Kaisertown Coalition Community Meeting

Date:  October 1, 2024

The meeting was called to order at 6:05 with 27 members present

John led the members with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence

Bryan Bollman updated us with various activities that are going on. With Mayor Bryron Brown stepping aside, Chris Scanlon will be taking his place, and Bryan will be moving into Chris’ position as the Council President. There is currently an eviction notice pending at xx Kelburn Place.  They are supposed to be in court on Monday October 7th.  Bryan plans on being in court to assist with the eviction. The front porch is rotted; however, the building owner can’t get in to make repairs because of the tenants and is incurring fines.  The 7.6-million-dollar grant has been approved for Houghton Park.  The plans provide for a new pool & shelter area as well as 16 cameras to deter vandals.  These cameras will be linked to the Buffalo Police dept, so they are monitored 24 hours a day. There are currently 6 new cameras that have been installed – so if you observe activity after hours in the park call 311 (716.851.4890) and report the behavior. The primary focus is starting with safety and security and protecting what we have to be able to make improvements and not continue to repair. Bryan has also applied for a capital improvement grant for the Machnica Center for new bleachers, new fixtures for the bathrooms, and new carpeting in the meeting room.

Community Police Officer Lindsay Zgoda updated the members on local known large drug investigation in the area; includes multiple police agencies. There has been an order to vacate xxx Kelburn, if any activity is noted please contact 311. A member’s home was recently vandalized by a brick being thrown through her front door window. She contacted 911 and it took over 2 hours to respond! Zgoda stated that she was sorry and to know that 6 more police officers will be assigned to the area in November. She encouraged everyone to call 911 and file a report to build the numbers so more officers will be assigned in the future. Both PO Zgoda and Councilmember Bollman discussed AMR – the Ambulance response team time is being reviewed. The discussion of bringing EMTs back to the fire department for quicker response time, however, that will drive up expenses. The homeless that are under the bridges on Senaca Babcock area and Clinton St are being discouraged. Fences are being installed and police are actively encouraging them to move.

Kevin Coyne, Kaisertown’s building inspector, noted that Tom Carter (fellow building inspector) has taken a leave of absence for up to 1 year.  In his place John Rossey will fill the gap. He reiterated the homes in question on Kelburn are being monitored. Several members spoke of vacant properties with high grass (xx Pontiac, A house on Weiss St, & xxx Willett St.) Kevin mentioned he can turn in the addresses for a work order to cut & clean, however, this does the front yard only.  He feels the new judge that is coming in January will have a tougher outlook on the absentee landlords.  He also advised us that they have a new initiative to crack down on used car sales – requesting them to clean up, checking licenses. They usually have spare parts encroaching on the neighbor’s property. There are several places on Bailey that are under observation.

 

John introduced Senator Sean Ryan who spoke on the Vision Built for Buffalo. 

Senator Ryan started off by explaining why there is a need for these programs. In the past questionable properties were condemned and demolished and vacant lots were created. This took the property off from the tax roles and removed 2-4 apartments from the area. There are 3 new grants available that he focused updating us on.

  1. For the landlord that wants to improve the structure – there is up to $50k available for the updates. This applies to 2 family owner occupied homes and structures that up to 5 apartments. Properties with storefronts are also included. The grants are designed in an attempt to get the repairs done, before the home/apartments go to condemned status. After the work is completed, the rent must be at fair market value. There is $40 million available and is attended for small rentals to assist getting them back to being rented. The current applications must be turned in by 10/03, however, a new wave will be following shortly.  He will keep the Coalition apprised of the timelines.
  2. The second initiative that is available is for those vacant lots. It offers funding for new builds within the city of Buffalo.  This will be available in January. NYS will subsidize any shortfall of the build.  He stated that 2/3 of Buffalo resident’s income is under $70k making it difficult to get a new construction loan.  This grant is for them to get the additional funding they need to build their new home.
  3. There is also coming in January $1.5 million for tenants that are behind in rent.  More details will follow.

John introduced Angie Leverette Davis – President of the Norfolk Block Club

Angie Leverette-Davis updated us with recent activities in other areas of Buffalo and the problems they are facing.

  1. She discussed that a building was purchased in their neighborhood and was set up for a grow factory for marijuana.  The community picketed not wanting the business in the area, however, the state wouldn’t disclose the permits and the updates that were being done to the property.  The Block Club is still fighting with the owner and the local government to get the place shut down.
  2. She also discussed non-domesticated animals and the city ordinances around them.  No roosters are allowed, and chickens are maxed at 5 hens. The chickens/eggs can not be sold (live or deceased), and a $25 license is required. They must be housed in the back yard and no slaughtering is allowed.  The issues they experienced is no one monitors this.  When they contacted animal control, they do not have the space to take chickens, and it is not in their job description.  Other government agencies that she contacted showed up, however, they also did not have containers to put the chickens into and no place to take them.  She passed around a petition to sign letting them know that an office needs to be created that can respond to the complaints and take care of the animals if it is found that the raiser is in violation.  There is a think tank meeting on 10/13 for anyone interested in taking more action.

Cindy updated the members with new regulations passed by the Executive Board on 09/17 to include:

  1. No video will be posted on the meetings on Facebook or any other media outlets. Other block clubs have attempted this and there have been negative actions from the postings.
  2. Meeting minutes from tonight’s meeting will be emailed to anyone that signed in with an email address. If you would prefer not to receive the email you can respond with an unsubscribe or stop and you will be removed from the list.  The sender will be from [email protected]
  3. The Treasurer’s report will be read at each meeting, however, this will not be posted on the internet for privacy purposes.
  4. Funds raised from the 50/50 will go towards the new website.

Report of officers

                    John Poniewierski – no new report
                    Kevin Mason – absent due to illness, however, wanted to update everyone that the Clinton St Library is set to receive a grant for renovations in the amount of $346k. 
                    Dan Larussa -absent due to work – Cindy read off the report-current balance $xx.  There was a check written for the Buffalos for Houghton Park for $1600.00 leaving a balance of $xx.
                    Cindy Lawson – The meeting minutes from September’s meeting were on the sign on table for those interested. No adjustments were made.

Report of Special Committees

                    Veteran’s Day – set to go on November 11 @ 11 AM -A booklet was available for those that wanted to see a sneak peak of the planned activities
                    Christmas in Kaisertown – Mats for the Machnica Center should be in place some time this week. There are approximately 55 vendors, and 7 food trucks set to go. Any volunteers would be appreciated.

New Business

A list of potential community events were read off to get an idea of what people would like to see our organization do during the 2025 calendar year.

                    Ideas to think about:

  • National Night out (August 5)
  • Christmas in Kaisertown (December 5)
  • Beggars Night (October 30)
  • Beautification around the community
  • Car Show
  • Dyngus Day (April 21)
  • Community Garage Sale
  • Other events

Questions & Answers

Drawing of the 50/50 ticket – Kaisertown Coalition proceeds will go towards a new website – pot was at $19 and the winning ticket donated the $9 back to the organization.

Next meeting will be on November 12 due to elections on the 5th

Adjournment was at 8:07 PM

 

Respectfully submitted

Cynthia S Lawson

Secretary for Kaisertown Coalition