South Capitol Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes
Weds, April 8, 2026 6:30 – 8 pm
Lincoln Elementary School library
Note: On April 12, 2026, Gerry Apple made a motion to approve the April 8, 2026 board minutes via email vote. Morgan Montes seconded. Nine 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
Gordon White, Nora Hawkins, Valerie Hammett, Tyler Graber, and Kelley Dolan, At Large members
John called the meeting to order.
Approval of Today’s Draft Agenda
John asked if there were any changes or additions to the agenda. There were none. Gordon moved to approve the draft agenda; Valerie seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report – Morgan Montes
Morgan previously sent the draft March Treasurer’s Report to the board members, which is under Written Reports at the end of the minutes.
Morgan noted there was no revenue for last month and only one expense of $9.23 for Google Suite. She said the board received notice that its liability insurance premium will renew for $440 on April 29th for the year.
Sue moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report, Tyler seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Morgan said she will create a flyer showing the board’s expenses and how it spends its funds to share with the neighborhood before the annual meeting in June.
Update on St. John’s/San Juan Church Property – Gerry Apple
Gerry said he thought the meeting on March 24th with St. John’s/San Juan Church’s leaders and congregation to inform the community about the listing of the church property went well. He said he felt that the Rev. Dr. Janet Waggoner and other leaders of the church did a good job presenting information about the proposed sale. He said that a lot of the vestry were at the meeting, and the senior and junior wardens spoke as well as Lou MacMillan, the SCNA board’s contact with the church.
He said the congregation plans to move out of the South Capitol church property next summer. They will try to raise $200,000 for moving costs. They plan to keep the stained glass windows, columbarium and organ.
He said the church leaders have talked to about 10 other churches about temporarily housing the St. John’s/San Juan congregation.
Gordon mentioned that a representative from the Thurston Housing Land Trust attended the meeting, as well as Daniel Garcia, a member of the Olympia Planning Commission. Gordon suggested the board invite Kidder Matthews, the realtors managing the sale, and the Land Trust to a future SCNA board meeting or community forum to talk about potential uses for the property.
Morgan noted the church leaders also indicated that the process of selling the property could take some time, and the congregation committed to maintaining it after they have moved to a temporary location.
Gordon said he looked up Washington State zoning law and discovered that it allows more density for church properties. Sue noted the church leaders did not put any conditions on the sale. Cost of demolition would be about $800,000.
The SCNA board will continue to follow this matter closely and will share additional information with the neighborhood once more is known.
Annual Picnic Planning Meeting – Gerry Apple
Gerry said the tentative date for the annual neighborhood picnic will be Sun, Sept 13th. Gerry asked if a board member would like to be a co-chair with him since he has a lot of personal items on his plate. He said the board should know by the end of April whether the board received the city grant.
(Note: the day after this meeting, the board received notification that City of Olympia staff have recommended to the Olympia City Council that the board’s full request of $5,000 be approved. The council will vote on the Grant Review Team’s recommendations at its next meeting on Tues, April 14th.)
Board members agreed to hold the first picnic planning meeting on Weds, June 17th, time and location to be determined.
Annual Meeting Preparation – John Saunders
John said the neighborhood association’s bylaws require us to have a quorum of at least 25 members at the annual meeting, and it needs to be held in June of each year. The bylaws also require the board to notify everyone in the neighborhood about the upcoming meeting, which the board does by:
- Posting articles on the SCNA website,
- Sending a link to an email distribution list,
- Putting signs up, and
- Mailing an invitation to all addresses in the neighborhood. The cost for the mailing is about $900 for printing and postage.
One of the purposes of the annual meeting is the election or re-election of board members. The board currently has 15 members. Those whose terms are up this year are:
Gerry Apple, Morgan Montes, Kevin Rutherford, Gordon White, Scott Freeman, Nora Hawkins, Kelley Dolan, and Tim Davis.
Of those present at the meeting, Gerry and Morgan said they will run for re-election as vice president and treasurer, respectively. Nora said she will be stepping down as she and her partner will soon be new parents. Gordon and Kelley said they will run for re-election.
Kelley, John, Tyler and Valerie volunteered to serve on a nominating committee. They will contact the other board members whose terms are up to determine if they will run again or step down, and they’ll recruit new board members. The bylaws allow for no fewer than 10 and no more than 20 members on the board.
The nominating committee will report back on its activities at the May meeting.
The next task was to choose a date for the annual meeting. Tyler moved and Nora seconded holding the meeting on Weds, June 10th from 7 – 8 pm at the Lincoln School cafeteria. The motion passed unanimously.
Lastly was approving the cost of printing and mailing an invitation, and purchasing a $100 gift card for a drawing at the annual meeting. Tyler suggested including information on the invitation flyer about possible upcoming neighborhood activities – a picnic and two community forums in the fall – dependent upon approval of the city neighborhood grant we recently submitted.
Gordon moved and Kelley seconded spending approximately $900 to have Capitol City Press print and mail annual meeting invitations, and to purchase a $100 gift card from Vic’s Pizzeria. The motion passed unanimously.
Community Forum Topics – John Saunders, Sue Hedrick, Nora Hawkins and Kelley Dolan
John said the board recently applied for a neighborhood grant from the city of Olympia to cover the costs of a picnic and two community forums in the fall.
John distributed a one-page handout, listing possible topics for the two community meetings this fall. These were suggested by a Community Forums Committee made up of John Saunders, Sue Hedrick, Nora Hawkins and Kelley Dolan.
The top two of the committee’s five topics were Community Gardens and Housing. Two additional topics suggested by community members were a Thurston Immigration Solidarity League (THISL) training, and the Olympia Heritage Commission.
Board members discussed the recommendations and suggestions at length. Tyler suggested scheduling one of the topics for the annual meeting in June. Morgan suggested asking the organizations if they would like to host a booth at the annual picnic.
Morgan volunteered to reach out to Mary Groebner about the THISL training, and John volunteered to reach out to Brittany Gillia about the Olympia Heritage Commission. They will bring this back to the board at the May meeting.
Morgan moved to accept the committee’s recommendation to hold two forums in the Fall – one on Community Gardens and one on Housing. Gordon seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
The Community Forums Committee members will meet again to work on the details and decide which organizations to invite to participate.
Motion to adjourn
Gordon moved to adjourn the meeting, Nora seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously. The meeting ended at 7:46 pm.
Next SCNA board meeting – Weds, May 13, 2026 6:30 pm, Lincoln Elementary School library
Written Reports
March 2026 Treasurer’s Report
Period: 3/01/25 – 3/31/26
Business Priming Savings $25.00
Innovator Checking Ending Balance $2,449.30
Innovator Checking Beginning Balance $2,458.53
Difference $(9.23)
Recent Income:
Total $0.00
Recent Expenses:
- Google Suite $9.23
- Total $9.23
Difference $(9.23)
Transactions in process:
We received notice that our liability insurance premium will renew for $440 on 4.29.26 for the year.
South Capitol Neighborhood Association 