FSNA February Meeting Report
Dr. Mark Whiteside, an infectious disease specialist, opened the meeting with a discussion on Dengue Fever. He addressed the critical need for everyone to police their own homes and neighborhoods for standing water. He suggested that people should call Mosquito Control for any issues that are observed that could lead to proliferation of mosquitoes. Here is a link to the Dengue Fever Information Flyer.
Officer Steve Torrence of the KWPD said that 2 arrests have been made (both related to burglaries) in this neighborhood in the last month. It was pointed out that another prime burglary suspect has not yet been apprehended and that vigilance is still important. Anyone observing suspicious people or behavior should call the KWPD at 809-1111.
He also told us that he had met with bar owners on lower Duval and pressured them to pick up more security. He also explained that more security would come in the form of off-duty police officers (paid for by the owners).
He also notified us that the police department was starting both a twitter page and a Facebook page.
John Wilkins (the city's new parking manager) joined us to explain his position at the city and the challenges facing the community in terms of parking and traffic.
He told us that many of the departments that had previously been operating separately from each other were now overseen by his department. This included the city parking lots, meter enforcement, etc.
He spoke at length about residential parking permits and different options that the city is reviewing going forward. He explained that simple changes (such as allowing people with vanity plates to be able to apply for a Residential Parking Pass) were being corrected by his department. The possibility of a bike path on Eaton Street was discussed as well as the deferential pricing when it came to getting Residential Parking Passes. We closed out the meeting talking about a parking summit to be held by the city in the next few months where the public would be able to give input to city wide changes.
Meeting notes thanks to Quincy Perkins.
Images of the Meeting
I love the fact that Officer Torrence argues that the bar owners will pay for the added "security" on lower Duval St. Maybe he got the idea from the call i put into the Citizen's Voice column about 3 weeks ago, wherein i said that the bar owners should pay for their own security since the bars are the cause of most of the problems that require a police presence. My comment was edited; not included was my quip that the bar owners can afford to pay for private security-- i have observed more than one owner carting HUGE bags of money into the bank on monday mornings.
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