BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES – Meeting of January 10, 2022

PRESENT: Claire Adler, President; Steve Richman, Vice-President; Jacek Ghosh, Treasurer; Janet Finegar, Secretary; Alex Boland; Shakirra Clark; Jeff Hornstein; ; Caitlin Marrazzo; Joe Mikuliak; Matt Ochs; Don Phillips; Matt Ruben; Barbara Saverino; Kevin Wilkins.

ABSENT:       Chastity Houston.

The meeting was called to order by the President at 6:34 p.m.

Motion: By Jacek Ghosh, seconded by Kevin Wilkins. “To approve the minutes of the December Board meeting as presented.” Passed 12-0-0

President’s Report: Claire Adler. Written report attached and reviewed.

• A short discussion revealed strong support on the Board for initiating a search for an Executive Director. Several Board members noted that we should be considering a full staff (or at least a part time assistant/bookkeeper in addition) rather than a single employee. A committee will be put together soon to explore possibilities.

Shakirra volunteered to look into running a virtual or online raffle for a winter event.

NLNA President’s Report, January 10, 2022

1. PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY

• Parking Pilot Update: The implementation date has been pushed back because Streets Department is interested in making other upgrades to 2nd Street and plans a walkthrough, and therefore will see if there are other changes to be implemented at the same time as the parking pilot.
• I-95: The project stakeholders met again; plan continues for public outreach in the spring. 
• Spring Garden Street Project: No new updates from the City; the BID is organizing a separate stakeholder group to focus on NL goals and projects along the corridor.

2. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

• Annual Appeal: Has been a success so far; full report on numbers at our meeting.
• Strategic Planning: The executive committee has met to discuss work that came out of Liberty Lands Succession planning and has been examining a long-term plan to potentially hire an executive director. This is a very preliminary idea to discuss at our board meeting.

3. EVENTS AND OUTREACH

• February or March General Meeting: Ideas welcome
• Virtual Event/Other Ideas: Normally we would host Winterfest this time of year. Last year we discussed hosting the raffle and/or auction portion virtually but nothing ever materialized. Could do this or another virtual event this year.

4. OTHER ITEMS

• Board Polls – Ratification of any online board polls since last month’s board meeting.

Treasurer's Report: Jacek Ghosh. Written report distributed and reviewed.

TREASURER’S REPORT – DECEMBER 2021

A. 2021-22 Budget: December Financials - tables attached

• For the three months ending on December 31, All Program and All Funds Income was $53,295 - $6,039 more than budgeted.
• All Program and All Funds Expenses totaled $51,824 - $2,803 more than budgeted
• All Program and All Funds Current Year Net Income was $1,471 - $3,236 more than budgeted.
• Reviewing the General Fund and Liberty Lands accounts (our two major operating funds) our financial position after three months of FY 2021 - 2022 is as follows:
  • GF & LL Income: $41,284 - $6,159 more than budgeted.
  • GF & LL Expenses: $39,464 - $2,851 more than budgeted.
  • GF & LL Net Income: $1,820 - $3,308 more than budgeted.
• Variations from budgeted projections through December
  • On the Income side
    •  The income of $53,295 is inflated by $7,943 which is the amount of the insurance claim NLNA received for water damage at the Community Center. Additionally, $11,199 in Covid-19 relief funds (granted by Penn Treaty) were carried over from the previous fiscal year.
    • Fundraising is currently $2,094 under budget. However, the Annual Appeal historically continues to receive a number of donations in January.
    • Individual donations are currently $1,281 above budget.
    • Rent is currently $681 under budget – due to the downturn in rentals at the CC and LL because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
  • On the Expense side
    • Professional Services is currently $589 over budget.
    • Program Services are currently $2,606 under budget.
    • Repair & Maintenance is currently $5,802 over budget – which is offset by the receipt of the insurance claim of $7,943.
    • $11,199 in Covid-19 relief funds (granted by Penn Treaty) were expended as part of this fiscal year’s Op Santa community service.

B. Other Items

• Annual Appeal - December
  • 62 recurring donations totaling $820. Average donation: $ 13.
  • 65 Individual donations totaling $7,862. Average donation: $121.
• Liberty Lands - December
  • 2 recurring donations totaling $15. Average donation: $ 8.
  • 8 individual donations totaling $475. Average donation: $ 59.
  • Party Rentals: 1 party rental was booked totaling $100.

Motion: By Janet Finegar, seconded by Barbara Saverino. “To accept the Treasurer's report as presented.” Passed 12-0-0

Education Committee: Jeff Hornstein.

Jeff noted that there is a lot going on at the school with Omicron issues, but that the committee plans to meet soon to keep momentum going from the November event. 

Liberty Lands Committee Report: Janet Finegar. Written report attached and reviewed.

Liberty Lands Report  – January 2022

Park Management:

• Other than the inspector confirming that we are indeed a park, there has been no further contact from the Water Department about our strangely high outstanding bill. However, we were able to confirm with the collection agency that they contract for the Department (rather than buying debt), so that will make it easier to get the bill canceled with them, and they made note of our issues on the file. We also heard, for the fourth time, from the meter department, who said that the current meter is malfunctioning (which may affect the billing): they will come out early Monday morning to repair it. . . again. 
• Liz is starting organization for the 2022 community garden season, and we hope to have an all-gardeners meeting in February as we have in the past. Among other jobs, we are looking for a coordinator for this season's City Harvest program (this includes planting the dedicated CH garden and organizing donations of produce from all gardeners).
• The Liberty Lands succession planning committee has continued to work with several smaller meetings over the holidays and another group meeting coming at the end of January. Our focus right now is structuring park management for the “interim” until a professional volunteer coordinator is hired. To that end, we're hoping several people will be willing to lead small specific efforts in park management. We will send out “job descriptions” in a separate email this week. Please think about whether you – or someone you know – might be interested in one of these opportunities. 

Park Maintenance: 

• The water line was shut off after the Parade of Spirits. 

• The sidewalks, especially on 3rd Street, desperately need to be swept of leaves if anyone is looking for a small job. There is also a lot of mulch left after Kirsten and neighbors mulched under the pawlonia trees (thanks!): that can be spread in the garden paths, under tree pits, on bare ground (especially along 3rd Street), etc. 
• The Great Wall of Christmas Trees is accumulating. Those will be chipped (with the mulch going to Orianna Hill) on the 17th, and then the team will also do professional pruning of several of the interior trees. Liz and Janet will be at the park that day to do some lower pruning as well if anyone feels like joining us. Thanks to Penn Treaty SSD for sponsoring treecycling!

Events:

• The two December events at the park were successful. Fishtown Playschool's concert was small and they were diligent about shutting off the electricity and cleaning up. The Parade of Spirits was hugely attended: maybe the biggest ever with a few hundred people. There were some technical difficulties with the fire dancer because of the wind and other issues, so not all of them saw that performance, but they were a great crowd and a good time was had by all.
• Next meeting is Tuesday the 11th at 7 p.m. https://zoom.us/j/96263511406pwd=VDltcEJxQ0VNTFpRMk9NWndSOUJFZz09

Operations Committee Report: Barbara Saverino. Written report attached and reviewed.

Pause in Rentals

• The NLNA staff and members of the Operations Committee have talked and made the decision to pause rentals and in-person gatherings for the month of January. We are entering a new year with new virus concerns that require us to continue to monitor issues surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.   As you have no doubt seen from news coverage, the omicron variant coupled with holiday gatherings and travel have resulted in a stunning spike in infections not only in our area but across the country.  While serious illness from this variant, especially among the vaccinated, is not widespread, the transmissibility of this variant seems to be much higher than prior variants.  Given all available facts, we believe it is prudent to pause rentals for the month of January. We encourage all visitors follow local and national public health guidelines for social distancing. Masks are required.  

December  Operations Committee Meeting  December 15, 2021

• Attendees:  Lara Kelly, Rachel Kimmich, Monika Kreidie, Jeff Stomel and Barbara Saverino
• Welcome and introductions: Barbara welcomed Jeff to the meeting and committee members introduced themselves.  
• Office Update
  • Drywall needs to be repaired in the Mailbox Store.  
  • Barbara acknowledged and thanked Rachel for stepping in to coordinate with Mile (Mailbox Store) and Janet (Operation Santa) in providing space for both to operate during the holiday season.  
  •  Lara is working with Terry Fabian (contractor) to replace the water heater in the basement (last one needed to be replaced from original set)
  • Barbara suggested that there be a debrief to see what worked and then learn from for the 2022 holiday delivery season.
  • Painted Bride is interested in renting space for an art installation in May - Rachel is working with them.
• Property Management 
  • Monika will follow up with Kris Kennedy/Aden.  
  • Barbara will follow up with Kevin Wilkins (NLNA Board member and realtor) for his feedback on the agreement.  Barbara will work with Jacek on potential cost savings with agreement. 
• Old Business
  • People gate on 3rd Street needs to be painted in Spring
  • Barbara will work with Monika on NL Arts FY 2022 rental agreement 
  • Ask Jacek for lead on exterior wall/stucco/roof 
  • Barbara will follow up with Claire on playground/crumbling mural wall status as well as trash cans and weeds 
  • Quilt damage - anything we can do regarding conservation?
• New Business 
  • COVID surge, safety and impact on rentals - Barbara will send a reminder to the Board on usage protocols.
  • Review lease renewals  
  • All committees and board members using space will be asked to complete a rental form to assist with scheduling and tracking.  Link will be shared shortly.  
• Next meeting - January 19 via Zoom at 7 PM.

Public Safety Committee Report: Matt Ochs. Written report attached and reviewed.

Public Safety Committee

• The following was discussed at the 6th District PDAC meeting, December 22nd. The meeting was run by officer Joe Ferrero, community relations officer.
  • Captain John Craig is the new person in charge of the 6th district. He's a 19 year veteran of the force, served  with Central and Northwest detective divisions. johncraig@phila.gov
  • Athena Angulo, Central Division Victim Services, told us about her job. Athena works with crime victims who are elderly and/or homeless - aangulo@cdvservices.org
  • Society Hill Civic Association volunteered to buy lunch or dinner for officers on duty on Christmas day.
  • The 7th division officers sponsored a Christmas gift giveaway for children. The NLNA donated $50 towards buying gifts.
  • Abandoned, unoccupied tents or piles of possessions left on the sidewalk can be treated as trash. Neighbors can pull them over to the curb to be picked up on trash day if they want to.
  • Drag racing returned to Delaware Avenue. Extra officers are working on the evening and overnight shifts to stop it. Call 911 if you see drag racing.
  • There has been a rash of car break ins; as many as eight reported in a single day. People are losing purses, packages, jackets, and even laptops they left visible on the seats.(?!!)

The next PDAC meeting is Jan 26.  Please let me know if you have anything I should bring up

Zoning Committee Report: Joe Mikuliak. Written report attached and reviewed.

There was some conversation about whether the ZC should have a specific policy on approving garage variants for the 800 block of Orkney Street. It was agreed that a special policy is not necessary at this time and that the committee's work is currently in line with the Board.

See Addenda for Minutes.

Old Business

• In response to the conversation regarding Zoning, Don reported that the Friends of Orkney Park is hoping to finalize acquisition of the park land in 2022 and asked for the Board and community's support for this final push to success. 

• There is no update about repairs on the 3^rd Street playground. Claire will check in to assure that the City moves forward in a timely matter.

• Joe reported that he has looked through the current insurance policy for the NLNA and its properties and identified some areas of concern: Claire will speak with our agent to make sure that the coverage is all that we need. 

• There was a brief discussion of the question of whether the NLAC should be continued: Don has been in contact with some lawyers but has not gotten clear direction yet. He noted that this question, hiring an Executive Director, and other re-organizational issues for the NLNA are all connected and should be considered together. 

New Business

Claire reported that she was contacted by a Jefferson professor whose studio class in landscape design will be looking at Pier 40 as a project. NLNA was invited to participate in their planning as a stakeholder: anyone interested should contact Claire. 

The meeting was adjourned by acclaim at 7:49 p.m.

Addenda:

Zoning Committee 

• The only project at the January 3 ZC meeting, 884 N. Orkney St. was presented again to satisfy the "Official meeting" part of the zoning code. It had been seen by the ZC  twice and there is a motion of support previously approved by the board. The board can discuss this project or a position the NLNA should take regarding further construction along Orkney Street at Monday night's meeting.
• The overlay for restaurants and bars was discussed. Larry has been in contact with the head of the Fishtown business improvement district but no deal has been struck.