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September 23, 2008
The meeting began at 7:05 with about
30 people in attendance.
Our council members, Karl Nurse and
Jamie Bennett, were also present, as was Lee Santiago from
the Police Department District I Community Service group.
Dennis Coley opened the meeting with
crime issues and Officer Santiago provided statistics for
the last 3 months. There were 17 break-ins but they were
fairly close together, which is somewhat alarming and which
resulted in the PD giving us extra attention in the form of
26 directed patrols. If you thought there was a heavier
than usual police presence in Lakewood, you were right.
Officer Santiago also stressed that
we must call 551-3181 for ongoing problems that don’t
require immediate police attention because calling in those
items to the Civic Association not only results in a delay
but provides them with second-hand information. They’d
rather hear from you directly.
Dennis reminded everyone that the
problem with random gun fire is ongoing and that if you know
where those shots are coming from, the police want to hear
from you. We cannot stop this dangerous practice without
help from the residents. Call 893-7780 if you hear gun
shots – you can
remain anonymous.
Dennis also mentioned that we are
looking to form a late-night patrol on weekends (11 p.m. to
4 a.m.) in an effort to identify those who come through
Lakewood and litter, usually on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Anyone wishing to take part in this short-term (perhaps 3-4
weeks) effort is asked to contact Dennis at 865-1179 or
vplakewood@verizon.net.
Hats and t-shirts were provided to
those who wish to patrol and as always we are asking for
more patrollers. We added 12 this summer; we’d like more.
Karl Nurse made several interesting
announcements:
On 9/29 the city will begin an
intense campaign to let everyone know that the turn-around
time for several areas of code enforcement is being
shortened to 24 hours. Chief among these are yard parking
and snipe signs. Beginning 11/3, cars found parked in the
yard and not removed within 24 hours will be subject
to a $100, and the fine goes up with each additional
offense. And moving the car and replacing it with another
one won’t work – any car still there after 24 hours will be
the subject of a fine.
A similar system is
being created for snipe signs.
The
city has begun a program to assist those in danger of
foreclosure, the first part of which is available now at the
Neighborhood Housing Services facility at 1600 MLK Street
South. Negotiations to get recycling are finally underway
between the City and the County, and this time the Mayor is
indicating he will listen and take the proposal under
consideration.
Jamie Bennett gave some details
about the coyote problem, reminding us that this is a
federally protected species but that if we are going to
venture into a control/removal program, he needs to hear
from anyone whenever a coyote is spotted in Lakewood. You
can email him at
jbennet@stpete.org; you can call 893-7171 and leave a
message for him; or you can call the Civic Association with
the date and time and place and it will be reported. He
needs detailed information.
Jamie also entered into a lively
debate with some members about the controversial dog park
just approved by the council and about the 100% increase in
recreation fees for use of the parks.
Our councilmen then left the room
for a discussion about the proposed build-out of the Bethel
Community Church site, which is coming up for hearing before
the Development Review Commission on October 1st.
Several members were concerned about the 3- and 4-story
proposed ALFs being out of character for this neighborhood,
especially considering efforts to preserve our low-density
designation. Two people with a knowledge of the previous
history of this church pointed out that an ALF at the 16th
Street site failed, leaving a poorly maintained building
that was later taken over by HUD and is now something of a
drug den. The consensus was that Lakewood should oppose
these two structures; a letter will go to the DRC to that
effect.
Judy Ellis covered a variety of
topics, including:
Patsy Wedding’s induction into the
St. Petersburg Senior Hall of Fame late last May. This is
very deserved and way overdue.
Status of the improvements to the
rundown house at 4801 MLK Street South
Our membership is now at 331.
A summary of the Alcazar project
and the resulting extra attention that street is now getting
from both the PD and Transportation. Speed humps are being
expedited and the PD is going to run radar on the block over
the next few weeks.
A “Share the Road Ride” scheduled
for Sunday, 10/19, including a zip through Lakewood (in at
the urns at 35th Terrace, up Fairway, around the
Country Club, and out via MLK St. So); some 300-600 cyclists
will be demonstrating that they can obey the stop signs and
the traffic lights and learn to share the road. We drivers
need to meet them half way!
We are getting 10 more flowering
trees, this time for 4 or 5 of our more barren traffic
islands.
If anyone wants to come up with a
clever name for our newsletter, we’d like to hear it.
If you’re disabled and afraid the
EMTs may have to break in after you’ve called for help, you
can get a little box with a key pad on it in which to lock
your house key and leave it outside for the EMTs to access
and get in through your door without doing damage.
Apparently this device is available at hardware stores.
And given out as handouts were
4-color flyers reminding us all that a huge part of our
state budget comes from tourists, so we need to be nice to
them. Smile. Be helpful. About 40,000 jobs in Pinellas
County depend on it!!
Don Burke won the 50/50 and
graciously returned it to the LECA treasury.
The next meeting is 11/25; our
special guest will John Sinibaldi, a bicyclist with his
finger on the pulse of the bike club and sympathy for the
stress on both sides in the ongoing war between the
4-wheelers and the 2-wheelers. He is coming to answer your
questions and to seek some meeting of the minds on this
emotionally charged subject.
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