OCTOBER 2023 SRG GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING DRAFT
OCTOBER 2023 SRG GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
October 4, 2023
by Elizabeth Henry
Abbey Bethel, President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
1. Opening Remarks
Abbey Bethel introduced herself to General Membership along with present Board Members: President-Elect Adriano Martinez, Treasurer Debby Brown, Secretary Elizabeth Henry, and Directors Amanda Ramcharan, Aaron Terry, Margi Koors, Stephen Shuman, and Connie Suydam.
2. Committee Reports
Membership
Julie Price, Membership Committee Chair, started her presentation by inviting new members to come to the front and introduce themselves. Julie reminded the general membership that they are all ambassadors of the SRG and to recruit new neighbors.
She announced a Halloween party October 29th "off the Island" 2-8pm roundtrip by motor coach. If you sign up, you will need to commit to the whole time - you may only travel with the group. Bring a lawn chair, cooler with drinks, and prepare to win a costume contest! 39 seats available.
Safety
Andrea Maddox-Dallas, Safety Committee Chair, thanks the hosts of the recent National Night Out block parties. She remarked on the fun and great weather and encouraged members to host next year. In the upcoming annual fall safety walk (or golf cart parade), they will look for lights that are out, overgrowth, other possible safety issues. Andrea will then submit the discoveries to the City and Ameren to be addressed. November 4th will be second annual First Responders Appreciation Brunch.
Subcommittees for Social Issues and Education Awareness have combined into one. Dusk to Dawn lights are coming to Soulard soon.
Beautification
Richard Eaton, Beautification Committee Chair, announced that Wednesday will be the biggest Beautification fundraiser of the year. They will kick off Oktoberest at Molly's at 6 p.m. - suggested donation is $20 - and after some drinks and food, there will be activities such as the balloon pop, wine grab, silent auction, live auction, and a home research courtesy of the Historical Committee.
In response to Richard’s announcement that Jeff Weitzel will be the new chair of the committee, Abbey Bethel recognized Richard's service as Chair. The General Membership applauded Richard in a standing ovation!
Development
Jim Dallas, Development Committee Chair, reminded the membership that the Oktoberfest beer booths are a big fundraiser for the SRG and that he still needs some more volunteers. He also hopes current volunteers reach out to him if their time slot no longer works as he will be happy to move timeslots around.
Communications
Brenton Henry, Communications Committee Chair, thanked all the contributors to the SRG Email Blaster. The email that went out today had a link to the SRG calendar. It is a subscription calendar with all SRG committee meetings, SRG fundraisers, big neighborhood events the SRG sponsors or is involved with, will populate into the calendars.
The committee has made significant progress on the new website. As that comes together, he will keep them posted. He also thanked Allyson for stepping up to take over as Managing Editor for the Renaissance newspaper.
Community Involvement & Events
Brad Pitlyk, CI&E Committee Chair, shared ideas from the first meeting's brainstorm session. Ideas include: dog walks, yoga, bocce ball, spring yard sale, and hay rides possibly for next fall.
Historical
Veronica Putz, joined by Neil Putz, described the presentation from Mitch Goist about how bricks were manufactured for the homes in Soulard. They have coordinated a class to learn how to date a home based on the materials.
Neil also presented on the 48th annual Parlour Tour, which will take place on December 2nd and show seven homes. They have determined a theme: Meet Me in Soulard. They will have trolleys this year instead of buses for tours, and there will be costumes. The celebratory party after the tour will be held at South Broadway Athletic Club.
Plan Review Team
Walker Hamilton, PRT Chair, said plans for 1000 Barton were approved. If residents want to do work on the exterior of their homes in Soulard, email PRT@soulard.org so they can have their plans reviewed by the committee. A large apartment building will attempt to go up at Barton and old 18th street, but plans are not finalized.
Soulard Station
Bonita Leiber, Committee Chair, had a public service announcement: trash begets trash. She cleaned up 100 feet of Gravois and it has been pretty clean since, so she believes that proves her theory is right. So she is looking for volunteers to help clean up trash!
3. Treasurer's Report
Debby Brown, Treasurer, reported $71,000 in cash on hand. The operating capital is fluctuating in advance of several large fundraisers, so with that context, right now the SRG is netting a loss of $6,700 year to date.
4. Secretary's Report
Liz Henry, Secretary, requested the motion to approve meeting minutes from June through September, 2023. Walker Hamilton made the motion. Margi Koors seconded. With two abstentions, the membership voted to approve the minutes with none opposed. The motion passed.
5. Alderperson Update
Isaiah Pasek-Santiago presented for Cara Spencer. He reviewed the CID's recent bill for speed humps and confirmed eight new humps were approved; two will be paid for out of Board capital, and six will be paid for by the CID.
Separately, he encourages complaints about nuisance properties in the neighborhood to keep coming because reports via CSV support their efforts to address problems. The AirBNB/short term rental bill is getting modified as conversations continue. A third reading will be later this month.
A homeless shelter might be coming to Kosciusko. Isaiah surveyed membership about recent experiences with their 911 calls and fielded questions about recruitment issues with 911 dispatchers.
He said complaints for trees were recently addressed. Complaints for dumpsters are coming in.
6. Crime Report
Officer Kevin Dilg of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Third District Police Liaison, announced that he now has access to more data than he has in the past, so his reports now contain a table with a bit more detail. Officer Dilg reviewed notable incidents. There is a city ordinance that allows officers to summon individuals who leave firearms unsecured in their vehicles.
His new form of report also included a map of 911 calls in the past month, with a carve-out map of “self-initiated” (meaning officer-initiated) reports.
Officer Dilg answered questions from membership about specific concerns around the neighborhood.
Regarding the homeless, Officer Dilg remarked that communities, their police, the unhoused and their advocates, and the people who provide services ALL have to get together to solve this problem together. He said that until that happens, homelessness is not going to improve.
7. Neighborhood Organizations
A. Soulard Business Association (SBA)
Shawn Caruso presented for the SBA: Sign up for the Halloween 2023 Trick Or Treating Map!
B. Soulard CID
Terry Hoffman presented and said if you see trash anywhere in Soulard, email cleanstreets@soulardCID.org. He will help coordinate trash clean-up. He also echoed the speed hump approval update.
Additionally, the CID has identified hundreds of spots for trees, including cut-outs that have dead trees, blocks with no trees, etc. The goal is to plant 100 trees in the fall and another 100 in the spring. He hopes alderwoman Cara Spencer will help with non-CID areas, including getting stumps removed.
Historic lights have been ordered. Supplier says ETA is year-end, so new installation goal is mid-January. They have started to paint the poles.
Getting permits for permanent banners before moving forward. With current timing, the first seasonal portion will be for Mardis Gras.
C. Soulard Business District (SBD)
Terry Hoffman reminded the general membership about the free car clubs.
Closing Remarks
Abbey Bethel requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. Brenton Henry so moved. John Durnell seconded. The motion passed, and the meeting adjourned at 8:29 pm.