MINUTES OF THE PAC2 MEETING
DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS STAFF DEVELOPMENT CENTER
February 14, 2011
Facilitators: Bill Anderson – TheOcean1@aol.com
Cheryl Shiflett – scjdurham@aol.com
The meeting was called to order at 6:06 p.m.
Self-introductions followed.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
A representative from Azalea Park Apartments noted that on Sunday morning a vehicle came in between 5 and 6:30 and someone broke into 8 cars on Astor Drive. They have a record of the vehicle on their security camera and need police to help them get the license number from it. Police were also able to get fingerprints from one of the cars.
Bill Stone on Dartmouth Drive said that on Saturday and Sunday mornings people using the carwash and Chinese restaurant are illegally parking on both sides of Fawn Street so that traffic can’t get through to Guess Road, creating a dangerous situation. He would like police to check the situation on Saturday and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Someone noted that Northern High School is searching for a new principal, so if the community wants to have input on what they would like to see in a new principal they should contact the search committee.
Bill welcomed new district commander Mark Sykes.
Lorisa Seibel from Durham Affordable Housing Coalition presented two draft letters for grants which they would like the PAC to support. One is for a $150,000 grant from Habitat for Humanity of Durham for a volunteer home repair program to repair at least 45 homes of elderly, disabled and lower income homeowners. The second application is for $60,000 in City Community Development Block Grant funds for housing counseling for at least 80 lower income homeowners and homebuyers in Durham. There was a motion and vote to support these requests.
DEPARTMENTAL UPDATES
Durham Parks and Recreation: Audrey Gill and Amy Pehowic from the Edison Johnson aquatics center announced that summer camp brochures, ballroom dance flyers for Walltown, and flyers for mature adult trips were on the table in the back of the room.
Solid waste: Donald Long showed the small pink carts which are available for $5 to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer fund. He also said that Bill had called him noting that he didn’t think there was enough cooperation between city departments, and he reminded Bill of how they had gotten a call from a citizen about a house which had around eight recycling carts in front of it. When their coordinator went to check out the situation and talked to the neighbors, he found out that they thought the residents in the house were using the carts to transport their stolen goods. Police were contacted and both they and the code enforcement officer kept an eye on the situation, and before long police made two arrests and the stolen carts were recovered. Mr. Long noted that the city departments have a lot of people out on the streets, and they alert police whenever they see something that isn’t quite right. So if you see a suspicious situation you can report it to any city employee and they will get the information to the proper person. He then noted how Bill calls him regularly to let him know what he’s doing wrong, and more recently what he’s been doing right, and he appreciates Bill’s input. He then presented Bill with his department’s second quarter Citizen of the Year award.
Police: Larry Smith announced that this would be his last meeting representing district 2 and said farewell, noting that he likes his new position but misses being out in the district.
Neighborhood Improvement Services: James Leonti distributed a flyer on city ordinances which NIS enforces with instructions on how to access the ordinances from the city website (www.durhamnc.gov), directing users to go to the “City Services” menu item, then click on “City Code of Ordinance”. He noted that you can also obtain a copy of the code of ordinances by contacting Durham One Call at 560-1200.
Human Relations: Larry Revelle noted that February was Human Relations Month and that there would be an awards ceremony on Thursday, Feb 24th at 6 p.m. in the city council chambers. They are also co-sponsoring a showing of “Waiting for Superman” at the Hayti Heritage film festival on February 17th at 6 p.m. at the Hayti Heritage Center.
PROGRAM
David Marsee of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program passed out various flyers and spoke on emergency preparedness. CERT trains volunteers in the community on how to use a fire extinguisher, basic medical care, light search and rescue, and other emergency response. CERT volunteers may also be used in other areas where assistance is required in emergency management such as managing emergency supplies. He is willing to bring a CERT class to the community if requested.
Disasters happen when least expected and can force you to go days without necessities, so it is important to prepare for them in advance. The website “Ready.gov” gives a checklist for an emergency kit of items you need to take in case you must evacuate. It also helps to identify potential hazards in your home and workplace, including tips on how to reduce them where possible, and gives advice on developing a family contact plan and creating a disaster supply kit. The kit should be stored in a water-tight container and should include a flashlight with extra batteries, a battery-operated radio, medication for at least 2 weeks, water (1 gallon/person/day), non-perishable food items, a manual can opener, extra cash, and disinfectant. Some items to be concerned about using are candles and lanterns, which can present a fire hazard, generators, which can cause carbon monoxide poisoning if used in an enclosed space, and gas grills and charcoal grills for the same reason. If you have pets you should plan to evacuate them with you and locate a safe place before the disaster, either in a hotel, boarding kennel, or with family or a friend. Emergency Management is also working with Animal Control to try to set up a pet-friendly shelter. You should be sure to have a copy of the pet’s vaccination records, documentation, and a disaster kit for them as well.
Natural disasters are relatively unexpected and can put lives, health, and the environment in danger. Emergency personnel may be overwhelmed, and there may be an inability to assess damage accurately or get to people. There may be damage to transportation, disrupted communication, damage to utilities, hazards from home fixtures (gas lines, falling objects, electric shock, fire due to faulty wiring). Personal safety may be an issue, depending on the type of event, amount of warning available, and a person’s location during the event. Home and workplace preparedness and evaluation of structural hazards is important.
There are specific recommendations for different situations. During thunderstorms get inside if you can’t count to 30 between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder. Thunderstorms 10 miles away can strike people and kill them. Also do not shower or use corded telephones unless it’s an emergency, and if outside get as low as possible. If swimming or boating, get out of the water immediately and find shelter.
In case of flooding, stay tuned to the radio and television for specific warnings. Watch for flash flooding, and never walk or drive through moving water more than 6 inches deep. Urban street flooding is also a big concern. If your vehicle stalls in water, exit it and move to higher ground.
Hurricane season runs from June1st through November 30th, with mid-September to mid-October being the peak season here. Even if a hurricane’s path doesn’t cross our area, we still often get rain from it. Much of the rainfall here comes from tropical storms, so these are important for our environment. For information concerning hurricanes, monitor radio and television, or check the national hurricane center website at www.nhc.noaa.gov.
Tornados are the most violent weather disaster, and they strike without warning. The peak tornado season here is March through June, and March 2nd is Tornado Day, where there will be a state-wide tornado drill. You should designate a shelter area in the center part of your house on the ground floor away from exterior walls and windows to go during a tornado. If you are in a mobile home, you should take shelter elsewhere.
Fire strikes around 350,000 homes in the US each year. You can do things to reduce the chance of having a fire. One particular risk is improper use of extension cords, especially the lighter-duty ones. Be careful not to overload outlets or run cords underneath rugs, since this will wear out the insulation and cause the cord to short out. The fire triangle includes fuel, heat, and oxygen, so keeping fuel sources distant from heat sources is the best way to prevent fires. Fire needs only 15% oxygen to burn, and air contains 21%, so it is more difficult to remove this part of the risk. You should also have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in your home. You should test and clean smoke detectors monthly and replace batteries at least once a year, and check fire extinguishers monthly, turning them upside down and hitting them with a rubber hammer to loosen the powder. It’s also important to create a fire escape plan, and during a fire to crawl and stay low to the floor.
Toxic and hazardous materials are stored, used, and transported through the area daily. Accidents can happen and material can be spilled or can leak. You can register for the Code Red emergency alert system (reverse 911) on the city website. Other uses of Code Red are silver alerts and suspicious person alerts. You can also call Durham One Call at 560-1200. Be prepared to evacuate or get inside as quickly as possible if not evacuating. Bring pets inside too.
Bill Anderson presented the second part of the program. He said that he had noticed the roadways fill up with vendors on Valentine’s Day since several years ago, and had introduced himself to the vendors and asked where they were from. Almost none were from Durham, and said they were not allowed to do this where they live. He investigated how each city differed when dealing with trespassing and vendor permits, and recently spent time filming vendors, one of which was a watermelon vendor which he suspected of also selling heroin.
One issue that Bill objects to is the trespass agreement form which Durham uses to allow police to enforce “no trespassing” signs. These forms don’t exist in Raleigh or Charlotte, but businesses have to file the form in Durham and it expires in one year. Bill thinks this is a burden to the police department and would like to see the form eliminated. Assistant Police Chief Steve Mihaich disagrees, and says the form tells them that the people who currently own the property want the “no trespassing” sign enforced, since the property could have changed hands since the signs were erected. He thinks a year is an appropriate length of time for the forms to be valid, and having the forms protects the officers enforcing the “no trespassing” sign. The police legal staff insists that they need the form and it will not be eliminated, since otherwise police don’t know if the person has permission to be on the property or not. The police will only enforce “no trespassing” after hours, and if they can show the person doesn’t have permission to be there. The forms allow police to determine who the property owner is and whether they want people arrested, though Bill maintains that many businesses are unaware that they need to file the form. Cynthia Mebane-Watts said Neighborhood Improvement Services has out-of-town property owners who have had someone break into their property and have come to them and NIS has boarded the property and used the form to get a “no trespassing” sign placed there to keep other people in the neighborhood safe. Mike Shiflett suggested that it might be enough to give police reasonable suspicion to investigate and tell the person to move on, though not actually make an arrest. Asst. Chief Mihaich said that police have in the past partnered with the health department, which issues civil citations, then issued a criminal citation if there was no response. Someone also mentioned people selling dogs on Roxboro Rd., and Asst. Chief Mihaich reiterated that the police do partner with other agencies and with Paul Mason in the permit department to try to deal with these problems, but that they can’t do this on a daily basis due to lack of staffing.
Bill contends that some vendors are really selling drugs and that from a distance selling watermelons and selling drugs looks the same. However, Asst. Chief Mihaich said that the police have looked at the films Bill shot and couldn’t determine that the people were selling drugs, and that the package in the film Bill was referring to definitely didn’t look like heroin packaging.
Bill wanted to have the group vote on whether it was interested in trying to get rid of the “no trespassing” form. Mr. Bridges suggested that we needed to hear from all sides before deciding to vote on this issue, since we didn’t have enough information currently, and Mike Woodard asked that we not vote yet as well. He questioned Bill’s methods as being confrontational toward the police department in this matter and noted that he had emailed the city attorney to look into this matter further. He asked that we look at this matter in a rational way, noting that Raleigh and Charlotte also have problems with street vendors even though they don’t have this form. He said he understood Bill’s desire to solve this problem with the vendors, but wanted to allow our law enforcement professionals to analyze the situation.
Mike Shiflett noted that he has some concern for Bill’s health and safety when confronting these vendors. Mr. Woodard said that he had gotten a message from Patrick Baker that he would contact Bill to discuss the issues. Bill said he was willing to let the vote wait.
On the issue of vendor permits, Bill showed a car wash vendor in a video whose permit had been revoked by storm water, but noted that he could get the license back without paying again. Since the vendor had to demonstrate to storm water that they could properly collect water runoff, he felt that this cost the city much more than the fee for the permit. Bill wanted a clause on the back of the vendor permit stating that the vendor had permission to be on the property.
A visitor from PAC3 said that she didn’t think the police should spend their time and resources dealing with these street vendors, but that it should be dealt with another way. Another person said that she thought the issue should be dealt with by educating people to shop locally from legal vendors, since if the market in Durham was not profitable for the street vendors they would leave.
Bill said that more of his videos can be seen at http://billtv.net/.
Cheryl announced that there are still pace car magnets and no soliciting signs available.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherry Coulter
Secretary