South Capitol Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes
Weds, Aug 13, 2025 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Lincoln Elementary School library
Note: On August 15, 2025, Gerry Apple made a motion to approve the August 13, 2025 board minutes via email vote. Lorie Hewitt seconded. Eight board members voted in favor, and the motion passed.
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
Eric Seder, Kelley Dolan, Nora Hawkins, Lorie Hewitt, Tyler Graber, Blake Melancon, Valerie Hammett, Scott Freeman, At Large members
John called the meeting to order.
Approval of Today’s Draft Agenda
Two additions were made to the agenda: Gerry asked to do a short report on traffic and Lorie asked to do a short report on St. John’s Episcopal Church. Nora made a motion to approve the agenda as amended, Kelley seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report – Morgan Montes
Morgan went over the written report she previously sent to the board members, which is under Written Reports at the end of the minutes. Morgan also noted we received a PayPal donation of $96.92 from a neighbor and association member, to be used for the Sept neighborhood picnic.
Update on Fall BBQ/Social – Gerry Apple
Gerry said he spoke with Hannah Cho, one of the owners of the Frog Pond, to let them know we plan to buy ice and pop from them for the September picnic. Hanna said they will again donate their homemade Korean beef for it. They generously provided it last year, and everyone agreed it was delicious!
John mentioned that Mayor Dontae Payne and Councilmember Clark Gilman have said they plan to attend the BBQ social. Nora suggested we also invite our state representatives – Senator Jessica Bateman and Representatives Beth Doglio and Lisa Parshley. John said he would do that.
Gerry went over the To-Dos and Items Needed list. A few items and tasks still needed volunteers. The full list is under Supplemental Information at the end of the minutes.
Proposed Letter on Middle Housing Code Amendments – Lorie Hewitt
At the July board meeting, Lorie suggested creating a subcommittee to prepare a letter for the board about this issue. Nora, Kelley and Sue volunteered to work with Lorie on it. They sent a draft letter to the board prior to the meeting for revisions and approval at this meeting.
Lorie kicked off the discussion by confirming that a public hearing by the Olympia Planning Commission on the Middle Housing Code Amendments and a new Housing Chapter has been scheduled for Mon, August 18, 2025 at 6:30 pm. She said that we need to send in our comment letter – if we vote to approve it – by this Friday.
John noted that only written comments are due; any oral comments can be made at Monday’s meeting if folks have registered online beforehand and indicated they wish to speak. Information about the Planning Commission meeting, including the agenda, meeting materials, and a link to register to attend and/or speak, are posted on the city’s website.
Lorie said one issue is whether the City should adopt code amendments based on a projected population of more than 75,000 (aka Tier 1) or a population of less than 75,000 (Tier 2). This matters because Tier 1 cities must allow greater housing density than Tier 2 cities. The proposed middle housing code amendments adopt the Tier 1 housing densities. But Olympia could choose to adopt the lower densities of a Tier 2 city since its current population is a little over 56,000. Lorie noted that Lacey, on the other hand, has 58,644 residents and the Lacey City Council has chosen to continue to plan for Tier 2 densities.
Lorie said she feels the city hasn’t made a case for why they want to go to Tier 1. Gerry pointed out that Olympia has grown about 2% each year, which would probably mean the city wouldn’t reach the 75,000 threshold in five years.
Nora said the central question is the neighborhood association board’s charter. Are we speaking for the entire neighborhood? She said she has spoken to some neighbors who prefer Tier 1 rather than Tier 2, but the board hasn’t surveyed the South Capitol to find out what all of our neighbors want.
Kelley said she feels our role is stewardship of the neighborhood. If we have different opinions on the board, it reflects the diversity of views of the South Capitol. Scott said there are some other things he would want the city to know. He’s not opposed to a letter with diverse opinions included. Tyler said we agree that our position to the city is, “Don’t rush this.”
Morgan said she appreciates the varying opinions. At the beginning of any plan, she noted, we don’t have all of the details. She said she thinks the letter does represent our neighborhood, but with more time, we could gather more opinions through surveys and outreach.
Valerie asked if we have already decided to send the letter? She said she doesn’t think we are ready to do this. Gerry asked what the timeline was for submitting the letter, and John reiterated that it’s this Friday.
Lorie suggested the board go through the draft comment letter, page by page, to determine what the board members all accept and what could still use some edits. Motions, seconds and votes are captured in the final draft letter.
The board reviewed previously proposed edits and comments by Gordon, Eric, Nora, Kelley and Tyler. Additional edits were proposed and voted on.
Scott moved to accept the draft letter as amended, Lorie seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Update on Olympia Comprehensive Plan – John Saunders
John said the Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan Land Use and Urban Design Chapter is moving through the process. The Olympia Planning Commission recently sent a letter to the Olympia City Council recommending approval with some minor changes.
One item that South Capitol residents have commented on is newly proposed Policy PL19.6, which allows small scale commercial uses within neighborhoods. John said that city staff have not accepted any of our suggested edits to the chapter.
He mentioned that a few South Capitol residents will be walking through the neighborhood tomorrow morning with Clark Gilman, and one of the places they will be viewing is the new house on 17th Ave SW.
Renaming Stevens Field – Morgan Montes
Morgan said she sent the board-approved letters to Jeff Barehand and to the Olympia City Council – with a cc to the Olympia School District – in response to correspondence from Mr. Barehand (included in the July minutes) in support of the possibility of renaming Stevens Field.
Traffic – Gerry Apple
Gerry said he and former board member Treacy Duerfeldt discussed the traffic situation on Capitol Way and believe that only four or five of the short-term solutions have been implemented. No one could remember when Sophie promised to provide updates. Sue will review previous board minutes and share this information with the board. Gerry and Treacy will reach out to Sophie about this. Sue suggested Gerry ask about orange crossing flags for the crosswalk at Capitol & 18th Ave.
St. John’s Episcopal Church – Lorie Hewitt
Lorie said she received an update from Lou MacMillan about St. John’s Episcopal Church. The board first discussed this issue at their April 2023 board meeting after Lou reached out to Lorie. The church is not structurally sound, and the congregation does not have the money necessary to pay for the repairs, which at that time, was estimated at $3 million. Lou said the congregation hired Thomas Architects as a consultant to come up with options for the property.
The following month, the board held its May meeting at St. John’s to discuss this issue in more depth. Lorie said Lou told her they are getting a second opinion from another consultant, which should be completed in late August/early September.
Motion to adjourn
Nora moved to adjourn the meeting, Kelley seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously. The meeting ended at 8:12 pm.
Next SCNA board meeting – Weds, Sept 10, 2025 6:30 pm, Lincoln Elementary School library
Written Reports
July 2025 Treasurer’s Report
Period: 07/01/25 – 07/31/25
Business Priming Savings $25.00
Innovator Checking Ending Balance $1,330.32
Innovator Checking Beginning Balance $955.15
Difference $375.17
Recent Income:
- Grant Reimbursement $906.85
- Paypal Transfer $272.36
Total $1,179.21
Recent Expenses:
- Google Suite $7.91
- BBQ Mailer Postage $205.45
- BBQ Mailer $590.68
Total $804.04
Transactions in Progress and Notes:
On July 27th, I submitted a grant reimbursement for $796.13 for the BBQ mailer and postage. Reimbursement was received on 8/7 and will be part of the August Treasurer’s report. This brings our available grant balance to $3,297.02. We also submitted an additional 19 hours of volunteer time for BBQ planning. This brings us to 44.5 hours completed of the 138 hours required by the grant.
There were no membership dues that came through our mailbox.
Don’t forget to track your time! 🙂
Supplementary Information
To-Dos and Items Needed for Sept 7th BBQ/Social
- Post articles about the BBQ/Social – Sue has done two; will post one more
- Write an article for JOLT News after the event – Gerry
- Put sidewalk signs at the corners of 20th & Water St and 17th & Water St – Gerry, Eric and Sue (Sun, Aug 24th)
- Hang banner on fence at Lincoln School, put up small banners on power poles – Sue (Sun, Aug 24th)
- Put up small yard signs in yards – Eric, Gerry, Scott
- Order scones from Olympia Baking Company – Eric
- Talk to Young and Hannah Cho (owners of the Frog Pond) about ordering extra pop and ice for us to buy – Gerry
- Ask Howard from the Scott Lake Men’s Association to purchase hamburger from Western Meats for a discount – Gerry
- Purchase items from the Chef Store: chips, cups, paper plates, buns, hotdogs, veggie burgers, water, and napkins – Gerry and Helen
- Buy condiments at Costco and items for hamburgers at Spuds: onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, pickles – Blake
- Pick up frozen hamburgers just before event and store them in coolers – Eric
- Set up and manage kids’ activities – Helen and Kelley
- Greet the exhibitors and help them set up – John and Valerie
- Set up small garbage cans to and recycle bins to collect garbage, food waste, and recyclables – Sue and Tyler Kelley will bring her large green bin
- Staff membership table – Need 2 people at the table each hour from 2-5 pm to take memberships, dues and hand out raffle tickets. The drawing will be at 4:00 pm. John, Morgan, Sue, Blake, Kathryn, Nora
- Go to Scott Lake at 10 am to pick up tables and chairs – Scott, Gerry, John, Morgan
- Meet at Lincoln at NOON to begin set up – John, Gerry, Scott, Lorie, Morgan, Sue, Helen, Tyler, Eric, Blake, Valerie, Nora Kelley, Kathryn
- Clean Up – Gerry, Scott , Lorie, Morgan, Sue, Helen, Tyler, Eric, Blake, Valerie, John, Kathryn, Kelley, Nora
- Take Photos – Scott Freeman
Items Needed for Sept 7th BBQ Social
- Tables – need 25 for food, membership drive and attendees. At least 20 tables will come from Scott Lake. Sue – 2, Scott – 3, Morgan – 2, Blake – 1, Eric – 2
- Chairs – need 50 – they will all come from Scott Lake
- Coolers – Need 15 – Sue – 1, Blake – 1, Tyler – 2, Valerie – 1, Eric – 1, Morgan – 1, Kelley – 1, John – 1, Nora – 1, Scott – 1, Gerry – galvanized tub
- Utensils – Sue will provide 300+ wooden utensils
- Tablecloths – Sue, Valerie, Morgan and Helen will bring tablecloths
- Raffle tickets and nametags – Sue will bring raffle tickets and nametags
- Barbecue sets – need 4 – Treacy, Valerie, Blake, Morgan
- BBQ grillers – Morgan’s husband, Chris, Valerie’s husband, Rob, Blake, Treacy, Emily’s dad, Matt
- Extension cords and a power cord – Scott will bring these
- Hamburgers and hot dogs – Need folks to store the hot dogs – Gerry, ???
- Fruit, fruit trays and veggie trays – could use some more – Sue – platter of grapes, Lorie – fruit tray
South Capitol Neighborhood Association 