January 15, 2026 Meeting Minutes

ENA Board Meeting

January 15, 2026 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Minutes

Board members present:

Karen Sweeney (Vice president & CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Nathan Allan, Therese Vogel, Cheryl Bayle, Abigail Twombly

1) Approval of Minutes

The November minutes were approved as submitted.

2) Treasurer Report

Jim R. reported the following account balances:

Checking  $3,441.13

Savings    $1,950.43

Total       $5,391.56

In response to a question about the ENA’s 2025 grant funds, Jim reported that about twelve hundred dollars of grant funds were unspent.

3) CNA report

Karen reported on the following topics from the January 15th CNA meeting:

  • The committee reviewing the NMG program has scheduled a community forum January 24 from 3:00 to 5:00 at City Hall
  • Paul Berendt, the new Councilmember, talked about his positions on multiple issues
  • Clark Gillman will continue as the Council’s representative to the CNA
  • The Harm Reduction Center on Franklin Street is getting a lot of attention
  • Homelessness continues to be a serious problem
  • Speeding is another major issue
  • The CNA reelected most of its current slate of officers with the exception of president; Larry Dzieza is stepping down and currently there is no replacement

4) Upcoming events

The Board discussed arrangements for the January 20th annual meeting:

  • The meeting is scheduled from 6:00 to 8:00, however people may arrive by 5:30 so we will have informal social time prior to serving dinner
  • Sherry will start the formal meeting whenever the time is right
  • Terese said Sherry talked to Josh about providing live music; Jim R. said there is no  money to pay for it; Nathan said he can provide background music
  • Nathan will set up the ballroom for 30, and can accommodate more if needed
  • Terese, Karen, Cheryl and Abigail said they will bring deserts
  • Abigail passed out signs (which should go up tomorrow)
  • Abigail will post the meeting announcement on the website and Facebook; Nathan will send it to the email list
  • The first item on the agenda will be the election of Board members
  • Officers will be elected at our February 10th meeting

The meeting ended at 7:50 PM

November 11, 2025 Meeting Minutes

ENA Board Meeting

November 11, 2025 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Draft Minutes

Board members present:

Sherry Chilcutt (President), Karen Sweeney (CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Nathan Allan, Therese Vogel, Cheryl Bayle

Guest: Josh Henderson

1) Approval of October 22nd Minutes

The October 22nd minutes were approved as submitted.

2) Treasurer Report

Jim R. reported the following account balances:

Checking    $487.74

Savings    $1,950.05

Total       $2,437.79

The Board discussed the 2025 Neighborhood Matching Grant (NMG), the amount spent, and amounts yet to spend. We were reminded to keep track of hours for events, including volunteers and Madison school teachers.

3) CNA report

Karen reported on the following topics from the November 10th CNA meeting:

  • Current development projects
  • Airport master plan environmental review
  • Eastside Street recycling drop off site
  • New City Hall parking needed due to pending sale of old City Hall
  • 2026 NMG review meeting with Brittany Gillia; the CNA subcommittee will also be meeting at 3:00 PM Sunday upstairs at Bayview.
  • The Council has signaled they will be taking a closer look at multi-family tax exemptions (MFTE) for new downtown apartment buildings. For background, here’s a link to a guest editorial by Jim Lazar – https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/thurston-county-has-plenty-of-market-rate-apartments,18828?

4) Upcoming events

  • Holiday Snowflake workshop Nov. 14th
  • Madison PTO fundraiser on Nov. 22nd  at Swantown
  • Neighborhood Member Appreciation event 5:30 PM Wednesday December 3rd at Swantown

6) November newsletter topics

  • Madison School & Legion Way tree event
  • Food pantry at New bridge, Sundays Noon to 1:00
  • Saint Michaels expansion and traffic impacts

7) $1-2K grant for free outdoor music

It was decided not to pursue at this time.

8) Veterans day celebration at Madison and Legion Way street tree Nov 8th 

Attendees described the event, the music and the presentations as inspirational and a tribute to veterans and Olympia. The food was great too.

9) Annual meeting

The Board discussed potential invitees and agreed on a tentative time and date, 5:30 PM on January 20th.

11) Madison fundraiser

The Madison PTO fundraiser will be held November 22nd  at the Swantown Inn. Those with signs should get them out early.

12) Automating membership renewal requests

Sherry reported the ENA will need a $99 system upgrade to send renewal emails automatically. A motion to that effect was moved, seconded and approved unanimously.

The meeting ended at 8:08 PM

October 22, 2025 Meeting Minutes

ENA Board Meeting

October 22, 2025 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Minutes

Board members present:

Sherry Chilcutt (President), Karen Sweeney (CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Nathan Allan, Abigail Twombly, Therese Vogel, Cheryl Bayle, Dan Rydholm

  1. Approval of September 9th minutes

The September minutes were approved with one correction.

2. Treasurer’s report

Jim R. reported the following account balances:

Checking    $512.54

Savings    $1,949.86

Total       $2,462.40

The neighborhood grant manager prefers we turn in receipts in chunks.

3. CNA report

Karen reported that Rhonda Larson-Kramer made a presentation on airport expansion to the South Capital NA, and is available to talk to other RNAs.

She and Jim S. met w. Brittany Gillia and others at City Hall last Thursday regarding the NMG program. Peter Guttchen had asked them to look at how the program could be improved. Peter is organizing a committee to continue working on this.

Clark Gillman talked about the current rules for neighborhood commercial uses and why they are problematic.

Tim Smith presented a long list of projects in his development report, including the Briggs Village grocery store amendment which will be going to the Council in early 2026.

There was also a discussion about Tribal development on the old City Hall site, and what that may entail for the recycle center, City Hall parking, and the other current uses.

The City’s budget deficit could result in a reduction of 35 FTEs and they are looking at increasing the tax levy.

4. Board recruitment

Sherry has recruited people in the past and the annual meeting is a good time to encourage people to get involved. Election of officers will occur at the annual meeting in January.

5. Upcoming events – Holiday Snowflakes

We talked about the materials needed to make snowflakes, the cost, and when to schedule the workshop. Nathan said he will check with Madison principal Domenico Spatola-Knoll about holding the event at the school. If they are interested, we would likely work with Marissa Smith and the PTO.

We were reminded to keep track of volunteer hours.

  • November newsletter topics
  • Snowflake workshop
  • Veterans Day event (see item 8 below)
  • Annual meeting
  • $1-2K grant for free outdoor music; deadline Nov. 17th

The Board was supportive and Sherry said she will review the grant application.

FY26 – America 250: Support for Free Outdoor Music Performances

6. Veterans day celebration at Madison school

Cheryl described the event planned for November 8th from 2-4 PM. Legion Way will be closed. For more information see:

Preserving a Living Memorial to Our Veterans

7. Annual meeting

January 20 was suggested as a possible date for the meeting. We may want to invite a guest speaker such as Olympia’s poet laureate or Michael from Big Toms.

8. Winter events

    The Board discussed previous winter events and upcoming events such as Avanti’s haunted school and “Trunk or Treat” events at Madison school and the Methodist church.

    9. Madison fundraiser

      Swantown will be hosting a Madison PTO fund raiser on Nov. 22.

      10. Automating membership renewal requests

        Sherry asked if we are able to do this. It was generally agreed we could and should, but we need a membership committee to decide how to proceed. The Board further discussed the need to maintain our social media displays and to archive pictures from ENA events. It was agreed we also need a communications person to post events on the website, Facebook, Jolt, etcetera. Dan suggested we use the best systems rather than the cheapest.

        The meeting ended at 8:30 PM