Brandywine Village Civic Association

November 2008 Minutes

Jan 14, 2009

November 12, 2008, 7pm, Shortlidge Elementary School, 100 W 18th Street, Brandywine Village.

The meeting came to order at 7:05pm.
Neighborhood blocks represented:
1800 block Washington Street
1800 block West Street
1700 block West Street
100 block W 18th Street
200 block W 18th Street
200 W 19th Street

Elected Officials Present:
State Representative Dennis Williams

Wilmington Police Department Officer Present:
None Present

Residents present at the meeting were asked to state their most pressing concerns. Five specific concerns were articulated.

1) The excessive LITTER issue, particularly around the Elementary School, was a compelling neighborhood issue that we generally agreed we could alleviate.
The Washington Street median strip near the Bridge is a trash wasteland.
Recommended Solutions:
?• Enforce litter laws. Representative Williams stated that the Wilmington Police are able to issue tickets to individuals and the parents' of minor who choose to litter.
?• Petition the Red Clay School District. Has Pricipal Thomas notified students and parents about littering problems? Has Principal Thomas reported littering problems to the District?
?• Principal Thomas has invited members of the Civic Association and elected officials to attend a PTA meeting to express litter concerns to this group.
?• Educate teachers, students, parents, neighbors. Contact DE State Parks AmeriCorps program, DSWA, etc. at Shortlidge School. Kathleen will pursue this option.
?• Designate specific areas for flowering perennials. Designate specific areas for large planters for flowers. Look into Audubon grants and other available grants. Ask Representative Williams for a small grant.

2) PARKING during Shortlidge School events or during School rentals is another issue the civic association may be able to alleviate.
Recommended Solutions:
?• Flyers on Brandywine Village Civic Association letterhead courteously placed on the windshield of the offending vehicles requesting that these visitors utilize one of Shorlidge?’s five (5) exclusive parking areas.

3) WILD ANIMALS AND FERAL ANIMALS are overrunning the Brandywine Village. Raccoons are nuisance animals that are breaking into the attics and basements of homes, defecating on lawns and on roofs, and approaching residents including children. Residents in the neighborhood are feeding these pests.
Recommended Solutions:
?• Stop the feeding of wild animals by residents.
?• Look at neighborhood trees, etc. to limit raccoons access to roofs.

4) HOUSING/TENANT ISSUES, including tenant problems (1800 block West Street), group home (211 W 18th Street?) vacant property (117 W 18th Street), **and sidewalk code violations, etc.
Recommended Solutions:
?• Enforcement of City Ordinances. Ensure that City Councilman has facts to pursue these properties.

5) The entire City struggles with this fifth issue. Neighbors are worried about CRIME AND PERSONAL SAFETY. Police are not always responding in a timely manner to crimes in progress. Although we cannot stop violent crimes, burglary and theft, etc., we have some ideas to keep ourselves and our neighborhood safer.
Recommended Solutions:
?• All residents need to turn on porch lights after dark. Can Blueprint Communities provide bulbs?
?• Place lighting in shadowed common areas (esp. 1700 block W 17th Street). Can Blueprint Communities assist in this effort?
?• Tracy will contact Blueprint Communities.
?• Trim Trees and shrubs so that ?‘bad guys?’ can?’t hide to assault pedestrians, break into homes, or sell drugs. Enforce shrub and tree height ordinances. Can DE Horticulture Center (DCH) Tree Stewards help?
?• Establish a ?“Neighborhood Watch?”. Neighbors will patrol blocks represented within the civic association by car. We will try to get magnetic signs for car. Kathleen will contact Triangle Neighborhood Association about their Watch program.
?• Representative Williams encouraged residents to document all 911 calls. Who was the Dispatcher? Who showed up? How long? Was a report filed? What else?


Representative Williams encouraged Brandywine Village Civic Association members to share the good news of our neighborhood. He encouraged us to celebrate Brandywine Village on ?“Windows on Wilmington?” on the City?’s access station. Representative Williams assured us that District One provides funding support to many local agencies including DCH and DSP. He encouraged us to utilize local resources and engage our current City Councilman and Councilman-elect in our concerns.

An ACORN representative dropped by the meeting, stayed briefly, and left some literature.

The meeting adjourned at 9pm.

The next meeting will be held December 10, 2008 at 7pm at Shortlidge School. Please enter on W. 18th Street at the Cafeteria entrance. Meetings will last no lore than 90 minutes.