South Capitol Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes
Weds, Dec 11, 2024 6:30 – 8 pm
Lincoln Elementary School library
Introductions and Call Meeting to Order
Members of the South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) Board in attendance:
John Saunders, President
Gerry Apple, Vice President
Sue Hedrick, Secretary
Morgan Montes, Treasurer
Kelley Dolan, Gordon White, Emily Tilger and Valerie Hammett, At Large members
John called the meeting to order.
Approval of Meeting Minutes and Today’s Agenda
Gordon made a motion to approve the November 2024 minutes, Emily seconded and the motion was approved. Treacy Duerfeldt and Lorie Hewitt were not able to attend the meeting, but voted to approve the minutes via email prior to the meeting.
2025 Governor’s Inaugural Ball – Jennie Foglia-Jones, senior project manager for the 2025 Washington State Governor’s Inaugural Ball, and Matt Jones, chief operations officer, Department of Enterprise Services
Jennie and Matt provided a summary of the plans for the 2025 Governor’s ball. The ball committee disbanded this summer, so the Thurston County Chamber agreed to take it on.
The event will take place on Weds, January 15, 2025, from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 pm on the Capitol Campus. Doors will open at 6:30 pm and attendance is limited to 3,000. Tickets can be purchased online at wastategovball.org
Jennie and Matt said they are trying to prevent any parking for the event in the South Capitol Neighborhood. They will be directing attendees to the Plaza Garage on the east side of Capitol Way, and will have shuttles and Intercity Transit buses to pick them up and drop them off on the capitol campus. Maps will be emailed to all ticket holders with information about where to park.
Matt recommended blocking at least the first few blocks of the neighborhood near the capitol, which should discourage ball attendees from parking there and instead encourage them to park in the garage and use the shuttles.
Gordon thanked Jennie and Matt for their work to reduce the impact on the neighborhood and said he supports closing some of the streets to support them in their goal to steer attendees to the parking garage. He pointed out that the neighborhood can request that streets be closed by contacting Lt. Paul Frailey at the Olympia Police Department (OPD).
Valerie asked how folks would be getting into the parking garage. Matt said that all three entrances off of 11th Ave SE, Maple Park, and Capitol Way – will be open. Valerie then raised a concern about how those living on Maple Park will be able to exit their driveways that evening with all of the traffic – particularly on the south side of Maple Park – heading to the garage. Matt said they will encourage folks to use the Capitol Way entrance into the garage if they are coming from the south, or the 11th Ave entrance instead of Maple Park. Shuttles will pick up attendees in front of the Department of Transportation on Maple Park and at the 11th Ave entrance.
Valerie said she will share the event’s parking map with her neighbors on Maple Park, once it has been posted on the inauguration ball website.
Gordon made a motion and Morgan seconded to ask OPD to close the streets between 15th Ave SW and 18th Ave SW on Jan 15th before and during the event. The motion was approved.
The board members thanked Jennie and Matt for attending the meeting and sharing information about the event.
2025 Neighborhood Grant
Brittany Gillia, associate planner, has taken over management of the neighborhood grant program from Lydia Morehead. The timeline for next year’s grants is as follows:
- Info workshop via Zoom: January 7, 2025
- Requests for proposals: January 20, 2025
- Application deadline: February 28, 2025, 5 pm
- Grant review team: March 2025
- Council review and approval: April 2025
- Contracts signed: April 2025
- Project completion: December 31, 2025
- Final reports: December 31, 2025
Neighborhood grants will now be approved in April, which means that moving our annual meeting from February to April still does not allow us to include any costs for it in our grant application. We will discuss this further at our next board meeting.
Treasurer’s Report
Morgan sent a written report to the board members, which is at the end of the minutes.
Kelley made a motion and Gordon seconded, to purchase a two-year WordPress subscription (for our website) for $178.00 – a 15% discount. The motion was approved.
Morgan said she has prepared an initial budget for next year. We will review it at our next board meeting.
Committee Reports
No reports provided.
Neighborhood Workgroup re Home Conversions to Businesses in the South Capitol neighborhood
John reported on a group that has been formed to work with the city on reducing the number of single family residences in the South Capitol used solely for business purposes. He brought up the issue for discussion during the Triad meeting on November 21st.
City staff seemed to understand the problem, but said that the existing municipal code makes enforcement very difficult. Jay Burney, city manager, and Tim Smith, interim community planning & development director, recommended inserting new or revised goals in the Land Use Chapter of the updated Comprehensive Plan, and stating them in such a way that they are then the basis for changing the Code to allow for enforcement of the problem the South Capitol neighborhood is experiencing. Dalton Mauer is the director of code enforcement for the city.
The Land Use chapter of the city’s Comprehensive Plan is just starting its update cycle. Comments are being accepted on the current draft now through early 2025. A revised draft will be out for further comment in the Spring, and adoption by the Council is expected in late Spring or Summer.
The neighborhood workgroup will next meet on Thurs, Dec 19th, 2:30 pm at the Bus Stop. Members include: Sharon Case, Greg Klein, John Saunders, Gerald Apple, Rachel Newmann, Holly Gadbaw, Joan Marchioro and Kelley Dolan.
Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) Sounding Board – Gordon White
Gordon said that Larry Dzieza, CNA chair, asked him to participate on a CNA Sounding Board that will review and provide feedback on proposed changes to the city’s Land Use and Urban Design Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan over the next few weeks. The Sounding Board has met four times and will be meeting with David Ginther, Olympia senior planner, on this. Ginther is preparing an initial draft of proposed changes to the Land Use Chapter and will post it on the city website for public comment.
Motion to adjourn
John moved to adjourn the meeting, Emily seconded, and the motion was approved. The meeting ended at 7:56 pm.
Next SCNA board meeting – Weds, Feb 12, 2025 6:30 pm, Lincoln Elementary School library (No meeting in January)
Written Reports
December 2024 Treasurer Report
Business Prime Savings $20.00
Innovator Checking Ending Balance $2,138.87
Innovator Checking Beginning Balance $2,122.99
Difference $15.88
Recent Income:
Membership Fee Paypal $23.79
Recent Expenses:
Google Suite $7.91 Total $7.91
Transactions in Process
Membership Fee from Paypal $113.61
Upcoming Transactions
WordPress: $105.12 per year or we can get 15% discount if we purchase a two-year plan for about $178. What would the board like to do?
South Capitol Neighborhood Association 
Thanks, y’all!
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Hi, Jan Rocks here, 311 21st SE
Would there be any interest by the association to support a name change for Steven’s Field?
I have inquired with the city to change the name to Randy Edwards’s Field, or just Edward’s Field. Mr.E spent a lot of time out there and was a beloved resident and teacher in Olympia. The city could be more motivated to make the change if there was some neighborhood support.
Thanks for thinking about it.
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