Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting Minutes March 20th, 2013 Mission: Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project seeks to improve the quality of life for residents, employees and visitors by enforcing codes on negligent property owners, housing violations, parking violations, disruptive behavior, excessive noise and underage drinking in the Oakland neighborhood. I.
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In attendance: Barbie Arroyo, David Zwier, Bryant Andrews-Nino, Gregg Roman, Carol Mitchell, Tara Sherry Torres, David Manthei, Sophia Koss, Blithe Runsdorf, Ethel DiIuliis, Bernelle Wood, Edward Pace, Bob McPherson, Liz Gray, Mark Oleniacz, Maria Bethel, Rachel Bethel, Geof Becker, Kannu Sahni, John Wilds, Hanson Kappelman, Blair Kossis, Nate Lerner, Rebekkah Ranallo, Officer Matt White, Nathan Hart, Peg Sedlack, Monica Kohli, Ben Carlise, Ariel Albright, Monica Kohli Introductions; Brief new members (Hanson Kappelman, 5 minutes) Greg Roman introduced JFGP. Pittsburgh Sociable City Plan Brief explanation of the plan its findings and the steps involved to bring it to action (Barbie Arroyo, 20 minutes) Barbie informed group that RHI consultants are in town this week. South Side is pilot neighborhood for plan implementation. Councilman Kraus is currently working on creating a “social host” ordinance that would hold hosts of party responsible for various things. The goal is to change party culture in Pittsburgh. Thursday there will be a meeting with university leaders about implementing a city-wide student code of conduct and how to better collaborative efforts between universities and the City. There will also be a marketing effort around responsible partying, and efforts to better promote programs already in place. Barbie, from Councilman Kraus’s office, asked residents about summer experiences in Oakland, are party issues as bad? Residents responded that summers tend to be quieter, though houses are often rented year round. Brandon Forbes is Councilman Kraus’s Policy Director and liaison at all RHI meetings. They are open to OPDC staff and community. Residents asked many more questions about long-term items related to the plan. Since Barbie is not the point person on the project, we agreed to table the discussion til a further meeting when Councilman Kraus or Brandon can answer questions.
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Pittsburgh Police Oakland crime update / Incident breakdown / Parking update Q&A (Officer White, 10 minutes) Due to some technical challenges, Officer White was unable to bring the Incident Report to the meeting. Officer White asked for neighbors to bring new issues to his attention at this time. Hanson asked about increased parking enforcement. Officer White said officers have been instructed to
ticket cars when they’re in Oakland only if they have time but that they’ve been extremely busy in recent weeks. Blair asked about overtime officer. Officer White said requests need to go through Office of Special Events. Geof asked about follow up on citations at 339 Lawn. Officer White was unsure. Rebekkah asked about a graffiti incident on McKee. Officer White confirmed they have the video footage caught by the property owner and are working on it. They arrested a couple taggers in Schenley Park over the weekend and are reviewing video footage to see if it’s same people. Maria Bethel was unable to bring Disruptive Properties report because of technical error but she is working on creating a cumulative report for the year and will send to Oakwatch when complete. V.
University of Pittsburgh Police Oakland crime update / Incident breakdown Q&A. Police, 10 minutes)
(Pittsburgh
No officer was able to attend and no report was submitted. VI.
Oakland Property Progress Report (Geof Becker, 20 minutes) 253 North Dithridge: Inspector McPherson spoke with Fire Bureau chief after observing that fire escape is still not up to code. Geof asked what happened following Judge Ricciardi issuing a warrant. Follow up is needed with Judge Ricciardi’s office. 3101 Niagara: Still awaiting news on appeal. 3421 Parkview: Minor work has been done. Nick told Nate he is planning to appeal and retain a lawyer. Appeal process to Superior Court is longer because they have to research if he even has basis for appealing. 3124 Blvd of Allies: In court next week. Parking violations are also taking place. Bernelle committed a Lavelle staffer to attend hearing along with residents. 241 Dunseith: Maria Bethel said residents can call her with 311 number, address, description of incident. BBI sent notice on 235 Dunseith but hasn’t seen anything on 241 Dunseith. 53 Lawn Street: Liz noted that lot is starting to shift onto sidewalk. Inspector McPherson said they could do a “clean and lien” where a city contractor (City Source) comes and cleans the lot and then liens the cost of cleaning onto the property. DPW said City Source only does “dead end” properties where there is too much trouble locating the property owner. Geof asked inspector to further investigate issue with City Attorney. Centre/Craig drug activity: Dave Manthei has been in touch with Commander Degler and Councilman Peduto on issue. Officer White confirmed they made several arrests in the surface parking lot at that corner. Lawn and Parkview parking: Geof thanked Officer White as increased enforcement has made slight improvement. Request to continue increased enforcement
3738 Dawson: Back in court next Thursday, March 28th. Nate noted slope is still moving and has fallen three feet now. McPherson says they requested permit but contractor has not filed all necessary documentation to do work. 3109 Forbes: No update. Other property: Geof asked about renovation at 202 Ophelia and the apartment building on corner of Lawn and Hamlet. McPherson noted there is not good system for enforcing fines, example is this apartment building and a building on Dunseith. Geof noted we will further discuss this problem. VII.
Keep It Clean Oakland Report on trash pick-up by court-mandated and student group volunteers; (Blair Kossis, 5 minutes) To date, 182 court mandated volunteers have come to OPDC which is double last year’s numbers. Pitt and CMU students are both doing service projects on April 6th. Briefed update on upcoming Bates Street greening project.
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Community Announcements & Events (Rebekkah Ranallo, 5 minutes) a. Oakland Green Team monthly meeting: March 21st, 6pm, Oakland Career Center b. Housing Court Thursday, March 28 @ 10:00 c. Oakland Façade Grant Application available at www.opdc.org on Friday, February 22nd. Applications due April 1st. d. Any other announcements from community partners? e. Pitt announced Oakland Forever event on April 12th. Flyers will start going out this Friday, March 22nd. f. Good Neighbor luncheon on March 30th. g. Bernelle announced meeting they had regarding Portal Project at Fifth and Robinson. Developer threatened to pull project if he cannot have desired traffic light at Robinson Street intersection, which the community opposes. Councilman Lavelle is trying to achieve resolution. h. South Oakland resident asked about extra patrol on Dawson between Frazier and Blvd. Officer White says extra cars will drive this corridor when weather breaks from 11pm-3am. Resident emphasized that just police being seen could make an impact—that the physical presence or observed drive-by of a police officer will discourage bad behavior . i. Officer White reported shooting in 3200 block of Ward Street, they are investigating. j. Request to bring Parking Authority back. k. Ed Pace thanked Graffiti Busters for painting over graffiti in his South Oakland neighborhood.
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Next meeting- April 17th, 6pm, Location TBD
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Meeting Adjournment
Remember to keep flooding 311 with calls about the nuisance properties in your neighborhood, and let Oakwatch know when you do! You can submit reports to our email account at oakwatch@opdc.org or call us at 412.621.7863 ext. 27. Thanks for keeping us in the loop!