Triangle Neighborhood Association Meeting

Monday, January 8, 2007

1. Howard Sholl, TNA President, started the meeting at 7:06 PM.

2. At the start of the meeting, 21 persons were present and seven persons walked in late.

3. Due to a Delaware State Chamber of Commerce meeting, several of the normal speakers could not be present.

4. Bud Freel, Councilman-at-Large, addressed the group:

· The residence at 800 West 22nd street has been condemned as unlivable. A hearing has been set for September. The owner is not permitted to live in the residence. She cannot get a permit to do repairs. A hearing will be held to determine the value of the property. The city does not go to condemnation very often. The city will buy the property, have it repaired, and then sell it. In brief, the city will repair and flip the house to a new owner.

· The Department of licenses and inspections has a new policy on sanitation issues. Starting April 1, an owner of a property which is in violation of sanitation issues will receive an “instant ticket” of $50. Provisions have been made for a warning period. Fliers explaining the new law are available tonight. The sanitation issues include high grass and trash which are visible.

· Question from the floor: How strict will the enforcement be? For example, some homes have unconventional plants on the front lawn. Will this become an issue? Answer: For the most part, gardens on the front lawn are not considered a sanitation issue. In the past, however, there have been notices given for plants which encroach on walkways.

· Question from Tom Baker: How will enforcers deal with trash in plastic bags placed out at night and are gone before 10 AM? When the enforcer comes, the evidence is gone. Answer: One is supposed to have a trash can. The hours are: trash can out at 6 PM, and taken back by 6 PM. This new law will not focus on the timing of placing trash cans out for collection.

· Question from the floor: Due to the Route 202 construction, trucks are being routed through 24^th street. Is this permitted? Answer: This is not permitted. Bud will look into the issue.

· A handout on trash and litter has been placed in the mail. Notice the pick-up schedule for the year.

· The topic of recycling has received much discussion. Recycling will be expanded to other areas of the city. Presently, recycling is not scheduled for the Triangle Neighborhood. Information on recycling is available.

· In the current recycling program, 33 gallon cans are being used. These are the smallest one available. The color has been changed to fit in more with the red brick facades of the houses in the city.

· Once recycling is expanded to the entire city, there will be employees of the recycling vendor available to help answer questions.

· The city will break even on the cost associated with recycling. Currently, there is a $50 dumping fee. With recycling, there will be a cost of $2 per month per household. Less material will need to go to the landfill, so fewer dumping fees will be paid.

· The normal routine is one recycling day followed by one regular trash day.

· The Delaware Solid Waste bins will remain at Baynard Stadium.

· Question from Pat Joyce: Mailboxes are missing from our neighborhood. There is one at Terry Apartments. There are two mailboxes at 11^th and Bancroft Parkway. About four mailboxes were removed for the Triangle Neighborhood. Observation from the floor: The US Postal Service has removed mailboxes due to lack of volume. Answer: Someone should call Senator Caper’s Office or Representative Castle’s office to register a complaint.

· Announcement from the floor: The Wilmington City Fire Department has received commendation as the department with the second highest response in the country. Only the New York City Fire Department is quicker.

5. Howard Sholl addressed the group:

· We have ten new members in the TNA. One new couple and one new individual were present at the meeting and acknowledged.

· Important phone numbers will be posted on TNA Newsletters in February.

· Please note that John Rago’s mother passed away recently.

· At the last meeting, a member reported finding a gun near the curb. When she called the police, no one came to retrieve the gun. At the last meeting, John Rago said he would look into the matter. By way of email, John Rago reported that the problem of lack of response was traced to a shift change. The civilian call taker has be reprimanded and given additional training.

· Does anyone have anything to bring to the attention of the group?

6. Concetta LaMarca spoke about the publishing of a membership directory. The data has been entered, and will be updated soon. The directory lists members’ names, addresses and phone numbers, but the names of children are not included. Only those who checked “yes” will be included. How will TNA publish this list? Some concerns were raised about making the list available on the web. People do not want to be googled. The resolution of the group was that the list will be emailed to those who supplied email addresses. Printed copies will be available at the meetings for those without email addresses.

7. Howard Sholl mentioned that the TNA egroup is to be used only for local issues. It is not a forum for national issues. We want to stay away from polarizing issues.

8. Tom Baker mentioned that false alarms will be costly in the future. The first two incidents of false alarms will be without cost; however, the third false alarm will carry a $100 fee.

9. Captain Maggetti addressed the group:

· He introduced himself as the captain for the second council district. His phone number is 576- 3187.

· The city will be teaming with DuPont Company to bring Tavis Smiley to the Chase Center on the Riverfront to speak at 3 PM next Monday, January 15. All are welcome to attend.

· The crime stats for last month are available. It was a slow month.

· A flier was distributed listing that Wayne Jackson is wanted for burglaries. His approach is to ask for work, then receive entrance to person’s homes. The flier contains a photo.

· On the day after Thanksgiving there was a robbery, and the individual fled on a bike.

· A gentleman was selling drugs near the police station. He has been arrested, and is currently in custody.

· There was a home invasion in the 300 block of West 26th street. Make sure all doors are locked. Use outside lighting. Protect yourself and your property in simple ways to make entry very difficult.

· This time of year sees commercial (cleaners, convenience stores) robberies increase. Recently, a 17 year old went to rob three stores in quick succession. In all he was charged with nine robberies with a gun. He is in custody.

· Recall a man was duped on eBay by a scan artist who wanted him to pay taxes on winnings in a lottery.

· Observation from the floor: Residents of 2002 N. Broom spoke to the group of a break in at 2004 N. Broom. The renters were away on a Christmas break. They are teaches. The intruder cracked drywall and a door window glass to gain entry. The owner is fixing up the property now. In another incident, (October 26) a pocketbook was stolen from 2002 N. Broom.

· The emails about groups of students in the Triangle Neighborhood have been seen. Report these incidents to the police. Be more active neighbors rather than passive neighbors. Look out for each other. Let these students know their behavior will not be tolerated.

· All rear basement doors and windows can be points of entry for robbers.

· Spend money on good locks

· First Alert makes an alarm system for doors. Piece of mind is priceless.

10. Howard Sholl announced that the next meeting will be held on Monday, February 12, not on the first Monday of the month. Reason: Warner School is closed on the first Monday of February. We may have to change the date of our April meeting, as well.

11. Lee McKelvey gave a treasurer’s report. Presently, there is $ 4,281.90 in the TNA treasury. This does not include checks recently received.

Submitted by

Fr. J. Dalton

January 10, 2007