Attendees

Laura Dykes Present Kris Hoellen Present Abigail Breiseth Present Andrea Person Present Charisse Lue Present Edith Gilliard-Canty Present Scott Kashnow Present Jane Shaab Present Gigi Lazard Present Cecilia Gonzalez Present Rebecca Altman Present Howard Hughes Present Sonia Eaddy Present Donnell Nance Present Bill Joyner Present Kurt Sommer Present

 

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes 

May 21, 2024

Serena Watters / Laura Dykes Present Kris Hoellen Present Vernell Lewis /
Kelleigh Eastman / Abigail Breiseth Present Andrea Person Present Charisse Lue Present
Edith Gilliard-Canty Present Scott Kashnow Present Jane Shaab Present Tashi-Kali M.Acket /
Gigi Lazard Present Cecilia Gonzalez Present Rebecca Altman Present
Jose Resendiz / Howard Hughes Present Gregg Herlong /
Sonia Eaddy Present Donnell Nance Present Bill Joyner Present
Francis “Fran” Rahl / Kurt Sommer Present

Quorum required: 50% + 1 And at least 4 neighborhood representatives (At least 12 | 4)

  • Quorum met (16 | 4)

7:05 – Laura call to order. Sonia has not arrived yet.

Minutes Approval

Donnell – pointed out that Fran is still listed as a member of the board but Union Square has not sent a replacement rep. 

Scott – the bylaws indicate that the member organization can replace their member at any time but it’s mute about removing them all together – Section 3.04 states “Member Directors shall remain on the Board of Directors until replacements are named by the member organization at the pleasure of that organization.” 

  • Motion to approve minutes (Rebecca), Bill 2nd

None opposed – Abigail & Donnell Abstain – All others in favor –

Scott will share his notes from the training session last month by email for discussion at next months board meeting. (Also linked here)

 

Sonia has joined – will chair the meeting

Executive Director’s Report  (Donny)

    1. Poppleton Rec Center – Final change order has been signed – Sanitation line issue with the city resolved – 6-8 Weeks till completion
      1. Hopefully we will get one more grant to help close out the project. Aiming for another $50K – if not, it will come out of our operating (flexible funds) Donny exploring several options – hopeful to have an answer before the project completes.
      2. Howard – would like to go after BCIT funding for this and James Mchenry Rec Center to bridge the gap in connectivity.
    2. Staffing – We are down two employees – our most experienced employees – it is impacting our capacity – We need extra support from the board and volunteers. Donny looking for 2 contractors to supplement current staff in priority areas (Grant Writing & Housing Development/ Acquisition)
      1. Cecilia/ Laura – We will need to discuss how our committees will operate while we are short staffed. Let’s plan a separate meeting to address this soon.
      2. Sonia – yes it’s a good time to discuss strategy/ committees moving forward.
    3. Patrick Jordan – Presented a high level overview of the completed draft housing action plan. 513 units will be addressed.
      1. 314 New for Homeownership
      2. 85 rentals
      3. 115 home repairs (currently occupied by legacy residents)
      4. $40.4 M public funding
      5. Leveraging $99.4 M
      6. Start with what we have – $1-2M in each neighborhood.
      7. Site Acquisition is going to be the key to success
        1. in rem will help with this reducing the time to acquire from 2-3 years to 6-8 months – the city is continuing to refine the process.
      8. BRNI application are due next month – let’s be ready to apply
      9. Cecilia – the housing committee recommends adoption of the plan along with the following 6 conditions for implementation:
        1. Set up targets and indicators to measure and track progress, including for long-term affordable rental units and a significant percentage of the rehabbed homes sold to low-income households, especially in the early phases of implementation. Estimate the number of local jobs that will be generated through the plan and ensure these are materialized during implementation.
        2. Set up accountability and clear programmatic goals to ensure the implementation prioritizes and benefits current residents in aspects including allocation of funds, local business and workforce development, community equity investments, increased homeownership among low-income residents, long-term affordable units, etc.
        3. While the plan was developed with community input, the SWP needs to ensure the implementation continues to be a community-owned process, where resident leaders are guiding decisions and providing input regularly, as well as acquiring and allocating resources for community outreach.
        4. Engage in holistic planning with neighborhood associations, committees, stakeholders, and residents to create master plans that include important aspects of livable communities, including commercial development, public and green spaces, and neighborhood amenities.
        5. Implement innovative strategies for community wealth building to address systemic inequities as it cannot be left up to market forces. Several strategies can be explored, supported, and adopted for community control of land and community equity investments, such as community land trusts, neighborhood real estate investment trusts, real estate investment cooperatives, community benefit agreements, land banking, etc.
        6. Create a robust homeownership program(s) to preserve and increase homeownership for current and displaced low-income residents, drawing from proven and innovative models, such as rent-to-own, home repairs, homebuyer cohorts (e.g., Parity Homes), down payment assistance, mortgage financing (e.g., engage CDFIs), and multi-family, multi-generational, or mixed-use ownership, including for households with seniors aging in place. 
      10. Motion (Scott) to approve the housing plan with the conditions as an addendum Laura 2nd. Abigail abstain, All others in favor
    4. Commercial Development (Adrian)
      1. Continuing to address the low water pressure in the area that is affecting our ability to pass sprinkler tests. The City is working on plans to remedy.
      2. We are having an event ______
      3. Dave is assuming some of Elizabeth’s responsibilities 
        1. Writing a grant application to Technical Assistance (TAG) from MD DHCD.
        2. We will need a corporate resolution to accompany the application.
        3. Motion (Rebecca) to authorize the staff to apply and accept award of the TAG grant as well as the BRNI/ CORE grants. Scott 2nd
  • All in favor
        1. Donny will send the ranking form by email.

Quarterly Budget Update (Charisse and Chris)

  1. We have resolved the $150k deficit that we started the year with. (Deficit was actually $50K – we got $50K reimbursement from BDC for prior years and $146,250 CDBG operating for Carrie’s salary which basically gave us a cushion)
  2. BDC reimbursement for the facades have come in (see 1.)
  3. We have a credit of 2 months from bge so we have an excess in that line item for now (this was a credit for our initial deposit being returned ~$1500)
  4. 2 $35k pledges are still forthcoming, one from UMB BioPark and one from Lifebridge (part of Commercial Dev salary – was paid in 2023, new will be provided w/ re-up of CD grant in Nov)
  5. $2k credit from new payroll company (Unemployment insurance overage)
  6. Right on track with the mortgage/rent line item
  7. $-1626.00 for building maintenance due to increased cost for 1504/1506 (Assessments from 2023 cost bled into 2024 pushing us over budget – hopefully balances out with $7500 for general office maintenance we likely won’t spend)
  8. We could really use another board member on the committee. We meet the 3rd Thursday of each month 5-6:30.

Governance Committee (Sonia)

  1. We are still looking for a Chair for the Governance Committee

Announcements & Updates (Sonia)

  1. Laura – Sowebo Festival is this Sunday.
  2. Sonia – Poppleton – planning meeting hearing – R8 to R9 + additional height
    1. One of the letters presented as support was from SWP signed by Richard Parker – We have instructed LaCite not to use that letter anymore.
    2. There will be an upcoming meeting where the PUD will be discussed
  3. Kris – B&O Movie Night – June 14th having a Pride Train with a performance in every car.
    1. the Franciscan Center is running the cafe
  4. Kurt – The Factory – the water pressure has been resolved – they are completing construction
    1. Landscaping in front of the building on Baltimore Street
    2. 9/14 Grace Community Day
  5. Laura – come to SoweboFest
  6. Scott – come to SoweboFest
  7. Cecilia – Following up meeting for committee chairs – in light of the staff shortage – discuss soon.
  8. Howard – SW District is changing their meeting night to the 4th Tuesday @7pm
    1. Working with housing and Councilwoman Porter to implement clear boarding on vacant properties.
    2. also looking into a Dept of Homeland Security Grant 
  9. Bill – volunteered that UMB can assist with handing out fliers/ info at Sowebo if we have info but lack volunteers.

 

9:42pm – Meeting Adjourned

Motion (Scott) to adjourn. Jane 2nd

All in favor

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