February 1st, 2005 - 7 p.m. North Frederick Elementary School

Members Present: Don Dean, Claudia Winkelman, Gail Bradley, Mike Bradley, and Maria Zinnert
City Representatives Present: Stephanie Davis, Sara McGill, and David Violette
Citizens Present: Bryon Schwartz, Jack Mehl, Rosetta Raineri, Regis Casey, and Darlene Summers
Police Representative: Officer Renee Armstrong
Guest Speaker: James Upchurch, President of Interfaith Housing Alliance, Inc.
The meeting was called to order by Don Dean and introductions were made of all present.

Mr. Upchurch gave out presentation folders and spoke about the following:
1. He told of InterFaith’s new district office at 731 N. Market St. and invited everyone to stop by and see their new location. There are 12 units behind the office which is part of the Hope VI housing. He said they had affordable housing in 5 MD counties and 3 PA counties. On February 9th at 10 a.m. will be a celebration of the demolition of the public housing downtown. The new housing will have a mixture of incomes and of homes.
2. Monocacy Woods on Motter Ave. Since his ownership, police reports are down. Interfaith Housing has a tough love approach, screening of applicants, and tough regulations. He has had several meeting with the community regarding his 18 three story new townhouses. The community wanted lower density, homeownership instead of rentals, stringent parking regulations. Three spaces are required per townhouse, but single family homes only need two. They went back to the drawing board and now have a plan that they think will be acceptable to the community. There will be a single family home at Pinewood and Motter, 11 two story town homes and the project will include a tot lot.
3. Gail Bradley stated there were plumbing problems with the rentals and asked if they met HUD standards.
Mr. Upchurch said that the apartments were 40 plus years old and they are working on the problems, but that a 40 year old building should not have to comply with today’s HUD standards just as the 40 year old home would not be in compliance with today’s HUD standards. He also said that when water tests are done to determine water flow issues, you have to work around tenants.
4. Mr. Upchurch stated their goal is to provide safe and affordable housing for those with lower incomes. He then talked about the repairs they have made to the apartment buildings at the 15th and 16th block of East Street. He has had to redo 3 roofs, repair termite and mold damage to the flat roofed building. He has paid $20,000 to improve sidewalks.
5. Mr. Upchurch said he uses Sunshine Management and Gail asked Mr. Upchurch to let his tenants know about our NAC meetings and that they were welcome to our meetings.

Officer Illco whose beat is east of Route 15 then spoke about the latest trends and took concerns from the citizens present.
1. Armed robbery at the 7/11 on Amber Drive had the same MO as the 7/11 on Old Camp Rd.
2. Officer Illco said that the biggest frustration for an officer is speed enforcement because they can get all set up and then they get a call. They need more radar units as they are first come, first serve. Sam Bowman is the “radar” man and he would know the cost of the units.
3. There was a serious accident at 13th and Motter.
4. The officer said he can do 40 mph over the speed humps, but it does depend on a car’s suspension. The citizens present were in agreement that the speed humps were working.
5. Rosetta and Regis came to the meeting to let the officer know about the serious problem of drivers (all age groups) running the stop sign at 12th and Fairview. The have had numerous close calls because the drivers do not stop.

David Violette spoke next regarding:
1. Snow removal violations. They try to work with the elderly. When they get a complaint they have to look at all the violators in an area so as not to ticket just one offender. They would like to follow up, but with only 3 in the department it is not always feasible. Monocacy Village has numerous elderly citizens in need. It was suggested that maybe the high school could get involved as students need to fulfill community service hours.
2. David passed out the Notice of Violation which lists a number of violations.

Bryon spoke up about the automated trash cans being store in front of the homes which is in violation of code 10-21 or 10-27. Also, there is a green pick up loaded with trash that has sat for quite some time. Since it is on the street, that is a police matter.

Darlene spoke up about bushes planted so close to the sidewalk that you cannot use the sidewalk.

Marie said businesses should be looked at first before individuals when snow removal violations are being considered. Can code enforcement enlist extra help with citations? Dave said they have one person from Parks and Recreation that can help, but that a lot of cases end up in court and other people do not have the time to go to court.

Other Announcements:
Spring Clean Up date is April 1st

If one has a concern, they can call 600-1440.

Next month will be a speaker from Heartly House and an engineer from the Dept of Traffic.

The rest of the meeting involved a discussion of ideas on how to advertise the meetings. A mailing could cost $500 to $600 and the NAC has an $800 budget. Jack said he would be willing to walk his neighborhood. Gail said she would write up a flyer and e-mail it.

Stephanie Davis made the following announcements:
1. A reading of “The Great Frederick Play” which is about the 1745 French and Indians will take place at the Cultural Arts Center Feb 7th at 7 p.m. They will be accepting $5 donations. July 4th is the actual play.
2. Possible sites for the new police headquarters is Site J & K at Carroll Creek, Bowman’s Farm Rd, Monocacy Blvd., Adventist Site (next to Harry Grove Stadium in front of Trinity School).

The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m. The next meeting will be held March 1st, 2005 at North Frederick Elementary 7 p.m.

Sincerely,

Claudia J. Winkelman, Secretary