August 2021 General Membership Meeting Minutes
SRG Monthly General Membership Meeting
Aug. 4, 2021
DRAFT Minutes
1) Call to Order + Opening Remarks
Jim Dallas, President, called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. The meeting was conducted via Zoom.
a. Recognition of Attendees: Elected Officials, Directors & Officers, New Members
Board Members present included: Jim Dallas, President; Michael Pastore, President-Elect; Debby Brown, Treasurer; Chris Currington, Secretary; Neil Putz, Past-President; Margi Koors, Nancy Lambert, Karen Moske, Billy Tomber, and Gary Toribio. Absent was Nancy Kelly.
Committee Chairs present included: Julie Price, Membership Committee; Veronica Putz, Historical Committee.
Speakers and Other Attendees included: Dan Guenther, Ward 9 Alderman for the City of St. Louis.
New Attendees and SRG Members: Danny and Linda Stover (from Centralia, Illinois, hoping to have a home in Soulard soon); Daniel and Christina Walsh (Operators of Franklin of Soulard); Randal Alt (recently moved to Soulard from California).
b. General Update
Jim said that this meeting had a limited agenda and that it should be short. He also said that was going to start the meeting a little differently by giving what he called a “State of the Group” update.
The pandemic has again upset his approach to the meeting, and acknowledged that we were meeting via Zoom again. The Board originally thought this meeting would be in-person and outside. But the latest guidance from St. Louis City said that “Wearing masks outdoors, especially in group settings, will be strongly encouraged.” Jim told the Board that the health of neighbors is of utmost importance, so he made the recommendation that the meeting be held via Zoom, and no one from the Board objected. Jim and the Board will continue to monitor data and guidance from the City over the next month as we approach the Sept. 1 General Membership meeting.
Committees are continuing to hold their meetings in person since their meetings are of limited size. Jim reminded the Committee Chairs and members that the current guidance states that, “masks to be worn in indoor public places.” He said that the Board expects each Committee Chair to abide by that guidance or switch to Zoom meetings if the committee members cannot do so or someone is uncomfortable participating on that basis.
SRG and other organizations in the neighborhood have a number of events planned over the coming months. Generally, notices about these events have been in The Blaster, so please monitor it for any new developments.
Jim then turned to SRG’s financials and said that we’re beginning the fiscal year on a sound basis with ~$70,000 in reserves. The FY2021 financial results have now been posted on the website and the plan is to periodically post financials on a quarterly basis.
For this meeting, since Officer Sherdon Douglas was not present, there was no police report. There were also no reports from non-SRG organizations.
Hearing no questions, Jim moved to the following agenda item.
2) Minutes of Previous Meeting
Chris Currington, Secretary, said that the Board approved minutes from the June 2021 Board Meeting and the Draft of the July 2021 General Membership Meeting were added to the SRG website July 28, and asked for a motion to accept the Draft of the July 2021 General Membership Meeting.
Margi Koors made the motion to accept the draft of the July 2021 General Membership Meeting. Angie Leahy seconded the motion. Jim Dallas asked if there was any discussion. Hearing none, the vote was taken.
All members present voted in favor of accepting the Draft of the July 2021 General Membership Meeting minutes. No votes opposed it.
Jim then reminded those on the call that the minutes have been posted a week ahead of the General Membership meetings.
Treasurer’s Report
Debby Brown, Treasurer, said that the previous fiscal year ended June 30, and that she usually gives the profit and loss (P&L) for each month, but with the ending and beginning of a new fiscal year, there is crossover of expenses. The Community Party held in June had bills received in July. There was $3,100 in income and $9,000 in expenses for that total period, so it looks like a loss, but it isn’t.
The new Fiscal Year started July 1, and SRG had its first Summer Concert Series concert on July 10. There is another one Sept. 5, and some of the expenses for those events were paid in advance prior to the end of the previous fiscal year. So a true comparison of actual fiscal year expenses will be off as we incur expenses that cross over the June 30/July 1 crossover date. Another thing to consider is that, at the Community Party, there were a lot of members who renewed in June, but there will continue to be ongoing renewals after June 30. The current cash balance as of the meeting date is ~$64,000. Debby then encouraged everyone to renew their memberships by writing a check or paying online.
Jim Dallas then reiterated what Debby was saying about the noise in the P&L from June to July. Typically, SRG pushes for dues in May when the Community Party is held. But this year’s Community Party wasn’t held until later in June. Members forget to renew or aren’t able to attend the Community Party, and then they don’t renew until July—the new Fiscal year.
Jim then reminded everyone on the call that financials are posted on the SRG Website.
Hearing no questions, Jim moved to the next agenda item.
3) Soulardevents, Committee Reports, and other Neighborhood Associations
a. Membership Committee
Julie Price, Committee Chair, thanked attendees for joining via Zoom. There are currently 253 members of SRG, and 5 businesses have joined. The Membership Committee is working on a collaboration to send letters to businesses letting them know they got two years free and now it’s time to pay their $35 dues.
Julie then mentioned the Soulard Star Award and Lifetime Achievement Award winners that were announced at the Community Party. The committee will be asking for nominations in 2021 for 2022.
There are still unopened Soulard masks for sale at $5 each, and if anyone is interested, they can stop by Julie’s Allstate office to pick them up.
The Membership Committee is looking into a new, “off-the-island” bus trip event to Hermann, Mo. Julie and the Membership Committee will distribute details in the near future, and how to reserve spots for the event.
Julie said that the Membership Committee is talking about a new-member social. Committee Chairs will be there to talk to new members and recruit for committees.
Julie also said that there will be a new roster done soon. Everyone is encouraged to talk to neighbors and be ambassadors for SRG to increase membership numbers.
Hearing no questions, Jim moved to the next item on the agenda.
b. Safety Committee
Jim Dallas gave the committee report on Andrea Maddox-Dallas’ behalf. Andrea is working on getting the data from the Safety Survey compiled so she can make it available to members.
Margi Koors then asked about the City of St. Louis National Night Out and if there will be neighborhood participation that night. Each year, Soulard typically has three or four block parties/community events on National Night Out. Jim will be reaching out with more details. Later in the meeting via Zoom, it was confirmed that the National night out will be Tuesday, Oct. 5.
Hearing no questions, Jim moved to the next agenda item.
c. Beautification Committee
Margi Koors, Board Liaison to the Beautification Committee, gave the report in Richard Eaton’s absence.
There were a number of volunteers who went to Aboussie Park to work on the gazebo and some trees that needed trimming.
There were several pre-med students who recently helped at Pontiac Square Park. Some SRG Members dropped by to help as well.
Margi then mentioned the Art & Floral Auction set for Sept. 11 from 3 to 6 p.m. There are now quite a few artists participating and this will be a silent auction. She encouraged meeting attendees to put this on their calendars.
The committee’s biggest fundraiser will be at Molly’s on Oct. 7. There will more information about this to come.
Jim Dallas thanked Margi, and moved to the next agenda item.
d. Parlour Tour Committee
Nancy Lambert, Board Liaison for the Parlour Tour Committee, gave the report. The committee is working hard on the Parlour Tour, and they were trying for an in-person event, but with the coronavirus numbers increasing again, they met last month about how to make it work. An in-person event became too much to consider, so they made the decision that it will be virtual, but may have a VIP component to it. There will be more information about this as they work through the planning.
Jim Dallas then said Soulard always looks forward to the tour, no matter what version it may be. Hearing no questions, he then moved to the next agenda item.
e. Historical Committee
Veronica Putz, Historical Committee Chair, said there have been some exciting conversations during meetings. They are working to keep the charter going, and they’re developing and implementing plans (i.e., historical signs). The committee is also looking at historical services they can provide to SRG members, and they’ve talked to a couple of people interested in having them done. This could bring in a couple hundred dollars.
Philip Hanley is the lead on the Mardi Gras poster project (cataloging them) and planning some sort of presentation and fundraiser.
The committee is also looking to speak with the Historical Society about archiving photos.
Jay Gibbs has a lot of historical information and artifacts, and he’s starting to archive old newspapers. This is a huge project, and the committee will be working with Megan Mehrle (SRG Cloud) to archive them.
Hearing no questions, Jim Dallas moved to the next agenda item.
f. Historic Code Review Working Group
Neil Putz said that the working group is 90% through one of the tougher parts of their work—definitions. Lafayette Square had some excellent revisions in their document, and they’re using that to move toward some of the definitions that make sense for Soulard. They have a great team of experienced people in this working group. The next meetings are on Aug. 16 and 30.
The next steps will be three other pieces: 1) existing structures and homes; 2) new construction; 3) sites/ yards. The pace for the working group is laid out for them, and the objective is to complete the revisions by October. They seem to be on track to accomplish this.
Neil then asked for questions over Zoom or via email.
Jim Dallas said the plan for the Historic Code Review Working Group is similar to the working group for the by-laws revisions. Revisions to the historic code will go to the Board for review, and then it will move to General Membership, and then eventually the City of St. Louis. Neil confirmed this and said revisions would not move forward without General Membership, and revisions will eventually go to City Hall because they will need to approve them.
Hearing no questions, Jim Dallas moved to the next agenda item.
g. SRG Cloud
Megan Mehrle gave an update about the SRG Cloud collaboration system and that she’s getting this up and running. A message went out to Committee Chairs and the Board in July. There is information that she’ll need each user to provide, then they will receive guidelines and be added to the appropriate drives. SRG has one system on Google Workspace, but there are drives that individuals will get added to. Anyone on the Board or a Committee can email cloud@soulard.org and Megan will walk them through the system.
Another exciting piece of news is that, as they explored Google Workspace, SRG gets this for free. Megan will be setting up Zoom and in-person training, and attendees were encouraged to let her know by Friday if they were interested. Megan then reminded everyone that the SRG Cloud is for Board and Committee collaboration. For Membership and the public, they should look to other channels used in the past.
Jim Dallas then encouraged all Committee Chairs to consider the SRG Cloud, and thanked Megan for getting it set up.
Hearing no questions, Jim then moved to the next agenda item.
4) Recent Board Decisions and Actions
a. By-laws
Jim Dallas said that, prior to the July Board meeting, he sent the Board the first draft of the by-laws revisions. In the packet of materials, they received the revised by-laws that had been drafted by the working group, as well as a side-by-side comparison document that shows a section-by-section comparison of the current by-laws to the proposed revisions.
At the July meeting, the Board then discussed the plan for the Board to review the revisions, and the following was agreed to:
* Prior to the August board meeting, the Board will review the first half of the document, sending questions and comments in advance of the meeting
* Jim will compile those questions and comments, and they will be discussed at the August Board meeting
* This is a similar process that the working group used to develop the by-laws revisions
* If that goes well, the Board will follow the same process for the second half of the document at the September board meeting
The current by-laws state that revisions have to be submitted to Membership not less than two meetings prior to the meeting where a vote will be conducted. The plan is to unfold in a similar fashion as the budget process: 1) Develop a board-approved by-laws revision document first, and then 2) present such document to our Members that meets that stated timeline requirement.
Jim said the Board should work through the by-laws revisions in the next 3 to 4 months with everything finalized in 4 to 6 months. This process has been going on for close to year to get us to this point, and there should be a vote by Membership in the near future.
Hearing no questions, Jim moved to the next agenda item.
b. Board priorities
Jim Dallas said that, at the last General Membership Meeting, he mentioned that the Board held a 5-hour retreat on June 12 to help develop the overall agenda over the next year, and beyond. The Board used the services of a third-party facilitator, Bob Grace, to help narrow our focus.
At the July Board Meeting, the Board continued to finetune its focus, and the Board developed three specific items that will be focused on immediately.
1. Searching for a new fundraising chair, since current fundraising chair has told us of his intention to step down within the year (Margi Koors will lead this.)
2. Developing specific Board goals, to communicate to our committees. Committees have said in the past Board should have goals of its own (Nancy Lambert will lead this.)
3. Defining “New Comm”. In the budget, those who looked at it may have noticed a placeholder for New Comm, budget, but no clear definition. (Chris Currington will lead this.)
A fourth topic also re-emerged that the Board plans to give some renewed attention to. That is to reinvigorate the Soulard Station Working Group. This group was formed several months ago, and as part of its early research they looked into the idea of purchasing another property in Soulard. That plan did not work out, but there is another meeting scheduled for the working group for Aug. 12 to re-kickoff the group’s work. There will be more to come at future Board and General Membership meetings as recommendations are developed.
There was a question about New Comm and its definition. Jim said that we don’t have a definition for it yet. The focus will be to identify areas where to pick up from the dormant Residential Promotions committee.
c. Awareness Night
Jim Dallas said that, at the July General Membership meeting, he mentioned that the Committee Chairs had been asked to attend a session on July 14, which was dubbed as “Awareness Night.” Margi Koors was the facilitator for this event, and the focus was making sure the Committee Chairs understand the ins and outs of two procedures: 1) The purchase process procedures document, and 2) the amendments to the budget process document.
It was a fun evening, using a gameshow format for the teaching experience. Since it was held on Bastille Day, attendees enjoyed French cuisine (as cooked up by Safety Committee Chair Andrea Maddox-Dallas), and French music. The teaching session itself was done in a gameshow format, so there was a bit of fun in the process without having to pull out a single power point presentation.
d. Document Posting
As previously mentioned earlier in the meeting, the financials have been added to the SRG Website. In addition, on the same page, these two documents have been added, and SRG will continue to post new procedures as they are developed and passed by the board.
Hearing no questions, Jim then moved to the next agenda item.
5) Adjourn
Jim Dallas said that he hoped General Membership is back to in person for the next meeting.
Jim made the motion to adjourn the meeting. Margi Koors seconded.
The vote was taken. All voted to adjourn the meeting at 7:50 p.m.
Questions and Comments from the Zoom Chat during the meeting:
19:25:30 From Billy Tomber to Everyone:
I show Tues, Oct 5.
19:26:20 From Scott Plackemeier to Everyone:
You are right Mr. Tomber--gotta look at the right year :)
19:27:35 From Megan Mehrle to Everyone:
Margi - What was the date for the Molly’s fundraiser again?
19:37:42 From mnrmp to Everyone:
Neil, about historic code, did you receive any reply from the City Vis a vis Henry's?
19:39:34 From Soulard Restoration Group to Everyone:
Absolutely no response from the City. I'm thinking it's time to revisit our letter of protest regarding this nuisance property. I do understand there are over 200 documented instances of underage drinking at Henry's.
19:45:26 From Megan Mehrle to Everyone:
Forgive me - you might have said this, can someone help me - what does “newcom” mean?