South Capitol Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes
Weds, Sept 9, 2026 6:30 pm
Lincoln Elementary School library
Note: On Sept 10, 2026, Theresa Freeman made a motion to approve the Sept 9, 2026 board minutes via email vote. Gordon White 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:
Gerry Apple, Vice President
Sue Hedrick, Secretary
Morgan Montes, Treasurer
Charley Haley, Blake Melancon, Lorie Hewitt, Valerie Hammett, Ariel Kay-Barto, Theresa Freeman, Scott Freeman, Abby Mondau, Gordon White, Tyler Graber, At Large members
Gerry called the meeting to order.
Approval of Today’s Draft Agenda
Gerry asked if there were any changes or additions to the agenda. There were none. Scott moved to approve the draft agenda, Gordon seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report – Morgan Montes
Morgan went over the draft August Treasurer’s Report, which she previously sent to the board members. It is under Written Reports at the end of the minutes.
Gordon moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report, Scott seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Annual Neighborhood Picnic – Gerry Apple, Morgan Montes
Blake will handle music and logistics and will pick up the trash/recycle/compost bins from the city before the event. Blake and Morgan will go grocery shopping for food items and Gerry will pick up ice and pop.
Tables and chairs will be picked up from the Scott Lake Active Men’s Service Club at 11 am. Gerry asked for volunteers to help with that. He also asked for additional volunteers to staff the two membership tables during the picnic. Abby volunteered for a 4-5 pm shift at a membership table and will help with cleanup.
Valerie’s husband, Rob, Morgan’s husband Chris, and Scott volunteered to grill. Ariel and Blake will take pictures, Valerie will guide folks and assist them with which items go where in the garbage, compost, and recycle bins, and Joanne will greet neighbors bringing food items and manage the potluck tables. Scott volunteered to bring extra extension cords.
Theresa reminded those bringing canopies to bring weights to hold them down. Gerry said he has invited the former and current owners of the Frog Pond, our neighborhood store, to the event.
Gerry and Tyler read over the list of exhibitors who have confirmed they will be there. They are: the Olympia Fire and Police Departments (provided they are not needed for emergencies), Immigration Solidarity League, South Cap Community Coalition, Evergreen Resistance, Thurston County Food Bank, Thurston Conservation District, a local chess club, representatives for the pro-library levy, and City of Olympia climate staff.
Residential Housing Forum – Lorie Hewitt
Lorie said the Residential Housing Forum will be held on Weds, Oct 21st 6:30 pm at the Lincoln Elementary cafeteria and will focus on two issues city staff are working on – home-based business code amendments and small-scale commercial uses in residential neighborhoods. David Ginther, Olympia city planner, will do a presentation followed by questions and answers and discussion.
Theresa created an invitation mailer for the forum and said it is ready to be mailed out to all neighborhood residents. Lorie passed around a sign-up sheet for volunteers to bring refreshments and help out at the event. She also asked if someone would take notes at the forum, and Gerry volunteered.
Lorie said that David Ginther will bring his presentation on a flash drive; the cafeteria has a screen but he will need a projector. Scott offered to bring a projector and he volunteered to create a YouTube video that will be embedded on a webpage about the forum on the SCNA’s website. https://southcapitolneighborhood.org/residential-housing-forum/
Lorie said it’s hard to know how many people will attend the forum – it could be a lot of people or only a few. Board members discussed creating some ground rules so everyone has a chance to ask questions or to comment and no one person dominates.
Lorie and Charley will work on options providing structure for the discussion portion of the meeting.
This topic will be on the agenda for further discussion at the board’s next meeting on October 14th.
Update on registering the South Capitol Neighborhood as a local historic district – Lorie Hewitt, Scott Freeman
Scott Freeman, Eric Seder, John Saunders and Lorie Hewitt met with Olympia City Planner Brittany Gillia and Bill Cotter, chair of the Olympia Heritage Commission, on August 20, 2026 to get a clearer picture from them about the process for and benefits of the South Capitol Neighborhood applying to be a Local Historic District (LHD).
This topic was also previously discussed in-depth at the board’s August 13, 2026 meeting.
John took notes during the August 20th meeting, which Lorie shared with the board via email.
At the September board meeting, Theresa made a suggestion and everyone agreed that John’s notes should be included in the meeting minutes.
John’s notes are below:
A. Current focus for the Commission:
1. The National Park Service has indicated to the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation that national policy doesn’t provide protection for structures in a National Historic District. Don’t know when the change in policy happened. In any event, the change did not occur recently under the Trump administration. Portland had to make a change to accommodate this policy. This interpretation may have always been the correct one.
2. This new interpretation of policy requires changes to existing Olympia municipal code. When code changes go into effect, it will stop historic design review of properties that are not on the inventory of contributing properties in the national historic district and do not have a plaque (note that infill design review will still continue). For example, after the code change, new construction in the historic district will not be subject to design review for compliance with historic design guidelines.
3. No timeline for code change yet. Brittany will share when known, likely to be within a year.
4. The Olympia Heritage Commission is working on outreach to candidate neighborhoods to explain the reason for becoming a LHD and build awareness and understanding
B. What are the benefits of becoming a local historic district?
The applicant can implement neighborhood-based design guidelines that will guide future development.
C. Process
1. Anyone can apply for an area to be a local historic district (LHD) : an individual, an organization
a. “Any person, including members of the Heritage Commission, may nominate a building, structure, object, site or district for inclusion on the City Heritage Register.”
2. At least half of the property owners in a proposed district must agree to become part of the local historic district.
3. The application for the South Capitol Neighborhood could be based on the existing inventory of historic properties used for the 1991 National Historic District designation or it can be based on an updated inventory. It is up to the applicant to decide, but the Heritage Commission will support the application either way.
4. The applicant can propose specific design guidelines that apply to changes to structures in the LHD.
5. The application to be an LHD can happen before the code change, and that is preferred. That way there is no gap in design review coverage.
a. Professional help is likely needed to write the new design review guidelines so that they are workable.
6. A small dedicated group to work on planning and implementing is the best approach. There should be some tie to the SCNA, and to the Heritage Commission, if possible. Plan on briefings for the Heritage Commission and updates to the SCNA.
7. The Heritage Commission feels there is great benefit to becoming an LHD even though it requires a lot of work. “I cannot emphasize enough how supportive the Commissioners are of the South Capitol becoming an LHD and they would want to help out. There are members who are eager and want to be involved. The commission could offer comment on guidelines drafted by the South Capitol Neighborhood.”
8. Can neighborhood grant money be used to support this effort? Maybe.
Brittany will send:
- Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation guidance on regulating National Register listings
- Example design guidelines for a local historic district
- Comparison sheet for national vs local districts
The SCNA board will likely discuss this topic at their October Board Meeting.
Morgan said she feels the board should share this information with the neighborhood. She asked whether there are enough people who might be interested in working on this. Sue suggested someone might write a blog post for the SCNA website to further share this information with the neighborhood. Theresa stressed that any post sent to the neighborhood should be unbiased.
Valerie asked what the board’s goal and purpose is in pursuing this. Lorie said that SCNA board members were involved in getting the South Capitol neighborhood listed on the national register in the past. After more discussion, it was unclear as to whether an effort to register the South Capitol neighborhood as a local historic district would be supported by a majority of the board and the neighborhood.
It was agreed that more discussion is needed. This topic will be placed on the agenda for the board’s October 14th meeting.
Additional items
Theresa said the invitation mailer for the Nov 18th Gardening Forum is finished and ready to go out. It will be mailed to neighborhood residents a month before the event.
Motion to adjourn
Scott moved to adjourn the meeting, Blake seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously. The meeting ended at 7:40 pm.
Next SCNA board meeting – Weds, Oct 14, 2026 6:30 pm, Lincoln Elementary School library
Community Forum on Residential Housing – Weds, Oct 21, 2026 6:30 pm, Lincoln Elementary School cafeteria
Written Reports
August 2026 Treasurer’s Report
Period: 8/01/26 – 8/31/26
Business Priming Savings $25.00
Innovator Checking Ending Balance $1,564.14
Innovator Checking Beginning Balance $1,919.35
Difference $355.21
Recent Income:
Membership dues less fees $29.10
Grant reimbursement $216.64
Total $245.74
Recent Expenses:
- Google Suite $9.24
- Flyer for Fall Picnic $591.71
- Total $600.95
Difference $355.21
Transactions in process:
A transfer of $14.08 in membership dues was initiated from Paypal account on 9/2/26. It will be received in 1-3 business days. We paid postage on 9/9 in the amount of $162.62 to Capitol City Press for the housing forum flyer. A reimbursement for the grant was also submitted on 9/9.
Grant Update:
We have worked at least 60.5 of the 218 hours required (about 28%).
A reimbursement was received in the amount of $591.71 on 9/2/26 from the City Matching Grant. Including the amount received on 9/2, we have received $808.35 of the $5,000 grant (about 16%).
South Capitol Neighborhood Association 