February 2018 Board Meeting Minutes

Mar 26

February 2018 Board Meeting Minutes

Minutes taken by Secretary Taylor Bodine.

Date: February 21st, 2018

Location: Soulard Station, 1911 S. 12th St.

Officers and Directors in Attendance: Taylor Bodine, Venessa Kobrin, Beth Bennett, Billy Tomber, Bill Clendenin, Scott Plackemeier, Wade Weistreich, Chris Schwarz

Officers and Directors Absent: Luaan Denten, Stephen Shuman, Neil Putz

Guests Present: Jane Carriker and Stephen Hale

The meeting was called to order at 7:18 PM by President Wade Weistreich

Guest Presentations

Moonbase Market: Jane Carriker and Stephen Hale:

Jane and Stephen attended the informational meeting for Moonbase that was held before the board meeting. They shared with the board that they would be personally impacted by lack of parking if Moonbase Market operates at full capacity. They voiced their concerns to the board about the lack of parking if Moonbase begins operating with a liquor license in conjunction with Earthbound Brewery. Jane stated that according to the city, they are required to have 100 parking spots available but currently only have an agreement with Molly’s/1860’s parking lot across the street for 17 spots. They also have a verbal agreement with Hub Furniture to use their lot on 7th street, but that is three blocks away and currently for sale. Stephen said that he would sign off on the liquor license if they guaranteed them parking spots, due to the fact that their properties do not allow for off street parking to be built. It was noted that any communication they have received from Kelly and Associates has stated that they will only be open for special events and on weekends, but all other information they have seen and what was presented at the SRG February general meeting states they will be open seven days a week. The owner of Moonbase has been open to hearing various solutions, but there are still concerns. Aside from the parking issues, Jane and Stephen do not oppose to the business.

Old Business

Meeting minute and archive:

The board is still working on the minutes archive. Wade reminded everyone to send him their notes. He will compile them into one spreadsheet and have Venessa post it to the shared SRG Google Drive.

Suggestion Box: The first official virtual suggestion was submitted! It was in regards to the Renaissance not being online anymore/in the blaster. This was addressed at the general meeting and will be included moving forward. They will be published online 3-4 weeks after hard copies are distributed.

Survey: The board will distribute a survey to ensure that every member of the SRG has the opportunity to have their voice heard. An incentive will be offered to increase participation in the survey. The next board will decide whether the survey needs to be done on a 6 month or once a year basis. Venessa will send a link to the survey to the board for finals approval, and then post the survey at the SRG general meeting on March 7th with a deadline of April 3rd at midnight. During the transition dinner for the board the survey results will be discussed.

Mom Howard Camera: Wade is continuing to work on this project.

New Business

Board Elections: Lisa Marlinghaus was nominated to run for an open position and has accepted.

Mardi Gras - Post Event: Mardi Gras was a success and clean up went well. The 21 NFP Bars did poorly - mostly attributed to the cold weather. Billy noted that he believes the parade is one of the best we’ve had and that there were no big security concerns. There we some issues at the Soulard Market that have been addressed. March 1st is the public forum at 6:00 PM.

Areas to dedicate funds:

The board brainstormed a few ideas to dedicate funds to within the neighborhood and concluded that there were options that needed to be identified and focused on. It was brought up to possibly add a question about the funds on the survey.

MoonBase Market Parking:

The board is concerned with the parking issues for residents as well as the misrepresentation of what has been presented as the business plan to the neighborhood vs. how they are actually operating. Wade will reach out to the owner, Stuart, and the Board of Adjustments and offer to schedule a meeting with the board to discuss these issues and the impact they will have on Soulard residents.

Treasurer’s Report

We are currently $14,000 ahead - this includes the $20,000 that has been transferred to the AB Credit Union. The Station’s budget looks good as well. The V&V expenses are almost set, as well as the Parlour Tour.

This is the first year that the SRG will be solely responsible for the Soulard Concert Series. Because this is a free community event the costs will need to be offset with sponsorships. The costs of hosting the concert series are high but, historically, the SBA covered all costs via sponsorships.

Motion: Venessa motioned that we move to pay for the Soulard Station Fence expenses overage.

Second: Billy

Yay: 8

The motion passed.

Chris mentioned that the utilities for the Station are running high vs. projection and we may need to prepare to allot more money for those expenses. The wifi is limited to only being used at the board, committee, and guest meetings. The specific utility running high is the Spectrum bill which includes cable and internet. We’ve waited to disconnect in hopes of partnering with the camera project WiFi. Bill C. will address the issue with the camera project group with a firm answering so that Spectrum can be completely disconnected, or an internet-only solution.

Committee Reports

Soulard Station: (Neil Putz)

There has been one roofer who quotes us at $400 to recaulk all the way around the Station. This does not address the soft spot above the door. The front door needs to be replaced because when it rains, the water comes straight through the front. Venessa will start with Jay and go down through bids from there to get that issue fixed.

We have a draft charter for the SS committee. It would be a board-down situation. Venessa will send out a draft charter to the board for the their thoughts.

Venessa proposed that we cut the Spectrum wifi and cable. Chris will cancel the Spectrum account, pending an update form Bill C. regarding sharing internet with the camera project.

Possibility for next year is to have an orange fence around the Station during Mardi Gras. Wade mentioned the possibility of a camera system during Mardi Gras as well.

Bricks - need minimum of 10 in an order. Used for past Presidents as well. There was some discussion of how many we should order and who should receive them.

PRT/Code and Zoning: (Beth Bennett)

The signs for the Preservation Hall have not been well received and do not fit with the neighborhood.

Beautification: (Beth Bennett)
They will be meeting to discuss the street pots. The grasses that were planted last year did not work out so they will be trying something else.

Communications/Renaissance: (Venessa Kobrin and Billy Tomber)

The last issue of the Renaissance was very successful. The next issue will be the June Garden tour issue. The Bylaws state we should have five issues in a year.

Parlor Tour: (Neil Putz)

Having the recap meeting in March and there are two outstanding sponsorships.

Residential Promotions: (Luann Denten)

Continuing to work on the historical signage.

V&V was a great event. We are still waiting on final numbers.

Fundraising: (Christopher Schwartz)

Smarti Gras is coming up on Saturday. Taylor gave the iPad/Square equipment to Chris.

The volunteer t-shirt graphic presented. They will maintain a roster of volunteers.

Chris requested that the board allocates up to $1,500 for the purchase of the shirts.

Motion: Venessa motioned that the board approve the $1,500 for the volunteer t shirts

Second: Scott seconded

Yay: 8