SRG GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING JULY 2024

Aug 8

Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at 7PM

PRESENT
Officers: Abbey Bethel, Past President; Adriano Martinez, President; Amanda Ramcharan, President-Elect; Neil Putz, FY25 Treasurer; Abby Goodson, Secretary

Directors: Joy Christensen, Paula Dostal, Aaron Terry, Alan Ziegler

LOCATION
Saints Peter & Paul Parish Hall in the Rose Room | 816 Allen Ave

Call to Order/Opening Remarks

Meeting called to order at 7:05pm by Adriano Martinez

Round Table — Committee Updates

Membership
Julie Price welcomed six new members to the front to introduce themselves; invited everyone to the social after at Jay and Carla Gibbs’ home at 1836 South 8th Street; announced that our membership is around 400 members strong; and reminded folks that she is stepping down as membership chair and that she will help the new chair with the transition.
Beautification
Jeff Weitzel, Beautification Chair, thanked everyone for attending the Aboussie Park event; invited volunteers to the Pontiac Square park cleanup event on Saturday, July 13 from 9–11am; and asked folks to save the date for these events:

Art & Floral Auction: August 24
Patio Crawl (11 homes): September 28
Oktoberfest Fundraiser: October 10

Communications Committee (ComCom)
Brenton Henry, ComCom Chair, reminded people to send website feedback to communications@soulard.org and called for new members to join the committee who are interested in marketing, social media, and communications.
Community Involvement & Events (CI&E)
Brad Pitlyk, CI&E Chair, invited everyone to the Bastille Day Parade on July 20 at 4pm; called for volunteers to help with the event; and announced that the Movies in the Park series will resume in September and October.
Development
Jim Dallas, Development Chair, recapped the first Summer Concert Series event in June; invited people to the next concert on July 20 (following the Bastille Day parade); showcased merchandise for sale and reminded people that shirts and hats will be available for purchase at the concert; and reminded people that we’ll be asking for volunteers to work the beer booth at Oktoberfest on October 11–12.
Historical
Veronica Putz, Historical Chair, did not have an update.
Parlour Tour
Jeanne Kirby, Parlour Tour Chair, did not have an update.
Code & Zoning and Plan Review Team (PRT)
Walker Hamilton, PRT Chair, did not have an update.
Properties (Station)
Bonita Leiber, Properties Chair, played the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams to show her excitement for the fence being complete; announced that she is looking for volunteers to help maintain the garden around the Station; and reminded people of the code to enter the garden (1911).
Safety
Adriano Martinez shared information about the dusk-to-dawn light bulb program (noting that free porch lights are available to help with pedestrian safety and to reach out to safety@soulard.org); announced that National Night Out will be held October 1, that the deadline to register is September 10, and that SRG will reimburse your block $150; and mentioned that folks looking to start a neighborhood watch group via the GroupMe app should reach out to safety@soulard.org.

Bus Stop Transformation Project

Adriano Martinez reminded people to fill out the survey in the July Blaster to provide input on the design of the bus stop transformation project at Gravois and 13th St.

Treasurer’s Report

Neil Putz reported on financials and mentioned it was the first month of the fiscal year.

Income: $85,000
Expenses: $83,000
Cash balance: $82,000

Neil Putz also passed along an announcement from Gary Toribio inviting people to attend the democratic candidate forum for US Congressional Representatives and State Representatives on July 14 at 3pm at RUNG for Women, 2717 Sidney St.

Secretary’s Report

Abby Goodson announced that a draft of the June general membership meeting minutes were attached to the Blaster email that went out today and asked for a motion to approve the minutes so that they could be posted to the website. Becca Gilberg moved to approve the minutes. Aaron Terry seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Alderperson Update

Cara Spencer, Ward 8 Alderperson, mentioned that the Board of Alderman established a commission to approve the City’s Charter and invited folks to review it and weigh in to her office; approved $650 million budget to improve Lambert St. Louis Airport; discussed her support of public transit and her concerns with the MetroLink expansion project; recapped the Peter and Paul Community Services community meeting; and announced that additional speed humps will be coming to 9th Street.

Crime Report

The Police Sergeant addressed the neighborhood about the drive-by shooting in Soulard near Hammerstone’s on Tuesday, July 9. He shared that witnesses were interviewed, shell casings were recovered; and that the suspects were two white males in silver cars. He noted that they did not have license plate numbers and encouraged anyone with additional information or footage to contact the police.
After some SRG members expressed safety concerns to the Sergeant, he noted that the City reports all crimes to the FBI to help with federal funding while other counties may not report everything to the public, making their districts seem “safer” when in reality they are dealing with similar crimes (burglaries, car thefts, and gun violence) too. He commented that voting for elected officials is important and reminded people that the police department has fewer police officers than it used to have, which means certain crimes take priority over others.

Soulard Neighborhood Organization Updates

Soulard Special Business District (SSBD)
Shawn Caruso announced that free car clubs are available at The Star Insurance Agency located at 11th and Russell to those who live within the SSBD boundaries (bring a piece of mail to verify you live within the district).

Community Improvement District (CID)
Terry Hoffman did not have an update. Amanda Ramcharan invited people to attend monthly CID meetings. Laura Leister announced that the CID meets the second Monday of the month at 5pm at Molly’s.
Soulard Business Association (SBA)
Shawn Caruso reminded everyone about the Bastille Day Parade on July 20 and congratulated Nancy and Mark Lambert as this year’s royalty.
Mardi Gras Inc. (MGI)
Nancy Lambert said the 2025 Mardi Gras theme is “Soulard Celebrates Food.”
St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC)
Lisa Otke noted that she is the neighborhood transformation manager for the neighborhoods south of the city; shared that SLDC has many programs and initiatives to help people including first-time homebuyers; mentioned that SLDC is taking input for the MetroLink pathway and encouraged people to respond to the survey; and added that they have been involved with the SLUP plan for St. Louis.

President’s Report

Adriano Martinez said the FY25 budget will be posted online and that we will be voting on the budget at the August general membership meeting.
Adriano Martinez announced that Alfred Montgomery, a democratic candidate running for St. Louis City Sheriff, was present and agreed to answer questions after the meeting.