Meeting Minutes for August 2020

/

Crestwood South Neighborhood Association August 2020 Meeting

August 24, 2020

President: Kayla MacNeil
Vice President: Elizabeth Murray
Secretary: Steven MacNeil

  1. Meeting Minutes - February 2020

  2. Meeting Minutes - June 2020

    • Minutes posted on crestwoodsouth.com

    • Motion to postpone approval of June minutes until special meeting September 8 made by Elizabeth Murray, seconded by Camille Worthington

      • Approved by unanimous consent

  3. Presentations

    • Leonette W. Slay - League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham

      • Provided information on absentee voting in anticipation of the upcoming November 3, 2020 general election

    • Hunter Garrison & Thomas Yuill - Southern Area Framework Plan

      • Plan provides a profile of current demographic, market, land use and development trends

      • Plan will inventory of community facilities, parks and transportation infrastructure

      • Data is collected through various public outreach methods including: public meetings, stakeholder interviews, surveys, Nextdoor, etc.

      • Plan then outlines goals and recommends actions for near and long-term implementation

      • Asking for feedback from the community at https://www.imaginebham.com/
        southernarea.html

      • Councilor Valerie Abbott stressed the importance of community participation for the success not only the plan but by extension, the city itself

  4. Reports

    • Officer Elections: Postponed until 2021

      • Requirements

        • Be a resident of the City of Birmingham who is at least eighteen (18) years of
          age

        • Has resided in the neighborhood for at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the Declaration of Candidacy deadline

        • Has attended at least four (4) of that neighborhood’s meetings during the previous twelve (12) months prior to the Declaration of Candidacy deadline

          • Harold Houston clarified that an exception was made to include all 12
            meetings since October 2019's CSNA meeting

        • Candidate declarations due September 14, 2020

    • Fire/Police

      • Jessica Burton from the BPD East Precinct reported that property and violent crimes have decreased in the East Precinct over the previous week, however there has been an uptick in firearms being stolen from vehicles

    • Birmingham Library - Vincent Solfronk

      • Reported that Mayor Woodfin's proposed budget will furlough the entire city library staff and asked for community support for the libraries

      • In addition to furloughing employees for an indeterminate amount of time, the Eastwood branch is likely to be closed

      • The budget cuts will also cease digital services for library patrons such as ebook and other digital rentals

      • Amy Ware made a motion to send a letter in support of the Eastwood library and the city library staff to Mayor Woodfin's office, seconded by Rose Cook.

        • Approved by unanimous consent

      • In response to a question about the line item in the Mayor's proposed budget, Hunter Williams clarified that the library's budget was cut from $12.8M to $11.5M and that the specifics of the budget allocation are at discretion of the Library's
        Board.

    • CRR - Harold Houston

      • Provided the trash and brush schedule for the remainder of the year as well as the balance of the neighborhood's account

        • Projected balance of $27,781.00 going into Fiscal Year 2021

    • Hunter Williams, Councilor, District 2

      • Fielded questions about the proposed budget:

      • Underlined the concerns about students not having access to a traditional learning environments due to the COVID pandemic

      • Noted that there has been some misinformation in regard to an increase in the BPD budget, clarifying that the additional funding is the salaries of existing city security guards that have been previously funded by their respective institutions

    • Terri Michal, School Board, District 2

      • Detailed efforts by the school board to provide computers, cellular Wi-Fi hotspots and other equipment to students to facilitate remote learning

      • City schools will begin the first nine weeks of the school year remotely before re-evaluating the status of the pandemic

      • Programs have been put in place to educate students and parents on how to use provided equipment and software for remote learning

      • Voiced concerns about possible negative impact of the pandemic on enrollment

      • Middle school sports have been cancelled but high school sports are not, however in-person attendance has been limited to mitigate spread of COVID

  5. Announcements

    • Bulk trash & brush pickup: September 2 & 23

    • Recycling pickup: September 2

    • Special called meeting: September 8

    • Next monthly meeting: September 28 @ 6:30