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MINUTES
Citizen’s District Council Meeting
City of Muskegon CDBG
Conference Room 203
Muskegon, Michigan
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 5:42 p.m. by Patricia Montney
Roll Call
Present
Patricia Montney, Ned Carter, Virgie Jackson, Amy Varnado, Dan Rinsema-
Sybenga
Absent
Muhammad Hakeem, Marcia Hovey-Wright, Thomas Pastoor, Addie Sanders-
Randall, Stephen Gawron
Staff Present
Wilmern Griffin
Ned Carter motioned to approve the minutes and Amy Varnado Seconded -
Minutes were approved.
Old Business
Youth Build Grant
Wil talked about not being funded and that he would be requesting a review
on the application as the need is here in Muskegon and it should have
qualified. He talked about several other communities receiving the funds.
CDBG Stimulus Package
Wil stated that the Commission had passed the White Street use for the
Stimulus Recovery funds. Montney asked about how many properties that
the City owned on the street. He said approximately 8 – 10. He talked
about how the street had never been paved and it overlooks Ryerson Creek,
hoping that it would help to improve the neighborhood like the project over
the Farmer’s Market had. He also stated that Mrs. Montney was not happy
about how the funds were spent.
Extra funding CDBG and HOME
Wil gave an update of how the Commission voted to use the extra funds and
that they went with Staff Recommendations.
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2nd Annual Muskegon Unity Academic Olympics
Wil gave an update on the program, stating it would be Saturday, August
29th, from 11:00 – 2:00 at Nelson Elementary School Field. There would be
additional activities for younger children ages 1 – 5 this year. The group
gave Wil ideas for free coloring books for the event. He talked about
needing volunteers.
New Business
NSP2
Wil gave an overview of the $5 million grant application and some of the
agencies that would be working together on the grant with the City: NIC,
Community Mental Health Services of Muskegon County, and Community
enCompass. He talked about it being divided into five areas which include:
rehab, demolition, new construction, home-ownership training and down-
payment assistance. He talked about the Froebel School project of tearing
down the school and building 10 houses. The application has to be in by the
17th of July so they will be submitting it on the 15th. It would be about 90
days before they would hear back on a determination. There was a
discussion on rehab versus demolition and how the decision was made. Wil
said it was based on several areas – condition of the house, lot size and
house size. There was a discussion on the size of homes built and rehabbed
as to the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
Herman Miller Park Committee
Wil stated that the committee was looking to improve parks in the City
because they only had funding for one piece of playground equipment. The
group had been working with Tom Pastoor from the McLaughlin
neighborhood, located at Terrace and Iona. He wanted to know if there
were any other parks needing improvement. Patricia Montney gave the
suggestion of the park in Angell neighborhood on Catawba Street. Amy
Varnado came up with the name of McCrea Playfield. Virgie Jackson said it’s
in the 700 block of Catawba near where her daughter lived.
Other Business
None
Schedule Next Meeting
September 1st, the normal meeting date for the council each month. Item to
be discuss – the CAPER report.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m. by Patricia Montney.
The minutes are submitted by Patricia Montney.
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