[Durham INC] Draft April Minutes

Fri May 1 07:37:52 EDT 2020

Please let me know about additions or corrections.  I would especially appreciate help in learning neighborhoods / organizations for Lisa Poteet, Shelia Huggins, E’vonne Coleman, Sherry Colter, Trey Kennedy, someone who just called in

Thanks, pat

April Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham

Via Zoom

April 28, 2020

Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods

Argonne Hills – Tom Edds

Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen

Forest Hills – Matt McDowell

Golden Belt – DeDreana Freeman

Hillside Park – Katrina Holley
Long Meadow – Pakis

Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo

Northgate Park – Debra Hawkins

Old North Durham – Peter Katz

Old West Durham – Vicky Welch

Trinity Park – Philip Azar, Mimi Kessler

Trappers Creek / Greymoss – Will Wilson

Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell

Watts Hospital Hillandale – Tom Miller

Woodcroft – Jose Sandoval

Neighborhood Not Identified: Lisa Poteet, Shelia Huggins, E’vonne Coleman, Sherry Colter, Trey Kennedy, someone who just called in

Visitors

Annette Smith – DPR and Durham Parks Foundation

Lynwood Best – NIS

Wendy Jacobs – Durham County BOCC

President Will Wilson welcomed those “present.”  Susan Sewell said the February minutes should be corrected from “Susan, added that storm water agency could be involved, because of issues of preservation and flooding” to “Susan added that storm water department reviews all plans, whether rezoning or just approval process. Educating their staff to the water issues information you have compiled may positively affect their review comments. It helped our neighborhood.”  With this clarification, the minutes were approved.  There were no adjustments to the agenda.

Wendy Jacobs led a discussion of Durham’s coronavirus situation.  She first thanked folks for all the efforts they are making.  The emergency declaration for Durham County was signed March 14th, so we have been in this emergency for about six weeks.  There are bi-weekly inter-agency calls, and Wendy shared what was talked about today.  We are in the 50th day of operating out of the Emergency Operations Center; they are doing a great job.  The numbers for Durham County are: 572 cases and 17 deaths so far, but the bad news today was that Butner (just the part in Durham County) will jump our cases by 144.  All congregate living situations are tinder-boxes.  The new data hub has lots of information on distributions: https://durhampublichealth-durhamnc.hub.arcgis.com<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdurhampublichealth-durhamnc.hub.arcgis.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C4e5c3edf853e4b0e844f08d7ebd0f4d8%7Cc16a00a3560947c0b2c272d8635e3423%7C0%7C0%7C637237155006702076&sdata=U7WhXsFGtHiC4OItle4FnCuitEhNDZQpwlIw7Lno3gE%3D&reserved=0> (it takes a bit to load).  63% of cases are “close contact” – we know what contact did it – plus 20% travel-related, so we have relatively low percentage where we don’t know how the virus was transmitted.  33% of cases are in long-term care facilities.  We are getting another 15 contact-tracers from Duke, which almost doubles our capacity.  Community Cares of NC will be offering 250 more contact-tracers across NC.  We don’t have racial data on a lot of the cases.  Duke has the capacity to do 700 tests per day; we need to be able to do a little over 500 tests per day.  Walgreens is going to open a free drive-through clinic at 3798 Guess Road; one can get an appointment at the website.  We also need some kind of digital platform (where you get notified when you have been around someone with the virus).  The scorecard for the 4 metrics the governor has made is also being developed.  There is a food-finder app.  We are doing a good job of staying at home. On the task force on food distribution to those who need it: we are feeding lots of kids, we are now connecting local farmers into supply chain; people are needed to help with food distribution and there is a web-site to sign up to volunteer.  There is also a homelessness task force.  We need an isolation hotel (for exposed people who aren’t sick) and a sick hotel.  We’ve had huge increases (up about 40%) in applications for food assistance; we’ve gotten a bunch of additional money and gotten some flexibility/increased benefits (check the DSS website).  The emergency folks have 7 committees working on re-opening.  The city is having special budget meetings; the BOCC is adjusting to not having the increase in revenue they were hoping for and probably less than last year.  In both cases, difficult decisions will have to be made.  We are not good on N95 masks and gowns, but OK on hospital capacity. Cash flow will be a problem.  We would like to make sure everyone has a face mask, perhaps using the BOCC “piggy bank” that was budgeted for things like travel.  There was also discussion of the computer virus situation.  See Appendix A for more web resources.

Resolution on party houses (see Appendix B):  Tom moved and Phil seconded the resolution on party houses.  Susan said there has been improvement in the party house situation, but it needs to have continued momentum / coordination of the efforts.   The resolution may need another “whereas” that takes the coronavirus situation into account.

There were no committee reports.

Carver Street Assemblage and Black Meadow Ridge issues – Nothing to report

We may want to do a resolution supporting the city and county in the coronavirus emergency, as well as all the people who are making a difference.

Northgate Park has taken all their events, including the food truck rodeo, into virtual space.  Look for what they decide to do in May.

Annette said the parks are still open, but please don’t congregate.  Stay at home applies to parks employees, so please pack out your garbage.

Appendix A:  Web Resources

Data hub: https://durhampublichealth-durhamnc.hub.arcgis.com<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdurhampublichealth-durhamnc.hub.arcgis.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C4e5c3edf853e4b0e844f08d7ebd0f4d8%7Cc16a00a3560947c0b2c272d8635e3423%7C0%7C0%7C637237155006702076&sdata=U7WhXsFGtHiC4OItle4FnCuitEhNDZQpwlIw7Lno3gE%3D&reserved=0>

Volunteering to help with food:  https://tinyurl.com/feedingdurham

Durham Public on Health on Coronavirus:
https://www.dcopublichealth.org/services/communicable-diseases/communicable-diseases/coronavirus-disease-2020/-fsiteid-3
Walgreens site https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/covid19/testing?ban=covid_vanity_testing
Food Resources Locator is about halfway down on the Data Hub page. Section is labeled Local GIS Resources
Other sites for volunteers:
https://www.bullcityresponds.com/?fbclid=IwAR34655L0GHLdptdfdEtymrrXqg7O8MMA9UYdQX1HUiyM8LmD62Bt_W78CY,
https://www.dcopublichealth.org/services/communicable-diseases/coronavirus-disease-2019/covid-19-resources-volunteering/-fsiteid-3
(All DPS students with free/reduced lunch now have EBT benefits)

Appendix B:

Resolution in support of the work of Durham Neighborhoods United (DNU) and Durham Police Department’s new Student Party House polices and proceedures.

  *   Whereas, Durham Neighborhoods United (DNU) is a group of Durham neighborhoods responding to issues caused by student party houses in residential areas around Duke. Many of these neighborhoods are also members of The Inter Neighborhood Council of Durham (INC) and neighborhood representatives have kept INC up to date on issues and solutions.
  *   Whereas, DNU has worked with many city departments to learn how to use available resources, with limited success. DNU has also reached out Duke departments to learn how they can assist with this issue, with limited success.
  *   Whereas, DNU has kept a close relationship with the Durham Police Department, included regular participation of officers from PAC 2 and PAC 3 and a meeting with the current Chief. Durham Police have been made aware of all DNU’s efforts to reach out to other departments in Durham and Duke and that limited success.
  *   Whereas, Durham Police (PAC2 captain) assigned an officer in spring 2019 to review best practices around student party houses in other locations and draft a best practices policy for Durham that includes working with Duke and DNU. This plan was implemented in the fall of 2019 as a test for the school year.
  *   Whereas, DNU has seen a positive benefit in this test year, including a reduction of party house issues, improved collection of data, improved involvement with Duke, use of the misdemeanor diversion program, and successful restorative justice interactions with students. Durham Police will make a full report on the success of the program and determine if it will continue. DNU is requesting that the program continue with a dedicated officer to oversee the training of officers, education of students, and tracking of all data for further annual reports.

Therefore, be it resolved that INC supports the new student party house response program and urges Durham Police department to continue with a dedicated officer leading this program for additional years. INC congratulates Durham Police Dept for responding positively and successfully to this ongoing issue.

Other background information

  *   Neighborhoods surrounding Duke University have had serious issues with student party houses for years and responded in a variety of ways individually.
  *   DNU formed in 2010 to allow neighborhoods to respond together: surveying the history of responses to choose the best of them, reaching out to various Duke and Durham departments for education and information, and creating a Protocol for neighborhoods to follow.

  *   DNU has reported activities and results regularly to Inter Neighborhood Council of Durham (INC) and several neighborhoods are involved in both groups.
  *   DNU actions has helped both Duke and Durham departments to improve their response to these issues.
  *   One result of DNU’s efforts was the decision of PAC2 to assign an Officer to review party house issue practices of other cities and create a response plan for Durham. Officer Wagstaff included DNU in his research and DNU modified their Protocol to coordinate with the new Durham Police response plan.
  *   The Durham Police Dept party house response plan has been in effect for the 2019-20 school year, including: education meetings with Duke student organizations, education meetings with known party house residents individually, training of PAC2 and 3 officers in new protocol, agreement with State’s Attorney to include Misdemeanor Diversion Program as the second encounter option. DNU has reached out to neighborhoods to encourage the new protocol for neighbors, including: offering our contact information when we call in a complaint, gathering electronic evidence for use in case the officer cannot reach the house during the party, and consenting to participate in restorative justice plans once students have been sited and diverted
  *   The first year of the plan has resulted in a noticeable reduction in disruptive parties throughout the area. See Stats. See response from Duke Police. Note additional benefit of students knowing how to record item descriptions correctly so they were able to get stolen property back.

  *   We strongly encourage the Durham Police Department to continue this successful program. Only seniors live off campus so each year there is a need for clear communication with a new set of students.

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