I attended last night's Brooklyn Centre Community Association meeting looking for some straight answers.  I am not sure that I got any--but I can report, on a happy note, that the organization itself is moving forward on the grant funded beautification of several city lots with coordination by Brooklyn Centre Naturalists and BCCA to develop ornamental gardens and an orchard and that BCCA will hold a Riverside Cemetery GardenTour on June 13th, 2010 from 1-5 p.m.  BCCA is also looking for candidate volunteers to fill officer positions at the community-based non-profit organization.  Nominations are due May 27th.

I still have no idea where Year 36 (2010) and Year 37 (2011) monies will be spent by Councilman Cummins in Ward 14, but perhaps he will answer here to provide clarification soon.  I will say Councilman Cummins has shown a willingness to respond here, but we are only asking for straight answers on PAPER--sometime soon--because his office has been administering to the new Ward 14, which includes the Clark-Metro-Fulton area and Brooklyn Centre since January 2010.  We need to know the answer to the question--who do we call?

Current Code Enforcement officer for BCCA Deb Zeleny is currently housed at Steel Valley Federal Credit Union and is looking at uncertainty in her position as the NDA funding for services will most likely be divied up between Detroit Shoreway and Tremont West Development Corporations (Zeleny has been extremely responsive to phone requests on property updates and can be reached at 216-644-0471). She updated residents present on the status of several outstanding problem properties--most along the Denison corridor. 

Councilman Cummins did attend the meeting but will not say that a firm commitment to any CDCs has been made yet as he is reviewing proposals from Stockyards and Detroit Shoreway, but he indicated that Detroit Shoreway shows a greater ability to follow through with larger foundation and Neighborhood Progress Inc support for strategic initiatives.

I was not able to clarify the status of the above Yr 35 allocations due to time, but Councilman Cummiins did indicate that BCCA is now not willing to pursue the rehab of 3119 Denison (Wirth House/Art House) and that he is seeking out a new arts organization to fulfill this commitment and to still pursue a rehab, but he also alluded that we might get back on the carousel to hell and possibly face demolition again (On a personal note--I will be extremely disappointed if we do not get a straight answer and proposal for rehabbing this building soon).  Councilman Cummins indicated that the American Indian Center is still on track with the 3121 rehab, although I have not seen activity to date on that front.

Overall--in Year 36 (2010) and Year 37 (2010)-- it looks like the bulk of OUR money will be divided between Detroit Shoreway and Tremont West with exact services and projects funded to be determined.  How other service needs (street repairs and sidewalk assessments) and agency requests such as the Spanish American Committee, Esperanza, Art House etc. are funded is still UNKNOWN.  Whether Ward 14 qualifies for other pots of money NPI, Foundation etc. is also still UNKNOWN.

The Councilman can correct me if any of the information provided here is incorrect, but my understanding of last night's meeting was that Tremont West will administer projects along the West 25th St. Pearl Corridor and provide marketing assistance to Brooklyn Centre and that Detroit Shoreway will most likely provide assistance to the rest of the ward--in what capacity is still unknown.

Councilman Cimperman administers to the portion of Brooklyn Centre west of Pearl Rd/West 25th and at last night's meeting the current neighborhood understanding was that Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation will be receiving money to administer programming in the area that includes St. Barbara Church, Riverside Cemetery, W.C. Reed Field and the Southwest Citizens group.  The last service for St. Barbara's, which has been slated for closure by the Diocese, will be May 2nd.

The status of the YMCA building on Pearl Rd. was discussed and this project continues to be a great unknown.  This part of the neighborhood also faces uncertainty over the status of commercial properties at the corner of Pearl and Denison--including the former tobacco store on the corner and historic Browns Lanes--both for sale again.  At last night's meeting 4/22/2010, Tom Collins from Old Brooklyn Development Corporation also provided an update on the status of the application to allow strip/surface mining of clay in the Skylane/Bradley Rd. area (formerly Ward 15) now in Councilman Brancatelli's jurisdiction.  (This egregious move is actually an attempt to lower the profile of the soil contour in the area, so that the current landfill owner can continue to have capacity to operate as a landfill).  Residents directly impacted and concerned should contact OBDC and continue to press Councilman Brancatelli for answers.

As reported by: Laura McShane
(Please provide updates or corrections as needed)