Lancaster Lofts

Posted March 28, 2009:
Minutes from the Near East Side Neighborhood Association meeting of January 7, 2009.

1517 East Lancaster Ave.

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

I: Meeting Date: 01/07/09

II: Place: RBI

III: Attendance and Quorum:

The following NESNA officers were present at the meeting. Their attendance constituted a quorum:

President: Flora Brewer Paulos Properties/RBI flora@lancasterlofts.com

Vice President: Don Shisler Union Gospel Mission ugmftw@swbell.net

Treasurer: Bob Gallant Eastside Marble and Granite Marbgran@swbell.net

Secretary: Felicia Grantham CFW Community Relations felicia.grantham@fortworthgov.org

Also in attendance were:

Bernadine Newman

Lancaster Lofts

bernanew@yahoo.com

David Crim, Ofc.

FWPD

david.crim@fortworthgov.org

Donna Eldridge, Ofc.

FWPD

donna.eldridge@fortworthgov.org

Dwayne Kinloch

PNS

dkinloch@pns-tc.org

Eddy Newman

Lancaster Lofts

Kenny Kilgore

Andy’s

krkcycle@sbcglobal.net

Maria Cabello

Rhythm Band

maria@rhythmband.com

Neale Mansfield

Feed By Grace

feedbygrace@sbcglobal.net

Stanley Maneikis

UGM-TC

smaneikis@ugm-tc.org

Steve Braun

TC ACCESS

ssbraun@tcaccess.org

Tracy Edwards

CFW Community Relations

tracy.edwards@fortworthgov.org

Triva Watts

VA

triva.watts@va.gov

Victoria Capik

CFW Community Relations

victoria.capik@fortworthgov.org

Discussion:

Last Meeting Recap

* Flora reviewed last month’s discussion of loitering around DRC and Andy’s
* Decision to pursue no-parking on Cypress
o Within a month we should have no-parking signs posted on Cypress

TC Access Interview

* Broadcast on December 27th on WFAA, Steve Braun was interviewed about the use and abuse of the scan cards.
* (Shisler) How do you think it was perceived?
o (Braun) I think they well represented the card’s usefulness in tracking services. Now starts the discussion of where do we go from here?
o (Braun) Perhaps we should take this discussion of the scan cards to the Service Provider’s Roundtable?
* (Shisler/Kinloch) We give yellow temp cards until the TB test can be done.
* (Braun) Scan cards were not created to be ID cards
o (Maneikis) Though I’ve seen people presenting these cards to the police as ID.
o (Crim) We don’t take those cards at face value – we would look into the situation more closely to verify a person’s identity.

Andy’s

* Homeless have moved from DRC to Andy’s.
* (Flora) How can we keep people from camping at Andy’s?
o (Kilgore) We had issues before, but I would tell them to clean it up and they would. They’ve been taking advantage of the situation this time. I don’t see what good it will do to tell them to leave – they’ll just keep coming back. If I push too hard, that’s when vandalism happens and stuff gets stolen.
o (Kilgore) The issue stems from the bus stop – I’d prefer it wasn’t there at all. It’s a safety issue even – no set-back from the street, no place for people to stand!
o (Flora) What if we removed the bench?
o (Crim) The majority of people congregate there because they are looking for a place to sit.
o Propose letter to The-T
+ Bus Stop a problem
+ Too close to street
+ Too much trash accumulation
+ Not enough room for people to congregate
+ At minimum, take away the bench
* (Crim) PD can handle the people, but we can’t move stuff.
* (Kilgore) That’s when I’m afraid of retaliation – if I move their stuff
* (Brewer) I personally picked up the stuff left on your (Andy’s) property during our clean-up day and we haven’t had any complaints from that.
* (Gallant) We can post signs of when we will pick up the stuff.
* (Kilgore) Is there anywhere to store items?
* (Gallant) Yes – the Day Resource Center has an area and they are currently making a bigger storage space.
* (Kinloch) The homeless have a great communication system. If you draw the line and be consistent, the word will spread. You have the most hard-core chronic homeless camping on your property. They are not accessing services or in a program. You just need to post signs and be consistent.
* (Brewer) Neil has a truck, homeless men in a Jobs Program, and a large dumpster…
* (Shisler) Best bet is to fence
* (Mansfield) Saturday is best day for clean-up
* (Crim) I’ll spread the word

Election of Officers

* The following offices have been filled as follows for 2009:
o President – Steve Braun, Director, Tarrant County Access for the Homeless
o Vice-President – Neale Mansfield, Director, Feed by Grace
o Secretary – Bernadine Newman, resident, Lancaster Lofts
o Treasurer – Bob Gallant, owner, Eastside Marble and Granite

Other News

* (Kilgore) Received a letter from a homeless man – Braggs, about a Mercedes parked at 1502 Lancaster.
o (Brewer) That’s my property. There’s no Mercedes there, but please send me a copy of that letter.
* (Brewer) I am taking a full-time job working for Vicki Niedermayer with Helping Restore Ability in Arlington.
* Kathleen Hicks will be present at the next East Fort Worth Business Association meeting.
* Please RSVP to Steve Braun regarding attendance to the NESNA meetings so that he can make sure lunch is provided. Cost will be split and determined at the meeting. Bob Gallant will order lunch and pay from NESNA account.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

VI. Approval of Minutes

The above minutes were approved by a majority of board members at a board meeting held on ______________________, at which a quorum was present.

Secretary: Bernadine Newman