ENA Board Meeting
February 13, 2024, 7:00 PM
Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Avenue SE
Members Present
Sherry Chilcutt (President), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Karen Clemens (CNA Representative), Abigail Twombly, Nathan Allan, Jim Rioux, Cheryl Bayle
Guest: Sara Finkle
Sherry passed around a “neighborhood welcome letter” drafted by Mark Fouch. Sara suggested adding information such as where to go and what to do on the Eastside. Nathan agreed to do a Google Maps mock-up.
1) Approval of the Minutes
The January 9th minutes were approved as submitted.
2) Treasurer Report
$ 636.25 – CHECKING
$ 965.01 – SAVINGS
$1,309.12 – NEIGHBORHOOD SIGNS
$ 553.93 – LEGION WAY TREES
$ 410.93 – COMMUNITY BEAUTIFICATION
$3,875.24 – Total Available
It was proposed to add Jim Rioux to all ENA bank accounts and remove Brian Brannies. The Board agreed unanimously.
3) 2024 RNA Grant Status
Karen reported on the RNA grants currently being reviewed by the City, and passed around a list of 2024 neighborhood grant requests.
There was a general discussion about an Eastside Street mural, including ideas for potential artists and sidewalk safety.
4) Madison Closure
Nathan talked about the February 12th OSD Work Session, ‘OSD For All,’ $10 million budget surplus, and OSD Administration’s share of the budget.
A lot depends on the school levee.
Sara described an ‘OSD For All’ initiative asking people to go door to door and talk to their neighbors.
5) Clothing Swap
Sara passed out flyers; suggested locations include Ralphs, Madison school, Lions park and the Eastside Coop. Sandwich boards should be out a week ahead of time. The information will be posted on ‘Facebook’ and ‘Buy Nothing.’
Volunteers agreed to begin setting up at 10 AM, or to be available until 2 PM.
Sherry will let people know they can drop off donated clothing on her porch.
The Board discussed how best to thank FUMCO, such as a thank you card or a donation. Sara & Abigail will be meeting at the church tomorrow.
6) CNA Report
Robert Vanderpool attended as the City Council representative.
Tim Smith talked about the condo project on the lot behind Olympia Supply, and a 162-unit project on Devoe Street.
Karen talked about the Nottingham Community Association’s ‘Harvest Heritage’ event.
The CNA is working on ‘value’ & ‘vision’ statements for the MOU.
They are also working to set up quarterly forums with the Council.
Larry Dzieza offered to come to come to a monthly meeting and walk us through the sidewalk condition app.
Sherry described the new rental unit inspection process.
Sara asked if it would be possible to coordinate sidewalk repairs with the City.
Karen asked if anyone is interested in reviewing Comprehensive Plan chapters. Sherry said she reviewed the Utilities chapter.
7) Lions Club Event May 11th or 18th
The Board had several questions about this event such as what would be expected of the ENA. Sherry said she will follow up with her contact.
8) Free Board training through the Nonprofit Association of Washington (NAWA)
Sherry indicated she will be attending this workshop on February 27th. https://nonprofitwa.org/event/hoquiam-the-powerful-process-of-building-budgets/
9) Proposed Calendar of Activities
There was a general discussion of upcoming events, all of which are very tentative. Possible events are a ‘Pollinator training event,’ a ‘Garden tour’ and another ‘Meet up’ at Beerwerks. We talked about how to get the word out concerning events and ideas on how to update the events calendar on the ENA website.
10) By-law rewriting
Sherry explained the need to bring the ENA By-laws into compliance with the Washington Handbook for Nonprofits:
https://www.sos.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/2022-Nonprofit-Handbook.pdf
We will be able to get into the by-laws after the NAWA training.
11) New Bridge offer of financial support
The Board discussed the possibility of a financial collaboration with New Bridge. At this time, we do not have any specific ideas, but we talked generally about projects which are beyond the ENA’s financial capacity. A couple of examples are the northeast neighborhood tree lights and a “snowflake” project which could also be a fund raiser.
Nathan suggested a project to improve a piece of City-owned land across from the Inn on Central Street which could be used for block parties. It was suggested someone talk to Paul Simmons at Olympia Parks.
Other topics
Jim S. talked about the January 12 meeting of the Armory Partner selection committee. The committee reviewed statements of qualifications submitted by eight nonprofit organizations and agreed all eight were qualified. The next step involves negotiating leases with each organization in order to determine their specific space needs, including shared spaces.
Background information on each of the nonprofits is described in a January 24 Olympian article:
https://www.theolympian.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article284643070.html
The meeting adjourned at 8:30.