RNCC Meeting Minutes, May 8, 2017
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm by Vice President Naomi Williams and the Vice President’s report was that thank you to Richmore Village and Coronado for the light refreshments and ? of our neighborhoods are members in good standing.
2. MSP approval of the Minutes from the April 10, 2017 meeting.
3. Representatives from the following ( 17) neighborhoods introduced themselves and some gave reports: Belding/Woods, Castro Heights, Coronado, Greenbriar, Hilltop District, Iron Triangle, Laurel Park, May Valley, North & East, Panhandle Annex, Park Plaza, Point Richmond, Pullman, Richmond Annex, Richmond Heights, Richmore Village & Metro Square, and Santa Fe Neighborhood Councils.
4. Announcements from RNCC PIO: Madalyn Law talked about Run for the Trees fundraiser for Richmond Trees on May 27, 2017, the Mira Flores groundbreaking ceremony will be on May 15, 2017 from 10 – 12, Trip to Red Hawk Casino on June 7, 2017 and the cost is $40, Senior night out is May 20, 2017 and the cost is $20, Richmond Promise is having a ceremony on May 25, 2017, Easter Hill Methodist Church is having movie day, Laurel Park is have a neighborhood yard sale on June 3, 2017 from 10 to 4, and Richmond Pride is having an event entitled “Raise Up Together” on Sunday, June 4, 2017.
5. City Department Heads/City Official Reports:
Engineering & Capital Improvements: Yader Bermudez told us that they have completed the left turn lane at Barrett and I-80, Rifle Range Road is having a geologist do soil tests, they are waiting for PG&E to complete their so the City can finish Via Verde, they have started on Unity Park from 4th to 8th Streets on the Greenway, they are working on the Gateway for the Ohlone Trail, and the general paving schedule will begin in June.
City Manager/Community Services: Rochelle Monk told us about Summer camp registration is now open and there will be an open house at the Recreation Complex on may 25th from 5:30 to 7:30. She has submitted the same RNCC budget as we had this year for next year. Please submit applications for National Night Out as soon as possible. Love Your Block is wrapping up its second year with 8 projects. There will be Love Your Block grants next year but they will need to be sustainability grants.
Mayor’s office: Sequoia Erasmus talked about may being Bicycle Month, the Urban garden contest will happen again this year on July 15, 2017; register now, they have begun to bring together a homeless task force. Cinco de Mayo was last weekend and the Mayor was there, they have a newly updated resource guide and there are still vacancies on some of the Boards and Commissions, please apply. This month is also Historic Preservation Month and Time with Tom will be at the Hilltop YMCA. Don’t forget the Rosie Rally on August 12th.
Police Department: Allwyn Brown was not available.
Dept. of Infrastructure, Maintenance, & Operations: Tim Higares They have been given a grant opportunity to hire 15 fully grant funded employees. They do not use pesticides in Richmond which can be a problem, they have identified 8-12 more illegal transfer sites and are working to shut them down. Tim will be sending his superintendents to RNCC so we can hear what they do. They are purchasing 15 cameras for the worst dump sites in the City.
Planning Department: Jonelyn Whales passed out the updated project by neighborhoods list, she was asked about bicycle lanes and whether or not they were going to underground the wires at Wright Ave and Harbour Way.
Fire Department: Adrian Sheppard brought his newest employee, Genevieve Pastor-Cohen to introduce her to use. She will be presenting at a future meeting. Adrian talked about the high fire danger beginning now, they hope to use the Police Departments UAS to help see where there could be potential fire hazards.
WCCUSD: Marcus Walton talked to us about the Mandarin immersion school that will start in the next school year at Serra School. They also have a Spanish dual language classes at Washington Elementary, graduation time starts May 27th, and the school district partnered up with HP and added computers to Kennedy High.
6. Presentations:
1) Urban Forest Advisory Committee: Chair Lee Micheaux, spoke to us about UFAC and its rebirth in 2015 and that they are still looking for commissioners to fill a couple of vacant seats. They now have the Urban Greening Master Plan to work from and they support all of the nonprofits in Richmond that are planting trees from the City of Richmond’s adopt-a-tree program. Right now we only have a 10% tree canopy and we need at least 40% to help with all of the pollutants in the air. She would like neighborhood councils to sign up to have her speak at their meetings and the UFAC is working on the updated approved tree list as well as ordinances that protect the trees in Richmond.
2) CoCo Kids: Katie Melara from a county wide nonprofit that runs 4 programs for young children; like child health and nutrition program and have been doing so since 1976. They have offices in Richmond, Concord and Antioch. They offer free child care referrals, parent education and resources, financial assistance for child care, help for children with special needs, child health and nutrition, training and support for child care providers and public education and advocacy.
3) Parks and Recreation Commission: Chair Maryn Hurlbut, spoke to us about the new commissioners and what they are planning to do in future. They want to get out and know the neighborhood councils that their parks are located in, find out what they need for their parks and get input from the residents that use these parks. You can contact her directly and she will give you the contact information for the commissioner of your park(s).
7. Old Business: Someone to go to NUSA this year in Omaha, Nebraska and Doris Mason, president of the Iron Triangle said she would go.
8. New Business: None
9. Adjournment: This meeting was adjourned by Vice President Naomi Williams at 8:50 pm.