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July 2023 Meeting Minutes

7/17/2023

CANA July 17th, 2023 Meeting Minutes
Call to Order: 7:01pm
Call to order: Chief Smith, Lt. Welsh, Betsy Borchardt, Denise Klemp, George Heeren, Amy Hall-Haney, Matt Wagner, Nicole Schroeder, Councilwoman Ashley Vanorny

CRPD Update - Lt. Welsh - Recruits are in their 8th week with 1st week of October graduation. Three additional officers will be coming in from other institutions. City has hired an international association for hiring the new chief of police in Cedar Rapids. Lt. Welsh’s division is hosting a summer youth golf event. High school students are partnered with officers on Tuesday afternoons to golf at Twin Pines and build a connection outside of uniforms. PD responded to 630 firework calls between June 16th and July 9th. August 1st is National Night Out and Sgt. Roberts has CANA on the list. Lt. Welsh will not be in attendance at our August 2023 meeting.
Treasurer's Report - Amy Hall-Haney - Current balance in checking is $2,512.62. We are waiting on $1,114.75 in reimbursements. Our final balance after the reimbursements will be $3,227.37. $4,310.01 is our remaining budget balance from FY23 and will be put towards the pavilion rebuilding. We started fresh with $10,000 effective 7/1/23 for FY24.
CRFD Update - Chief Smith - Review of Neighborhood News. Fireworks sales are over for the summer. Reminder that fireworks are prohibited in City limits. Two fires were associated with fireworks in Cedar Rapids this summer. There were several other grass and dumpster fires that were reported. The City is still looking for volunteers to “Spot the Hot” campaign. CRFD has hired seven new firefighters in 2023. Applications are now open again through the end of summer, then another class will be opening in March 2024. CRFD is working with staff on health and safety check-ins and protocols as well as health services and building upgrades. Majority of CRFD stations are managed very well, but adjustments will be analyzed and changes will be strategized in the coming months for future improvements.
City Update - Betsy Borchardt - The City is seeking people for the “Tree Bud” tree watering volunteer group. More information is available online to sign up. The City is also working with Veo (city bicycles and scooters) on messaging and information on how to appropriately ride, access, and park the motorized bikes/scooters. Neighbors may have noticed a slight time change on garbage/recycling pickups as there have been recent changes to the pickup schedule.
Matt Wagner - SAFE-CR - 675 nuisance calls with over 400 active nuisance properties currently. Majority of these are owner-occupied units. July has been very busy with fireworks calls. 16 citations were issued this summer.
- George Heeren reported on the vehicle parked on 17th St SW that was blocking the sidewalk. It has been moved onto the grass and neighbors are very happy that the sidewalk is no longer blocked.
- George Heeren reported a cleaner status of the property on 8th Ave/16th St SW. Neighbors have been asking about this, but it has seen improvements.
Councilwoman Ashley Vanorny - The City Development Committee has been busy with flood protection partnerships in the community, including homes being moved. They are trying to be very delicate as this is an emotional experience for homeowners. There is a dog park, skate park, and other city amenities being added in the revitalized area. Additionally, Riverside Park skate park is opening August 1st! That skate park was moved up. The City has been reviewing study data on the multi-generational center. This would offer services beyond the NW Rec Center and replace some of the services that the Witwer Center used to provide. The City is looking at the community’s sporting needs, including one singular major pool center, available to all schools and community programs as well. The City is currently looking at investments in the schools overall. The high schools that currently have pools need significant usage and accessibility upgrades, but are incredibly expensive. The City looks to bring a bond issue to the November ballot for the school district since they have not gone to bond in more than 20 years. The school facilities are overdue for upgrades.
Park Updates - George Heeren - Tyler with Parks was meeting last Friday with the leaders that are working on the parking and pavilion bids, and he has not reported back just yet on the results of that meeting. The City is laying out the new parking area and will add 10-15 more parking stalls potentially with the expansion of parking moving towards 1st Ave. This also includes additional handicap accessible parking spots. This fall, they will be tearing up the splash pad to add some space as well as upgrade sidewalks to be ADA-compliant. Once the concrete work is done, the new shade shelters we purchased in FY22 will be added. The pavilion roof will be replaced and our partial funding from FY23 will be added to the budget. I’m
National Night Out - Nicole Schroeder - Scheduled from 5:30-7pm on Tuesday, August 1st at Cleveland Park. CANA will provide burgers and hot dogs with buns and condiments as well as bottled water and paper products. Jessica English with Hillside Wesleyan Church will be helping with grilling. Neighbors are encouraged to bring a side dish or dessert to share. There is a Facebook event live online. Nicole will be working on ordering new yard signs and also contacting Brian and Mandy with HyVee for purchasing the food items.
Other Business
- There are three more Rollin’ Recmobile stops at Cleveland Park. They are from 11:30am to 1:30pm on Mondays.
- There are two more Mobile Tech Lab stops at Cleveland Park with CR Public Library this summer on July 19th and August 2nd at 4:30pm.
- On Saturday, August 19th, HyVee on Johnson Ave will be hosting a K9 police department event from 10am to 2pm. They have invited us to bring a tent and hand out neighborhood information. George Heeren will be attending and other neighbors are welcome. More information will be available in the coming weeks.

Meeting adjourned at 7:57pm.

Next Meeting: Monday, August 21st, 2023 at 7:00pm

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