Neighborhood Meeting Minutes – April 2020

Eastside Neighborhood Association
Board of Directors Meeting Notes
04/15/2020
Virtual Meeting
Attendees:
Sherry Chilcutt, Jim Rioux, Chris Knight, Jim Sweeney, Roger Horn, Cheryle Bayles

  1. City Council Virtual Town Hall
    Sherry mentioned that Olympia’s Finance Committee will convene another Virtual Town Hall on
    Wednesday April 15 at 5:30 p.m. on “Financial Resources for Local Businesses.”
    Sherry listened to one of the virtual town hall meetings. Jill Barns from Washington Center
    discussed fiscal impacts of the virus outbreak.
  2. Board Member Issues
    Sherry asked if anyone had any burning issues.
     Roger mentioned the need to think about ways that we help people in the
    neighborhood. He suggested putting up our signs with contact information might help.
     Chris shared that FUMCO is doing a lot of personal reach outs to people. He added that
    he thought Roger’s idea sounded good.
     Jim S mentioned that he would like to see the Next Door map used more. Is there some
    way that we could connect more directly?
     Cheryl shared her brother-in-law needs to pick up meals on wheels. Maybe there is an
    opportunity to help in those cases?
     Sherry asked about the foodbank. Do people need help getting to the food bank. Roger
    stated that it is not very busy and that you just get a pre-packed bag now. The board
    discussed giving a about donation and need to for financial help?
     The board approved donating $200 to the foodbank.
  3. Eastside Arts Walk
    The Eastside Arts Walk is a happening on April 25th 2pm-11:30PM. A map is being developed
    and there is information about the event on Next Door.
    The Board discussed putting up signs to promote the event.
  4. Variety Show
     Roger asked what people thought about trying to organize a virtual show. Virtual?
    Scheduled for May 2 nd .
     Chris thought there may be some challenges to getting it organized and we need to be
    careful about zoom bombers.
     Sherry mentioned that Facebook is good platform and may be a better choice than
    Zoom.
     The group agreed that the date should be moved to late May or early June.
     In general, the group thought we should try a virtual show.
     Roger will check in with Bigelow Highlands Neighborhood.
  5. Neighborhood picnic and block parties discussion
    Are these events possible with social distancing? Generally, people thought we should explore
    the idea.
    Jim R. will contact Parks to see what they are doing about reservations in July and August.
  6. Neighborhood Mapping
    Jim Sweeney asked what could we do now to get more neighborhood mapping accomplished?
    He pointed out that the renewed awareness created by the coronavirus may generate some
    enthusiasm in the neighborhood around this initiative.
    Roger agreed to touch base with Sandia to see how her efforts went and see is she know how
    to get in touch with the person that spoke at the Sub-are plan meeting.
  7. Thurston County Courthouse
    Sherry asked if Jim R. had gotten in touch with the county to get a presentation on the Regional
    Courthouse. Jim R said he did not because he heard the courthouse project was indefinitely
    placed on hold.
    Roger spoke with John Turnhiem – John willing to come to a meeting or brief the ENA. The
    group felt that we may want to find a way to include the Northeast and Downtown
    Neighborhoods.
  8. Bob Jacobs Letter.
    Jim R. explained that Bob Jacobs had created the document to share with all neighborhood
    associations. Bob ran the information through the CAN. Bob thought it was critical to inform
    people about the SEPA process and their opportunities to comment.
    All felt the information was somewhat one sided and that opinions in the neighborhood were
    mixed. The group decide to not take any action on the letter. Jim Described the process. ENA
    will not
  9. Treasurers Report
    Sherry had e-mailed the Treasurer’s Report prior to the meeting.
  10. Eastside Art Crossing
    Jim S. provide an update on the process for artist selection. A workshop was helped on April
    2 nd to explain the process to artists. There were seven solid responses. The jury will meet on
    May 5 th . Probably on-line, but City Hall may be open on May 4 th .
  11. March 18 Meeting Minutes
    The Board approved the draft minutes from the March 18 Board Meeting.
    Next Meeting
    May 20, 2020
    7:00 PM
    Virtual Meeting

Neighborhood Meeting Minutes – March 2020

Eastside Neighborhood Association
Board of Directors Meeting Notes
March 18, 2020
Virtual Meeting


Attendees:
Sherry Chilcutt, Jim Rioux, Cindy Fulton, Chris Knight, Chilcutt, Jim Sweeney, Brian Brannies, Cheryle Bayles

  1. Debrief of Annual Meeting
    In general, all felt that there was a good turnout and that the level of engagement with discussions was very good.
    At least one table discussed the lack of clarity about the proposed legislation under consideration at the state legislature. Some thought the sub-area plan would specifically address that and have action items to provide more input to the City on implementation.
    People thought the sub-area plan was a vehicle for telling the city that we didn’t want missing middle.
    Brian and Jim R noted that the final bill was significantly watered-down.
    They were generally confused about the sub-area plan at the table that Brian worked with.
    Jim Sweeny and others commented that it is hard to see what more we could have done to better educate our members.
    Cheryl commented that it is unfortunate the people still don’t understand after all we did to
    reach out.
    Jim S pointed out that we did a lot of electronic outreach and it is always best to do more one
    on one communication. The kind that that we had at our public meetings.
    Cindy indicated that her table jumped right in and picked out areas they wanted to emphasize
    Sherry let every know that If ENA owes anyone money send her receipts.
    We made $300 at the meeting
  2. Art Project
    Jim Sweeny reviewed process that the City Parks department is conducting to select the artist.
    People interested in competing were invited to City Hall for the next step, but that has been
    delayed until April. If people are interested, the City web site is a good source of information.
    Jim S. described the basic project for those that may not be familiar and noted that the City has
    $50,000 budgeted for the installation.
  3. New Yard Signs
    What are next steps? We talked about larger signs in the past.
    Brian offered to assist, but now unknown if that makes sense.
    Gathering a work party might be difficult. FUMCO is completely closed for now.
  4. Talent Show
    Sherry suggested that we table this issue for now.
  5. Current State of COVID-19
    Brian: Is everybody on the call OK? things look bad. Things will get bad for the City of Olympia
    Sherry: Did a few things on Saturday.
    Cheryl: Still walking around the Lake. People doing a good job of keeping six feet apart.
    Jim R described what’s open and what’s closed. No idea of funding impacts or solutions.
    Chris: All reservations at FUMCO are cancelled.
    Brian: State patrol not stopping for discretionary items.
    Sherry: Saturday distance picnic at Madison Park was a nice break and seemed to work well.
    There was a brief discussion about what ENA should do to get the word out. The group felt that
    more notices didn’t seem necessary.
    Future discussions should focus on How to reach those in need?
    Brian: Isolation may be most difficult to handle.
    Sherry: We should use this group if one of us tests positive.
  6. Thurston County Court House Ballot Measure
    Sherry shared that she reviewed the County’s proposal. The proposal includes a 125-foot
    building, with 1100 parking spaces in the structure. One proposal moves Japanese Garden. The
    wetland is eliminated. The group concluded that ENA should provide input.
    Some board members were suspicious about timing and think it is being pushed through
    without an adequate public process
    Jim Rioux will reach out to the County’s PM to invite him to speak with ENA
    Jim S – Traffic will be an issue so other associations may want to participate.
  7. Meeting Adjourned

ENA March 2020 Meeting is Online – 3/18/20 @ 7pm

Given the social distancing efforts underway in WA state and around the country, the Eastside Neighborhood Association is holding its monthly meeting for March online. The meeting is being hosted by Zoom, and you can either connect via computer or your smartphone for the video conferencing feature. You can also call in via regular old telephone for just audio.

Please mute yourself unless you’re trying to speak!

Topic: Eastside Neighborhood Association March 2020 Meeting
Time: Mar 18, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 807 923 845

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Annual Meeting

2020 ANNUAL MEETING

LOCATION: FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

1224 LEGION WAY SE

DATE: THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2020

TIME: 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

On January 14, City Council accepted the Eastside Sub-Area Plan. Come
and hear what’s in the plan and how you can be part of the action.
Help preserve wetlands, improve walkability, bring the neighborhood
together, preserve historic buildings. These are all part of the plan and
there are lots of opportunities to help to make them happen!


Agenda
Refreshments – Meet Your Neighbors!!
Sub-Area Plan Overview
Sub-Area Plan Implementation
Nomination of Board Members/Election of Officers

Eastside Resident – Tom Nogler


Janine Gates, Eastside resident,  just wanted the Eastside Neighborhood Association to be aware of the death of Tom Nogler, an Eastside resident and great guy who helped deliver the ENA newsletter for many years. He lived on the Eastside for at least 20 years. He passed away January 4. His community service will be held at the Capitol Theater on February 1 at 10:00 a.m. It would be nice if someone from the ENA could speak to his dedicated involvement with the ENA.

His obituary is at https://funeralalternatives.org/tribute/details/167160/Thomas-Nogler/obituary.html#tribute-start

When he passed away, this is what I wrote on a local list serv, to share the news:

Tom was a tireless community organizer and supporter of many political and social campaigns. He advocated for good causes. He volunteered and doorbelled for many political candidates, including my campaign when I ran for city council. He worked on the Thurston Public Power campaign, instrumental in getting that effort as far as it did. He delivered newsletters on the Eastside for the Eastside Neighborhood Association for many years, being a friendly greeter and neighbor everyone came to know. He spoke in front of city council on police/community issues and relations. He was a good son who took care of both his parents until they passed away. He was a good friend with a soft voice you could always call on if you were in need. He will be greatly missed.