Weinland Park Community Civic Association

Safety and Mobility Committee

Summary of Meeting of February 19, 2015

Present: Ahmed Ebady, co-chair, Chris Orban, co-chair, Kelley Miller, Fred Coons, Sgt. Smith Weir, Steve Sterrett, David Campbell, and Officer Steve Smith.

Ahmed Ebady, co-chair of the committee, called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m.

Reporting public safety matters. Mr. Ebady asked if it might be possible to distribute a survey to residents of Community Property of Ohio (CPO) apartments so that they might report public safety problems. Kelly Miller, property manager with CPO, reported that her management company already has an anonymous telephone tip line that residents use to report illegal activities and other public safety matters.Mr. Ebady said his concern is with illegal drug activity that impacts the neighborhood. David Campbell of CPO said that information about drug activity in Weinland Park can be shared with the special-duty officers deployed with the Neighborhood Options for Youth program, whether or not the property is managed by CPO. Sgt. Smith Weir said his experience is that residents are more willing to share information on an anonymous tip line, rather than in writing on a questionnaire. Mr. Campbell explained other methods that CPO managers use to deal with suspected illegal activities.Vacant properties. Mr. Ebady said a couple of vacant properties are vacant on Summit Street just north of East Fifth Avenue, but one of them has been demolished. Steve Sterrett said the Weinland Park Collaborative will sell three or four of its vacant four-unit buildings to Wagenbrenner Development, which will renovate the properties yet this year.Street improvements. The city will hold a public open house on resurfacing North Fourth and Summit streets and adding bike lanes on Summit. The open house will be March 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the citys Northside Neighborhood Pride Center, 248 E. 11th Avenue. Chris Orban, co-chair of the committee, commented on the installation of bike lanes and reported that he had been interviewed by the Lantern newspaper about the bike lanes.

Policing meetings. The Columbus Division of Police is hosting five public meetings in February and March on policing in Columbus. Mr. Sterrett suggested that a representative of Weinland Park should attend one of the public meetings. The committee members discussed a number of policing issues. The public meeting nearest to Weinland Park will be March 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Linden McKinley High School, 1320 Duxberry Avenue.In other matters before the committee:

Mr. Orban said the lighting on Hamlet Street north of East Eighth Avenue is better than he had thought, but lighting south of East Eighth Avenue is problematic due to a tree that has grown over a streetlight.

Mr. Orban reported that the property manager of a nearby unit may have informed the tenant that persons cannot stay in that unit if they are not on the lease. The situation in that unit appears to be quieter.

Mr. Sterrett reported that he is awaiting a return telephone call from a representative in the Columbus office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding neighborhood concerns with Section 8 housing units owned by Veliko Ventures. The representative has been out of town for several weeks of training.

Mr. Orban said he and Martin Weston, another Weinland Park resident, had talked recently about police body cameras. He noted that Columbus City Council approved the purchase of 65 body cameras as a pilot.The business of the committee being concluded, Mr. Ebady adjourned the meeting at 7 p.m. The next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Safety and Mobility Committee will be Thursday, March 19, at 6 p.m. in the citys Northside Neighborhood Pride Center, 248 E. 11th Avenue.Summary prepared by Steve Sterrett.