2007-11-19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Mr. Richard Collins, 108 Wilson Court, said there will be a meeting with the th Meadowcreek Parkway and interchange consultants on November 26 where people can see what historic resources will be affected. He said the Vietnam Memorial is valuable to the public. Ms. Laura Knox, 709 Lyons Court Lane, said she is a neighbor of Cheryl Leitch and thinks the City is responsible for fixing the sewer line problem. She said she is concerned about the health risks. Mr. Wyck Knox, 709 Lyons Court Lane, supported Ms. Leitch, and said he thinks the City should help fix the sewer line. Mr. Tripp Copeland, 883 Locust Avenue, said he thinks the City has a significant crime issue. He said there was a recent homicide close to his house. He said public safety is not included in the Council’s vision statement, and suggested that there be more acknowledgement of public safety issues. Mr. John Pfaltz, 1503 Rugby Avenue, asked that Council make public what parameters are given to the City Manager about the upcoming budget. He said it is Council’s duty to shape a broad outline. Mr. Downing Smith, 810 Locust Avenue, said that Jane McGowan’s murder occurred in his rental property in his back yard. He said it was a very stressful situation and all the neighbors were upset. He said the City police did a great job. He said they were efficient, effective and sensitive, and suspects were in custody in three days. He commended Mark Fields in the Police Department. He said we have a really good police force. Ms. Mary Robinson, 2505 Williston Drive, expressed concern about Crow and Smith Pools. She said they are strategically placed next to schools. She said they are used by the public but not the schools. She said the pools need only minor renovation. She said they are truly public pools while the YMCA is more of a country club. Ms. Naomi Roberts, 1140 St. Clair Avenue, agreed with comments made about the Police Department. She said they are short staffed and she hopes Council will provide more money and benefits for the department. COUNCIL RESPONSES TO MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC Dr. Brown thanked Mr. Smith for taking the time to come to the meeting to make his comments about the Police Department. He said Ms. McGowan’s death was a real tragedy for the community. Ms. Hamilton thanked Ms. Leitch for coming. She said she has realized that her church has a similar issue and it also happens all over the City. She said the question is how to balance who gets help. She said when put into a broader context it makes it more complicated. She said she hopes the City can help. Mr. Lynch said that as we get into the budget it would be helpful to have a work session on neighborhood policing. He said crime rates are going back up and the number of officers is going down. He said we need a strategy to be more effective. He said he wants to see how new positions will be used. Mr. Taliaferro agreed with Ms. Hamilton’s comments about Ms. Leitch’s sewer problem, and said he hopes we can work with her. He said he and Mr. Norris talked about more transparency in the budget process at their press conference last week. He said he thinks we need to do a head county of City employees and their functions. Dr. Brown said he thinks we need to work on public safety, and as the City becomes denser we need to assure that we have adequate police resources, and may need to be put more resources in the budget.