June 2017 General Meeting Minutes

Jun 17

Minutes June 2017 SRG General Meeting

Date: June 7, 2017

Location: Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Hall

The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. by President Wade Weistreich

Officers and Directors in Attendance: Beth Bennett, Luann Denten, Melissa Irlbeck-Whitson, Venessa Kobrin, Neil Putz, Christopher Schwarz, Billy Tomber, Wade Weistreich,

Officers and Directors Absent: Bill Clendenin, Scott Plackemeier, Stephen Shuman

Aldermen Present: Jack Coatar, Dan Guenther

Board and General Meeting Minutes

April General Membership meeting minutes were available for review. Neil Putz motioned to approve the minutes and Lisa Marlinghaus seconded. The April General Membership meeting minutes were approved.

The Treasurer’s Report was available for review. Billy Tomber motioned to approve the minutes and Neil Putz seconded. The Treasurer’s report was approved.

The 2018 Fiscal Year Budget Report was available for review. Richard Eaton motioned to approve the budget report and Jack Coatar seconded. The 2018 Fiscal Year budget was approved.

New Business

CITY ASSESSORS OFFICE(Shawn Ordway)

Soulard residential property taxwas increased by 13%. The average residential increase city wide was 12% and business was 4%. The market drives the increase or decrease. The procedure to follow if you disagree with your property tax assesment was outlined from an informal appeal up to Circuit Court/Supreme Court hearing. If you want to appeal, you should be prepared with market value comps. And information on the condition of your house.

ADOPT A COP PROGRAM (Venessa Kobrin)

This is a program which was initiated by Bill Shelton, Terri Lacey, Sara Irlbeck, Venessa Kobrin and Captain Shawn Dace of the 3rd District. The goal is for the 3rd District officers and residents to get to know each other as friends. To achieve this goal, we are asking residents to volunteer their homes for either a 10 a.m. Saturday brunch or 6 p.m.Tuesday evening dinner. The ultimate goal is to have an event weekly. The events are intended to be small gatherings of a neighborhood block and the patrolling officers.

The inaugural event was hosted by Bill Shelton and Terri Lacey on Saturday, June 3, 2017. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet new neighbors and the officers of the 3rd District. The brunch was well attended.

Future event dates:
June 13 from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. hosts Venessa Kobrin and Chris Schwarz
July 15 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. hosts Sara Irlbeck and Melissa Whitson

For more information or if you are interested in hosting an event, please contact Venessa Kobrin or Bill Shelton at adoptacop@soulard.org.

MGI BOARD POSITION

Effective in July, there will be an open MGI board position available for an SRG member. The Position is appointed by the SRG President under advisement of the SRG Board. The position is for a 3 year term. Several candidates have expressed interest in the position. To be eligible for the position, one must be a current SRG member in good standing and cannot be a current SRG Executive Board Member (President, President-elect, Secretary, or Treasurer). If anyone else is interested, please contact Wade Weistreich.

Police Report (Officer Min)

April: 4 stolen autos, 3 burglaries, 7 larcenies (all car break-ins), 13 misc reports

May: 4 assaults (2 domestic), 3 stolen autos, 3 burglaries (ITap was robbed twice), 4 hold-ups, 13 larcenies (7 car break-ins), 1 sexual assault in Soulard Market, 9 summonses issued, and 2 property damage reports,

June: 1 assault leaving bar on Geyer, 1 stolen auto, 1 burglary,1 larceny(1 car break-ins), 1 stolen scooter, and 3 property damage reports,

Officer Min reminded residents to hand over their keys and personal belongings if the offender has a gun. Your life is more important than your material possessions.

Officer Min reminded residents to lock up their golf carts, motorcycles and scooters.

Committee Reports

Beautification (Richard Eaton/Luann Denten)

The Fundraiser at Molly’s was a big success. Thank you for all attending and special thank you to Marybeth Wallace who lead this effort.

The Art in the Garden Tour will be held June 24, 2017. There will be 8 gardens on the tour. Each garden will have local artists and musicians. Throughout the day, the artists create original pieces of artwork which will then be auctioned off September 29, 2017. Tickets for the Garden Tour can either be purchased at the Soulard Station on the day of the event or on line at Soulard.org.

Communication (Venessa Kobrin)

The latest addition of The Soulard Renaissance is out and has been distributed to local restaurants and businesses.

The Communication Committee has created a new event. They will now host a Movie series at Pontiac Park. A movie night is in the plans for August, September and October. They are currently looking for movie suggestions. Please contact Venessa Kobrin with movie ideas.

Code and Zoning (Jay Gibbs)

ONGOING PROJECTS:

Whistler Apartment Project: Due to lack of funding, the developer has decided to build according to the original plan. There will be no underground parking which puts the parking ratio at 0.75. Alderman Jack Coatar has offered to assist the developer in securing more funding.

Soulard Dog Park: The addition of a tool shed and 2 metal pavilions has been approved. The tool shed has been completed. They are currently working to get a permit for an asphalt parking pad which will replace the illegal gravel parking which is currently there.

NEW PROJECTS:

1800 South 10th: There is a proposal to build 3 townhomes which would be for sale and not rental property. The proposal looks good so far.

Fundraising (Billy Tomber/ Chris Schwarz)

CHAIRMAN:

After 8 years of tremendous dedication and service, Rick Dungey is stepping down as committee chairman. Chris Schwarz will be taking over.

TOUR DE FAT:

Tour de Fat is this Saturday, June 10, 2017. The event will be located in Soulard Market Park. This is a ticketed event. Tickets can be purchased on line at Soulard.org. There is also a Groupon available for the event. 100% of the profits from beer sales will go to the SRG.

The call for volunteers is now. Volunteers are needed for Set up Friday from 1p.m. until 4p.m. and on Saturday from 11 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. (includes load in, beer booth, beer tokens sales, id and wristbands, info booth, and tear down crew). To register, visit Soulard.org or contact Billy Tomber at billy@soulard.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

There are several upcoming volunteer events including LouFest and Q in the Lou. Stay tuned for future volunteer signup sheets.

CONCERT IN THE PARK:

SRG has been shadowing Cathy Weldon this summer with plans to take over the project for 2018. The Committee is looking for new members and plans to hold bi-monthly meetings beginning this July.

Membership (Julie Price)

The membership drive event was held at Howards this year. The event was well attended and community feedback has been very positive.

The membership Committee is planning several new events this year. The first of which will be Soulard Founder’s Day celebration. It will be either Saturday August 12, or Sunday August 13 which is the weekend of Julia Soulard’s birthday (August 13). It will be a fun family event including live music, food, prizes, and give a ways.

Historically, the SRG has given out star awards for members who have gone above and beyond with their volunteer work. The awards have not been given out recently but plans are under way to bring this program back. Awards will be presented in December, date and time will follow. Please contact Julie Price with all nominees.

Tonight’s social is hosted by The Woodshack. We are always looking for members to hold a social in their home. Please contact Julie Price if you are interested.

Residential Promotion (Luann Denten)

This year, the Bastille Day walking parade will be Saturday July 15. The event will begin at 4 p.m.

Safety (Jim Ricks/Scott Plackemeier)

The Safety Walk was cancelled due to weather. Alderman Jack Coatar will be sponsoring a safety walk next month, date to be announced and details to follow.

The SSBD will no longer be contracting with the secondary security company, GCI. The new contract will be with TCF (The City’s Finest) and will begin once the contract has been finalized.

MGI (Billy Tomber)

LouFest will be the next fundraiser event.

Soulard Holiday Decorating (Venessa Kobrin)

We will be decorating Aboussie Park, Soulard Station, Pontiac Park and Market Park and Gazebo.
We are currently accepting donations for decorations and lights. Please contact Venessa Kobrin if you have items to donate or if you would like to help decorate.

Partner Organizations

Legion Report (Bill Wirtel)

There has been lots of activity at the legion. Thanks to Luann, Beth and friends for planting shrubs and plants.
There will continue to be 3rd Friday Happy Hours. Eric Marlinghaus began the concept of guest bartenders which has been very successful.
June 14th is Flag Day. As always, the Legion will provide proper flag disposal for all worn and tattered flags.
Sergeant Luke Jackson was introduced as an active member at Scott Airforce Base and a new resident to Soulard.
On June 17, the Legion will host a putt putt bar crawl and golf cart competition. The pub crawl will end at the legion. Proceeds will go to AMBUCS. The Legion has provided 42 bikes to disabled veterans in the last 2 years.