December 2019 General Meeting Minutes

Dec 4

Written By Gary Toribio

Meeting Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Location: American Legion Barlog-Kuszaj-Zero Post 422, 2601 S 11th St, St. Louis

Time: Meeting was called to order by the President at 7:04 p.m.

Introductions by President Scott Plackemeier

(Presence indicated by ☑ - Absence indicated by ⦸)

SRG BOARD OFFICERS:

ELECTED OFFICIALS/REPRESENTATIVES

☑

Scott Plackemeier (Pres./ Mtg Chair)

⦸

Jack Coatar – Alderman 7th Ward

☑

Neil Putz (Vice President)

⦸

Dan Guenther – Alderman 9th Ward

☑

Jeff Roberts (Treasurer)

☑ Marty Murray – Democratic

Committee Person 7th Ward

☑

Gary Toribio (Secretary)

DIRECTORS / SRG BOARD MEMBERS

☑ Taylor Bodine

⦸

Mauria Tomlin – Neighborhood Stabilization Officer (NSO) 7th Ward

☑ John Durnell

⦸ Beth Hoops

⦸

Dena Hibbard – Neighborhood Stabilization Officer (NSO) 9th Ward

☑

Marilyn Morris

SPECIAL GUESTS:

☑

John Durnell

☑

Officer Sherdon Douglas, SLMPD

☑

Dave Perry

☑

Ted Greenfield

⦸

Billy Tomber (Exec Editor SRG Communications)

⦸

“Soulard Blaster weekly email newsletter” is referred to as the Blaster in these minutes.

7th Ward Democratic Committeeman: Marty Joe Murray
1. Marty gave a brief update and informed residents that a volunteer is needed to fill the vacant position of the 7th Ward Committeewoman in the interim until the next City election.
Neighborhood Impact Statement: Jim Ricks
1. Neighborhood Impact Statements (NIS) are provided by residents or businesses about how a particular crime or conduct has impacted them or their neighborhood, that statement can be used to help the Court understand a particular case.
2. The Circuit Attorney uses that information both at bond hearings and at sentencing to help the Court realize the real-life ripple effect of crime.
3. Jim provided a NIS for the hate crime by Charles E. Patton on May 24, 2019.
4. He passed the NIS around the room and asked attendees to enter their Street and Block number on the statement (not including their names).
Police Report: Officer Sherdon Douglas
1. The prior month’s crime statistics for Soulard were reviewed by Officer Douglas.

V. Next General Membership Meeting: Scott Plackemeier

Due to New Year’s falling on the first Wednesday of the month, the January General Membership Meeting will be held on Wednesday January 8th. (Regular time & place.)

Old Business: Scott Plackemeier

Update on Sts. Peter & Paul, Parish Hall Elevator/ADA Accessibility to 3rd Floor
General Membership Meeting Minutes.

Approval of the Minutes for the Wednesday, November 6, 2019 General Member Meeting as presented with the correction of 3 minor typographical errors.

Motion by Jeff Roberts, 2nd by Neil Putz

Those present voted in favor of this motion. No votes opposed it.

Motion passed unanimously

New Business: Scott Plackemeier
1. Financial Update: Jeff Roberts
  1. Jeff made copies available of the Profit &Loss Statement and Balance Sheet for July – November 2019.
Announcement: Ted Greenfield
1. Christmas at the Soulard Market on Saturday December 14th and 21st, 10am – 2pm.
Committee reports
1. Soulard Station: Tracy Laxton
  1. Tracy gave a summary of the status of the maintenance and repair work on the station in this year’s budget as approved by the SRG Board.
  2. Cleaning and other preparations were being made for the upcoming Santa to Soulard on December 13, 2019
2. Safety: Scott Plackemeier
  1. The Safety Committee and the Soulard Special Business District (SSBD) has similar missions.
  2. Since the Safety Committee Chairperson has stepped down, Scott is not going to actively search for volunteers as a new Chairperson and other committee members for the remainder of the FY 2019-2020 Board term.
  3. Interest in future Safety Committee meetings will be referred to the regularly scheduled SSBD meetings.
  4. A by-law revision will be needed to eliminate the requirement to have an SRG Safety Committee if one is not going to be functional on a permanent basis.
3. Membership: Julie Price
  1. Currently there are 305 residential members, 82 business members for a total of 387 SRG members.
  2. Recruiting happy hour at the new Steel Yard apartment complexes obtained 13 new members.
  3. An event to recruit new members will be also be held at the 1400 Russell apartment complex in the near future in coordination with their management.
  4. Tonight’s Social is at the home of LeRoy Fitzwater & Alan Zeigler, 2205 S 10th St.

3. Membership (Continued): Julie Price

At this time, no actual dues will be collected from newly joining members to avoid prorating the amount for the remainder of the year. All membership dues will be simply collected for everyone in May 2020.
Membership is looking for Volunteer Star Award nominations which can be made at any time.
More members are needed on all SRG Committees.

Beautification: Richard Eaton
1. Nothing special to report this month.
Residential Promotion: Luann Denten
1. Santa to Soulard, Friday December 13, 2019 at 6pm.
2. Vices & Virtue Ball is on Saturday February 8, 2020. Ticket sales have begun, and 17 tables are already sold.
3. (Refer to the Blaster for more details on upcoming events.)
Communications: Billy Tomber
1. Thanks to the volunteers who distributed the Renaissance Winter/Christmas edition.
2. The next deadline for articles will be in Mid-January 2020 for the Mardi Gras edition.
3. Email articles to editor@soulard.org
Parlour Tour: Neil Putz
1. Thanks to all volunteers that signed up for the various 148 spots and provided the work needed to put on the Tour.
2. Ticket sales went well plus the sponsorship amounts that were received.
3. Lessons learned will be put together to make more improvements in 2020.
Plan Review Team (PRT) / Code & Zoning - Jay Gibbs
1. Minimal activity which is typical during the late fall/winter months.
2. 917 Allen is appealing the City’s decision to not allow inappropriate windows that are not in accordance with the historic requirements for the neighborhood.
3. Jim Ricks questioned the length of time temporary banners have remained posted on the exterior of various establishments in Soulard.
  1. The City ordinance(s) only allow the temporary signs for 90 days.
  2. Therefore, anyone noting signs have been up for a longer period should report it to the Citizens Service Bureau/Neighborhood Stabilization.
Fundraising: Chris Schwarz
1. The SRG Beer Booth at Oktoberfest on Friday, Oct 11 & Saturday Oct 12 was a good fundraiser due to both sales and tips.
  1. South Broadway Athletic Club staffed the last shift on Saturday and were given a proportionate part of the profits for that shift.

9. Fundraising (Continued): Chris Schwarz

Soulard Concert Series in 2020
1. Considering expanding one of the Saturdays to be the Soulard Blues, Brews and Bites Festival (Soulard B3 Festival) in June 2020.
  1. Details are being developed such as having bands on 2 stages and potentially to become similar to the annual French Quarter Festival in New Orleans.
2. Dates for the concert series are also being determined in conjunction with other SRG Committees and Soulard events during the Summer of 2020.
Volunteer shirts were distributed after the meeting.
The next Fundraising Committee meeting is on Thursday, January 9th, 2020.
Additional committee members are needed.

Partner Organizations
1. American Legion
  1. Nothing special to report this month.
2. Soulard Business Association (SBA) – Scott Plackemeier
  1. Nothing special to report this month.
  2. A volunteer is still needed to be to be the SRG representative attending the SBA meetings.
3. Soulard Special Business District (SSBD) – Terry Hoffman
  1. SSBD meetings are on the second Monday of every month at Soulard Station and start at 6:30 pm. All are welcome to attend this meeting.
  2. The annual SSBD presentation to Soulardians was made in November 2019.
  3. More cameras are being installed with some being completed in December. Other locations are being considered.
  4. SSBD needs a volunteer to fill the vacant position that is specifically for a “Business Renter” or an employee of a “Business Renter”.
4. Mardi Gras Inc. (MGI) – Nancy Lambert, Gary Toribio, Billy Tomber
  1. MGI Board Members Nancy Lambert and Michelle Northington are working to enhance MGI’s Winter Family Carnival on Saturday, January 11, 2020. Nancy provided details on the event and its new Children’s parade.
  2. Gary Toribio explained that the MGI Tent at Soulard Market Park will begin to be erected by 12/16 in order to be complete before the Holidays and ready for 12th Night on 1/6/2020.
  3. Billy Tomber provided details on the start of Mardi Gras on Monday January 6, 2020.
5. Community Improvement District (CID) – Terry Hoffman
  1. There are approximately 130 businesses in Soulard that will need to start collecting the CID’s additional 1% sales tax starting 1/1/2020.
  2. The CID is communicating with these businesses regarding the need to start collecting the additional 1% sales tax. The CID’s attorney and MO Dept of Revenue are also working on this issue.
  3. No revenues are expected to be available to the CID until the 2nd quarter of 2020.Adjournment