March 2005 minutes

General

Safety
Officer Dean and Chief of Police discuss neighborhood watch
What can we do as individuals and a community for security? Block groups, need a leader to focus resources. Can work with Neighborhood Development, Public Works, Building Codes to get quick action. For example, poorly maintained properties that contribute to criminal behavior can be remedied by notifying building codes, which works for properties with absentee landlords, too. Neighhborhood Watch is a public safety group for community policing and forming patrols. They don’t engage criminals, they are eyes on the street with contacts to notify in case of concerns or activity. The police force wants to work with us to keep everyone safe, and having extra awareness helps them respond. This is an old concept, and requires small areas, a few block with a block captain.

See www.usawatch.org

Stuart Bruce – our district officer, can come talk with us about setting up blocks. Chris noted an old “Belmont Buddy” program with participating houses putting sticker on the front door to let people know they can come for assistance. This could be re-instated. The police are getting far less calls in Belmont than in the past. They want to maintain a good relationship even as crime decreases, to maintain the neighborhood safety. A concern was voiced about response time – We have a dedicated officer in the area at all times, and this should not be an issue, but improvements will be made where needed.

Call 977-9041 to report any non-911 activity that concerns you. You can remain anonymous.

Traffic
We got a handout from Traffic Engineer Ken Keena describing projects under review/design. These will soon be sketched out and ballots sent to adjacent property owners.

Clark School: Curb extensions on Route 20 in design, includes striped crossing and railings.
Monticello Road: – would like to put a series of humps between Carlton and Mas – need to discus locations with property owners and Industries for the Blind
Belmont Park: Rialto does not qualify for humps, might be different in the summer with park traffic. Many kids dart out here due to parking on side streets (Quarry). Need something for safety, maybe marked crossing and sign. Need to meet at Park and review total network.
Complete sidewalk at 613 Meridian: – need letter from adjacent owner (coming soon)
Monticello Road – Speed reduction from 35 to 25 between Blenheim and Druid not approved

Clark School PTO – work on memorial garden project continues.

Clean Up Day – April 9. planning continues and this looks to be a good event.

Fundraising
Community benefit yard sale with bake sale by Belmont Baptist coming soon.

Development. .

Parks
City is undertaking survey of general parks and recreation needs. This is our chance to say what we want in our parks locally and city-wide. Chris Gensic is attending a meeting this week, and will provide an update to the neighborhood.

Newsletter

Actions:Check corner of Belmont Park/Stonehenge – bad curve, cars into guardrail
Sign to warn trucks about difficulty getting through Druid
Check into rumble strips or other safety features around parks
Newsletter – send article ideas to Chris for July edition