Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations

Meeting Minutes March 7, 2007

Albany Public Library

1)      Introductions

Sgt. Gregory of the Albany Police Departments introduced himself and gave an overview of the Strategic Deployment Unit.  The unit, consisting of 26 police officers and 6 troopers will go through the neighborhoods, by foot and car and address non-emergency situations.  Amanda Bennecassa, the 2006 Tulip Queen, also addressed the Council, looking for nominees for the 2007 Tulip Queen.

2)      Minutes

The minutes of the February 7, 2007 , meeting were adopted without correction.

3)      Guest Speaker:  Hon. Shawn Morris, Albany Common Council President

Council President Morris explained that making Albany a safe place for families to live and invest is a defining issue that faces the city today,

·        She acknowledged that things are not going well, and questioned if Albany is providing for the youth in their after-school hours.

·        President Morris pointed out that Albany does have many successful programs, but that children are not taking part in them,

·        Morris detailed a map that was created by a University at Albany graduate student at the request of the Common Council.  The map showed that most programs are not located where the kids are, or are easily accessible by public transportation.  Morris contends that they are too spread out.  She also said that the map would be made available to CANA members

·        This is a citywide issue, which will require a citywide discussion.  Everyone (city/schools/police/advocacy groups, etc) must participate.

·        There are barriers that must be broken through; things tend to be done on a competitive, not collaborative basis.

Council President Morris then took questions/ suggestions from CANA members.  Some suggestions were:

·        A book that would details all youth programs that the city offers

·        Using college students to run a hotline where residents can call to get a listing all youth resources available.

·        Bringing schools into the planning, since that is where the kids are (Seamlessly move from one project to the next).

·        Identify what is missing in the family structure.

·        Involve the Police Athletic League (Sgt. Fred Alberti).

·        Make sure the libraries are utilized, especially after the new funding.

·        The economic infrastructure is the real issue.  If the economic pressures are too strong, no program will make a difference.

The discussion then moved onto the Comprehensive Plan, and the reassessment.

4)      Committee Reports

·        University and Community Relations

  February meeting was canceled due to the snowstorm.

5)      New Business and Announcements

·        The possibility of “podcasting” CANA meetings was brought up, as was the suggestion for creating a Wikipedia entry for CANA. 

·        A recommendation was made for putting a link to the assessment figures on the City of Albany website,

·        Zone variance requests for the old Avenue A are now open.

·        Accounts of  problems with CDTA service during the February 14^th blizzard were shared.

6)      Adjourment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:51PM.

Submitted by Lew Dubuque

CANA

March 7, 2007 Meeting Attendees