Meeting Notes: General Membership – September 23, 2024

Call to order: 7:02 PM
Andrew Epps welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order.
Officer Updates:
• Neighborhood Police Officer (NPO):
o NPO Jenny Bell is in attendance
o Continue to encourage everyone to call 911 if anything is happening. Officer Bell is a resource but should not be the only point of contact to police.
o Everything needs to be reported because every isolated instance can be connected.
o Make sure that you are “creating a report” for all situations. “Calling it in” does not necessarily mean that a report was made. Need to follow through and ask to speak to an officer when they come out in response to an event.
o Main issue in the neighborhood recently has been regarding displaced people.
o How to report porch pirates or people repeatedly on porches, etc.
 If someone is actively on your porch, Officer Bell suggests calling 911 rather than reporting on the app since it is an ongoing event.
 The app is good for reporting “after the fact” events or nuisances – not for active ongoing situations.
 If you see someone pulling on car door handles, call 911 and say you see “XX doing XX” and whether you are remaining on the scene or not. This is clearly suspicious activity.
o To issue a trespassing warrant, the property owner, the person trespassing, and the police all need to be present at the same time.
 Since there is an individual who continues to cause problems, Officer Bell can try to look into other options since this is happening multiple times to multiple people with the same offender.
o Note that the Fairmount Facebook page with the most followers is not affiliated with the city or Fairmount Neighborhood Association and is not tracked by either.
 Encourage anyone posting on there to call 911 and to make a report for any instance.
 If anyone needs to reach the FNA board, this can be done via email (listed on our website), our FNA Facebook page, or by attending FNA General Meetings.
o Officer Bell – call or text at 817 944 1316
o Per request, Officer Bell will send Andrew a list of offenses (will only include events where actual reports are made) to share with the neighborhood as deemed necessary.
o On oneaddress.fortworthtexas.gov anyone can pull crime stats.
• Code Compliance:
o Officer Hudson is in attendance.
o There is some shuffling of Code Compliance officers currently.
o In the report for the last month:
 Most violations are for junk vehicles
 Outside storage continues to be a popular violation
 Illegal dumping instances are common
o Make sure to report on the app for quick turn around regarding city services of many types.
o The more complaints that are made, the more prompt the response will be. According to the city, the quantity of data is important.
o Is there a dedicated officer to historic districts specifically? Officer Hudson says yes there is but will need to follow up on who this is.
• Deputy Constable:
o Not in attendance
• Fort Worth City Council District 9 Representative:
o Not in attendance
o Diversion Center:
 Beck sits on the board, but FNA has been told that we need to file complaints directly to Mike – not through Beck.
 Andrew has extended him the invite to our FNA meeting for today and next month.
 Hopefully he will attend next month to answer any questions from neighbors regarding the Diversion Center, since this is always a topic of concern.
Community Garden Update:
• Not in attendance
Community Library Update:
• Not in attendance
Board Updates:
• National Night Out – Kim Worley
o At Fire Station Community Center on October 1 from 5:30 PM – 8 PM
o Will have activities for kids, food, tables and booths, etc.
• Fairmount Police Bike Patrol – Ray Feyen
o There is a group on bike patrol now on Magnolia. Some may ride into the neighborhood if tracking someone/ something.
o Starting in November – some are out now.
• September FNA Social:
o This Sunday, September 29 at 2:30 PM
o Celebrating the new sign on Allen, the sign makers, and the neighborhood.
o Stan and Michael McDermott have been working on the landscaping.
• Scaremount Map:
o This is an October topic for the neighborhood and will be sent out before Halloween, noting the “best” houses for Halloween décor and goodies.
o Make sure you are subscribed to the FNA email newsletter to get the deadline notifications.
o You will need to submit your house to FNA in order to be included on the map. The FNA does not ride through the neighborhood and pick houses to put on the map.
o communications@historicfairmount.com
Upcoming:
• FNA Holiday Party will be on Sunday, December 15th but we are still nailing down the time. Good food, background music, at Arts Fifth Ave.
• Ryan Place 40th Anniversary Candlelight Christmas Home Tour will be December 7 and 8 – see our re-posts on Facebook/ Instagram.
• Note that 2025 FNA memberships will need to be renewed in January – these are based on a calendar year.
• October General Meeting will include voting on the 2025 budget
o The board will discuss until the October General Meeting
o General members will get a vote next meeting
o The board will email the proposed budget to general membership hopefully the week prior to the vote so that everyone can have time to review before the meeting.
Misc:
• Ray is still looking for volunteers for Citizens on Patrol.
o Next training is on October 12th
o Need to submit application before that because there is a background check involved.
Adjourn: 7:52 PM