September 2021 General Membership Meeting Minutes
General Membership Monthly Meeting
Sept. 1, 2021
Minutes
1. Call to Order
Jim Dallas called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m.
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 and Gary Toribio. Board Members absent included Nancy Kelly and Billy Tomber.
Committee Chairs present included: Richard Eaton, Beautification; Jeremy Mehrle, Communications; Christopher Schwarz, Fundraising; Julie Price, Membership; Jay Gibbs, Plan Review Team; Andrea Maddox-Dallas, Safety; Bonita Leiber and Laura Grace, Soulard Station.
Special Guests and Speakers included: Jack Coatar, Alderman, Ward 7; Dan Guenther, Alderman Ward 9; Lieutenant Ken Lammert, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department; and Terry Hoffman (CID and SBD), and Christopher Schwarz (American Legion).
At the beginning of the meeting, Jim Dallas noted two SRG members—Preston Humphrey and Charlie Stubbers—had recently passed away, and that the owner of the Cat’s Meow was ill and needed our prayers.
Jim then introduced the Board Members present at the meeting. He then asked if there were new SRG members present. They included Kate and Pedro, who moved to Soulard last October; Abbie and Dillan, who closed on a home here that week; and Joe Schultz, the new owner of The Great Grizzly Bear (hosted SRG members there after the meeting).
2. SLMPD Liaison Report
Officer Sherdon Douglas, the liaison for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, was unable to attend. Lieutenant Ken Lammert provided the crime information for the month of August.
There was a question about how catalytic converter thefts are classified. Lieutenant Lammert said they’re considered larcenies.
There was a complaint from a member about a recent incident requiring a 911 call and she couldn’t get through. Lieutenant Lammert said that the issues with 911 have been well documented in the news and newspapers. The St. Louis Mayor and Dan Isom, Director of Public Safety, are looking at combining the fire and police dispatchers for a short-term fix. He said he would bring it up again in his conversations with department leadership.
There were no additional questions, and Jim moved to the next agenda item.
3. Minutes
Chris Currington reported that the approved minutes from the July Board Meeting and the draft of the August General Membership Meeting were added to the SRG Website the previous Wednesday. He hadn’t received any changes and asked for a motion to accept the draft of the August General Membership Meeting minutes.
Julie Dinkelmann made the motion to accept the draft of minutes of the August General Membership Meeting. Jeremy Mehrle seconded the motion.
The vote was taken to accept the minutes of the August General Membership Meeting.
All voted to accept the minutes. No votes opposed it.
4. Financial Report
Debby Brown, Treasurer, reported that the new fiscal year started July 1 and there was ~$4,900 in new membership dues. Current cash is ~$64,000.
There were no questions. Jim Dallas said that the fiscal year financial results have been added to SRG’s website and the plan is to add quarterly results so Members can keep track of results throughout the year.
5. President’s update
Jim Dallas reminded meeting attendees that he’s open to questions and meeting up with people—either individually or with a group—over lunch or coffee. He’s generally available to meet most days during daytime, so members are free to reach out. He also said that Board Meetings are open to members; they just have to contact him in advance and abide by certain rules.
a. COVID
SRG is still having to deal with reacting to the pandemic and guidance from the city and state. The Board of Aldermen the previous Monday unanimously approved extending the latest health directive until the end of September. This was the reason Jim and Board recommended to hold this meeting outside with masks. At the August Board Meeting, there was a good discussion about masks and vaccination. Attendees at some upcoming events will be asked to show proof of vaccination. This is consistent with what other venues around the city are doing.
Jim asked if there were questions. Hearing none, he moved to the next item.
b. Audit
SRG is in the process of having an audit performed by the same accountant it uses to develop and file annual taxes. The accountant is Linda Howdeshell, CPA, who is an owner and sole proprietor specializing in nonprofit accounting services and internal control consulting. She was formerly an audit manager at Schmersahl Treloar & Co. Linda has a BS from Washington University. Jim, Michael Pastore and Debby Brown have talked to Linda, and she has what she needs to conduct the audit. It is expected that Linda’s report will be presented to the Board at the October Board Meeting, and the taxes filed by mid-November.
Hearing no questions, Jim moved to the next agenda item.
c. By-laws
At the August Board Meeting, the Board began reviewing the by-laws revisions. This has been going on for a year, and two months ago, Jim sent instructions to the Board about the review process. The Board has concentrated on reviewing potential changes to the first half of the document. There are two primary topics in that review that took up most of the Board Meeting’s time, so this will continue into the September Board Meeting. After the first half has been reviewed, the Board will then pick up the second half of the document at the November Board Meeting, and then present the revised by-laws to General Membership in December or January.
There were no questions.
d. Board Priorities
Jim said that three Board Members have taken on three specific tasks that emerged from the Board Retreat in June.
Margi Koors is leading the effort to search for a new chair for the Fundraising Committee since the current chair has told us of his intention to step down soon after the end of the calendar year. The plan is for Margi to present to the Board at the September meeting a “job description” for the Fundraising Committee chair that can be used as a guide to find the next committee chair.
Nancy Lambert has the task of developing specific Board goals and communicate to the committees and members. Nancy is working on developing these goals while keeping in mind that goals can be both operational and aspirational. The operational goals are tied to elements that happen year after year. Aspirational goals may span the course of several years. Nancy presented, at a high-level, four potential aspirational goals that the Board will consider further.
Chris Currington is working on defining “New Comm,” which will then entail the task of finding a committee chair for that committee. Chris is taking the lead on developing the description/mission and name of the committee. He will also work with the Board to find a chair, and even without a formal formation of the committee, to work on a plan to conduct some of the events that SRG would normally conduct, such as Santa Comes to Soulard.
There are two new committee chairs to be identified in the near future, so if anyone is interested, Jim asked them to put some thought into putting their name forward.
Hearing no questions, Jim moved to the next agenda item.
e. American Legion Plaque
Jim said that, at the Community Party in June, the American Legion presented an award to SRG naming a Lifetime Friend of American Legion Post 422. It was with great honor that Jim accepted this award on behalf of the SRG Membership. Eric Marlinghaus asked SRG to consider where to display the award either at the American Legion Hall or the Soulard Station. At the July Board Meeting, the Board decided to display it at the American Legion, along with other honorees. Jim also said that since this is the first face-to-face meeting since then, he’s taking this opportunity to thank the American Legion, and hand the plaque back so that it can be displayed. Jim personally thanked Chris Schwarz on behalf of the American Legion.
f. Afghanistan Refugees
Jim said that this is something that Michael Pastore presented to him, and asked Michael to say a few words.
Michael said that he doesn’t have anything formal to say, but he thinks as a neighborhood, we should get together and support the 1,000 or so refugees coming to St. Louis. They need things like household items. Michael won’t be asking anyone to write checks; this will be about donations. He said he will be organizing a gathering in the American Legion parking lot to donate items. Michael has asked Terry Hoffman for specific families’ needs, and the neighborhood can bring them to the parking lot and help disburse them.
Jim then said for attendees to be on the lookout as this gets organized, and to watch The Blaster. He then thanked Michael and asked if there were any questions. Hearing none, he moved to the next section of the agenda.
6. Committee Reports
a. Beautification
Richard Eaton, Beautification Committee Chair, reported about the Floral & Art Auction, to be held Sept. 11. This has never been tried before, so this is a new event that will be held at the Soulard Station from 3 to 6 p.m. It will be a silent auction, and as of this report, there were 9 or 10 artists from Soulard presenting some of their work that can be bid on. The event will be outside at the Station, and there will be a tent. Proof of vaccination will also be required for entry. If attendees don’t have masks, a mask will be provided. Richard asked for everyone’s support by coming by that Saturday afternoon.
b. Communications
Jeremy Mehrle, Communications Committee Chair, reminded anyone writing articles for The Renaissance that their deadline was the following Monday. The committee is also setting up the SRG Cloud on Google Drive, and SRG has nonprofit status, meaning this cloud storage is free. Each committee is being trained on how to use the SRG cloud.
c. Fundraising
Chris Schwarz, Fundraising Committee Chair, reminded meeting attendees about the Soulard Concert at Market Park coming up Sunday, Sept. 5. He encouraged attendees to wear masks. The band will be the All-Star Jam Band from the National Blues Museum. The concert will start at 6 p.m. and end at 9 p.m. There will be beer and wine for sale. This concert was not publicized outside of Soulard to intentionally make it a neighborhood event with a smaller crowd.
The committee will be selling wreaths this year—around Oct. 1. This is a good, no-contact event. Wreaths will either be decorated or undecorated. Included in the price for the decorated wreaths will be a “Mardi Gras conversion packet.” Within five minutes, the wreath can be changed to a Mardi Gras theme.
The Fall Festival will be the weekend of Oct. 24 at the Soulard Station. This will be a fundraising event to help with Station repairs. There will be a professional photographer for Christmas photos.
The committee is moving forward with Oktoberfest (an SBA event) and SRG will have a beer booth. This will be Oct. 8 and 9. There will be a link in The Blaster for volunteers to register. This beer booth brings between $4,000 and $7,000 to SRG, and it’s a great opportunity for people to dress up, come down and help out.
d. Historical
Neil Putz, Board liaison to the Historical Committee, gave the report on Veronica Putz’, Committee Chair’s, behalf.
The committee is making progress scanning past issues of The Renaissance and The Restorationist. The SRG cloud storage is important because the imagery will be extensive.
The committee is preparing to purchase vintage caps for the posts on the historical signage implemented in Phase 1 of the program. Many of the signs are attached to buildings, such as Vincent’s Market. However, for the free-standing posts, the vintage-looking caps will replace the shiny caps so they look more historical.
e. Parlour Tour
Nancy Lambert, Board liaison to the Parlour Tour Committee, filled in for Jeanne Kirby, Chair, who was unable to attend the meeting.
Currently, the plan for the 2021 Parlour Tour is to have a hybrid event. The committee would like to have 3 or 4 homes available for an in-person tour (VIP Tours), so they’re looking for homeowners now to do this. The in-person tours will only be on Saturday, Dec. 4. The tours would be limited to 20 people in each group, requiring only one bus. When tickets are available, get them quickly. In addition to the Parlour Tour, in the evening, there will be an event at The Franklin for all in-person tour participants, but this will be open to other attendees as well. Attendees will be able to see the remodeling that’s taken place at The Franklin, and there will be other activities. They will be requiring proof of vaccination and masks to attend the Parlour Tour and the event at The Franklin. There will also be the virtual Parlour Tour of 7 houses like the 2020 Parlour Tour.
There was a question if the event at The Franklin will also be showing the virtual tour. Nancy said she believes this is the case, but they’re still planning the event.
f. Membership
Julie Price, Membership Committee Chair, thanked the new members who showed up at the meeting. She reminded meeting attendees that the social after the meeting would be at The Great Grizzly Bear. She also encouraged new members to get involved with SRG.
The committee will be sending letters to any Members who haven’t renewed their membership. They will be sending letters to businesses, too, so they can be added to the roster in October.
The committee was planning an “off the island” event to Hermann, Mo., in October. However, with Covid and Oktoberfest, the committee is changing the date to 2022.
There will be a tasting at Soulard Station on Nov. 13 from 4 to 7 p.m. More details will be shared about this event.
g. Plan Review Team
Jay Gibbs, Plan Review Team Committee chair, explained that this committee does the architectural review of new construction or renovations in the neighborhood. This summer has been very quiet and easy for this committee.
Margi Koors asked about the exterior of Henry’s. Jay deferred to Jack Coatar, Alderman, about this. Jack said that there have been a number of violations cited and these should make their way to Cultural Resources. Henry’s has built a lot of stuff without permits, but they did remove the temporary roofing. Jack will get a full report.
There was a question about the vacant lot at 7th and Shenandoah. Jay said there was a proposal a year ago for an apartment building, SRG said no, and the developer went away.
There was a question about the lot at the top of Barton and 18th Street. Jay said there are plans coming soon for this, but he hasn’t heard anything for two months, so there’s nothing new to report.
There was a question about a development at 12th and Lynch (not within historic district) and what it will look like. It was confirmed that it is being built to historical codes.
There was a question about what is moving into the old Harpo’s location. No one knew.
h. Safety
Andrea Maddox-Dallas, Safety Committee Chair, said this committee was restarted this year and would love more SRG Members to join the committee. They’re focused on prevention and education, so they need people to achieve those goals.
The National Night Out is Oct. 5 and there are several block parties planned. Anyone interested in another block party is encouraged to email safety@soulard.org.
Unrelated to the Safety Committee, Andrea said she’s been honored to serve on the board of I-HELP St. Louis (Immigrant Home English Learning Program). The program teaches immigrants English and helps them pass their citizenship test. There is a waiting list of 200 students, and now there will be more refugees coming to the area that will need help. Participants don’t need to speak a foreign language to do this.
The next Safety Walk is Thursday, Oct. 14. Participants will be split into 6 teams. There was a great turnout for the spring Safety Walk, with lots of issues identified. Things were fixed within 2 to 3 weeks. More information will be in The Blaster. If anyone wants to join the Safety Walk, email safety@soulard.org.
There was a question about Immigrant Home English Learning Program and if it was 1:1 or a group setting. Andrea confirmed it’s 1:1. You and the person you’re tutoring agree on 2 mutual times in the week that are convenient for you both. No experience is necessary, and anyone interested can contact Andrea.
i. Soulard Station
Bonita Leiber, Soulard Station Co-chair, said that if anyone hasn’t been to the Soulard Station recently, she’d like them to come by and look at it. They’ve been doing a lot of work, fixed windows, painted them, cleaned, and scrubbed, etc. The sidewalk has also been leveled.
The committee is looking forward to the Floral & Art Auction Sept. 11.
They are always looking for physical help and they’re looking for some new committee members. If anyone is interested, they can check with Bonita or Laura Grace.
One of the committee’s projects will be working on the patio bricks. Laura is doing this. They will be selling bricks and raising money for the Station.
7. Other Neighborhood Organizations
a. Soulard Business Association (SBA)
Jim Dallas said that Cathy Weldon was not present, but she’s looking for volunteers for the Oktoberfest ticket booth.
b. Soulard Community Improvement District (CID)
Terry Hoffman, CID chairman, reported that the Traffic Calming Study has been kicked off with the Board of Public Service. This is a joint effort of CID, SSBD and Jack Coatar. The Board of Public Service will be out in the neighborhood setting up equipment, looking at car accident data, etc. There will be a preliminary report by the end of November, with the final report by the end of the year. In the first quarter of 2022, they’ll use the information to begin working on some real infrastructure to calm traffic throughout the neighborhood.
They have finally received approvals from the city to place 25 pet-waste receptacles throughout the neighborhood. The equipment has been ordered and delivered, so hopefully these will be set up in the next couple of weeks.
They’re also doing inventory of street trees, or tree wells without trees. There are over 100 that need trees in them. CID will be working with Jack Coatar who will hopefully expedite getting trees planted.
There was a survey a couple of months ago, and by the results, it looks like the top project CID will be pursuing will be beautification, street scape, infrastructure, and street and ally cleanup. Crime information is being pushed over to SBD, and they’re forming projects in that regard.
As for the taxes, money is building up and when some of the projects start, the money will be spent quickly. There’s a CID board meeting the first Monday of every month at 5:30 at the Soulard Station.
c. Soulard Special Business District (SSBD)
Terry Hoffman said that SSBD is still actively funding patrols throughout the neighborhood, and hopefully people have seen them. There’s been questions at past meeting about not seeing them. The vapor trails (where the patrol cars have been in the neighborhood) are now posted on the SSBD website.
They’re working on security cameras, but these take a lot of planning. Bill Clendenin, SSBD board member, is working to expand this program. The cameras are directly linked to real-time reporting to police.
SSBD is hoping to approve funding to help people within the SSBD boundaries to have protective brackets to deter catalytic converter theft. Anyone interested would have to buy the parts, and then SBD would pay for the installation of the brackets on their car. They’re working with a mechanic in the neighborhood who would do that at a reduced fee on SSBD’s behalf.
SSBD’s meetings are the second Monday of the month at 6:30 at the Soulard Station. If anyone is interested, they’re encouraged to stop by.
There was a question about obtaining security clubs for steering wheels. Terry said he has about 20 of them in his garage and he’d love to get rid of them.
There was a question about trees that have been removed but not stumped. Terry deferred to Jack Coatar. Jack said many were removed last fall and winter, but for any remaining that need to be stumped, let him know where they’re located, and he’ll get the city’s Forestry Department to grind them up.
d. American Legion
Chris Schwarz said the American Legion thanks everyone for their continued support. They’re still having happy hours on the third Friday of the month, with the next one Sept. 17.
In November, there will be a 75th anniversary celebration at the American Legion. They’re looking at an event around Veterans’ Day, and there may be dignitaries present. The goal is a golf cart parade, barbecue, and other activities.
8. Adjourn
Jim Dallas thanked the Membership Committee and Chris Schwarz for setting up the meeting outdoors. Because of daylight, the next General Membership Meeting, outdoors, may be at 6 or 6:30 p.m.
The social following the meeting would be at The Great Grizzly Bear. Julie Price added they’d be offering food from their new menu, but attendees would have to pay for their own drinks.
Jim asked for the motion to adjourn. Scott Plackemeier made the motion to adjourn. Jeremy Mehrle seconded.
The vote was taken. All voted in favor of adjourning the meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.