SRG BOARD MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 2024

Dec 19

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 7PM

Minutes prepared by Abby Goodson, Secretary

PRESENT
Officers: Abbey Bethel, Past President; Adriano Martinez, President; Amanda Ramcharan, President-Elect; Neil Putz, FY25 Treasurer; Abby Goodson, Secretary
Directors: Beth Bennett, Joy Christensen, Paula Dostal, Aaron Terry, Wade Weistreich

REGRETS
Director: Alan Ziegler

LOCATION
Soulard Station | 1911 South 12th Street

Call to Order/Opening Remarks

Meeting called to order at 7:02pm by Adriano Martinez.

Secretary’s Report

Abby Goodson reported that Abbey Bethel circulated a draft of the October board meeting minutes with the board for review via email and asked for a motion to approve. Neil Putz motioned to approve. Joy Christensen seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report

Neil Putz shared that the SRG is operating three separate bank accounts:

Carrollton Bank Checking: $96,503.55

Carrollton Bank Savings: $10,118.23

Carrollton Bank Money Market: $12,645.19

Total: $119,266.97

Neil Putz noted that he has ordered additional checks and is waiting for them to come in the mail.

Committee Roundtable

Beautification: Wade Weistreich shared that the committee has been cleaning up street pots and will be announcing the Winter Pot decorating contest at the December general meeting.
Community Involvement & Events (CI&E): Aaron Terry reported that the committee is in a planning phase for next year’s events. New initiatives: a house decorating contest for Mardi Gras and a bags tournament in the spring.
Communications (ComCom): Abby Goodson shared that the final Renaissance issue of 2024 just dropped and asked the other committees to help with reviewing content on the website and sharing updates, as well as communicating upcoming events that need to be added to our shared calendar and social media accounts.
Development: No update.
Historical: Beth Bennett said they had a guest speaker from Lafayette Square at their last meeting who discussed historical furniture design and shared that house history research is wrapping up for the homes on this year’s Parlour Tour.
Membership: Paula Dostal said that the committee is looking to organize a membership drive wine tasting event sometime before Mardi Gras, maybe February 1 from 4–7pm, with more details to come.
Parlour Tour: Joy Christensen said that sponsorship has been successful, tickets are nearly sold out, and this year’s gift is an ornament.
Planning Review Team (PRT): Amanda Ramcharan reported two items: 1) The chainlink fence at 911 Barton was approved by the Preservation Board. 2) The 20-unit building at Shenandoah and 11th received preliminary approval from the Preservation Board.
Properties/Station: Abbey Bethel noted that the third Women in Soulard event was a success, shared that she is finalizing the event rental packet, and announced two upcoming events at the Station: 1) Parlour Tour on December 7. 2) Santa Comes to Soulard on December 15.
Safety: Wade Weistreich said the Safety committee is reviewing website content and will be coordinating with ComCom to make updates and shared that the American Legion will be hosting a luncheon for first responders and veterans on Thanksgiving Day.

Old Business

None.

New Business

8th Ward Consortium Meeting: Adriano Martinez noted that their final quarterly meeting for 2024 was held on November 19, announced he will be chairing the 8th Ward Consortium in 2025, and shared highlights from some of the neighborhoods represented:

Lafayette Square: Pet Parade on December 7 and Parlour Tour on December 15.
Downtown: Monthly happy hours — next month is at Cobblestone on The Landing. Board Bill 114 passed (allows for conditional use of homeless rehabilitation centers, keeps plat and petition process, requires plan/details). Food Truck Bill has been introduced which would ease restrictions on food trucks to locate and do business — Adriano Martinez added that he plans to keep an eye on how that could affect Soulard streets/businesses.
Benton Park: Christmas party at Bluewood Brewing on December 6.
Overall: Other neighborhoods have had success with filing lawsuits against delinquent properties.

Profile Interview: Amanda Ramcharan gave an interview with Stone Hunter, a student studying at Arizona State University, on the history of SRG and asked if ComCom could include more information on the history of the organization on the website. Abby Goodson agreed to work with ComCom to continue compiling that information.
Trespassing: Joy Christensen asked if there was anything SRG could do to help with trespassing, and the Board concluded that issue is best handled by law enforcement.
Nominating Committee: Abbey Bethel announced that we need to form a nominating committee by December 1. The goal of the committee is to seek out various people to run for open Board positions: 3 Directors, Secretary, and President Elect.
Financial Accounts: Abby Goodson asked if there is a plan to move some of our money into an account that would yield higher interest, and Neil Putz said he will talk with our accountant about options.
Gene Slay’s Girls & Boys Club: Amanda Ramcharan met with Robert Puricelli, executive director at Soulard location, to understand what their plans are for the property and learned they are starting an 8-month campaign to raise $10 million in hopes to fund the purchase of a new property in a neighborhood closer to the children for whom they service. If they are unsuccessful in finding a new location, they plan to invest the funds raised into their existing location in Soulard.

Adjourn

Aaron Terry motioned to adjourn at 7:55 pm. Wade Weistreich seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Action Items

Abby Goodson will work with ComCom and other committees to create a more indepth historical review of SRG’s history online.
Abbey Bethel will look into the status of roof quotes for the Soulard Station.
Neil Putz will write a $900 check to Peter and Paul for the annual Rose Room rentals.
Neil Putz will look into CDs or other accounts that yield higher interest.