Minutes
Summit Neighborhood Association
Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, August 21, 2018
Board members present: Anneliese Greenier, Ethan Gyles, Read Porter, Kathy Rourke, Thomas Schmeling, Sharon Lee Waldman.
Board members absent: Erik Christiansen, Anna Highsmith, Sandra Lee, Britt Page, John Pettinelli, Laura Ramsey, Dean Weinberg.
Guests: Rod Burkett (neighbor) Grant Dulgarian.
July minutes were approved unanimously with minor corrections on a motion by Read, seconded by Kathy.
President’s Report: We co-hosted two very successful candidate events. The first movie night was also successful.
Membership Committee: Tom reported regarding progress on the new member database, which will be up and running by our next meeting. A new online membership signup form has been installed on the SNA blog/web page. We can now collect member data and payments online. Testing has so far revealed no problems. Ethan spoke to John Pettinelli, who currently chairs the committee. John’s has found that other commitments have made it difficult for him to continue in this role. Kathy moved, Read seconded, to make Tom the new chair of Membership. Unanimously approved. Ethan thanked John for his service. Anneliese agreed to continue on the committee and Read agreed to join.
Treasurer’s Report. Britt is on vacation but sent a report by email.
- Income came from 9 yard sale registrations ($90), 16 memberships ($475), $77.50 in donations for the Lippitt Park bubbler.
- The bubbler fund now has around $1k in community contributions, plus the $6k Miriam Hospital grant. The goal is $15k, which is liberal estimate of the costs.
- We spent $739.44 on the two candidate forums. This includes $300 for childcare, $300 for sound system rental, and $127.67 for truck rental to transport the podiums to and from the second candidate night, plus a small amount for supplies like pens and notecards.
Newsletter Committee
Deadlines for the next newsletter: Copy and images to Art Norwalk by 9/25 (to accommodate Yard Sale)/ Delivery to distributors 10/14 or 10/15
Events Committee (Ethan) The 2nd movie night is 8/22.
Yard Sale. The yard sale takes place on 9/23. CVS will have the Indicycle truck in its parking lot. Citizens Bank will give space in their parking lot for tables. We have 10 participants signed up so far: 7 people in their own yards and 3 at Citizens.
North Main St. Committee. Dean was not present to report.
North Burial Ground. Erik was not present to report.
Community Garden (Read Porter). The garden plots are fully allocated. 28 households have plots, and 12-15 are on the waiting list. They are starting work on a composting system. And looking to install picnic tables. The City has said that it has no money for the latter. Read will follow up with Britt to see if there are still funds in the playground grant that can be used for tables.
There is an SNA plot that is being used to grow flowers for Miriam. SNA has not paid a plot fee for that. Sherry move and Anneliese seconded that SNA will pay a bed fee that will be then be used to pay the plot fee for a person who can’t afford fee. Passed unanimously
Keep Summit Beautiful signs – Dean is not here to report on progress.
Little Free Library. The little free library has been installed in Lippett Park. Sherry will start working on the flyer to advertise the contest to decorate the library. Submissions will come from neighborhood kids. Friends of the Library must approve the design. Anna will do the painting.
Summit Mt. Hope Community Buidling. Cooperation on the candidate events was strong this year. Both groups contributed and relationships were built. Billy Taylor day is coming up. Ethan asked how we could support this event. MHNA does burgers and hot dogs and Eugene Monteiro suggested that we provide some financial support for healthy foods. Tom moves, Kathy 2nd to allocate $200 to Mount Hope Neighborhood Association to support their request.
Priorities and Plans Brainstorming . We are targeting our September’s meeting for this. Ethan, Laura, and Tom will develop a framework. Ethan urged all to attend. Since we want as many Board members as possible there, Ethan will poll people by email to see how many can attend on the 17th and how many on the 24th.
India Restaurant complaint . A neighbor complained about refrigeration units in the street (Chase) during construction. There have also been concerns about the restaurant cluttering and blocking, the sidewalk, etc. Ethan will talk to the management.
Adjourned 8:22.
Respectfully submitted
Thomas Schmeling