Next Meeting:
 8:00 AM Thursday, September 9th, 2010
 at Tommy Brann's, 4157 S. Division

         

  May 13th, 2010
Meeting Minutes [click to download PDF]
1. Call To Order
Members Present: Tommy Brann, Brann’s Steakhouse and Grille; Chief James Carmody, Wyoming Police Department; Steve Karrip, Metro Motors; Tim Pomorski, Affordable Auto Service; Aida Slogar, Lake Michigan Credit Union; Robert Duck, Elite Security/Alpha Players; Tim Reeves, Kelloggsville Public Schools; Harold Mast, Harold Mast Consulting; Susie Hudson, Chase Bank; Dave VanHouten, Windows World; J. Scott Novinski, McDonald’s, Lisa Golder, City of Kentwood; Gary Ball, B-Quick Printing; Dick Jasinski, S.J. Wisinski Realty; Lee Groth, South Godwin Neighborhood Association

2. Approval of Minutes

3. Treasury Report

4. Roundtable
Dick Jasinski: Working on a deal for Farrows Music store property. He said that things seem to be picking up in commercial real estate.

Susie Hudson: Agreed that things seem to be picking up. There are a lot of people trying to start businesses. The bank has to look at cash flow and credit score. A start up needs 20% equity. She said she has given out information on the Kentwood loan program.

Steve Karrip: New Adopt a Block signs are out. These will last longer. He is watching for weeds in the area. The new Adopt a Block sponsors are doing o.k. Not all the funds are collected the Adopt a Block program.

Rob Duck: flowers planted in planters along Division. There were some issues with some of the planters; some of the corners of the forms were broken. They have had difficulty with people riding over the flowers and the Asian community was not welcoming. There seemed to be a suspicion that they would have to pay for the flower. Thanks to Chase for use of their parking lot. There was discussion about what the flowers would look like over time. They were ordered from a greenhouse. Chase bank may be able to match part of a donation. Susie will look into this. Regardless of the potential for a match, DABA will need to reimburse Rob for his expenses.

A motion was made by Mast with Support by Pomorski to approve the expenditure of $2,250 to Rob Duck for reimbursement for the flowers planted.


--Motion Carried—

Dave Van Houten: discussed Kids Day Parade. CBS Outdoor may do some advertisement. Also, Relay for Life if this weekend at Lamar Park.

Lee Groth: said he is preparing for National Night Out. He is looking for a way to involve businesses and residents in the event. They have done a raffle in the past; Lake Michigan Credit Union was the sponsor. They were able to offer advertisement for the sponsors of the event. Dave VanHouten suggested collecting children’s books to give away. After discussion it was suggested that the members of DABA each donate items to give away for a raffle. Aida will assist in collecting the donations.

Chief Carmody: Thanked DABA for their support of the millage request. The Police and Fire Departments will do their best to continue serving the community. This week is Police Week, where police across the country who died in the line of duty are honored. There will be a flag raising today. There have been several shootings in the Detroit area. Ambushes are becoming more common; there seem to be more angry and armed individuals.

There have been some local dealerships that have been broken into. He recommends that owners make it as difficult as possible to break in. The more time it takes to break in the less likely some will try to do it.

Another thing that DABA may see is a change in the speed limits in the city. In 2006 the laws changed with respect to how to determine speeds in Michigan. The law used to allow municipalities to reduce speeds to decrease to the 85th percentile of what speed people are actually driving. The new law took out reference to the 85th percentile and “decrease” of speeds. A local reporter was caught speeding in Kentwood and made the argument that if people are already driving that speed, the speed limit has to be changed to reflect what people are driving. Consequently, the speed limits on arterial streets in Kentwood have been raised. There is a perception that as speed limits increase, people will go faster than the speed limit. But this has not been found to be true. Wyoming has to comply with this requirement as well, which will likely require an increase in speed limits on certain streets.

Tim asked if there can be slow down lights for the areas where there is a school. The Chief said they will look at all school areas to see if this can be completed. The cost to do the analysis is $25,000.

There was additional discussion about the theft of catalytic converters.

Tim Pomorski: said that Kelloggsville will also be participating in National Night Out in Kentwood. Several businesses are participating. The Kelloggsville Community Coalition had a meeting and the Silverline was again discussed. He said a decision on the Silverline may not be made until the 20 year master plan for the ITP is completed. There is going to be a meeting regarding the 20 year plan on May 19th, so if you want to express your opinion about the Silverline, you should attend. There is also a meeting at the City of Kentwood offices tonight.

Harold Mast: said he is working on getting more businesses to join the DABA. He has lists of businesses in Kentwood and Wyoming and has found out of the 25 businesses he looked at, only 2 were members. He will continue to work on this. He asked about interest in contacting businesses that are south of 44th Street; Tom, Steve, and Jerry have tried four times to get these businesses to participate. Some are interested, but they need to have more participation to be able to offer weed spraying.

Engles Jewelers were members last year. The ownership may change this year. That area within Kentwood is a $35.00 membership area, although Scotts Barbershop has been a member for years and paid the full fee.
We should talk to the businesses about the benefits of the BRT. The information about the BRT is on the ITP website; we may be able to provide a link so that we can link from our website to the ITP website.

Scott Novinski: He is the owner of the McDonalds. They have had difficult times keeping managers. The construction from the bridge actually helped them last year. Since January sales have picked up. They are thinking about fencing the property to minimize the impact of the adjacent hotel and its clientele. Promotion of the parade is important to them because it builds the family atmosphere which will help keep McDonalds successful.

Chief Carmody said that it is difficult because hotels are businesses and they have some protection to run a legitimate business. The managers have been very uncooperative. There are issues with the Grand Rapids Inn that houses former inmates. There are about 80-90 inmates housed there.

Scott said he was going to put signs up that indicate that the McDonald’s parking is for McDonalds patrons, and that cars will be towed if left there.

Lisa Golder: said that the city is please that the Kentwood millage was approved. Work is continuing on the new library. The library will contain an Entrepreneurial Center where people that want to go into business can do research, prepare business plans, get counseling, etc.

Gary Ball said the fund balance is $5102.07. There are currently 42 members. 13 of the Adopt a Block businesses have paid.

Aida said she lost the minutes from last month. LMCU raised $10,000 for DeVos Children’s Hospital. They are participating in relay for Life this weekend. Starting in June LMCU is one of the sponsors of Blues in the Mall, which takes place every Wednesday night for 10 weeks. LMCU is also doing various activities with the school.