RNCC Meeting Minutes, July 13, 2015
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm by President Don Woodrow.
2. MSP approval of the Minutes from June 8, 2015 General Meeting.
3. Representatives from the following (16) neighborhoods introduced themselves and some gave reports: Belding Woods, Coronado, Fairmede/Hilltop, Hilltop District, Hilltop Villages, Laurel Park, Marina Bay, May Valley, North & East, Panhandle Annex, Park Plaza, Pt. Richmond, Pullman, Richmore Village and Metro Square, Santa Fe, and Shields/Reid Neighborhoods.
4. City Department Heads/City Official Reports:
Public Works: Yader Bermudez was not available but Tawfic Halaby from the Engineering part of Public Works was available. Tawfic passed out the 3 week paving schedule and talked about the slurry seal project and the Macdonald Ave from 23rd to the underpass as well as the Nevin Ave project from Civic Center and the Richmond BART station.
Engineering Services: Staff spoke for Public Works.
City Manager/Community Coordinator: Rochelle Monk talked about the Community Survey that is now available online, now is the time to let the City know your feelings. On September 20th there will be a Youth Leader Committee event, more information to come. The City has National Night Out handouts in Spanish and English. There will be a JFK Park Design update on July 25th from 11-2. The applications for the Love Your Block mini grants will come out sometime in October but start thinking of ways and groups that could use these mini grants in the neighborhoods. This is a 3 year project with the main emphasis on Parchester Village and Shields/Reid NCs. They will have door hangers to let people know about this great happening in the City.
Mayor’s office: Alex Knox- Mayor Tom Butt will be making a presentation, so are not speaking here.
Police Department: Chief Magnus spoke to us about some changes in the department, such as Deputy Chief Medina retiring and Captain Sappal leaving to become the Police Chief in Martinez. Crime is up 15% across the board since the beginning of the year. There will be no Crime Prevention meeting this month but there will be a Safe City Summer event on August 22nd. He would like it if the ncs would have tables at the event. There will be a backpack giveaway, the FBI, ATF, Cepted and K-9 demonstrations to name just a few. There was some discussion about doing something about the illegal fireworks for next year. This is a campaign that must start much earlier in the year. RPD is working closely with ATF to reduce violence. Commercial burglaries are up 42% and most did not have alarms. Auto burglaries are also up 28% but residential burglaries are down 23%. There will be caravans for National Night Out throughout the City.
Code Enforcement: Tim Higares – Not available.
Planning Department: Staff – Not available.
Fire Department: Terry Harris talked about this being a “Huge” fire season from May to October and that everyone should keep their grass cut to 6” at the highest. They are working on keeping the weeds and grasses at City owned properties down so as not to be a fire hazard.
5. Announcements from RNCC PIO: Garland Ellis told us about the Community Fund Golf Tournament on September 28th and put on by the Mayor. The WCCUSD is feeding children during the summer and the El Sobrante and the San Pablo Libraries are two locations. The Chevron Refinery Tour is August 22nd, beginning at 11:00 am. MTC has a project lane alignment which includes some streets having 2 lanes in one direction, 3 lanes in the other and a bike lane. You have until July 20th to submit comments.
6. Presentations:
1) Pastor Donnell Jones of CCISCO, was unavailable.
2) Mayor Tom Butt talked about his first 180 days in office. He received a notice to report to jury duty and will serve if picked. He is a beekeeper as well as an architect. He will be having another Mayor’s Business Roundtable in July 30th to find out from the businesses in Richmond what brought them here and what will keep them here. The City has received a 5.1 million dollar grant for the Mira Flores site and will begin construction soon. They are moving forward on the Promise Program and the Mayor has raised $50,000.00 towards the $100,000.00 he is raising for the new Branding and Marketing for the City of Richmond. The City received a .5 million dollar grant to plant trees and reduce carbon footprints. The Mayor is looking for a student intern to help in the Mayor’s office. There are 2 more City Council meetings and the main topic will be rent control. There is no update on the Hilltop Mall sale, there has been talk of the North Richmond annexation by the City but there would need to be a $100,000.00 feasibility study done and it is not good financially for the City to take on north Richmond at this time. He talked about weeds and the weekly weeders in Pt. Richmond and there is are always the use of goats to help with weeds. He talked a bit about form based codes and what it can and cannot do for the City but he is always looking for the citizens input on these and other matters regarding the best for the City.
7. Old Business: Election of Chiara Jacobus as the Sergeant at Arms and Weiler Jones as the Director at Large to fill the 2 vacancies we have on the Executive Board. They were elected with one nay.
8. New Business: -No new business.
9. Adjournment: This meeting was adjourned at 8:17 PM by the President, Don Woodrow.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jan Mignone
Recording Secretary
The Next Executive Board meeting will be July 20, 2015 at 6:30 pm and the next General Board meeting will be September 14, 2015 in Council Chambers at 7:00 pm.
Thank you for tonight’s refreshments provided by Richmond Annex and Marina Bay NCs.