SUMMIT MEETING NOTES
March 8, 2007
Location: McAuley High School

 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

CPD District 5 officers asked to review their items at the beginning of the meeting.   This included:

-     The February 2007 College Hill Crime Report was handed out.   Burglaries are down significantly.   Officer Williams focused on patrolling the area with the problem.    

-     However, there has been an increase in auto thefts and thefts from autos, often in broad daylight.   They advised not to leave anything of value in sight, even small change.    Four cars were recently stolen from the CHPC parking lot, in the Park & Ride section.

-     Copper theft continues in the city.   In College Hill, this has happened recently in vacant house on Lantana and other streets. 

-     CPD has started their program to develop relationships with children in all the local elementary schools.   K-8 researched showed that students and teachers tend to be afraid of the police, so the program is starting with officers visiting all grades in all elementary schools for 1 hour per month.  

      CPD has also been running a summer day camp, at Camp Joy, for 3^rd-8^th grade kids.   About 120 kids can participate at one time.   Officer Neal will bring photos to a future Summit meeting to share with everyone.

      CPD would like to expand the school programs to include high school, but this needs further development.   Please forward any ideas to Officer Neal.

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

3.   Review of Action Items from Previous Meetings

A.  The group revisited an agenda item from previous meetings, that of inviting the new State Rep Dale Mallory to one of the Summit meetings.   It was decided that members of the Forum (Elizabeth Sherwood, Phyllis Schoenberger, and Jim Bodmer) would work through the details of who to talk to him, when to talk, and what to talk about).

4.   CHCURC Update – by Marty Weldishofer

·        Linden Park – Two condos have been reserved and paperwork for a third has been delivered to the potential buyer.   Negotiations continue with the Real Estate Investment Trust that holds the Kroger property lease.   Ground breaking cannot be done until all three properties are acquired.

·        Façade Improvement Program – There is still a lot of money available, approximately $300,000, which needs to be spent by the end of the year. 

·        Gateway – Marty personally contacted Tom Hammons, the owner of the A&S property on the southwest corner, who said he was never contacted by the city.   Marty had the city forward the city’s written offer to purchase the northwest corner of his property for the north gateway element, and they are now waiting for a counter offer from Hammons. 

5.   College Hill Housing Team – by Dave Scharfenberger

§         WIN and the CH Housing Team signed a covenant agreement on how they will work together, officially making this one team.

§         The house demolition at 1304 Cedar on Feb 22 went well.   Many thanks to all community volunteers.

§         WIN has submitted a proposal to the city for gap funding for two properties that WIN now owns in College Hill.

§         The team is planning a kick off community event for May 19 to create enthusiasm in the local community for this effort.    More info to come later.

§         WIN just released its annual report on foreclosures, for 2006.   Contact Dave if you want a copy. 

6.   Local School Facility/Program Update – by Helen Habbert

Helen updated the group on the current status for Pleasant Hill Academy, College Hill Fundamental Academy (CHFA), and Aiken High School.  

The overall process has been slowed down by the CPS Board.

Status of Pleasant Hill:  In the last year, there has been a lot of change.   There is a new principal, new staff, and new programming.  Transitioning to being a Community Learning Center has been slowed down to give the new principal time to consolidate.   The after-school started with the Rec Center is very successful, and just recently received an Excellent rating in its first audit.  Once the academic program is solidified, the after-school program will be expanded and community interaction increased.   Pleasant Hill is also looking for a new Partner in Education (like a bank or hospital) and Tia is working on developing guidelines for the role of an organization once it agrees to be a Partner in Education with Pleasant Hill school.

Status of CHFA:  CHFA will be remodeling.   Early work is focused on program development, with a possible focus on community arts.   They are also considering adding 7^th & 8^th grade but probably will not go that way.  Treena is now also working with CHFA to help develop the design requirements for including a mental health program.   CHFA will need to move so that renovation can take place.  The Mt Airy school building is a likely choice since that school is moving into a new building in 2008.

Status of Aiken:   The plans at Aiken have shifted from renovation to rebuilding, with a new capacity of 600 students versus the current 1200.   The current focus is on taking advantage of the unique attributes of Aiken, such as the 60 acres of land it sits on, the adjacent Rec Center, and the greenhouse.  An emphasis on Environmental Sciences is being discussed, as well as having a “green’ building design.   Aiken is also exploring having grades 7 and 8.

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

CPOP has a once/month meeting.  Lots of young people are getting out of jail this month, and CPOP is focused on getting beat officers connected to them.   If anyone observes or knows of any gang activity, please report this to Jim or others involved at CPOP. 

8.   Discussion Topic: Break Down Barriers/Build Relationships

Based on the group discussion so far, as well as several one-on-one discussions, Ron & Valerie proposed that the group approach this topic with individual sharing, with additional steps to be developed afterwards.    Individual sharing would answer the following questions:

1. What is your personal motivation for tackling the issue of diversity/interracial relations in College Hill?
2. What have been some of the most important experiences in this area that have helped form your current thoughts & feelings about diversity/interracial relations?
3. What have been the experiences of personal success and failure in this area that you have learned the most from, and what have you learned?

The intent of this sharing would be to get everyone on common ground, as well as to bring out the knowledge and perspective of each Summit participant.   Some participants have had extensive experience in this area, and it would be helpful to hear their wisdom at the beginning of the process.

Participants in this Summit meeting had varied reactions to this proposal.    There was a strong desire for efficiency and to move quickly to action steps, and the group suggested an extra meeting in which the bulk of this sharing could occur.   Other suggestions included limiting sharing time to 10-15 minutes, and giving everyone time to react and discuss after individuals share.    We also want to strongly encourage all Summit members to attend and participate, since sharing will be held in confidentiality and will not be recorded.  

Based on this discussion, a revised process was outlined as follows:

Þ    We will begin sharing at the next regularly scheduled Summit meeting (April 12) with only 2 people sharing.   They should keep their sharing to 10-15 minutes, but are free to take less time.  Discussion and reaction to what they say will occur right afterwards.

Þ    We will have a second Summit meeting in April which will be focused solely on individual sharing and discussion.   We set this meeting for April 19.  Location to be set during the April 12 meeting.

Þ    All sharing will be held in confidentiality and will not be summarized or written down. 

Þ    Everyone should urge other Summit members to attend.

In considering the strong desire of the Summit group for action, Ron & Valerie also propose that when individual share what they have learned, that they actively make recommendations to Summit on how to approach this topic: “This is what I have learned from my own successes & failures, and this is what I think Summit should do to deal with this topic successfully.”   These recommendations could be collected and written down for the group to consider after all the sharing is done.

10. Announcements & Community Events– by All

o       Grace Episcopal – the next Summit meeting is at Grace Episcopal church.   Entry is on the Belmont side, and parking is available at the Rec Center or on the street.

o       Christ’s Community – A new Pastor/Administrator has been hired at Christ’s Community.   His name is Rev Hagan, and he will attend a future meeting to meet all of us.

Next Summit Meeting: April 12, 2007 @ 8:00 am at Grace Episcopal church. 

                                                                                                Summarized by:

                                                                                                Valerie Hershberger

                                                                                                March 31, 2007

                                                                                                Corrected April 11, 2007

Abbreviation Key: