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 9^th 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 12^th 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 11^th or 18^th

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 27^th.  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.

ENA Board Meeting

January 9, 2024, 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Avenue SE

Members Present

Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Karen Clemens (CNA Representative), Abigail Twombly, Nathan Allan, Jim Rioux, Cheryl Bayle

Sherry Chilcutt (President) – absent due to accident

Guests

Stephanie Goedecke, Sara Finkle, Sara’s friend.

1) Approval of the minutes

The December 13, 2023 meeting minutes were approved as submitted.

2) Treasurer Report

$ 767.58 Checking

$ 964.88 Savings

$1,308.95 Neighborhood Signs

$ 553.86 Trees

$ 410.86 Neighborhood Beautification

$4,006.13 Total

3) 2024 RNA Grant – Final thoughts

These are the three items the Board agreed to include in our 2024 grant application:

1. Food in support of block parties.
2. One or two reusable banners
3. Eastside Street mural

A suggestion was made that we have a contributions jar for events.

Jim R. will contact Sherry about helping with the grant application.

4) Madison Closure discussion

Karen reported on the December 14 School Board meeting when they made the recommendation to close schools following a 90-day review period.

Also discussed were inadequate special education funding, faulty regionalization and the levy cap.

Jim R. suggested contacting ‘OSD for all’ and offering to help. https://www.osdforall.com/

There is a community meeting scheduled at Madison School on February 26 at 6:00 PM, and the School Board is having work sessions and regular meetings at Knox Administration Center on January 29 and February 12.

5) Upcoming Board work day

We previously scheduled a work day on January 20. Due to conflicts, we will need to reschedule, probably sometime in February.

6) CNA Report – JOLT Article

Karen talked about a letter she wrote describing the City’s neighborhoods and the CNA. It was published in JOLT on January 2. https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/olympias-neighborhood-associations-offer-many-benefits-to-residents,13466?

Tim Smith met with Jay Burney and two Council members concerning diversity language in the MOU.

The CNA continues to try and arrange quarterly meetings with the Council.

A $10K increase in RNA grant funding is in the works. This is on top of the current $13K.

The SE annexation is still on hold.

There was some discussion about the City encouraging drive-through businesses on Plum Street and downtown.

The sidewalk survey app is intended to help the City determine how best to spend the additional funds.

7) Frederick Street stormwater

Jim R. wrote an email letter about the need to improve stormwater drainage near Frederick & 9^th.

Stephanie said after talking to Public Works she bought gravel to fill in the holes.

Fixing the problem may require rebuilding the street, including rain gardens or other design solutions.

8) Neighborhood Watch program

Stephanie described on-going problems with juveniles and minor crimes. She asked about a neighborhood watch program to look out for neighboring properties.

Nathan described his experience with Neighborhood Watch, getting neighbors to sign up, electing a captain etc.

Stephanie would like to see a campaign to reach out to kids and teach them not to do crimes such as breaking into houses and pranking.

Suggested ideas included Boy Scouts, block parties, art programs, a ‘good neighbor day,’ and friendly reminder signs with positive messages from your neighborhood association.

The Police Department’s Block Watch program recommends scheduling an initial informational meeting with our Community Programs Officer, Rebekah Ziesemer. More information and Rebekah’s contact information can be found at:

https://www.olympiawa.gov/services/police_department/block_watch.php

9) Support hosting students/pages for legislative session

Cheryl said they have hosted pages in the past.

Jim S. said he would check into the requirements. The discussion was deferred until the February meeting.

10) Proposed Calendar of Activities

Abigail wants to mix up our 2024 events a little so, for example, people have more opportunities to talk to each other.

It was suggested we make the annual picnic a “kids day in the park” or an “ENA fun day” with an ice cream truck, bouncy house, etc.

Sara suggested a clothing swap, possibly in February, where people would bring clothes they don’t want, and volunteers would sort and give them away for a few hours. We would need volunteers to publicize, provide refreshments, and handle donations. We could also leverage the ‘Buy Nothing’ group. Sara agreed to reach out to John, the pastor at New Bridge, to see if they are interested, and email the Board. We would need to have flyers by the February 13 Board meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45.