The meeting convened at 5:06. The Board received the resignation of Greater Des Moines Partnership representative Rick Ball. Volm moved to approve the agenda; seconded by Overman; carried by unanimous vote. Overman moved to approve the minutes of July 18; seconded by Hogate; carried by unanimous vote.

OFFICER'S REPORT/CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Kahoun reported on recent Council actions, including approving the United Way contract for the City as a Community Action Agency; appointing a steering committee to work on the zoning ordinances, sale of City land to CHDC for house moves, and approval of Jack Hatch's Sherman Hill project. Kahoun distributed copies of the Council information letter on a new program for Fairmont neighborhood.

CSBG THIRD QUARTER REPORT. Ashton submitted the third quarter CSBG report and said Congress had authorized additional funding for the LIHEAP program and the President would be making a decision on how to allocate it. Iowa plans to use any funding it receives to make payments to people who hadn't received any this year. Kahoun asked if the Board wanted to write a letter to the Congressional delegation to ask them to encourage the President to allocate the funds in the usual manner. Nixon moved to do so; seconded by Hogate, carried by unanimous vote.

Ashton said Cruz Mata had been hired to fill the inspector position vacated by Jim Fromm's transfer to Engineering. Hogate asked how many people had not been paid; Ashton said about 2,000 statewide. Des Moines usually makes payment to about 600 people each year.

Overman moved to approve the report; seconded by Nixon.

NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS REGARDING SCRUB PROGRAM. Dave Stevenson and Roger Thompson reported that their SCRUBs in River Bend and King Irving neighborhoods were not going well. The rolloffs didn't arrive quickly enough so people were in line for a long time and some dumped their stuff on the ground and volunteers had to clean it up. Fights occurred, the police had to be called, and people dumped hazardous items despite volunteers asking them not to. They asked that a way be found to keep the rolloffs coming more quickly, and that signs be provided in different languages so people knew what could be left and what could not.

Stevenson said he contacted Ashton who suggested more curbside pickups just prior to the SCRUB. Thompson said he had discussed it with Bill Stowe of Public Works who got them more dumpsters, and Thompson congratulated the City on that. Thompson said Federal regulations had been expanded from prohibiting items containing freon (air conditioners, refrigerators) to now include all "white goods" (stoves, washers, dryers, water heaters). Also regulations now prohibit "brown goods" which means electronics (computers, televisions, radios). He asked that City white goods trucks be provided at the SCRUBs. He also asked that someone from the City approve the sites that neighborhood organizations select, as they weren't always places where people could get in and out easily.

Muldoon said the Board might have to assign a subcommittee to study the way SCRUBs are being set up and see what else is needed to make them go more smoothly. She said CDBG was being used to pay for the SCRUBs in the eligible areas, and the others were funded by regular City funds. She said perhaps general funds should be used to fund a SCRUB each year in every area, and CDBG should be used to fund an additional SCRUB for the low/mod areas.

Hogate asked if the tonnage was going down. Stowe said it was up 33% and the problems encountered at these events were "a product of our success." Stowe said the program was very successful and should be continued, but there were still logistics to work out to handle the increase. Stowe also said CDBG covers only 70% of the costs for the eligible areas; the remaining funding comes from the regular garbage pickup fees.

Volm asked if the City would pickup prohibited items when people called in for a curbside pickup. Stowe said currently they would, but it costs the City $10 each to make these items safe to dispose of, and there about 1,000 per year. Stevenson said that even with SCRUBs and curbside pickups, illegal dumping is still a big problem in his area. Hogate said extra money was allocated at planning conference for cleanups and she wondered where and when that occurred. She said funding had gone up, but the problem only grew larger and maybe the program needed to be re-thought to find a more effective way to proceed. Walden said large signs with the penalties for illegal dumping had helped in her area. Her neighborhood also has police at the SCRUB to turn away people bringing prohibited items.

Hogate moved that a subcommittee be formed to address the issues; seconded by Nixon. Pulliam said there needed to be a meeting of representatives from all neighborhoods to discuss it and ask them to organize against illegal dumping in the same way as the Neighborhood Watch program organized against drug dealing. Hogate amended her motion to include a meeting with neighborhood representatives; seconded by Nixon. Lumley asked if Metro Solid Waste would be included; Nixon said they would. There was discussion on whether to have the meeting first to get neighborhood input, or to have the subcommittee meet first to formulate solutions to present at the meeting. Muldoon said the subcommittee should meet first so they could deal with different ways to use the CDBG funding and would then have suggestions to present to the larger group. Kahoun said she, Stowe, and Ashton would work out a process and the Board could look it over.

NEIGHBORHOOD SELECTION PRESENTATIONS.

Drake Neighborhood. Patty Daniels and Larry James gave a presentation detailing what their neighborhood hopes to gain if it is selected for the Neighborhood Revitalization Program. They would like to pursue "de-densification" to turn multi-unit structures back into owner-occupied single family homes; to increase homeownership; and to have the City improve its infrastructure, especially the parts where there are no curbs. They hope to have the lost rental units replaced by new construction along Forest and University.

Volm asked where the tenants would go if they were displaced and no new units were built. James said Drake wanted the City, County, and Anawim Housing to build the new units, perhaps like the ones proposed for Sherman Hill. They would like them to be mixed-rate units. Volm said it seemed like they were starting on the wrong end of the process. James said the recent sales in the Drake area showed that single family homes were selling more than multi-family units. Pulliam said a lot of new construction had gone up in the "EC5" and he too would like to something similar occur in the Drake area. He also asked if the Neighborhood-based Service Delivery program had helped the area. Daniels said they feel it has been very successful. They appreciated the one-on-one contact with their team, and believed it was the best service they had ever received from the City. Pulliam also asked if code enforcement helped; James said the inspectors did what they could, but there was a lot of grandfathering that limited what they could do.

Hogate said the Drake Neighborhood had said they were an umbrella organization – were they still? Daniels said they were, and they remembered the agreement they made when NFC availability was extended for their project area. She said they were willing to declare a project area this time if necessary, and the area east of 35th had the most pressing need. Kahoun said the neighborhood would have to go through the planning process to see whether that would be necessary.

Lumley asked how Drake could hold increased homeownership and downsizing as goals when there was such a need in their area for rental units for the Drake students. Daniels said if homeownership could become a reality for some people, they could buy and be more committed to the area, and the emptied units could go to the renters. James said Drake students were living all over town now, and Drake Neighborhood encouraged the University to build more units close by so students could live nearer to the campus.

King Irving Neighborhood. Jean Monahan, Cindy Scott, and Dorothy Lewis presented the good things about their neighborhood (St. John's Basilica, Evelyn Davis Park, the new Senior Citizen Center, etc.), the bad things (every program seems to stop just at their borders), and what designation could do for the neighborhood (reduce the numbers of abandoned houses, contract sales, and predatory lending; increase safety and improve the infrastructure).

Volm was concerned whether the association had enough active people to carry through a designation program; Lewis said 30-40 volunteers could be found at any time. Pulliam said he strongly supported this neighborhood's selection so they could get their sidewalks improved which should reduce the number of pedestrians walking in the streets.

Mondamin Presidential. Cathy Grove-Ott presented the Mondamin-Presidential's application for selection, saying their neighborhood's problems were overgrown lots, absentee landlords and drug dealing. The association said they were responsible for the 44% reduction in the crime rate since 1993. Grove-Ott said the infrastructure was in very bad shape, especially on 18th Street.

Muldoon asked if the vice president still lived in the area; she said she did not. Pulliam said the association had become much stronger in the last few years, for which he commended them, but said it seemed every good start made came to a stuttering halt. He mentioned the problems created in selling houses when the properties next to it were in disrepair. Lumley asked which the association would pick if made to choose between improving their infrastructure or their housing stock; Grove-Ott said they would pick housing.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT. None.

COMMITTEE/REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS. None

OTHER BUSINESS. The next NRB meeting will be held on August 8. The meeting of August 15 is cancelled and the Board will meet on August 22 instead.

Overman moved to send a letter thanking Richard Ball for his time spent on the Board; seconded by Hogate; carried by unanimous vote.

The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

Jerry Overman, Secretary