ENA Board Meeting
7:00 PM January 14, 2025
Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE, Olympia
Members Present
Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Karen Clemens (CNA Representative), Nathan Allan, Abigail Twombly, Cheryl Bayle, Therese Vogel
1) Approval of the Minutes
The December 11, 2024 meeting minutes were approved as submitted.
2) Treasurer Report
Checking $1,969.87
Savings $2,943.25
Total $4,913.12
Jim Rioux reported he received and deposited a Neighborhood Grant check for $1,840.40. He also deposited $90 in cash and checks received at our Annual Meeting. We still owe Laurel $1,200 and Sherry $369.32.
He received a bill for the Post Office box that is due at the end of the month; 12 months for $256. The Board agreed to renew for 6 months and Jim said he would look into less expensive alternatives.
3) January 7th Annual Meeting
Everyone agreed the annual meeting was a success. The table arrangement allowed people to socialize and connect with their neighbors. Jim Rioux did a nice job with the introductions. The guest speakers were interesting and engaging. Many thanks to Nathan and Casey for hosting and providing the excellent food.
4) Election of Officers
All current officers have agreed to continue. Karen agreed to fill the vacant Vice President position and continue as the CNA representative.
5) CNA Report
Karen reported there was no council member present.
Tim Smith reported the City currently has about 60 projects in permit review, including West Bay Yards, SPSCC dormitories, Briggs Village and Henderson apartments. Abigail described a new bank building proposed near 4th and Water, on the site formerly occupied by Procession of the Species.
Fire Chief Matt Morris talked about CERT – Community Emergency Response Team training (see link below). He also described OFD’s Community Assistance Referral and Education Services program.
Larry Dzieza continues to try and open an on-going dialog with the Planning Commission. This could include neighborhood association members commenting during meetings and being added to the Commission’s annual work plan.
6) RNA Grant Closeout
7) 2025 Work Plan & Events Calendar
Nathan projected the ENA website on the screen and the Board discussed what information should be prominent on the home page and in menus. It was agreed we need to update the 2025 events calendar regularly.
8) Other
The Board agreed to schedule time to work on the things that routinely fall through the cracks because we don’t have time for them during monthly meetings. Some examples are newsletters, email lists, the events calendar and website. It was decided to meet Sunday morning January 26 from 10:00 to 12 at Swantown.
Jim S. described a recent Strong Towns article about civic engagement; “How a Walk About Nothing Can Change Everything About Public Engagement” Here’s a link: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025/1/10/how-a-walk-about-nothing-can- change-everything-about-public- engagement?apcid=0060f5c4aeb5b5bba4851200&utm_campaign=25-1-14- digest&utm_content=25-1-14-digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ortto
Following are links to websites describing the CERT training Chief Morris talked about, and other emergency preparedness sites.
“What is CERT Training?”
https://community.fema.gov/PreparednessCommunity/s/cert- trainings?language=en_US
“Community Emergency Response Team”
https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/individuals-communities/preparedness- activities-webinars/community-emergency-response-team
“Disaster Preparedness Training for Communities and Organizations
The next Board meeting will be February 11th.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.
