Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

January 18, 2022

7:00-7:10pm: 

  • Introduction & Attendance- All board members present
  • Kelleigh Eastman
  • JR Lee
  • Scott Kashnow
  • George Kleb
  • Jane Shaab
  • Abigail Breiseth
  • Howard Hughes
  • Chuck Callahan
  • Paulette Carroll
  • Edith Gilliard-Canty
  • Gregg Herlong 
  • Heather Kangas
  • Bill Marker
  • Jose Resendiz
  • Donnell Nance
  • Richard Parker
  • Laura Dykes
  • Fran Rahl

 

  • Motion to approve- Scott Kashnow, Seconded Jane Shaab- Vote Unanimous 

7:10-7:25pm: Community Updates (2 minutes each)

  1. Barre Circle- (from Rich Shores) Met with City reps about folks experiencing homelessness with Phylicia Porter DOT/MOHS/DPW- Faith Leach from the Mayor’s Office is coming back to them by the end of the month with a plan to coordinate among the city agencies better. There has been growing concern around the large encampments along MLK
  2. Franklin Square- Comfort Station in the Square will be moving forward although slow; The Factory building is continuing to find tenants and build out programming for their kitchen. Finishing up the exterior documents to take to Franklin Square community for review
  3. Hollins Roundhouse- Abigail mentioned the electric car chargers that will go in next to Hollins Market in the parking lot adjacent to the parklet- not sure if that is the best location so please provide feedback if there is an additional location nearby; Jane Shaab suggested we go to the Market Board and ask for their help to address the safety and security of the locations they will be putting these charging stations; Contact Nicole Davis at BDC; Finally, UMB and Howard met with Rec and Parks to advocate for reopening the James McHenry Rec once they have the staffing to do so.
  4. Mount Clare- nothing to report
  5. Pigtown- New businesses coming to the blvd, Zeke’s is coming to Pigtown as well as Ms MD Crab, Dumpster Days coming March 5th 
  6. Union Square- Steaurt Hill School closing has been taking a lot of time – they really don’t want the school to close and especially having the kids have to commute to Frederick Elementary which is very far and very busy roads- Keep up the advocacy please

7:25-7:40pm: Program Committee Updates (2 minutes each)

  1. Commercial- Meeting is Tuesday 1.25 in which they will be ranking the entries for the West Baltimore Street competition; Miss Dotie asked about the building on Baltimore and Carey streets, looks to be someone doing work to the exterior there—Tony will investigate with Jeff from Planning
  2. Education- Chess for Kids is moving forward and more details will be announced; Jeff Johnson is having a mental health roundtable with all community school coordinators; Looking for volunteers to serve on the committee at Steuart Hill to be more vocal on the school closures—Abigail is looking for a data person to help pull together some talking points on costs to present to the School Board who has offered to meet with the coalition fighting against the closures.
  3. Historic Preservation- Kris from the B&O Museum presented to the committee and the committee will be following up; Ms Sonia and Paulette would like support a letter of support for CHAP Local Historic District: “Black History & Homeownership in Old Poppleton” 319 and 321 N. Carrollton Ave. and 1122 – 1102 Sarah Ann St.; There is a hearing either on February or March 8th with CHAP. Scott made the motion to send the letter of support; Laura Dykes seconded the motion; discussion was had about the governance issue with Poppelton and whether or not we are able to take up issues in Poppleton; Chuck addressed the fact that now that Ms Paulette and Ms Sonia will be alternating meetings as the representative from Poppleton it is his perspective that the Poppleton issue has been resolved- Richard agreed; Greg Herlong asked if all of the property owners are supportive of the designation- Nicole King said yes they were. Miss Dotie asked when the neighborhood association meets- Ms. Sonia said Poppleton Meets every third Thursday at St. Luke’s
    • Vote was 17 for and 1 against (J.R. Lee)
  4. Housing- Update on Poe Homes, discussed speakers for the next meeting- Jeff Lanew will be the April speaker to discuss the census data (Second Thursday of the month); Also talked about the renovation coming for the New Townes of the Terraces
  5. Public Safety- Hollins and Carey- the Needle Truck comes to this intersection and now the needles are littering all over the neighborhood- Heather says SPARC will come clean up the needles- there is a lot of crime and trash around the market that impacting the businesses around the market and inside the market; Alley gating continues to move along; 602-935-7554 is the number for SPARC to come pick up the needles but a meeting with the Health Dept is a next step for JR and the committee to convene to talk about the van and its negative impact on the area
  6. Vibrant Streets- Didn’t meet in December- passes to the next committee
  7. Workforce- 
    • Request for Board Approval to support two bills in General Assembly:
    1. HB 0008–Paid Family Medical Leave – Time2Care Act
  • Motion to support the bill- by Richard and Seconded by Heather – vote is unanimous
  1. SB0138/HB0122– Maryland REDEEM Act of 2022 – Expungement Expansion– Richard motion to approve,  seconded by Paulette; discussion – non violent offenders only so not sex offenders; vote taken- two abstentions (Jane Buccheri & Bill Marker) and 16 FOR- Motion passes

7:40-7:45pm: Standing Committee Updates (2 minutes each)

  1. Governance- Committee will meet in February- Chuck would like a rep from each neighborhood and each anchor to join the committee- open meeting and anyone can participate but only reps to the committee can vote
  2. Fundraising- Committee would like to ask us to think about what priorities the Board to fundraise around

 

7:45-7:55pm: Anchor Updates (2 minutes each)

    1. B&O Railroad Museum– Underground Railroad exhibit is free for the community- Kris will share flier for everyone to help please spread the word; many exciting programs have been and will continue at the B&O so please visit the museum to check out what’s new
    2. Bon Secours Community Works– expanded the early head start program- can take more children but they need more teachers before they can accept more kids- please visit www.careers.bonsecours.com  to apply for a job or share that link with others in the community who may want to work in childcare
    3. University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) – Recently applied for ARP grant to work with Baltimore’s Promise, United Way of Central MD, and Bmore for Healthy Babies to target college and career intervention for vulnerable young adults who need extra help and support, application is pending but if funded should have a huge impact (targeting 900 young people in our neighborhoods); Also recently funded to expand the work at the CEC health suite to address social and health needs of neighbors (funding through Carefirst); Finally Community dinner is tomorrow 1.19.2022 530pm to 630pm- stop by and pick up free grab and go meals from Sobeachy Haitian Cuisine while supplies last.
    4. UMB BioPark– Need to find a new tenant for the café inside the Biopark’s 801 building where the Nook used to be
    5. UM Medical Center– New COVID testing location at the corner of Lombard and Greene Streets open 7 DAYS A WEEK 9am to 7pm- walkable from Poppleton/Pigtown/barre circle/Hollins etc.
  • Wexford Science & Technology – No updates

 

7:55-8:10pm: President’s Remarks 

  • Board Membership Request Announcement- Lifebridge Health would like to join the Board as an anchor institution. Will be filling out our questionnaire that is designed for community associations and sharing their answers with the Board ahead of the Feb meeting so we can review and vote. 

8:10-8:40pm: Treasurer’s Report

  • 2022 Proposed Budget – For Approval; Scott made a motion to approve; Sonia mentioned that it isn’t clear what and how the neighborhood leaders can access the funds; Motion seconded by George; vote unanimous to approve

 

8:40-9:00pm: Open Forum

 

  • Ms. Sonia mentioned wanting to lift up mental health needs of the community for 2022. Ashley mentioned UMB/UMMC Dept of Psychiatry will be conducting focus groups to get community feedback regarding a new women and children mental health program they would like to place in west Baltimore and will share more details with Sonia when available. Kurt shared that NAMI will be expanding their programing in our area as will the Center for Hope (Lifebridge) and Kurt Sommer will follow up with Ms. Sonia to give her more details.

 

9:00pm: Adjournment

Jane motion to adjourn, George K seconded- adjourn at 930pm

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