Board Minutes Sept 2023

Weds, Sept 13, 2023 6:30-8:30 pm

Introductions and Call Meeting to Order
Members of the South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) in attendance:
John Saunders, President
Gerry Apple, Vice President
Sue Hedrick, Secretary
At-large Members: Lorie Hewitt, Treacy Duerfeldt and Howard Goldberg

Approval of August Meeting Minutes and Today’s Agenda
Treacy made a motion to approve the August minutes and September agenda, Lorie seconded, and the motion was approved.

Committee Reports

Treasurer – Addie Spencer
Addie sent out a written report prior to the meeting – see report at the end of the minutes.

Those present discussed the possibility of reimbursing some board members for money personally spent on the summer neighborhood event. The original budget of $500 had been previously increased to $650.

Gerry gave $200 to the board to defray part of the cost of the live band and $50 to Emily for printing the fliers. He also spent $228.08 on food and ice for the event.

As noted in the treasurer’s report, John spent $36.16 for a pickup truck rental and $250 for the band, a total of $286.16.

Treacy made a motion to increase the budget for the event to $764.24 to cover Gerry’s donations and costs, and John’s costs. Lorie seconded, and the motion was approved.

Lorie asked that the board members add a discussion on lessons learned from the summer event. Howard asked that membership also be added to the agenda for discussion.

Traffic – Gerry Apple
Gerry said that he and Treacy have been working on capturing information about Capitol Way traffic. Two cords were stretched across the road by city staff to collect data about speed. Treacy and Gerry also compiled information about speeders from Gerry’s front porch on Capitol Way, by watching the speed sign affixed to a light pole near the cords. They noted there was one speeder every 10 minutes and many of the speeders refused to slow down even when the sign posted speeds well over the 25 mph limit.

Treacy said that city staff look at the mean average of drivers but that doesn’t take into account the speeders, and this fact would be reflected in his report. He would like to look at the raw data, and thinks this could be used to spur the city into action. John asked if city staff had given them a time when they will receive the data. Gerry said they have been partnering with Rebecca Ziesemer, Olympia community programs officer, and she will let them know.

Safety Committee – Howard Goldberg
Howard said he recently spoke to the Olympia Police Department staff – they are understaffed with 20 empty positions. As of September 25, they are now allowed to make arrests for drug possession, and several new laws have gone into effect. They told him a lot of break-ins are occurring in the city.

John said that, at the recent Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) meeting, Deputy Chief of Police Sam Costello attended and said that morale is low. He was asked how city residents could help. He suggested they talk to officers when they see them and thank them for their service.

Summer Neighborhood Event – Lessons Learned
Those present discuss what could have gone better. Gerry suggested more tables and chairs. Sue suggested more ice coolers.

Treacy recommended that “Donations welcome” be added to the flier. Lorie suggested the event be held later in the year for cooler weather and to avoid conflicting with summer holidays. John suggested and everyone agreed that planning for the event should begin much sooner. It was also suggested that sandwich boards be purchased – or those previously purchased be located – to better advertise the event to the neighborhood.

Legislative Campus Modernization project – John Saunders
John reported there was no update on our input on the project. Construction of the Newhouse building is expected to be completed in November 2024. Construction on the new building next to the Pritchard building will start in the Spring of next year. John said the workgroup members still have not received a response to the comments they submitted on the Pritchard Building SEPA Determination of Non-Significance.

Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) – Gerry Apple
Gerry mentioned that the CNA is an umbrella group for all of the neighborhood associations in Olympia and it has a formal relationship with the city. Councilmember Dontae Payne talked a lot about the progress the city has made addressing the homeless situation.

The city is considering establishing a sidewalk repair program. Currently, city code states that the adjacent property owner is responsible for repairing sidewalks.

The plan is to ask residents to take pictures of sidewalks that need fixing and submit them to the city. John said there is an app that has been shared with some residents, but it is currently in testing mode and won’t be ready to be released to the general public for at least a month or more.

Also discussed at the CNA meeting were neighborhood matching grants. According to the city’s webpage on this program, each year, the City requests applications from recognized neighborhood associations (RNAs) on a 50/50 matching basis. The Neighborhood Matching Grant program funds small projects within RNAs that have an environmental benefit, strengthen neighborhoods, expand citizen involvement and promote the interests of the broader Olympia Community.

Projects must be completed within six months with volunteer support. Grant awards range from $500 to $5,000 to cover a maximum of 50% of project costs. The RNA is required to match the city grant through direct financial contributions, material donations, and/or volunteer time.

Recent projects include: walking maps, street banners (design & fabrication), festival materials, bulk mailing to residents, garden and park improvements, and signage.

Treacy and Gerry volunteered to identify grant opportunities for the board to review and decide on. A discussion ensued concerning the possibility of doing a survey or community needs assessment of South Capitol Neighborhood residents to let them know what the board is working on and find out what’s important to them. Grant proposals for 2024 are due in March.

Other items
Also suggested and discussed was creating business cards for board members to distribute as they walk the neighborhood and meet residents. The cards would have information about the neighborhood association including contacts and links to the website and Facebook page.

John reminded the other board members that, per the association bylaws, the annual meeting will be held in February, which they should begin planning for. One suggestion was to create or purchase a list of addresses of all residences in the South Capitol Neighborhood so that information could be mailed to all residents. Another suggestion was to send emails in December and January to everyone on the SCNA listserve, reminding them of the date, time and location of the annual meeting and encouraging them to attend.

Discussion ensued on how to encourage more membership in the neighborhood association, which doesn’t necessarily mean serving on the board, but perhaps in other ways. This will be discussed more at the October board meeting.

Motion to adjourn
Treacy made a motion to adjourn, Gerry seconded, and the motion was approved. The meeting ended at 8:05 pm.

Next meeting – Weds, Oct 11, 2023, 6:30 pm, Lincoln Elementary School

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Written Reports

Treasurer’s Report – Sept 10, 2023

Twin Star Credit Union account balances:
Business Prime Savings $20
Innovator Checking $3,000.24

Recent income:
PayPal $37.86
Checks $10
Cash $137
Donation $200 for music from Gerry Apple

Recent expenses:
Google Gsuite $13.14 each month

Pending expenses:
August 26th Neighborhood BBQ: total budget $500
John Saunders $286.16 (truck: $36.16 + live band $250)
Other expenses up to $213.84