Category: Minutes

ENA Board Meeting

April 14, 2026 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Minutes

Board members present:

Karen Sweeney (Vice president & CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Nathan Allan, Abigail Twombly, Therese Vogel, Josh Elliott

1) Approval of March Minutes

The March 10^th minutes were approved as submitted, with the addition of Josh to the list of Board members present.

2) CNA report

Karen reported on the following topics from the April 13^th CNA meeting:

• Peter Guttchen had to step down from the chairmanship; the CNA will vote on a new chair in May.
• Meetings are on Zoom.
• Max Dejarnatt presented an update on the sidewalk repair program; the City is hiring a dedicated 4-person crew.
• There was a presentation about the Dispute Resolution Center.
• Several CNA members staffed a table at the March 28^th ‘No Kings’ rally.
• The City hasn’t yet decided where to move the Japanese Garden; Nathan suggested Madison Scenic Park.

3) RNA grant proposal

Jim S. talked about the neighborhood matching grant program which is on tonight’s Council agenda for approval. Earlier he emailed a staff report and the City’s recommendations.

4) Recruiting new members and rebuilding membership list

The Board previously decided to post signs around the neighborhood asking people to sign up with their email address on the ENA website. Abigail brought 5½” by 8½” signs and she previously emailed the sign if you want to print your own. Karen said she has a laminator if anyone wants to laminate their signs. Suggested locations include utility poles, schools, churches, parks and businesses.

We applied for NMG funds to mail postcards to all Eastside residences. The postcards will include the ENA logo and a QR code link to the website, and it will encourage people to sign up to receive monthly newsletters. Nathan, Abigail and Jim S. volunteered to help draft the postcard.

Nathan suggested posting the flyer on the ENA Facebook page. Josh suggested posting events on Nextdoor as well.

5) Walking map

Jim and Josh will work together to outline walking map ideas for discussion at the next Board meeting.

6) Technical stuff

We discussed how to make it as easy as possible for people to sign up on the ENA website. In response, Nathan was able to create a new post titled “Sign up for the Email Newsletter!” and pin it on the home page. He also updated the 2026 Events calendar.

It was generally agreed that taking a few minutes at the end of the meeting to talk about the website was well worth our time, and that we should continue the practice by adding a “technical stuff” item to the end of future agendas. Board members can then bring up technical issues, the group can discuss and, if feasible, these problems can be fixed quickly and easily.

7) Other

It was suggested we print a large Eastside map or photo and have it mounted so we can display it at the  annual picnic.

Sherry will be out of town for most of April and May.

Nathan will be gone from May 9 to May 28.

We will need to find a meeting place for the May 12 Board meeting.

The meeting ended at 8:30 PM

ENA Board Meeting

March 10, 2026 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Minutes

Board members present:

Sherry Chilcutt (President), Karen Sweeney (Vice president & CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Nathan Allan, Cheryl Bayle, Josh Elliott

1) Approval of February Minutes

The February 10^th minutes were approved as submitted.

2) Treasurer Report

Jim R. reported the following account balances:

Checking  $1,489.83

Savings    $1,950.80

Total       $3,440.63

The Board discussed reimbursements for CPR training expenses. Sherry said she intends to ask Brittany for clarification.

3) CNA report

Karen reported on the following topics from the March 9^th CNA meeting:

• The CNA continues to ask the City to update the construction projects on their website.
• Jim S. described some of the projects on the City’s quarterly projects list.
• Councilmember Gillman updated the CNA on efforts to keep the Evergreen College pool open.
• An Intercity Transit representative described the project underway to add 100 new bus stops. Josh described changes to routes 60 and 64. Here is a link to an IT website page with a map and route descriptions:

https://intercitytransit.com/bus-system-redesign/map

• The CNA is now able to open its Zoom meetings to a larger audience.
• Requests for Neighborhood Matching Grants exceed the total funding available.
• Larry Dzieza created a coloring book from pictures of his neighborhood to encourage community identity and walking. He offered to share how to do it with anyone who’s interested.
• Lastly, Karen and I forgot to talk about the CNA’s City Council presentation on the neighborhood priorities forum, but there was an article in Jolt about it; here’s a link: https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/neighborhood-group-gathers-information-to-better-understand-community-priorities,28398?

4) RNA grant proposal 

Sherry described the ENA’s 2026 grant application.

These are the ENA events we will be sponsoring in 2026:

• June 27 Block Parties – We will need to determine the date block party applications are due, when to apply for street closures, and notify block party hosts of critical dates.
• Aug. 1 Emergency Preparedness Fair – The Board agreed we will need someone to be the lead for this event and Josh volunteered. We will also want to tap into BJ & Heidi’s expertise.
• Aug. 29 Porch Music Fest
• Sept. 26 Annual Picnic & Apple Pressing

5) Walking map discussion

Josh and Jim S. described their initial discussions and what they’ve learned from Olympia’s Hidden Histories Walking Tours:

They intend to look into ArcGIS StoryMaps, either the free version, or a State agency, or a college. The free version may not have the necessary functionality and we may end up needing to buy a subscription, but this decision will be made later.

6) Recruiting members to rebuild membership

We are planning to do a mailing in June to ask people for their email addresses. The mailing can include our logo and a QR code. Nathan suggested posting the flyer on the ENA Facebook page.

7) Apple press now has wheels

Thank you Sherry and Hank!

 8) Priorities for 2026

• Getting dates on website calendar – Nathan will update
• 501(c)(3)

• Sherry will be out of town for most of April and May.

Jim R. volunteered to chair the meetings.

The meeting ended at 8:15 PM

ENA Board Meeting

February 10, 2026 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Minutes

Board members present:

Sherry Chilcutt (President), Karen Sweeney (Vice president & CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Nathan Allan, Abigail Twombly

1) Approval of Minutes

The January 15^th minutes were approved as submitted.

2) Treasurer Report

Jim R. reported the following account balances:

Checking  $2,596.09

Savings    $1,950.62

Total       $4,546.71

Jim said the City’s automatic deposit system is working well.

3) CNA report

Karen reported on the following topics from the February 9^th CNA meeting:

• The new Executive Committee includes:
  • Chair – Peter Guttchen (NENA; and he would like to have a co-chair)
• • Vice Chair – Karen Sweeney (ENA)
• • Secretary – Melissa Allen (BHNA)
• • Communications Coordinator – Daniel Garcia (DNA)  
  • Program & Events Coordinator – Grace Fletcher (SWONA)
• One of Peter’s priorities is to have more RNAs
• Karen described the January 24^th Community Priorities Forum which was attended by an overflow crowd of about 150. The CNA team which organized the forum conducted a survey. Fifteen Eastside residents took the survey.
• The CNA has a list of grant funding ideas for each RNA.

4) Annual Meeting debrief

Sherry & others liked the Homes First presentation. We learned a great deal about an organization which is quietly active in our neighborhood and their challenges.

Newsletter topics

It was decided not to send a February newsletter as we are working to correct the email list. We discussed doing a hard copy mailing to update our email list.

Upcoming events

Block parties – June 27^th

National Night Out – August 4^th.

Combined Annual Picnic and Fall Festival – Saturday September 26^th. Jim R. will check to see if the Lions Park shelter is available. Josh volunteered to set up his large tent.

All dates and arrangements are tentative until confirmed.

Neighborhood Matching Grant

The Board discussed ideas to include in the grant application, such as:

• a neighborhood-wide mailing
• food drinks and advertising for community events
• live music and other entertainment for events
• a consultant to help us develop a new neighborhood walking map

Josh talked about Evergreen College’s “Olympia’s Hidden Histories” and mentioned a possible contact. He and Jim S. will discuss further to determine if it’s feasible for us to do something similar.

Because NMG applications are due before our March 10^th Board meeting, we decided to meet to continue working on our application Sunday February 22, 11:00 AM at Swantown.

Other topics

• Hector’s Tacos restaurant recently opened at 4^th and Central to rave reviews. Check out their menu at: https://www.hectors-tacos.com/menu
• Timberland Library budget woes
• Changing to a 501(c)(3) organization  
• Sherry said she is meeting with former ENA President Walt Bowman to look over his historic materials.
• Nathan described the advantages of a paid Mailchimp subscription. It was moved and seconded that we authorize a monthly subscription. Jim R. said we can use our bank credit card for this purpose. The motion carried unanimously.

The meeting ended at 8:20 PM