March 2016 Board Meeting Minutes

Swantown Inn Bed & Breakfast, 1431 11th A15ve SE (corner of Central)
Wednesday, March 16th, 2016, 7:00PM – 8:15PM
Monthly Board meeting of the Eastside Neighborhood Association
Board Members in Attendance: Brian Brannies, Sheena Pietzold, Nathan Allan, Rita Sammons, , Susan Herring, Jim Sweeny, Sam Green, Charlotte Claybrook.

Others: Roger Horn, LouEllyn Jones

Absent (Excused): Sherry Cillicut, Melissa Bluestein

Minutes

  • Master Calendar updates
    • Agreed to keep board meetings on third Wednesday at 7pm. Also to keep them to an hour if possible.
    • Annual Picnic set to 20th August (unless another major event is found to fall on that day)
    • Neighborhood Garage Sale to be held week after Lakefair, Susan Herring taking charge of organizing
  • Nuisance Houses
    • There is continued displeasure within the neighborhood about the Duplex on Central, and a home on Sawyer.
    • The Sawyer street property appears to be more of a code enforcement issue and efforts have been made with OPD and Code Enforcement to make the property a better neighbor.
    • The Central Street Duplex is more of an OPD issue. OPD and Code Enforcement are both well aware of the problems. Activity is being tracked by officers. It is highly recommended that neighbors call in all suspicious activity to 911.
    • It has been suggested by members of other neighborhood groups that some or all of the following actions be undertaken;
      • reaching out to landlords
      • calling in every single little disturbance or illegal activity to 911
      • the addition of signage that notes “Neighborhood Watch” is in effect in the area
      • legal action against landlords to seize or penalize the property if problems are not fixed.
    • A number of board members noted similar problems in past residences. Board embers also offered assistance in undertaking the before-mentioned actions.
  • CNA Update from Sam Green
  • Treasurers Report
    • A motion was made by Nathan and seconded by Susan, to remove Luke Bowerman from the ENA Bank Account and to add Brian Brannies. Vote was taken and passed unanimously.
    • ACTION ITEM: Sherry to provide Brian with necessary documentation to facilitate this.
    • Checking $339.26
    • Savings $1061.00
    • Neighborhood signs $1298.05
    • Legion way trees $151.53
    • Community beautification $505.86

Minutes submitted by Nathan Allan, Joint ENA Secretary

December 2015 Board Meeting Minutes

Swantown Inn Bed & Breakfast, 1431 11th Ave SE (corner of Central)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2015, 7:00PM – 8:00PM
Monthly Board meeting of the Eastside Neighborhood Association
Board Members in Attendance: Nathan Allan, Brian Brannies, Sheena Pietzold, Rita Sammons, Sherry Cillicut, Susan Herring

Minutes

  • Dog waste bag stations update
    • Supplying bags will cost the ENA around $500 a year. This is not sustainable unless we have more dues-paying members. We have had a lull in members paying dues, so Nathan made laminated signs to attach to the dog waste bag stations to solicit members to pay dues.
  • Newsletter
    • We’ve had numerous comments regarding how long it has been since the ENA has put together a newsletter. One option is to do a postcard advertising our upcoming general meeting and perhaps things we have accomplished over the past year.
    • Brian will send the address spreadsheet we have to the group so we can check the addresses by foot. Each board member will claim an area of the neighborhood to walk and double check to see if actual houses match the street addresses in the spreadsheet. Hopefully this effort will increase the accuracy of the addresses and reduce mailing cost waste.
  • Matching grant update
    • Brian has a meeting set up with the City on Friday, December 18th to sign paperwork for the matching grant to improve traffic calming devices (round-abouts and bump-outs) throughout the neighborhood. The City will be paying for general liability insurance to protect the neighborhood association in the event of a lawsuit. All volunteers will need to sign an agreement with the City to protect the ENA. The City is allowing us to carry the funds over until the end of 2016.
  • General meeting
    • We’d like to try to have the general meeting January 27th. Topics could include Olympia School District Superintendent speaking about the proposed school levy (special election vote scheduled for February 9th), Thurston Transportation Oriented Development (TTOD) presentation, soliciting for volunteers to improve traffic calming devices for the matching grant, soliciting for new board members, and electing new board of directors.
  • Treasurers Report
    • $169.26 in Checking
    • $1360.83 in Savings
    • $1297.87 in Neighborhood Signs fund
    • $151.49 in Legion Way Trees fund
    • $505.76 in Community Beautification fund

 

Minutes submitted by Sheena Pietzold, Joint ENA Secretary

August 2015 Board Meeting Minutes

Swantown Inn Bed & Breakfast, 1431 11th Ave SE (corner of Central)
Wednesday, August 19th, 2015, 6:30PM – 7:30PM
Monthly Board meeting of the Eastside Neighborhood Association
Board Members in Attendance: Nathan Allan, Brian Brannies, Sheena Pietzold, Rita Sammons, Sherry Cillicut

Minutes

  • June/July Minutes approved.
  • Annual Garage Sale
    • We heard from several people saying it didn’t go very well this year. Coordination was not great, so we should work on improving it next year.
    • We have a possible volunteer to help coordinate next year.
  • Annual Picnic Planning
    • Insurance ended up costing $101.
    • Reservation of Pavilion was $25.
    • OPD and OFD sending officers and Fire truck during the event.
    • Recycling and Organics to be provided (Nathan will pick-up).
    • Food and Drink: Burgers being provided completely byEastside Big Tom.
    • The Eastside Co-op donated $100 and Ralph’s donated $50 gift cards. Brian and Rita will shop and bring side dishes, deserts, etc. from these stores.
    • ENA will purchase hot dogs, buns, and beverages. Nathan will pick-up.
    • Entertainment: Live music confirmed. Donated by Brian Brannies and Sheena Pietzold
  • Treasurers Report
    • $367.15 in Checking
    • $1360.47 in Savings
    • $1297.53 in Neighborhood Signs fund
  • New business
    • Update on matching grant: working on finalizing agreements to be able to move forward. The City will be paying for general liability insurance to protect the neighborhood association in the event of a lawsuit. All volunteers will need to sign an agreement with the City to protect the ENA. The City will provide appropriate safety equipment necessary (with the main foreseeable hazard being traffic). The City is also working on provisions to allow us to carry the funds over to 2016 since this process has taken so long.
    • Medela rezone update: the city hearings examiner recommended to the city council to upzone the area. Next steps: city council will vote on whether to upzone. Doug Deforest (representing TTOD) would like to come to the September board meeting to talk about TTOD and their ideas for the future of the area.
    • Nathan met with Lt. Holmes from OPD about a house in the neighborhood that the neighbors have been complaining about. There are proposed changes to city ordinances to make it easier for OPD and code enforcement to take care of these kinds of issues. Until then, we should try talking with our neighbors and telling them our concerns.
  • Minutes submitted by Sheena Pietzold, Joint ENA Secretary