National Night Out Against Crime - Tuesday, August 1st, 2006

Lyell-Otis Neighborhood Association's NATIONAL NIGHT OUT AGAINST CRIME

Tuesday, August 1st, from 6pm-8pm at the Church of Christ, 469 Lyell Avenue

Come Join Us! Enjoy the free refreshments! Treats and face painting for the kids!

Please contact Bob at 458-3784 or Pam at NiceNRG@aol.com for more information.

 

N.N.O.A.C. Follow-Up:

What a wonderful time we had that night! "Thank You" to all who helped make it possible!

The kids enjoyed having their faces, arms and hands painted, and received crayons, pencils, pens, erasers, candy, balloons and safety whistles!

The cold sodas were flowing and the delicious hots were cooked to perfection!

Next time, a sprinkler will be on hand to cool everyone, as many events that were scheduled for this night had been cancelled due to the excessive heat. We think a lot of folks were confused and assumed that we cancelled as well, so they missed out on the fun. We held our event inside in the air-conditioning, and those in attendance appreciated the comfortable space!

 

Please join LONA at our next event - our TOWN MEETING at the Lyell Branch Library on Monday, August 14th beginning at 7pm.

We'll see YOU there! :)

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

LONA Meeting Minutes of April 10, 2006

Lyell-Otis Neighborhood Association Meeting Minutes of April 10, 2006

Meeting Began at 7:01pm

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

-         many members are absent as they are attending the mayor’s "1st 100 Days" meeting

HOUSING / PROPERTY INFO:

Top 15 List - the four LONA officers drive the whole LONA area each month to report on code violations and safety concerns

-         drug houses / information is turned over to Officer Minnik at the Lyell NET Office

-         spring clean-up: please volunteer! Our area’s "Clean Sweep" is on Saturday, May 13th

-         meet at the Edgerton Recreation Center at 9am

-         pick up your t-shirt and enjoy a continental breakfast

-         sweep with your team until 1pm, then reconvene to enjoy a picnic lunch

-         garbage will be collected everyday from May 8th - 13th

-         if street light is out, or trees need trimming to clear power/phone lines, call 428-5990

NET NEIGHBORHOOD WALK:

-         was supposed to be from NET office on Lyell Ave to Austin St, up to Otis St, over to Cameron St, and back down Lyell Ave to the NET office

-         this walk did not happen; only walked on Lyell Ave

CORRECTION: The NET is currently walking and talking to the businesses on Lyell Ave. They do intend to walk and talk with neighbors on the residential streets after the businesses project is completed. - Thank you Chuck S. for this correction!

PAETEC PARK:

-         plans to demo homes on Broad, Saratoga, Grape, Smith and other streets to improve the aesthetics of the area

-         the "Clean Sweep" will be working with the PaeTec Park folks as well

-         rumor has it that PaeTec Park will have special PAC-TAC patrols; notyet verifiable

BURGLARY / ROBBERY REPORT:

-         3 incidents where a gun was involved; Rockview Terrace location was a repeat; happened while resident was unloading groceries after work at 1am

SEX OFFENDERS:

-         two more Level 2's moved into our neighborhood; Edgardo Ortiz and Jonathan Mallory

DRUG HOUSES:

-         "what to do" info sheet distributed to meeting attendees

-         NOTE: do NOT approach the house!

-         CPO Steve Boily is new to our NET office, but has worked in our area for 10 years in Maple Section, Josana and Westside area

-         looked forward to becoming involved in our neighborhood group

-         contact him at 428-7344 (Officer Vaghn’s old number)

-         Michigan St drug house has lots of cars, people counting money and passing items back & forth inside cars or in front of house (left of downstairs apt.), all different times of day

-         parking on wrong side of street; this is happening all over our neighborhood!

-         Makes it very difficult for other cars and school buses to pass; one offender is the handicapped van service that is there between 3pm-3:30pm near Bloss and Saratoga Sts

NEW MEETING LOCATION / CALENDER INFORMATION:

-         next year’s meeting location will be the Lyell Branch Library

-         there will be a big kick off on August 14th, 2006

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT:

-         Our LONA neighborhood’s event will be on the official National Night Out on Tuesday, August 1st

-         Our entire Sector’s event will be the day before, Monday, July 31st at the Edgerton Recreation Center

BROWNFIELD INFO:

-         1 ½ years ago, Sector 3's Brownfield areas were discussed / studied

-         12 properties in our sector (only a few in the LONA area) had been condemned / contaminated

-         there had been previous ideas on how to clean and how to improve the environment

-         find out more about this online at: http://www.nyswaterfronts.com/BOA_package.asp

COOKBOOKS:

-         books are still available for only $6.00

UPDATE FROM SUSAN JOHN’S OFFICE:

-         the budget was passed on-time for the second year in a row!

-         funds were requested to send LONA rep to PAC-TAC convention

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS:

-         Any Lieutenant at the NET yet? - no, there is a rumor that a Sargent will be assigned soon, as a regular officer does not have the authority to arrange other officers for needed operations

-         RE: PAC-TAC; if you want to join, call the NET office; a copy of the information from previous convention - which was over 500 pages of items, went to the CPO at the NET, another copy went to LARC; a report should be given to the group

-         there hadn’t been any follow up on the "school report" or the "safety for children report"

CAMERON COMMUNITY MINISTRIES:

-         lunch program is serving more people;up 17% in the past six months

-         met with NET’s new administrator, Jose Cruz

-         Mayor Duffy is planning to visit CCM before the end of April 2006

-         State Senator Robach is the honorary chair of their fund-raising golf tournament

Meeting Adjourned at 8:31pm

LONA Meeting Minutes from March 13th, 2006

(There was no February LONA meeting due to weather and illness of members.)

Lyell-Otis Neighborhood Association Meeting Minutes from March 13th, 2006

Meeting Began: 7:04pm

Announcements

--- Neighborhood Safety--- there has been a rash of robberies in our neighborhood where the criminal brandished a gun; LONA officers were not informed about these events until long afterward, so that is why LONA neighbors were not informed in a timely manner.

- CPO Steve Boily is out with a sprain from pursuing / catching a perpetrator of unrelated crimes

- Lyell NET has lost 2 crime prevention officers, as they were promoted to a higher rank

- NET’s new administrator Jose Cruz suggested that we contact Westside’s Commander Corridi regarding lack of information about the recent robberies

Housing - Code Violations "Hot List" Top 15:

- we meet on Thursday 3/23/06 at 11am at the Lyell NET office

V.P. Bob Van Sice listed the properties that we have removed from our list - 12 since last year

Flower City Work Project: many applications are being reviewed; the work is performed by teens, so there are reasonable guidelines as to what tasks they can do

NET Updates and Information:

- New NET administrator Jose Cruz has been in the Rochester community since 1965

- previously was a mortgage broker at HSBC and Bank of America

- he is also an Eastside Legislator for Rochester

Week of May 8th - Spring Cleaning: open areas, lots, vacant houses; clean / raking will be done

Sat. May 13th - area volunteers will help out

- area around the Sykes Building (was burnt last year) at corner of Jay and Whitney Streets, will be cleaned; also a possibility of putting up barriers so residents / visitors won’t have to see rubble

NET’s Business Walk: started at Lyell Ave and State St, working Westward

- introducing themselves to the area businesses, scaring some folks who might not be on the level

NET’s Neighborhood Walk Through: look into anything of note or out of the ordinary

- they will walk every street in the NET’s area

NET’s Communication: with the area, how can they do it better?

- it was suggested that leaders of all the neighborhoods in our NET’s area hold a monthly meeting

- keep everyone informed / see what resources are needed

- hopes to empower folks to do for self

Informal Survey: Pres. Mike asked LONA meeting attendees to participate and offer their opinion on the NET

- varied emotions; some had no problems while many others voiced complaints over the lack of speed of service / response time

NET’s Jose Cruz responded:

- they have patience as well, what they want doesn’t happen either

- cases are open on what is still private property; owners supposedly screen applicants of rental property

- small amount of funds are set aside for burnt out vacant homes

- 450 houses are on the demo list; $12K to $14K to demo a house, especially with asbestos

- Mayor Duffy’s goal is to catch up on demolitions

- Jose and Chuck work with community groups; rest at NET are office staff, officers, & inspectors

- Lyell NET receives and works on over 350 cases per month

- Mayor Duffy has given all the NET offices 1 year to show improvement

- those property owners who are making effort at improving their property; less ticketing

- wants to go after those owners who aren’t making improvements and are bringing down our area

NET’s Chuck Stechna: he has been dealing with absentee landlords

- one was living in London, England

- another one lives in Texas and has never even been to Rochester or seen the property!!

- he needs us (the community) to observe, record and report

- the city of Rochester demos a property every other day

- NET can’t do everything, but they will point us in the right direction

- effective soon, the NET offices will be open at night; cycle / take turns around to each office, so that there will be later coverage

County Legislator Carla Palumbo:

- she is interested in creating a community newsletter

- there are county budget concerns; suggestions from legislature and community members

- proposed $30K to $40K savings from the sheriff’s road patrol, as we were paying without getting any of the benefits

- water authority, city pays $6Mil per year, wants to transfer that cost to the county

- list of ideas are on the county website and on a citizen blog

- new legislators in the caucus; new era of civility, but not yet cooperation; she meets with other legislators to build rapport

- 90 day deadline for Monroe County budget is coming up soon

- Medicaid Tax Intercept will cost the city $50Mil, we must find a better solution

- DSS is a big concern; moved Patricia Stevens out and put someone else in, reorganize and overhaul; concern about recommendations; worth more than $2Mil in savings

- force county department heads to have a response, must come back with an action plan, the legislature hasn’t seen that yet

Sex Offenders: 3 new ones have moved into our neighborhood

- 205 Curtis St Scott Wilbert Level 3 with photo - check our website for his picture

- Level 2's doesn’t provide detail information on Pablo Burgos and Kevin Unterborn

Next Year’s Meeting Place for LONA: starting in August of 2006

- Lyell Branch Library’s Community Room will be our new and much improved meeting location; two nice parking lots at the libraryand it is accessible to all!

Meeting Adjurned at 8:33pm

LONA Meeting Minutes of January 9th, 2006

Lyell-Otis Neighborhood Association Meeting Minutes of January 9th, 2006

 

Announcements
- proposal for next year to NOT meet during winter months
- not many items in our burglary/robbery report; break-ins were mostly in Edgerton and Dutchtown areas; we have better homes and better prevention techniques
- still requesting street captains; the more eyes the better!!
- no Housing Report as the next meeting is on January 26th @ 11am at the Lyell NET Office; help report “bad” houses; those in need of repair or with suspicious activity

 

Policeman Joe Hayes
- Officer Hayes passed the Sargent Exam (CONGRATULATIONS!), but leaving our NET for the Westside Office (We are sad to see him leave us!)
- Officer Vaughn on maternity leave (CONGRATULATIONS! Is it a girl or a boy?)
- Introduced Officer Nina Simeno - she is currently in training to join the Lyell NET team
C.P.O. (Crime Prevention Officer) 60 day transfer to NET - great experience, here to help people!
- many successful drug raids!
Dix St - confiscated cocaine, marijuana, $500, guns, cut down rifle; made 2 arrests at owner occupied property; nuisance points attached to property
Emerson St - officers shot pit-bull dogs when threatened with being attacked as they raided a drug house; found crack, cash, guns - made 4 arrests at 2 known drug homes
Lyell Ave - confiscated 22 bags of crack
- Since tactical unit stationed on Sherman St - decrease in robberies, dogs - animal control
Introduced Officer Nina Simeno: she’s been an officer for 10 years, now back on the Westside of Rochester; worked 4 years in Narcotics, formerly worked in the Maple Section

 

NET Report from Chuck Stechna
- Flower City Work Study program; reviewing 200 applications, needs assessment - the top 40 properties are helped by about 500 kids and 100 adults
- NET going through many changes; Sharon Conheady is no longer with the NET
- Mayor Duffy is replacing lots of people; 4 of the 6 NET administrators are to be replaced
- Lyell’s New NET Administrator is Jose Cruz, Marisol Lopez - new at Clinton office/section
- Molly Clifford is in charge of all NET offices
- changes have to do with the CGR review/report; NET’s been around since1997
- any changes in code enforcement, inspectors; review of specs - enforcement
- what is NET doing / inconsistencies in performance among all the NET offices
- new administration and direction; how much is prevention versus putting out fires
- 920 Glide St, no C of U; NET working on that property
- 480 Emerson corner of Santee St, demo meeting, nuisance

 

Sunset Group - Jim Thurston
- since A+ has been closed, much less criminal activity; prostitution has dropped significantly, along with the colder weather, not as conspicuous
- off site surveillance of sound and video will be monitoring all Sunoco activities in and out of store; also, better employees will be hired           

- awaiting 6 month trial for being open 24 hours, based on calls to police
- if you see suspicious activity like prostitution or drug activity, call 911
NET’s Chuck: collect all kinds of info to give to police - address, like a deposition, suspicious activities, dates, times, time line, license plates, sex, race, age
Jim: problem with response time by police, one instance he waited over a half hour
- Otis/Mt. Read, prostitutes, no records, nothing taken down
Chuck: police short handed, they will go over at next NET meeting

 

Guest Speaker: Rosemary Rivera of The Alliance for Quality Education
- graciously addressed our group; focused on some of the disparities faced in our urban schools. She is asking for support for a bill which calls for a fair funding system, smaller class sizes, universal pre-kindergarten and money for the resources needed in our schools.
- She suggested that we use “HOT SPOT”info sheets, created in Syracuse by neighbors who were worried about repercussions, sent in to police anonymously
Rosemary worked with Syracuse United Neighbors; fought crime, prejudicial housing, worked on nuisance abatement; also works for Metro Justice, for social, racial, environment
- a brief history: a group of parents in NYC didn’t like the quality of the education given to their children, took the district to court, currently in the NYS court of appeals
- Gov. Pataki was quoted as saying he’d be OK with kids getting an 8th grade education
- fighting for equality in educational financing, lots of disparities;
 ie: $250 per year for music program at Madison HS in Rochester - $3559 per year in Irondequoit
resources, computer labs; school aid system does not make sense
- Senator Roebach believes in campaign for fiscal equity, David Gantt is a sponsor as well
- “fair funding formula” is the ability to pay compared to need
Webster, Rochester 750 under, Greece, 84% increase within 4 years of implementation
- the money comes from the state, thereby alleviating any extra property taxes
- regressive versus progressive taxes since the 1970's, the wealthier you are - the less you pay
- must close loopholes for companies, like in COMIDA, tax breaks, no economic development
- she passed out an info sheet on her organization, a flyer for an event in Feb at the School Without Walls at 7pm, and an article on education from Metro Justice
- $55Million goes to private schools out of our budget; contracts tie their hands, very small amount that actually can be decided on; contact her via LONA Secretary, Pam, for more info.
   
John Rouse Jr - Peace Action Collaborative
- to reduce violence, increase peace; collaborated with Metro Justice
- sick of hearing that Rochester=violence, #1 murder rate in NY State
- seeks to enhance area with groups such as PAC-TAC; doesn’t see younger ones on patrol
- it takes us caring about our neighbors; contact him at: JTHENJR@rochester.rr.com

 

Kathy Pierce, Executive Director of Cameron Communities Ministries
- located at 48 Cameron Street, near #30 school
- 210 attended their Christmas lunch on the Friday before Christmas
- blessed with food donation from a local church
- kids café attendees, usually number over 30 each afternoon
- reading and software contest: books read and tests passed receive recognition          

 

Next Meeting: Monday, March 13, 2006 - see you there!

mapsexoffenders.com

This is a helpful website that everyone can use to locate Level 3 Sex Offenders.

Enter your city (Rochester), state (New York), and zipcode - or leave it blank to get more results, then select "go".

You will also need to select "I accept" the terms of use.

Then "Click to PinPoint the Sex Offenders on the map", and you may need to use the arrows to move the map to be more specific to your particular street(s) of interest.

The zoom can also improve the map's usefullness.

I hope there are fewer of these people in our area each time you check this website. In my opinion, there are too many offenders near our city's schools, daycares, and playgrounds/parks. Please closely supervise and communicate with your children to keep them safe!

http://www.mapsexoffenders.com/

Please also check out our related page: http://journals.aol.com/nicenrg/LONA-SO/

LONA Meeting Minutes of November 14, 2005

LONA Meeting Minutes of November 14, 2005

Meeting began at 7:07pm

Announcements:

- Vice Pres. Bob Van Sice was sick and could not attend this meeting

- please make sure your name and email information is correct

- we need street captains!

Please report any action on you street, or repairs needed, like street lights that are out or big potholes, etc.

Burglary/Robbery Report - NET’s Policeman Joe Hayes:

- few incidents in our area for the past month

Comment: Bergen St was not listed because it was a vacant property, so not counted as Burg/Rob

- Kessler, Robin, Avery Streets: close proximity in the area

- criminals are looking for unlocked doors or windows or high shrubs; they search for targets with the least resistance; don’t leave keys in cars - even when pumping gas!

- PS2's, X-Box, DVD players and other electronic equipment pieces are being stolen

- Santee St: walk-up with a knife, people came to help victimized neighbor and robber was scared off

- Day Light Savings Time: providing criminals with the cover of darkness

- we must watch out for each other; call 911 when something doesn’t look right in our neighborhood

- three to four group size of teens ages 15-18 were seen watching people, good reason to call 911

- new mayor Bob Duffy, and new police chief effective January 1, 2006, re: chief - more than ten names are being tossed around

Q: CGR (Center for Governmental Research) - any news on the future of the NET program?

A: NET’s Sharon Conheady: no word yet - CGR met with everybody - waiting for recommendations to go to City Council

A: NET’s Policeman Joe Hayes: there’s always need for the code inspectors, local officers, enforcement, etc

President Mike Visconte:

brought up a Community PAC-TAC Walk informational flyer that was distributed to another neighborhood group; to help entice participants, they offered refreshments and neighborhood dollars that could be spent at their local participating stores/businesses

A: NET’s Policeman Joe will look into getting a similar program to happen here in our Sector 3

- Larry Stid died; 66 years, former deputy mayor

- street redesign of Lyell: Vice Pres. Bob Van Sice will try to attend

Comment: NET’s Sharon Conheady - there has been flooding on those streets

- bids Glide/Lyell to Emerson; proposals are being taken now

- President Mike suggested "cut out" for parking at the park located at Glide and Emerson Streets

A: NET’s Sharon Conheady - good suggestion, the bidder called NET for Mike’s contact info/phone number

- Friday, November 18 at 10 Felix Street Water Works ground breaking ceremony at 2pm, followed by a reception with refreshments, parking at 25 Felix Street

- cookbooks are still available for sale!

Housing List - The Top 15 Properties Of Concern:

- 5 taken off, and 5 put on

- some locations were referred to the police; NET Officer Dave Minik will follow up with us

NET’s Sharon Conheady:

- building at Emerson and Santee St with safety issues, crumbling bricks

- talked, ticketed, finally took owner to demolition hearing; findings will most likely be that owner will have 3 to 4 months to either fix or demolish

- next-door neighbor has been having a hard time retaining tenants due to the safety concerns with the structural damage on the corner building

- Inspector Mary fined the owner every 60 days for 2 to 3 years

Certificate Of Use (CofU) for businesses - some business owners picketed city hall

- $100 fee to get the CofU initially, only $10 per year to renew; may cost $300 for a conditional certificate if the store has problem activity

- strict distinction is made between the owner and the manager

- NET met with stores regarding nuisance points; many received for staying open after listed hours, such as the business at Emerson and Curlew Streets

Q: curbs that were to be put in back in 1998, still haven’t been done

A: Sharon will look into this issue - also, call Dept. of Health if rodents are there in sewers/drains

- opened 245 new property code cases, closed 342, surveys - those were opened by inspectors when they were out looking at a different site; 76 refuse letters were sent out

Comment NET’s Policemen Joe - crime prevention: "knock and talk", cars were towed, noise control; can’t make it easy for the bad guys!

Q: categories are odd

Answer: NET’s Sharon Conheady - sometimes the term that the caller uses is what the complaint is logged as

Q: 50' noise ordinance - where does it begin?

A: NET’s Policeman Joe - 50' past the property line during the day, not past the property line from 10pm-6am

Comment: with homes close together, should have more consideration for others’ comfort level

- reference to back page of the NET’s statistics pages: enforcement cases in Sector 3 - 423

Q: what is a nuisance letter?

A: nuisance points letter sent to owner to inform them of the warrant against the tenants because of infringement; owner must take serious steps to shut down the location so drug people don’t come back looking for sellers at their property

President Mike Visconte:

met with newly elected mayor Bob Duffy

- we need vacant properties sold or repaired; something must be done!

- asked for money for grants like the ones given to Champion and Michigan Streets

Comment: problem property fixed gutter so there isn’t any water running onto the neighbor’s property

Comment: Karnes St vacant home has a broken gutter and therefore direct water that turns to ice onto neighbor’s driveway

Cameron Community Ministries - Kathy Pierce, Executive Director:

- been active for 21 years, offer well attended kids programs

- very busy general lunch program Monday through Saturday

Rob Blair (new youth director) - school #30 kids after school Monday through Thursday and free Kids Café supper program for everyone under 18 years old

- clothing sold for a modest fee, donations are accepted, volunteers are always needed

- interested in hearing from the LONA community

- Cameron Community Ministries is not a food pantry

- they distribute lots of hats, gloves, and mittens

Comment: kids activities - would they be interested in helping to shovel snow/rake leaves to help older folks?

A: Rob - some groups of sixth graders might be interested, many of their kids are too young

Q: could they cut grass? A: kids need jobs, money, opportunities, so everybody could benefit

Mike: if the kids help the area, maybe LONA could throw them a pizza party/something else nice

City Councilman Bob Stevenson:

- there are currently three proposals regarding making Rochester city homes lead safe

- could cost all property owners anywhere from half a million to 29 million

- affects any house built before 1960, basically that’s every house in the city

- vacant properties could balloon because the average would cost $7500 per unit to fix to make lead-safe

environmental impact:

1. Inspection, 2. Who does, and who pays for it?, 3. Who pays for clean up?, 4. Who pays for re-inspection?

- What triggers an inspection? A complaint by the tenant, C of O, etc?

- no answer yet; will be voted on by December 20th; any thing not passed dies because it does not transfer to the new city council

Comment: if you have three or four units, it could cost $30K to $40K!

Q: What is the inspector’s fee - if a homeowner wants to make sure that their own home is lead safe for their children or grandchildren.

A: $35-$50 (not sure of the number part right now) for the C of O, which is only for rental property

Get The Lead Out program through Action for a Better Community, contact Karen Herman

federalgrants, HUD, county doesn’t even try for the funds - many hoops to jump through to receive funds, not very flexible

- Who pays? Where does the money come from?

- Draft Environmental Impact Statement: effects could be in: Edgerton - 21% vacancy, LONA area - once past Glide Street the numbers went way down,

- lead safe work practices: county will pay for the training with a grant

County Health Dept. - Environmental of Health - Community development, they know answers/guidelines

- there will be a change of many positions with the new mayor and new council

Court Watch - 4 judges are good to work with, but they are still limited

- report/call-in the prostitutes back to the judges!

Neighbor Concerns:

- drug sales on Michigan and Curlew Streets

- prostitutes on Rockview and Isabelle Streets

- suspicious activities on Cameron and Rockview Streets

Bob Stevenson update: - Mr. Finger went in front of a grand jury on October 24th because of his electrical interference with neighbors electronics - more information to come

Bring a dessert to our next meeting on December 12th - and bring a neighbor or two!

Meeting adjourned 8:36pm