The meeting was convened at 7:00PM
Members Present: Erik Christiansen, Grant Dulgarian, Anneliese Greenier, Kerry Kohring, Daniel MacLellan, Michael McGlynn, Britt Page, Sheila Perlow, Thomas Schmeling, Emily Spitzman, Mark Tracy.
Members Absent: Jim Barfoot, Lee Clasper-Torch, Vishal Jain, Sharon Lee Waldman, Dean Weinberg, Karina Holyoak Wood.
Guests: Anna Alexander, Rebecca Healea, Amanda Woodward, Heather Tow-Yick.
Announcements. VP Kerry Kohring chaired the meeting in the absence of Dean Weinberg. The past month’s SNA activities included the annual yard sale and an SNA table at the Hope St. Festival
Britt reported that there has been an effort to organize an Observatory Neighborhood Association. The contact person is Ruth Brendal. They will be meeting at 7PM on 9/24 at the Rochambeau library.
There will be a Blessing of the Animals on Oct. 3d. at the Church of the Redeemer.
September minutes were approved unanimously, on a motion by Mark, seconded by Annaliese.
Treasurer’s report. The report for September was not available at the time of the meeting. We are still waiting for a $3k grant from the city for the music festival, as well as an invoice for beer (about $300-400). There was approximately $700 profit. Some of this will go to Miriam as they did not raise as much as they hoped. Dean will prepare final report. It was noted that the $12,500 grant from Miriam for garden is still outstanding.
Fall Cookoff- Emily Spitzman has volunteered to run this even this year.
The Yard sale was a success. Church the Redeemer was happy with the day, and SNA made about $375. Britt move to donate $100 of our proceeds to the Church. Mike seconded. Unanimously approved.
The 9th Street Park/tot-lot is still in process. We are still waiting for water line to be installed.
The Membership committee met last week. They are moving the membership database on line. Records will be by household rather than member. This move promises better tracking and reporting of membership and expirations.
Newsletter. The next issue will be published in October or November.
Education Committee. Tom, Emily, Karina and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz are members. The committee had its initial meeting at the end of August to discuss ideas for projects. They are meeting again later this month and will report more details at our October meeting.
Zoning: Grant reported that hospitals and institutions have to submit master plan every 5 years, and Miriam’s is coming up soon. A flyer regarding this has gone around the neighborhood. At a meeting last week, parking discussed. Grant reported that Miriam is not interested in building parking decks on any of its properties. He would like a statement from the Board in support of parking decks. Sheila made a statement in favor of Miriam’s good relations with the neighborhood. Anneliese pointed out that neighbors objected to the on-street parking by employees and that this has gotten better with shuttle service. She complimented Monica Anderson on her relations with the neighbors.
Kerry asked Grant to draw up a proposal for a recommendation to the city planning board and present it at our next meeting.
New business:
- Mark noted that the “Pass the ‘Gansett” relay race is this coming Saturday at 11am. We don’t have a team at this point. The relay requires 4 team member. Each runs 800 yards and drinks a beer. Talk to Mark if interested.
- Mark also raised the possibility of an SNA lecture series. The idea was encouraged by the Board. Possible topics were discussed, including education, gardening, and weatherization.
- Heather Tow-Yick asked if there a process for the city to inform people when street repairs will be done. Tom volunteered to find out.
Tom reported on several items:
- The city has agreed to stripe Hope street for crosswalks at 12th and 10th streets.
- Tom is going to meet with RI-DOT regarding the traffic pattern at the Speedway station on N. Main.
- Parks director Wendy Nilsson responded to Tom’s request for an update on the fountain in Lippitt Park. According to director Nilsson, the fountain is missing caulk. Parks workers suggested that it might have been removed by children playing in the fountain. In any case, the missing caulk cannot be replaced unless there is an extended period of temperatures above 70 degrees, and that will not happen until Spring. She has instituted a mechanism so that we can alert our friends and neighborhood associations to issues in parks in a timely fashion
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Thomas Schmeling, Secretary