SUMMIT MEETING NOTES
May 10, 2007
Location: Aiken High School College Bound Center

 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

• Aiken 10^th Grade End of Year Celebration

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

• Community Events & Announcements

DISCUSSION:

1.   Special Announcements

-         Aiken High School just decided that it will take on an environmental focus as part of its rebuilding/renewal program.   Ginger handed out a copy of the most recent parent’s newsletter.

-         24 students from Aiken participated in a 3 day college tour.   May 23 is graduation, May 30 is the last day of school.  Eric shared that Laketa Cole will be the guest speaker at the National Honor Society induction. 

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

3.   Review of Action Items from Previous Meetings

The review of key questions within each member organization is ongoing. 

4.   CHCURC Update – by Marty Weldishofer

·        Linden Park – Neyer is concentrating on the Shuler property.   There will a decision by the end of the week where to put the Sales office.   The Sales Office will be open and sales will start June 15.   Three condos have already been reserved in the price range of $275,000 to $350,000.   A total of 10-14 units need to be sold before Neyer can break ground.  

·        Façade Improvement Program – Two more people have applied, and LaRosa’s has applied again.   All projects are eligible for a 50/50 grant match.  There are additional incentives for qualified projects, so check with Marty.   All money must be spent by Dec 15 or the money goes back to the city.   Still looking for more participants. 

·        Gateway – A property survey has been done for the north gateway, and this information has been passed on to the architects.   The south gateway is in limbo because of the planned new firehouse.  

·        Llanfair Commons – Before the city decided to build a firehouse on the corner of Llanfair and Hamilton, this space had been chosen by the community to be an open space for events and gathering.   Once the site was chosen for the firehouse, the city gave the community $160,000 to find a new space.   However, the funding for this has been pulled back by the city, so the project is stalled.

·        Business District Strategy – An NKU (Northern Kentucky University) team is working on a marketing plan for the business district.   The first review of their work will be in June.

 5.   College Hill Housing Team – by Dave Scharfenberger

WIN has acquired two properties and has made offers on some others.   One house has been torn down on Saranac, and one on Cedar is about to be torn down.   WIN has verbal confirmation of gap funding from the city for these two houses to be rebuilt, but WIN needs to wait for written confirmation to begin new construction.

The team is planning a kick off event, a block party, for Saturday, May 19 to create enthusiasm in the immediate neighborhood on and around Cedar Ave for this effort.    It will be on Salvia Ave, next to St. Clare, and will move indoors at St. Clare if there is rain.  It will run from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm.   All Summit members are invited.   Phyllis asked for volunteers to work at the event, and the following people volunteered: Marty, Fr. George, Betty (for her husband Tom), Ginger, Eric. 

WIN is running the next home ownership class on June 2, from 8 am to 5 pm.  Part of the class is for participants to receive their own credit reports.   Flyers will be distributed to Summit members via email. 

WIN’s next Celebrate Housing event will be June 16 at the WIN offices.   It includes a series of min-workshops. 

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

CPD reported first:

§         The College Hill April Crime Report was handed out.   Robberies are slightly down, but burglaries and assaults are up.    

§         There have been several purse snatching incidents, including one outside of Bacall’s, one near Twin Towers, and one on North Bend road.  These do not appear to be by the same perps, so residents should be alert.

Ginger asked to be notified if any of the perps are from Aiken so she can help with the kids and family.   Officer Jason will pass along the request to the detectives.

CPOP Report: 

§         They are watching Elisha Hall.  Their parties appear to exceed the allowable safety limit for number of people inside the building at one time.

§         Right of Entry forms are being encouraged by Fourm.   Stickers for windows will be available at the Forum meeting on May 22.

§         Capt Johns is leaving District 5 on regular rotation.   He is being replaced by Capt David Bailey.  There will be a good-bye to Capt Johns at the next Forum meeting.

§         Marty raised a question about the city’s plan for cameras in College Hill.   There was an Enquirer article recently about 15 cameras being deployed in Walnut Hills with a fiber optic system.   Jim Bodmer said he would follow up on when College Hill can expect to be getting cameras & systems installed.

§         The Business Association has been using grant monies to fund additional walking police presence on the avenue.   This funding will be gone by June.

 7.   Aiken 10^th Grade End of Year – by Ric Schoer

Ric shared that he was approached by teachers at Aiken for partnering with them for the 10^th Grade End of Year celebration.   There will be activities and an award ceremony at Winton Woods on Fiday, May 18, from 9 am to 1 pm.  Ric is looking for a $150 - $200 donation for food.

 8.   Meeting with Rep Dale Mallory – by Sheena Parton

Sheena reminded the group that it had been her homework assignment to followup on scheduling time with Rep Dale Mallory for Summit.   She had lunch with him as part of AOPHA meetings in Columbus, and his staff person will call to schedule a time for Dale to come.

Phyllis encouraged us all to think about what issues in the neighborhood could use support at the state level, and indicated that we need to have a good agenda.  

We decided to spend time at the June Summit meeting planning a meeting with Dale Mallory.

9.   Update on Christ’s Community – by Rev William Hagans

CCCH is working on hiring a Youth Pastor advocate for working with youth in the community.   Youth are a high priority for CCCH.

Rev Hagans handed our flyers on CCCH’s Summer Youth Camp and Clean Cut Initiative.   These are programs which have been successful for many years and are continuing.   As an example, Nate Snow, the coach at NCH High School, attended summer camp at CCCH as a young man.

After some discussion about the Summer Program, Rev Hagans agreed to follow up with Eric Thomas and Ginger Rhodes about the possibility of using Aiken High School students as counselors during the summer.

10. Discussion Topic: Break Down Barriers/Build Relationships

Fr. George shared that the Ministerium had heard from Chappie about our April meeting discussion, and had gone on to have their own discussion about racism.   The ministers decided that they still had a lot to cover among themselves, and are continuing.   Eventually, they want to use their insights and struggles to guide their churches to grow and affect the community at large.

Marty indicated that this topic is on the agenda for the June CHCURC Board meeting.

Sheena said that CHBA will address just the first question (motivation) at their next meeting in May.

Ginger had a dialog with some seniors at Aiken, and heard about their experiences in business district on Hamilton Ave.    There are generational gaps in the community as well as racial barriers, particularly between older white residents and younger black students.  Older white residents often behave in ways that communicates fear, such as clutching their purses or crossing the street to avoid walking toward a group of black youth.  Young people told Ginger that they just want to be treated and spoken to with respect. 

A spirited discussion followed, in which several people pointed out:

A.  The importance of individual, one-on-one, relationships in addressing issues of racial or generational barriers.

B.   The additional barrier of socio-economic lifestyles that exists in the community.

B.   The importance of events where diverse people can come together to work toward a common purpose or goal.   Examples of this were the Housing Cedar Ave Block Party and the Great American Clean Up event, as well as ongoing activities at the Rec Center.

The participants also agreed that this is a big issue, and that we all need patience in tackling it.   More diversity leads to more challenges to create and build trust, which in turn requires more time.    The participants agreed that a key question for Summit is:   “What can our organizations do to help build relationships in College Hill, particularly across racial, generational, and socio-economic differences?”

The conversation will continue at the next Summit meeting.

11. Announcements & Community Events– by All

o       Garderners – The second annual Garden Tour of College Hill will be June 23, from 11 am to 4 pm.   Tour packets and tickets are available at the College Hill Coffee Company.   Tickets are $8 if purchased ahead of time, $10 on the day of the event.   Last year, Better Homes & Gardens magazine came and took photos for an article on Midwest Gardens, but the date of that issue is not yet known.    CHG will also offer gift cards and tiles for sale.    Betty noted that many relationships had been built in the community based on a mutual interest in gardening.   A flyer was handed out.

o       Job Fair – There will be a job fair at The Rock on May 19 from 11 am to 5 pm.  While many opportunities will be for youth, there will also be opportunities for adults to apply for.   Free food/snacks will be provided.

o       College Hill Yard Sale  – will be Saturday, June 2, from 9 am to 2 pm.  This year it will be in the parking lot of College Hill Presbyterian Church.  

Next Summit Meeting: June 14, 2007 @ 8:00 am at Llanfair Retirement Center. 

                                                                                                Summarized by:

                                                                                                Valerie Hershberger

                                                                                                May 25, 2007

Abbreviation Key: