This meeting was in person at Clark Park, beginning at 6:30 pm. It was attended by directors Marlena Hanlon and Myett Risker, who were later joined by Anthony Benavides.
Primarily, discussion in this meeting focused on the draft budget distributed to HFNA members earlier in the week. After multiple requests, HFNA received some financial data on existing funds through grants on 4/12/24. The existing grant funds were reviewed. HFNA has two residual balances for green spaces, approximately $2700, and park improvements, approximately $10,000. Both grants are stale: the green spaces mini grant was awarded in 2022 and expired 12/31/22 without being fully spent. Some of the line items were paid by a third party that year. Throughout the 2023 calendar year, it appeared that no one was aware of this grant on the board or committee: multiple reports from the Treasurer at that time did not include it and the director on the garden committee repeatedly reported that funding from the garden was provided through self-pay of volunteers. URL of information: hfna.info/bci-green-mini-grant-binder
The HUB grant was awarded to HFNA in 2018. Prior board members have stated that this was a CPC grant, but the application does not support that assertion: HFNA is listed as the applicant and project manager, while CPC is listed as the fiduciary. However, some letters of support refer to a partnership, so without the actual grant agreement, the ownership of the funds is unknown still. Marlena has attempted on several occasions to reach out to the park project manager for the grant, Betsy Cooper, to clarify status, but has not yet received a response. By appearances, the remaining funds are insufficient for the original earmark of infrastructure improvement to the bandshell, and it is unclear both what the delay was caused by and also if additional investments being made into the park may eventually address the matter. HFNA received just components of each grant and there were no grant agreements, fiduciary agreements or other governing documents included. In response to a follow-up request for these documents, Marlena was informed that the documents were all that CPC had. URL of information: hfna.info/hub-grant-binder
In response to enlivened activity on the HFNA email list earlier in the month regarding traffic issues on W Grand Blvd, Marlena attempted to schedule a Joe Louis Greenway representative to speak with the neighborhood to explore past design suggestions and possible funding which may be applied to a solution. This month, staff availability was limited due to short notice. HFNA was advised that the Greenway project was not currently offering funding for this type of infrastructure. However, the three attendees discussed previous suggestions, with disagreement about traffic calming approaches and prioritizing street parking over bike, pet and pedestrian safety.
Due to a miscommunication, a DWSD guest attempted to participate digitally. This will be rescheduled. HFNA had invited DLBA to attend and this was confirmed, but the guest did not attend.
A few days before the meeting, a neighbor requested a hybrid meeting format. This has been part of the board planning, but it has not yet been implemented. In the past several months, attendance has been minimal and the current focus has been on toggling between digital and in-person meetings to offer options to interested neighbors.
Andrew Bashi with Great Lakes also offered an update to the Levy action to be shared at the meeting. The Levy plant has received a violation recently, which means that the operation has received a total of 30 violations. Several requests for information are pending. Specifically, Bashi wrote,
Levy submitted a request to the judge to allow the company to intervene in the case. Essentially, the company is saying, “This court case could impact us, and we want to be part of the decision-making process.” Because revoking the permit would directly impact their interests, the law is clear that they have that right. They are being represented by the corporate law firm, Warner, Norcross, and Judd.
We’ve been made aware of an attempt by Levy to talk directly with residents through outreach events. …
We’re still waiting on EGLE to send us the full record they have for the case. It should be coming our way soon. We’re planning on proposing a timeline for filing briefs once we see how large the record is.