LONA Meeting Minutes of May 8th, 2006

LONA Meeting Minutes of May 8th, 2006

Meeting Began at 7:04pm

Announcements:

-           We need volunteers for the Sector 3's National Night Out on July 31, and to help with LONA’s National Night Out on August 1st!

-           see April’s Minutes correction - see Meeting Minutes of April 10th, 2006

Burglary / Robbery Report:

-           4 robberies in our area used guns - this is unusual for our area!

-         Lee Rd. doctor’s office had a door damaged in attempted break-in

-         3 more burglaries in the Stenson St. area - very unusual for our area!

NET’s CPO Steve Boily:

-           Lieutenant Wood is still at our NET

-           parking issues and drugs on Michigan St; CPO has conducted "knock and talks"

-         it’s been busy at the NET with the preparations for our "clean sweep" on May 13th

-         CPOs have been busy with illegal gun possession and drug arrests

-         there is a rumor about a special PAC-TAC patrol around the PAETEC Park during their events

-         re: Dana St. - police are working on the situation, re: Sherman St - CPO will stop and visit them

-         please call and give CPOs detailed information to help with drug dealers and loitering, 428-7344

-         Glide St: business owner was chatty/helpful to the prostitutes; he was asked to stop aiding them

-         Property owner on Glide St. was "with" a prostitute when his wife was on her way home

-         710 and 738 Glide St have sex offenders living there

Housing Report:

-         Top 15 List was discussed

-         NET’s Chuck Stechna reported on the progression/regression on work schedules the NET is given by the property owners at various locations

-         wires hanging at railroad tracks are CSX’s; they will remove them from the ground

-         they are from telegraph poles, not RG&E or telephone poles

-         excellent response by NET on Norman St; Mary went to machine shop and got the spill cleaned

-         Emerson/Santee St brick building will be demolished; working on the asbestos right now

NET Report:

-           "Clean Sweep" from 9am-12pm on Saturday May 13th

-         Jose Cruz and Chuck Stechna went to the Genesee St area’s clean sweep last week to prepare for our event

-         refuse is collected from the curb everyday during the week; call NET for big/special pickups

-         there are 40 different project sites planned

-         attendance has been increasing at each clean sweep event; expecting over 600 participants

-         performance by "Airplay" which is a comedy/juggling act

-         t-shirts had to be reordered because of the overwhelming response! (Hurray!)

-         business walks will continue; the police chief required all police at his meeting, so they weren’t able to attend the most recent walk

-         NET office will be open until 8pm on Wednesdays, but only 4 people will be in the office, and inspections can be scheduled up to 6pm on Wednesdays

-         Lyell NET’s regular hours are 8am-5pm on Mon.,Tues., Thurs., and Fri., and Wed. 8am-8pm

-         they are beginning to talk about plans to clean in the fall as well, since this program has been so successful!

-         Lyell Business Association is starting the "Adopt-A-Block" program

-         450 houses have been demolished so far

Bob, LONA Vice-President:

-           tree planted in Sebastian Park, which is near Most Precious Blood Church

-         no changes from last month’s report on re: Brownfield information

Pam, LONA Secretary:

-           attended the LA230 group’s 2-day event; discussed the brainstorming ideas to combat this issue

-         participants voiced interest in raising the penalties for the "johns", especially public notification

-         group members also wanted the penalties raised for first time and repeat prostitution offenders

City Councilman Bob Stevenson:

-           spoke on the success of court watch and the drug court program

-         no public health department for the city of Rochester; went under the Monroe County Board of Health many years ago

-         prostitution is a public health problem; spreads AIDS, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis A & B, and STDs

-         Dr. Andy Doniger was the chairman of the LA 230 sessions; Mr. Stevenson attended both of the 3 hour sessions on Friday night and Saturday morning

-         Mr. Stevenson explained the science behind the problem at Durand Eastman Park Beach; that harmful bacteria prevents safe swimming in the water at the Charlotte Beach most days in the summer months, but those conditions aren’t as prevalent at the Durand location.

-         estimated costs range from $5 - $8 million to open the Durand Beach to public swimming, with all the necessary basic safety needs like life guards, restrooms, and parking

-         the city of Rochester owns the land, but Monroe County operates the park

Monroe County Legislator Carla Palumbo:

-           still working out the details of the county budget; no dispute that a deficit is in the future - how to solve it is up for debate; sales tax increase and "tax intercept" were both possible solutions

-         ideas to restructure how the county sheriff’s department is funded caused conflict between towns that only use sheriff patrols, and those who pay for the dept. but don’t get the same coverage because they also pay for their own town police dept.

-         idea to restructure the water authority’s surplus to help the city was not warmly received

-      idea to streamline village and town courts was instantly met with disdain

Mike, LONA President:

-           fund-raising at the concession area at PAETEC Park; need 2 months advance notice

-         longtime LONA member, Mrs. DiAngelo, passed away; held moment of silence in her honor

Meeting adjourned: 8:22pm