Minutes of the Belmont-DeVilliers Neighborhood Association -- Mar 2, 2011 Meeting

BELMONT-DEVILLIERS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF THE MARCH 2, 2011 MEETING

The meeting was opened at 5:35 p.m. by President Dolores Curry. Attending were: Dolores Curry, Dottie Dubuisson, Vivian Lamont, Diane Mack, Rev. Carl Reeves, Ann Hill, Neil Richards, Eddie Todd, Tony McCray, Danny Lewis, George Hawthorne, Alexa Canady-Davis, Sonja Evans, Rev. Eugene Franklin. Guests included City Councilman Ronald Townsend, Erica Douglas, director of case management at Southern Oaks Rehabilitation Center; Valerie Kendrick, community educator for the AmeriCorps Oil Spill VISTA Team, United Way; Gloria Horning, public information officer of BRACE (Be Ready Coordinating for Emergencies) and Kim Kimbrough of the Downtown Improvement Board.

Minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

Rev. Carl Reeves said (1) more police surveillance camera demonstrations can be arranged, including evening appointments if that’s more convenient to members. (2) The second public Town Hall meeting will be on the East Side from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 8 at the E.S. Cobb Center, 601 E. Mallory St. Dolores Curry noted that gang and drug activity has diminished on Jackson St. and increased on Gadsden between Coyle and DeVilliers.

Vivian Lamont announced that act, dance and sing in the Senior Follies will be held at the WSRE auditorium at Pensacola State College at 7 pm Friday, April 8, and at 2 pm Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10. Tickets are $12 and proceeds benefit senior citizens organizations. She also noted that the Belmont Youth Band now has a piano instructor and that they’ve been able to obtain an instrument for every new student to date.

Ms. Lamont also encouraged all to attend the Belmont Arts & Cultural Center’s event titled “Spring Membership Drive + Barbeque + Art = A Great Day” set for 11 am to 4 pm Saturday, April 9, at the Belmont Building, 401 N. Reus St. Complimentary barbeque, studio tours, live glass blowing, glass bead making & pottery demonstrations, with hands-on opportunities. Details: www.belmontartscenter.com or call 850-429-1222.

Tony McCray gave an update on the Gulf Coast Regional Equity to Achieve Prosperity (R.E.A.P.) summit set for March 17-19 at the Pensacola Hilton and offered members a deeply discount of $90 off the price of admission. Important workshops will be held on (1) housing and community development; (2) Education, training and job development; (3) health and human services, and (4) business and economic development.

Mr. McCray noted that Dr. Howard Rasheed, the founder of the Wilmington, NC-based Institute for Innovation, is working to develop software that will track initiatives developed at the summit. Dr. Rasheed has received the Outstanding Alumni and Outstanding Instructor awards from his alma mater, the University of West Florida, where he received a B.S. in Marketing and an MBA in entrepreneurial studies. He was the first chairman of the Minority Economic Task Force for the Pensacola Chamber.

Mr. McCray said the summit organizers are seeking volunteers and representation from the faith-based community of Pensacola and Escambia County. He distributed a volunteer sheet titled “REAP Blueprint Strategic Planning Teams.” He asked members to check the teams they have a passion for and to prioritize them. The teams are listed as: Health and Human Services; Affordable Housing; Civic Engagement/Leadership Development; Minority Business/Economic Development; Education/Workforce Development; Technology; Media/Entertainment; Heritage Preservation/Cultural Tourism; Financial Management/Sustainability; and Disaster Planning and Recovery. To register for the REAP summit or to learn more about these teams, visit www.ibispartners.com or call 850-341-1060.

Eddie Todd and George Hawthorne, diversity program advisor for the Gulf Coast African American Chamber of Commerce, briefly explained leveraging opportunities offered by the Community Maritime Park development that could benefit Belmont-DeVilliers and the West Side neighborhoods. Mr. Hawthorne proposed that the Belmont-DeVilliers Neighborhood Association become part of a 501(c)3 Community Development Corporation that could oversee the development of land parcels within our area. The lots would be purchased through federal grants, donations or other means and then developed by the nonprofit CDC. He suggested this would be a pro-active way to affect the development of the neighborhood rather than a passive approach to see what developer comes in to change the fabric of the neighborhood. Mr. Hawthorne has 27 years of community development experience and recognizes that federal funding for this type of enterprise is shrinking, as some members pointed out. Mr. Hawthorne can be reached at grghawthorne@yahoo.com or at the Gulf Coast African American Chamber of Commerce, second floor, Eddie Todd Building, (850) 433-0593.

In the discussion that followed Mr. Hawthorne’s suggestion, Mr. McCray said that the fact federal funds are being cut is additional reason to pursue this strategy. Alexa Canady-Davis cautioned that such a venture would require serious financial oversight and an independent auditing system. Eddie Todd said that others have asked the association to set up a CDC in the past, but the group rejected the invitation. He said there is a local developer still interested in participating in such a venture. It was noted that both Mayor Ashton Hayward and Councilman Brian Spencer have expressed interest in this type of venture.

Dottie Dubuisson and Neil Richards thought it might be expedient to partner with CEII (Community Equity Investments, Inc.), 302 N. Barcelona St., which already has a 501(c)3. It was agreed there should be further discussion of his suggestion. CEII was first incorporated in 1974 as People Organized for Community Development (POCD), as one of the original CDC’s funded by the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity’s “War on Poverty” in the late 1970s.

Councilman Ronald Townsend said the Council on the Whole will be deliberating on the $200,000 “A” Street Tree Beautification proposal at its meeting on Monday at about 3:15 pm on the second floor of City Hall. He said there is some effort to derail this project and suggested that as many members as possible should come to the meeting. (Update: Several crepe myrtle trees were planted on “A” St. between Belmont and LaRua on Friday, March 4. Pensacola News Journal photos of this tree planting can viewed at
http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DP&Dato=20110304&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=103040802&Ref=PH&odyssey=mod|galleriespic

Ann Hill moved that we pass a resolution backing the mayor’s “A” St. beautification program. This was seconded and passed unanimously. The Westside Sunshine and Tanyard Neighborhood Associations will be invited to co-sign the resolution and attend the Monday meeting.

Ms. Hill passed around the Visit Pensacola’s new pamphlets titled “Explore African-American Heritage in the Pensacola Bay Area.” She noted the Pensacola Visitors Center,

1401 E. Gregory St.

, has 10,000 copies. Toll free number is 800-874-1234. The African-American Heritage Trail brochure can also be downloaded as a PDF file at: www.visitpensacola.com/sites/visitpensacola.com/files/aaht-brochure-web.pdf .

Ms. Hill also gave an update on the association’s effort to be given a PCIP grant for a welcome sign in the island at

Garden St.

and DeVilliers. She had emailed the membership two options for the welcome sign, and members selected that the second sign that is routed to take the shape of the lettering and has a saxophone on it. The group also voted to put Eddie Todd, Ann Hill and George Hawthorne in charge of the grant application, giving them authority to make decisions regarding this project. Kim Kimbrough offered to lend consulting support to this project.

Neil Richards reported that Goombay is still on for April 20 but that the footprint and sponsors have all changed. It will maintain the Caribbean theme and provide economic support of key neighborhood businesses.

Ms. Dubuisson gave a summary of the various upcoming governmental meetings covering bed tax, the old sewage plant, and downtown parking and sidewalks. She noted that the borrower on Music Hall of Fame exhibit has been transferred and plans for a digitized version can move forward. The Tone and Bones open mic continues on Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 at the Belmont Building. Ms. Dubuisson also pointed out the article and photo on the African-American Heritage Society that was in the Pensacola News Journal on Feb. 27:  www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011102280313 .

The email announcement for the 1st Annual Mardi Gras Gourmet Dinner Night fundraiser sponsored by the Truth for Youth to benefit Students for Suicide Awareness, a tenant in the Belmont Building, was forwarded to the membership. Featured Belmont artists at the event included Ashton Howard, Austin Waller and Sonja Griffin Evans,

Alexa Canady-Davis reported that because of some misinformation, the name of the firefighters’ memorial will be “Fallen Firefighters Memorial” and it will be dedicated to those fallen firefighters who served the old Main Fire Station. She encouraged members to watch the environmentally green construction of the new library facilities.

Mr. Todd gave two updates on the Community Maritime Parks Associates (CMPA): (1) a board member has resigned (Bentina Terry) and there is a issue in the works to dissolve  the CMPA and put it under the direct control  of the City Council.

Dr. Gloria Horning distributed sponsorship (ranging from $275 to $2,500) and silent auction donation information on the upcoming Be Ready Alliance (BRACE) second annual Hurricane Hoedown set for 6:30 to 11 pm Saturday, May 14, at the Sanders Beach Community Center, 913 South “I” St. Tickets are $35 for admission, dinner, dancing, live music and two drink tickets. Ticket purchase and other information is also posted on the website: www.bereadyalliance.org/getequipped  or by calling 850-444-7041.

BRACE’s mission is to teach and prepare our communities on how to protect, respond and recover from a disaster or an emergency. The 501(c)3 organization was recently recognized by FEMA with an Honorable Mention Award for Outstanding Citizen Corps.

Dr. Gloria Horning noted two upcoming workshops (1) A free Cultural, Ethnic and Minority Disaster Ready Workshop on March 19 from 10:30 to 3 pm at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 3600 N. Palafox and (2) a free 4-day Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) training course April 7-10. At present, she said, about 30% of those being trained are African-American.

According to the February BRACE newsletter, when a state of emergency is declared, the BRACE homepage will go into Emergency Mode to provide its partners and the public with emergency information. The Escambia County Public Information Office will be updating MyEscambia.com  with the latest breaking news as it is made available. BRACE’s website will provide a link to MyEscambia.com for this breaking news during an emergency.

Residents can also receive emergency updates via email or text by signing up now at MyEscambia.com. Several email subscriptions are available from Escambia County depending on your information needs – sign up for one, two, or all three. The Crisis Communication Email Subscription will only be activated during a declared state of emergency, and will only send you information when the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center has been activated. The email subscription signup with a description of the types of notification (general, alert, crisis) is at:

www.myescambia.com/Bureaus/PublicInformation/Subscribe.html

Guest Erica Douglas of Southern Oaks was introduced. She said there have been lots of staff changes at the rehabilitation center and invited the membership to an Open House there from 4 to 6 pm on April 13. She will send out formal invitations next week.

Ms. Curry passed around a letter of thanks from Rose George and the family of the late Mr. Fred Lee George Sr.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 pm.