December 2017 Board Meeting Minutes
Minutes December 2017 SRG Board Meeting
Date: December 18th, 2017
Location: Soulard Station, 1911 S. 12th St.
Officers and Directors in Attendance: Beth Bennett, Luann Denten, Scott Plackemeier, Neil Putz, Christopher Schwarz, Venessa Kobrin, Wade Weistreich, Billy Tomber, Taylor Bodine, Stephen Shuman
Officers and Directors Absent: Bill Clendenin
Guests Present: None
The meeting was called to order at 7:38 PM by President Wade Weistreich
Old Business
Market Park Agreement: (Wade Weistreich)
Tom and Wade will be signing the agreement soon.
Parlor Tour Recap: (Neil Putz)
-The 2017 Parlor Tour was great!
-850 people went through the homes and over $13,000 in revenue is anticipated.
-Home owners that volunteered were enthusiastic and engaged.
-There were minor logistical issue because of the space between houses. By the end of the first day, it had been resolved.
-A few guests were wanting to walk to the next house, causing a ripple effect with bus times and locations, figuring out where everyone was and where the busses were needed, etc. This will be discussed for next year’s tour route.
Motion: Billy Tomber motioned to grant 2015, 2016 and 2017 Soulard Parlor Tour host homes full 2018 SRG membership and any host moving forward in future years.
Second: Luann Denten
Amendment: LuAnn suggested extending that to the 2015, 2016, 2017 and future Garden Tour hosts who have not previously received a free membership
Second: Billy Tomber
The motion passed as follows: Yay (9) Nay (0) Abstain (1)
Volunteer T-shirts: (Christopher Schwarz)
-There is an SRG volunteer t-shirt design in the works!
-Members will receive “points” for volunteering at SRG events. After a certain amount of points are earned, they will receive the volunteer t-shirt. The shirts are anticipated to be completed by Smarti Gras.
Documents for Review: (Wade Weistreich)
Wade is continuing to gather and organize meeting minutes to begin compiling rulings, operating procedures and any other useful information for future boards.
New Business
SRG responsible for Socials
Recent issues with SRG sponsored events were discussed to explore ideas on how to possibly prevent future issues. The Membership Committee will discuss this topic as well and we will continue to engage in an ongoing conversation about this issue.
Ways to better engage membership
- The board has decided to implement a digital comment box via the website and SRG blaster to make it even easier for members to provide feedback, ask questions, or make suggestions. There will also be a physical suggestion box at every SRG General Meeting.We highly encourage members to reach out directly to any of the 11 board members if there are any concerns needing a faster response.
- The comment from the online suggestions box will be sent to the President and the President-elect. Suggestions in the physical box will be collected by the President at the end of the meeting.
- The board will be putting together an online survey for members. Chris Schwarz will be leading this effort and hopes to have it finalized by February.
Mom Howard Money
-Jim and Julie Price donated $1,000 from money collected at their crab boil, which will be used to provide funding for the purchase of additional Arlo cameras for residents of Soulard.
-Wade will manage the purchase and installation of the cameras. Venessa is to provide the list created by Judith Howard to Wade in order to continue where she left off.
Treasurer’s Report
Christopher Schwarz was happy to report that finances are looking positive. We are still in the process of moving other accounts besides the operating reserves from Carollton Bank to the AB Credit Union. A $20,000 deposit was made to start that account. It was noted that our insurance bill has been paid and that we are not spending as much money as we did last year on the Soulard Station. More money is anticipated to come in from Oktoberfest. It was noted that the income from the Parlor Tour is actually about $22, 697.54 with all extras added in except the ticket sales.
Committee Reports
Soulard Station: (Neil Putz)
-Two of the three maintenance issues have been completed.
-More bids may be needed for the roof. Beth Bennett and Neil will get together and sort out the bids and begin to take action.
-Beth is going to get final numbers on how much it will cost to extend the fence and present to the board for completion.
PRT/Code and Zoning: (Beth Bennett)
-Beth reported that the committee did not approve the two street facing garages that were requested to be built on Lami.
-Discussion occurred regarding ReMax putting in LED screens on their windows when past businesses have not been allowed to do so. The Committee will discuss.
-Nothing has moved forward regarding the parking sign on Emmet. Wade will follow up with this issue.
Beautification: (Beth Bennett)
The committee had the year end meeting and it went well. Nothing will be moving forward for the next couple of months.
Communications/Renaissance: (Vennessa Kobrin and Billy Tomber)
-The deadline for the Renaissance is January 5th. They are working on “then and now” articles.
-The website and minutes are up to date.
Parlor: (Neil Putz)
Two homes have already been lined up for next year.
Residential Promotions: (Luann Denten)
-Santa Comes to Soulard was wonderful. There were 70+ children and adults in attendance.
-There will be an Etsy store for new merchandise – launch date TBD.
-The Vices and Virtues Ball is moving to the Soulard Historic District to the Lemp Grand Hall.
-16-18 tables have already been sold. There will be no more table sales from now on and seating will become heritage style. If you have it this year, you’ll have it next year.
-Molly’s and Duke’s have committed to providing shuttles for the event.
-There will be parking across from the venue with a parking attendant.
-There will be two bars and a large outdoor rooftop deck.
Fundraising: (Christopher Schwartz)
-We are working on the t-shirts previously mentioned.
-Smardi Gras is coming up on February 24th, 2018. Sales will be live on December 19th. Emails will go out to past buyers on Wednesday the 20th.
-Committee members will not know questions or answers in advance. Only the question crew will have that insight. This will allow committee members to participate if they wish.
-Tour de Fat : Date in June TBD
-Soulard Concert Series: Dates are on the calendar. It will occur the second Saturday during May through September. Park permits and stage permits have been placed but not approved yet.
-Wreath sales for next year are being re-evaluated to ensure the effort put in is matched with the proper donation prices.
Safety: (Scott Plackemeier)
-No meeting this month because the last Monday falls on Christmas.
-The committee discussed getting gift cards as an incentive to make arrests and closing cases to our liaison officer.
Membership: (Stephen Shuman)
Three of the Star award recipients were not present at the December General Meeting, so they will be awarded at January General Membership meeting.
Holiday Decorating: (Venessa Kobrin)
The lights are up!
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn made by Billy T. and seconded by Scott Plackemeier. The meeting was adjourned at 10:02 p.m.