North of Literary Minutes
Minutes of the
North of Literary Block Club
October 17, 2006
Sam Catania opened the meeting at 6:30. Members approved the minutes for the June and August meeting. The Block Club did not meet in July and there were no minutes for the September meeting.
Crime and Safety:
Sam stressed the importance of communicating to the 2nd District. He encouraged residents to file incident reports (available at TWDC or Scoops). Be suspicious of door-to-door furnace repair and kitchen cabinet sales people. Some purport to be utility employees.
Phil Pavarini reviewed progress on security cameras. He and Sam applied for a $4,000 grant and funds from Tremont Trek for limited number of cameras on Professor with a base station at TWDC. Other block clubs could join by paying for additional cameras. Block clubs could determine where to place them.
Scott Rosentein reminded people to forward safety concerns to either Scott, Deane Malaker or Jon Boylan. They attend the 2nd District Community Relations Committee where the commander gives updates on crime and responds to community concerns.
Old Business:
A. Tremont Neighborhood Planning Session. Sam Catania said there will be one more area-wide meeting in November. This will be final opportunity for community input before the plan if finalized.
B. ODOT Meeting. Scott showed an artist rendering of the preferred design of the inner belt bridge. It will be a single tower, cable-stayed bridge. Fred Calatrello asked whether ODOT responded to Steven Litt’s editorial about the southern route option. Those who attended the ODOT meeting said this option was disregarded. Marianne Ludwig asked TWDC to require ODOT to address the safety concerns with the vacant cold storage building and adjacent structures.
C. Gospel Press. Construction has begun. It will take approximately 2 years to complete. The white building on Jefferson is still a nuisance.
D. Code Concerns. The Block Club asked the co-chairs to invite Katie Hough to speak to the residents about housing code enforcement.
E. Other. Fred Calatrello asked when the W 3rd Street bridge would go back into service. No one knew.
New Business:
A. 2418 Professor. Chuck Cyrill outlined his plan for a restaurant in the frame building at the corner of Professor and Jefferson. Mr. Cyrill stated he would have between 1,000 and 1,500 sq ft of restaurant space. He estimated he would need 10 parking spaces given the size of the restaurant. He has 5 or 6 parking spaces on Jefferson and Professor and plans to turn the yard into parking for patrons and employees.
Sam Catania said he had written a letter to the Central Tremont Block Club about Mr. Cyrill’s proposal. Parking is a big concern given the curb cuts on Professor, the number of businesses and new residents/visitors in the Gospel Press. He questioned the wisdom of adding another bar/restaurant venue to an already crowded street. Mr. Cyrill responded that he intended to open a casual dining spot that will appeal to foot traffic. Marianne Ludwig reminded members that one of the issues that came up in the liquor review process was the valet parking services use on-street parking spaces which aggravates the parking problem. Mr. Cyrill said he had roughly 60 letters of support from residents and he believes that most residents support his concept. Phil Pavarini quickly scanned the letters and found some were signed by people who do not live in the area and others did not mention the liquor license. Sue Coy asked whether the license would stay at that location if Mr. Cyrill sold or closed his restaurant. Sam Catania and Mark Lagrange said yes.
B. Election. Members were encouraged
C. Other New Business. Sam Catania reported that $56 from the planter project have not been spent yet. Roberta Rocco asked in the Block Club would contribute about $100 from its funds toward the purchase of more mulch. There was no consensus.
D. Holiday Party. Possible venues and dates were discussed. Co-chairs Sue Coy and Sam Catania will plan and report back to the Block Club at the next meeting
Upcoming events
- Youth Auditions in August 2008(6 days)
- See FREAKSHOW for free at the Liminis theatre on Scranton Rd.(6 days)
- Arts in August: GroundWorks Dancetheater(7 days)
- Arts in August: Groundworks Dance Theatre(8 days)
- See FREAKSHOW for free at the Liminis theatre on Scranton Rd.(13 days)
- Arts in August: Verb Ballets(14 days)
Comments
NORTH OF LITERARY BLOCK
NORTH OF LITERARY BLOCK CLUB
MINUTES OF MEETING AT LOLITA JAN. 16, 2007
The meeting was held at Lolita (upstairs) at 6:30 p.m. Co-Chair Sue Coy presiding.
Attendees introduced themselves, including 2nd Dist. Police representative, officer Anthony McMahon.
The Chair called upon several guests who are running for election to the TWDC Board of Directors each to make a short presentation. Those present and speaking were: Marcia Leslie, Becca Riker, Guy Templeton Black (and Yogi, who did not speak), Jeff Chiplis, Thomas Cook, Karen Gabriel Moss, David Mehring and Herb Crowther.
Officer McMahon spoke about reporting incidents and getting a number for each complaint. Also, about his unit which is called the Community Service Unit (formerly called Fresh Start). His unit is primarily concerned with ongoing incidents such as a continual loud noise at a certain time of the day or night, or a particular offense that occurs even though the offender may have been told or asked to stop it. A short discussion followed concerning crime in the neighborhood.
Deane Malaker passed around for info some sheets listing some young men in the neighborhood who are and have been arrested and served time for crimes committed. Currently, a sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 7, 2007 for Joseph Duffield. Members were urged to sign a letter addressed to the judge concerning our feelings that the judge should impose a stiff sentence. The letter, along with others written by individuals in the neighborhood, will be signed by the Chairs of the various block clubs in the neighborhood representing the feelings of their various members.
No minutes for our previous meeting in November, 2006 were presented. We were informed that they would be forthcoming at the Feb., 2007 meeting. There was no meeting in Dec., 2006.
A second court appearance for the graffiti taggers Peak and Chang is scheduled for Jan. 17 per info from Marianne Ludwig.
The house at 506 Literary Rd. and its accompanying outhouse and shed are still a topic of conversation and concern. The outhouse and shed were torn down, but the rubble remains on site! Evidently, the last living heir, Dick Kasuba, reported that the house will be sold to a young man coming from military service, who intends to live in it. We are told that a dumpster will appear on site on 1-19, and that at that time the sale will close. Sue Coy read an e-mail from Katie updating us on her efforts and sharing the above information.
801 Literary (the former home of Grumpy’s Restaurant) is also a topic of continuing interest. The building was sold over a year ago, but nothing seems to be happening. Katie Hough has not responded to a call about it. There seems to be substantial work being done on the house adjacent to 801 Literary on the West, but no building permit is posted. The “Church†property on the Northwest corner of Novak Ct. and W. 6th St. seems to have about 5 or 6 families living in it. Scott Rosenstein will give a copy of these minutes to Katie Hough and ask her to investigate these matters and report back to us.
With regard to the property at 2316 W. 11th St. owned by McBride, Scott reported that McBride intends to build on this site and wants to acquire the vacant Land Bank lot next door to enhance his the sale of the property. A letter from Sammy Catania, who was not present at the meeting, was read by Scott Rosenstein which letter spoke to the subject of McBride’s acquiring the Land Bank lot. Sammy was opposed to it mainly on the ground that Land Bank property is not to be used merely to enhance the value of a development and sale of property. It seems that Grace Hospital owns property on the other side of the vacant Land Bank lot and has plans for a wellness center for which they have created a separate non-profit corporation, according to Herb Crowther. Since McBride did not appear at our meeting to ask for our opinion, a motion to table our discussion on this topic until McBride does appear in person was made by Lorraine Thwaite and seconded by Dennis Turski. The motion carried without opposition.
Roberta Rocco reported that Feb. 16 is the deadline for filing requests for a monetary grant from Neighborhood Connections (a program of the Cleveland Foundation). They give grants from $500 to $5,000. Last year we got $2,500 for landscaping activities. Scott said that some other Block Clubs are planning to submit requests. Evidently, the big thing now is security cameras, and the requests will probably be for the installation of them. Our members were in agreement that security cameras would be a good thing considering the rash of crime in our neighborhood. Guy Templeton Black said that he is aware that the City of Chicago has put many cameras in neighborhoods where crime has been a particular problem and that Cleveland should do it too. A motion was made by Aaron Lemieux and seconded by Dennis Turski that Roberta apply for a grant for the installation of security cameras in the neighborhood. The motion carried without opposition.
Chair Coy announced that the TWDC annual meeting will be held at St. Joseph/OLA on Jan. 25. Dinner at 6 p.m., meeting at 7. Please attend and vote for Board members for the coming year.
After a bit of discussion and soul searching the following members submitted their names in nomination for the positions of Co-chairs and secretaries/scribes for the coming year: Sue Coy and Martha Lineberger for Co-chairs, and Roberta Rocco and Deane Malaker as secretaries/scribes. Since there were no other nominations their election proceeded without opposition.
The Tremont History Project has a display at TWDC. We are all urged to view it. Jim Noga, owner of Noga Flower Shop in W. 14th St., is an old-timer in the neighborhood and has a slide presentation of the history of Tremont. He is willing to present it if asked. We are all thinking about it and will discuss it at a further meeting.
Cleveland artist, Hector Vega, has constructed a Tremont collage that can be viewed at the Sight Center at E. 105th St. and Chester Ave.
The 50/50 raffle contained $32 and was won by Kevin Kacenjar who donated his share back to the Block Club. Thank you, Kevin.Our thanks go out to Lolita for providing us with delicious coffees and water and a comfortable, warm place in which to meet.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned. Next meeting Feb. 20, 2007.
Deane Malaker, Sec.
Love the lighted snowflakes
Love the lighted snowflakes that have appeared on Professor! Thank you!?! Who did this? I saw CPP putting them up.
Michelle, Did you see
Michelle,
Did you see today's (Sunday) Plain Dealer front page? "FORECLOSED HOMES USED TO STASH GUNS, DRUGS
by John Canigila
The
leaders of a robbery team that terrorized TREMONT businesses last fall
made sure they never lacked access to firepower" I have to ask WHICH
BUSINESSES were TERRORIZED??? What the HELL is this guy talking
about???
We have been in TREMONT for more than 5 years. Maybe
we have been lucky? I don't know? We have never been Robbed. I don't
know of other businesses in the neighborhood being Robbed? I don't
think I'm naive? This kind of publicity is something that we don't
need in the neighborhood!
It's time to start promoting Tremont once again! Don't you think??? The organization you work for gets grant money - our
tax dollars- DO SOMETHING TO PROMOTE TREMONT in a POSITIVE WAY!!! PLEASE!!!