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Minutes

Present

Gabe Ciociola, Milo Martinez, Dennis Maroney, Lynn Murray, Gary Santo, Jenn Santo, Barb Schwartz, Jerry Smith

President’s Report

– Arch restoration project expanded to include a review of status of improvements to the Common that had been previously discussed or committed to by the City.

These include:

  • Plan for ongoing restoration of the Common Fence with a focus on interim & long-term schedules.
  • New replacement or additional benches plan. As an example, there is a new one on the former Knights side of the Common that appears to have been privately funded.
  • The Gazebo/bandstand plan. Originally targeted by the City for full scale 2019 restoration, it now appears scaled back to only landscaping & lighting upgrades.
  • Water Bubblers – one new one installed by Hawthorne – will there be another?
  • Explanatory signage for The Arch. City has delayed action on this so should SCNA just fund this and move forward?
  • Brick pad and walkway connecting The Arch to National Guard monument.Committed to by The City years ago. Should SCNA pursue private funding?
  • Playground requires repair to the floor of the equipment area. Waiting for City action.

– The Board has not yet met as a group with Ward 2 Councilor Christine Madore.  We wish to approach the City as a unified front with her on these issues & major upcoming ones such as locating this year’s Carnival on the Common during Halloween season.

Treasurer’s Report

  • Funds as of January 15, 2019
  • Checking:        $12,179
  • Arch Fund:        $7,067 (Note: includes Eastern sponsorship of $5K)
  • Savings:            $3,004
  • Total:              $22,250
Donations/Incoming to SCNA

– Membership 2019 renewal process has begun – thanks Barb!

  •  $443 in renewals via Square
  •  4 renewing members at $25 via check = $100

– Holiday Concert: $480 in donations

New Donations By SCNA
  •  $235 to Bridge @211
Incurred Expenditures
  • Various Event Expenditures: Jenn paid $117 (#1541) for supplies
  • Holiday Concert:

NS Concert Band paid $750 (#1542)

  • Creation of programs: Milo paid $110 (check #1544)
  • Post Office box renewal: $166
Anticipated Expenditures
  • Membership 2019 Renewals:
  • Renewal process via email has begun: 20% return so far
  • Will follow with physical mailing if needed: Cost TBD
  • Pats Pre-Super Bowl Potluck on 2/2 – Costs estimated @ $100
  • Annual Meeting @ Hawthorne – Costs if any TBD
Arch Project Cost/Status
  • Arch Images
  • Total project cost estimated at $40K to $50K
    • $5,000 Eastern grant deposited – work on hold for carvings
    • Possible sponsorship with National Guard being explored
  • Arch Explanatory Sign:
  • $1,085 quote; 10-year warranty
    • Put on hold until spring for re-bid involving City or SCNA alone

Committee Reports

Commons Issues Committee
  • Gary observed the removal of the swags and bows from the lampposts on the Common and was able to save the bows for future use. Kudos to Gary!
  • Jenn and other Board members have removed and stored tree decorations and lights. – Jenn announced that Kevin of the Department of Public Works would now be in charge of the Common.
Events Committee/Technical Support
  • The Community Pot Luck is scheduled for Saturday, February 2 from 11 AM to 2 PM at the Tabernacle Congregational Church in their community room. Adele has designed a very nice flyer to promote the event. The Church will be paid $100 for use of the room.
  • Movie Night at the Museum will occur with a March date to be selected.  The selected movie for an adult audience will be  “Serial Mom” a John Waters’ movie.  Lynn will work to get a donation of popcorn for the event.
  •  Annual Meeting will be held at the Hawthorne Hotel on Thursday, March 28th at 7 pm.  -The featured speaker will be the couple that created Goodnight Fatty & are opening a storefront in the Common neighborhood.
  • Gabe has volunteered to head the Nominating Committee for Board members.  This Committee will develop a slate for the election that will be held at the annual meeting.
  •  A membership meeting (date TBD) will be scheduled with the Mayor and Ward 2 Councilor Christine Madore to discuss issues of interest to the Common neighborhood.  The timing of the meeting will depend upon their availability.
Technical Support
  • Thanks to Milo’s efforts, the new website is now up. A big thanks to Milo for taking on this task and improving our web presence while reducing costs.
  • Milo looking into our current Square versus PayPal as our membership engine.
  • Milo will also begin to post board minutes online beginning with January 2019 in order to encourage transparency and membership participation.
  • Milo has also set up a Google Drive for the board’s use only to use to as a repository to create, share, and store documents.
Membership Committee
  • On February 26th, Barb posted the notice of membership renewal and the annual meeting on the SCNA Facebook and website. She has already had a 20% return rate.
  • Our current 2018 membership stands at 176 heading into the 2019 renewal season.
  • Please note that one must be a SCNA member 30 days prior to the annual meeting in order to be eligible to vote.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9 pm.  The next monthly SCNA Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 11th at 7:30 pm