- Attendees
Kelleigh Eastman
JR Lee
Scott Kashnow
George Kleb
Jane Shaab
Abigail Breiseth
Jane Buccheri
Chuck Callahan
Sonia Eaddy
Edith Gilliard-Canty
Gregg Herlong
Heather Kangas
Bill Marker
Nancy McCormick
Donnell Nance
Richard Parker
Dan Rodenburg
Kenneth Watson
Lou Packett
Khandra Sears
Michael Seipp
Welcome and Introductions
Kelleigh opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Tony took attendance.
Introduction of UMB Police Chief – Jane Shaab
Jane introduced UMB Interim Police Chief Thomas Leone. Chief Leone said hi and discussed the plans for the immediate future. He plans to continue the model that has existed for many years of engaging with the community as much as possible.
They are continuing discussions with the City and the Baltimore Police department regarding if and how they can expand their patrol footprint to include more areas.
Approval of the Minutes
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- Motion by _____ to approve the minutes from August – 2nd by ____. – All in Favor – the motion passes.
Life Bridge Update – Kurt Sommer
Kurt gave an update on the West Baltimore Foundation they are creating and the resource center they are building at 5 N Calhoun Street.
The foundation intends to focus on 4 areas:
1)Workforce Development
2)Population Health
3)Food Access
4)Mentoring
At 5 N Calhoun Street they will soon be starting demo on the interior.
They are working closely with the other Community Resource Centers in the area to be sure they are complementing one another.
Census Update – Curtis Eaddy
Curtis shared an update on the engagement that SWP has completed since receiving the $30K grant from the Federal Planning Department.
On September 27th there will be a final awareness event in Franklin Square Park.
There is a planning meeting scheduled for September 21st at 7pm by zoom.
Committee Updates –
Workforce – Richard Parker & Elizabeth
Elizabeth gave an update of the $150,000 SWP has received from an anonymous corporate donor to support workforce development in the partnership area. The SWP received 1.2M in applications – applications were ranging from skills training, to legal assistance, to other services, to hiring additional staff.
Vibrant Streets – Dan Rodenburg & Elizabeth
The Southwest Partnership is receiving a “Spruce up Grant” funded by Community Development Block Grant funds through the City of Baltimore. The Central Baltimore Partnership was the first community group to receive this grant a few years ago and the City is now looking to expand the program.
The SWP expects to make several awards – similar to the neighborhood grant awards program but with larger amounts (likely between $10K-$30K). The funds must be used for capital expenses and are intended to improve the quality of life.
There will be three information sessions 9/29, 10/1, 10/6.
The deadline to apply is October 20th.
Governance – Khandra Sears
Khandra reminded everyone of the bylaws amendments that we will be voting on at the October meeting.
The staff have requested changing the holidays that are observed and considered paid days off. They would like to add Election Day and Juneteenth and want to trade them for the day after Thanksgiving and Columbus Day.
The governance committee is recommending that we simply add Election Day and Juneteenth to the existing holidays they already get.
Khandra – Motion to add Election Day and Juneteenth to holidays. – 2nd by Donnell.
Bill – we need to clarify which election day and would this be every election or only presidential?
Amended motion to be the General Election and only for this year for now and Governance will revisit in subsequent years. The amendment was 2nd by Richard.
Vote: All in Favor, No opposed, no abstentions. – the motion passes.
The Governance Committee also discussed sending email invitations.
The cap (number of recipients per email & per day) that we were previously restricted by due to our MailChimp account is no longer applicable. Governance is recommending that notice of every committee meeting along with the upcoming agenda be sent to all contacts. This is important first to keep everyone informed and second to help drive interest and additional participation in the committees. – Since this is something that staff can simply implement, it did not require a vote from the board and none was taken.
Bill Marker – The MLK Corridor Committee that he has been leading received a presentation of 30% drawings from DOT that he could share. They are attached.
Bon Secours Update – George Kleb
George gave an update on Bon Secours.
As we all know Bon Secours Baltimore Hospital sold to Life Bridge and is now Grace Medical.
Also, Harry Spikes, Congressman Cummings’ long time aide, is now the Executive Director for Bon Secours Community Works.
They still have lots of affordable housing, with 800 units currently and 400 units in the pipeline, including houses on Fulton Street and the former St Martins Church.
A couple of other key projects are:
-31 S Payson St. – remediation is done and they are ready to break ground.
-2 N Fulton toddler playground
-Kirby Lane Park
The entire presentation is attached.
Model Park Update – Michael Seipp
Michael – The October volunteer event to do an overhaul of the park had to be postponed due to COVID-19.
While the Mayor’s office still assures us that they will work with us on the Rec Center – the lack of a written agreement makes it difficult to finalize plans and funding.
Search Committee Update – Kelleigh Eastman
The Executive Director Search Committee has finalized the position description and advertised the position. It will be shared with the board to help distribute. We are creating a resume evaluation sheet to guide the process and expect to narrow the list of candidates to no more than 10 to interview. Interviews will begin in October.
Community Announcements
- Jane B. – Hollins Market updates
- 9/21 – Soft opening
- 9/25 – Wine and cheese event
- 10/1 – Grand opening
- 10/3 – Community celebration
New Business/ Old Business
- None
Adjourn
Motion to adjourn by Nancy
Kelleigh adjourned the meeting 8:54PM
