SUMMIT MEETING NOTES
April 12, 2007
Location: Grace Episcopal Church

 ACTION ITEMS

The key action items as agreed to in this meeting are as follows:

ATTENDEES: (See Abbreviation Key)

ABSENT:

AGENDA

• Welcome and Introductions
• Host Greetings
• Agenda Review & Modification

• Review of Minutes from Last Month’s Meeting

• Opening Prayer

• Special Announcements

• Review of Action Items from Last Month’s Meeting

• CHCURC Update

• College Hill Housing

• Local School Facility/Programs Update

• CPOP/COP/Court Watch

• Discussion Topic: Ground Rules for Break Down Barriers/Build Relationships

• Community Events & Announcements

DISCUSSION:

1.   Special Announcements

There were no special announcements, but Tom Strothers requested that the website address be included in each month’s minutes.

2.   Review of March 2007 Minutes
The corrected March minutes were approved and will be sent to Tom Strothers for posting on the website.

3.   Review of Action Items from Previous Meetings

A.  Ask two Summit members to give their answers to questions about community barriers questions at this meeting -  done.  To be covered later in the meeting.

 4.   CHCURC Update – by Marty Weldishofer

·        Linden Park – Neyer is redoing the proforma to permit proceeding with sales and construction on the east side (Shuler property) alone, as a first phase.   Issues around the Kroger property continue, and may take considerable time to resolve    The revised proforma is due May 8.

·        Façade Improvement Program – No further information to be reported at this time.  Still looking for more participants. 

·        Gateway – Tom Hammons countered the city offer of $23,000 with $25,000.   The city accepted.  Architectural plans are proceeding.   The north gateway should be installed by the end of the year.

·        Signs – Six new signs will be installed on North Bend, Hamilton, and Belmont which say “Welcome to College Hill” by the end of the year.   The signs will also give directions to the business district.

 5.   College Hill Housing Team – by Tom Haid

The team is planning a kick off event, a block party, for Saturday, May 19 to create enthusiasm in the local community for this effort.    The approach is to first inform and interact with people on the streets that will be affected, then to share more information to the broader community.   This is intended to respect the residents most affected, and to ensure their voices don’t get lost as they might if information went out broadly first. 

6.   CPOP/CPD/COP/Court Watchers – by Jim Bodmer

CPD reported first:

§         There have been two arrests on Lantana for dog fighting.  The house where the dogs were kept has been scrubbed inside.   It was put on the CERT list for demolition, but was removed from this list after the owners did a cleanup.  B&I is in pre-prosecution phase for poor maintenance.   The owners have been indicted on 14 counts.    

§         The police also request that residents of CH let them know of other houses that are poorly maintained.   CPD is working with the Health Dept to get houses repaired or taken for demolition. 

§         EZ Wireless was broken into on the 3^rd, and two teens were arrested on the 13^th.  Visconti Lechler Pharmacy was also broken into, and two adults were arrested.

§         As a final item of information, Officer Katrina said that she had recommended the Forum Quality of Life committee for a $25,0000 grant from MetLife.   The committee was selected for second round applications, and the deadline is immanent.   Phyllis will work with Officer Katrina to help her finalize the application. 

 CPOP Report: 

§         The most recent OVI checkpoint at Hamilton & North Bend stopped 751 cars, resulting in 8 DUI’s, 5 suspended licenses, and 105 seatbelt violations.

§         There was a sweet 16 party at Elisha Hall, and shots were fired behind the Hall.

§         Copper thieves continue to be very active, and are hitting all vacant houses.   The newly acquired WIN property at 1304 was hit as part of this recent activity.

§         Current Right of Entry forms need for all properties, including for properties that did submit these more than 2 years ago.  Forms must be notarized.

 7.   Discussion Topic: Break Down Barriers/Build Relationships

Jim Bodmer shared his experiences through COP and Forum, which sparked a discussion among the whole group.   Details of the discussion will not be summarized here, due to prior agreement to maintain confidentiality in sharing.    However, a couple of themes common to Summit members did emerge:

1. College Hill is now about 60% African American, but involvement in community organizations remains far less than that.   There is a desire among all community organizations for greater, more representative, African American participation.
2. There were observations that community participation is always lower for families in lower socio-economic situations, whether Caucasian or African American.   A book for understanding more about the unwritten “rules” of socio-economic strata was recommended: “What Every Church member Should Know About Poverty”.

There was also general discussion about the direction of discussion for this topic, ie, Breaking Down Barriers Between College Hill Residents.   It was noted that previous discussion were always based in organizational perspectives rather than individual perspectives, consistent with the purpose of Summit.   The question was raised if this topic should follow the same direction.   It was agreed, but noted that attendees at this meeting were not prepared to speak for their organizations, and wanted time to follow up with their organizations.   So the meeting on April 19 was cancelled, and the plan is to take up this discussion again at the next meeting in May.

The questions should therefore be rewritten to reflect an organizational perspective:

1. What is your organization’s motivation for tackling the issue of diversity/interracial relations in College Hill?   What is your organization trying to achieve?
2. What have been the experiences of organizational success and failure in this area that your organization has learned the most from, and what has been learned?
3. What would your organization recommend to Summit, or ask from Summit?

8.   Announcements & Community Events– by All

o       Public Schools – Achievement testing is April 30 – May 3, so teachers and administrators will be very busy.   Donations accepted (water, pencils, etc.)

o       Thai Heritage – there will be a performance by a Thai Drama & Dance troupe at CHPC sponsored by ARCH.  Two flyers for this were handed out at the meeting.   There was a request for all College Hill organizations to come and have a display of what’s going on in College Hill and what each organization is all about.

o       CHBA Annual Dinner – will be Tuesday, April 17, at Llanfair at 6 pm.  

o       Great American Clean Up – will be on the 28^th.   Lots of teens participating from Akin, and looking for adult volunteers to pair with them.

o       Farm Market – starts in May.   It will be moving to the CHPC Parking Lot, since the vacant lot at Llanfair and Hamilton will be used for a new firehouse.

Next Summit Meeting: May 10, 2007 @ 8:00 am at Aiken High School. 

                                                                                                Summarized by:

                                                                                                Valerie Hershberger

                                                                                                May 7, 2007

                                                                                                Corrected May 8, 2007

Abbreviation Key: