ruth seconded that the Council undertake the Adopt-a-Block program. All in favor.
4. Several people signed up to adopt blocks, but many more are needed
5. Call Sandy at 257-0119 if you want to volunteer to take care of a block
6. Items needed by schools tabled until other Council members are present to discuss guidelines for making donation decisions
7. Park Committee – Jim’s report
1. Jim moved and Cheryl seconded that the Council send a letter encouraging the city of finish the last link of landscaping of the Yahara underpass (under Johnson) by the third week in May.

                                              i. Edwill draft the letter

                                            ii. Allin favor

2. Earth Day cleanup – Saturday April 21^st from 9 to 12

                                              i. Volunteersare needed

                                            ii. Edand Susan are leading the Tenney cleanup.

                                           iii. Sandyis leading the James Madison clean up.

                                           iv. Jimwill call Christ Church to ask them to find volunteers to clean up GiddingsPark

3. The safety islands in the streets need gardening attention
4. Jim wondered what the Council thinks of people feeding the ducks in Tenney. It was suggested that this matter be tabled for another meeting.
7. East Johnson Businesses – report from Ruth
1. There has been some talk of a local newspaper doing a story about the EJ Businesses. Bad publicity could make it even harder to attract new businesses to the area. The businesses are interested in bringing in more business, rather than talking about how problematic the current vacancies are.
2. Ruth is now on a DMI quality of life committee
8. Membership – Richard Linster report
1. 42 new members since last report
2. April 17^th is the pancake supper at Christ Presbyterian Church
9. Meeting adjourned at 9:05

Thanks to Supreme Pizza forallowing us to use their dining room for the meeting.

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