BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES – Meeting of May 4, 2022
PRESENT: Claire Adler, President; Steve Richman, Vice-President; Janet Finegar, Secretary; Shakirra Clark; Jeff Hornstein, Caitlin Marrazzo; Joe Mikuliak; Matt Ochs; Don Phillips; Matt Ruben; Barbara Saverino; Kevin Wilkins.
ABSENT: Alex Boland; Chastity Houston.
The meeting was called to order by the President at 6:37 p.m.
Motion: By Matt Ruben, seconded by Jeff Hornstein. “To approve the minutes of the April Board meeting as presented.” Passed 9-0-0
President’s Report: Claire Adler. Written report attached and reviewed.
- There was conversation about what kinds of requests can be reasonably expected to be met by PennDot for the I-95 project, and what our path forward should be.
NLNA President’s Report, May 4, 2022
1. PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY
- Parking Pilot: After the initial implementation of the parking pilot, the signage (mostly on the northern part of 2nd St) was held and not all put in according to the plan in order to give people time to adjust. The PPA is putting in the rest of the signage to finish out the pilot.
- I-95: A first general meeting was held last night via Zoom. There is a survey which will be open until June and a general meeting with multiple neighborhoods will be held at a later date. Still working with NLBID and stakeholders to discuss Poplar St access.
- Rec Center Playground Update: Council funding is now available and as of last week, the city submitted the work order for the wall and expects construction this month or next. The city has also requested the quote to redo the basketball court, and is working on playground designs.
- Property Tax Assessments: The city has reassessed properties for the first time in three years, meaning that major increases are expected. The city is trying to increase the Homestead Exemption and LOOP programs in order to mitigate impact.
- American/Bodine at George Traffic Issues: Neighbors have been working with Streets and Clarke’s office to reduce crashes, increase safety, and increase ease of access.
2. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
- NLNA Elections: Have been pushed back a month to allow us to do better recruitment.
- Strategic Planning: Group met last month; however, may put a pause on this for board reorganization.
3. EVENTS AND OUTREACH
- LL Park Workday: May 7
- PA Primary: May 17
- Orkney Park party: May 21
- Night Market: May 26 Not an NLNA event, put on by 2nd Street Festival organizers and others.
- Story Slam: June 11
- Music Fest: June 18. Will also include a flea market. Don Phillips and Larry Freedmen are working with some new volunteers. Applied for PTSSD funding
- 2nd St Fest: August 2. Applied for PTSSD funding for this.
4. OTHER ITEMS Board Polls – Ratification of any online board polls since last month’s board meeting.
Treasurer's Report: Steve Richman. Written report distributed and reviewed.
- There was a question as to whether the apartment tenants are required to hold insurance themselves: such a policy is being implemented as new renters come in.
Motion: By Matt Ruben, seconded by Barbara Saverino. “To authorize the officers of the NLNA to open a new account and transfer the Liberty Lands funds into said new account. To further authorize the officers to craft the language of this resolution in friendly amendment in order to meet the requirements of the bank” Passed 9-0-0
Motion: By Janet Finegar, seconded by Matt Ruben. “To approve the reinstatement of a fiscal conduit relationship with Friends of Tip Top Playground.” Passed 9-0-0
Motion: By Janet Finegar, seconded by Caitlin Mazzarro. “To accept the Treasurer's report as presented.” Passed 9-0-0
TREASURY REPORT – MAY 2022
A. 2021-22 Budget: April Financials - table attached
- For the seven months ending on April 30, All Program and All Funds:
- Income: $98,687 - $1,331 more than budgeted
- Expenses: $91,100 - $10,380 less than budgeted
- Net Income: $7,587 - $11,711 more than budgeted
- For the seven months ending on April 30, General Fund & Liberty Lands accounts:
- Income: $84,593 --$2,060 more than budgeted
- Expenses: $77,180 – $9,150 less than budgeted
- Net Income: $7,413 – $11,210 more than budgeted
B. Other Items
- Insurance Policies – Status of Outreach to Agents
- The agents for all four of our insurance policies have agreed to carry both the NLNA and the NLAC as “Insureds.”
- Other questions we have raised about scope of coverage and limitations are in the process of being answered.
- Liberty Lands Checking Account – Required Board Action
- The account was compromised and fraudulent checks were presented at the bank to be cashed. Thus far the bank has covered the checks, but in order to solve the problem it may be necessary to close the current account and open a new one.
- The solution proposed is to use another NLNA account that has no activity, retitle it and transfer the funds.
- The bank requires board approval to do this and such board approval must be noted in the minutes.
- Friends of Tip Top – Requested Board Action
- Four years ago we entered into a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Friends of Tip Top to facilitate a grant request to Penn Treaty for a beautification project.
- Plans are underway by the City to finally redevelop the park and the Friends group is expected to play an important role in the design. The group will also be a key participant in assuring maintenance and improvements once construction is completed.
- A new fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Friends of Tip Top will permit the group to receive additional funding from grants and donations to carry out this work. Approval for this agreement is requested.
Education Committee: Jeff Hornstein.
- The Kidfest planned for June 4 has been postponed to a later date which is TBA.
Liberty Lands Committee Report: Janet Finegar. Written report attached and reviewed.
Liberty Lands Report May 2022
- The first meeting of the new committee was in April and it went well – yay to the new group!
- Two Earth day related workdays were held in late April and got a lot of tree pits tended.
- Next big workday is May 7th 10-12 (Love Your Park workday).
- First City Harvest plants were distributed, second set of seedlings are arriving on May 7.
- Party reservations continue apace.
- Hannah's got the Liberty Lands IG account up and posting.
- Potty swapout set for May 13; Seth and Kenny have promised to help. We'll also look into putting some vents into the shed!
- Mary Claire has an estimate for repairing the fence and needs approval from the new committee.
- There should be 3 new gardeners moving into (starter) half plots by June 1.
- No other reports.
Operations Committee Report: Barbara Saverino. Written report attached and reviewed.
Operations Committee
- The May Operations Committee meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, May 9 at 7 PM so there is no report at this time.
- One update: Mailbox Store ownership is transferring later this week.
Zoning Committee Report: Joe Mikuliak. Written report attached and reviewed.
- There was some conversation about the pros and cons of the hybrid meeting format.
Motion: By Janet Finegar, seconded by Matt Ruben. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 336-38 W. Girard Ave, i.e.: 'Thank you for your presentation. We support this proposal with the following provisos: Approval required every 12 months. Owner's phone number and landlord’s phone number must be shared with neighbors. Only 8 dogs permitted outside at a time with supervision. No weekend hours. No extension of hours. Trash pickup once/week but not on weekends. No noise to escape premises.'” Passed 9-0-0
Motion: ByMatt Ruben, seconded by Jeff Hornstein. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 1015 N. American St., i.e.: 'Thank you for your presentation. We support this project with the elevation presented and the screening of the first floor.'” Passed 9-0-0
Motion: By Matt Ruben, seconded by Janet Finegar. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 807 N. 2nd St., i.e.: 'Thank your for your presentation. We support 1. All access to the restaurant is limited to 2nd Street entrance. 2. Trash pickup cannot occur before 7 a.m. 3. Trash or trash cans cannot be left on the sidewalk. 4. A trash can should be placed inside the restaurant near the doorway. 5. There is no outdoor seating in the backyard. 6. The backyard cannot be used by employees. 7. There will be no application for outdoor seating on 2nd St without a review by NLNA. 8. There is no hot cooking on the premises. 9. There is no outdoor music. 10. Hours of operation will be: 7 a.m. - 9 p.m.'” Passed 9-0-0
Motion: By Matt Ruben, seconded by Jeff Hornstein. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 500-08 N. 2nd St., i.e.: 'Thank you for your presentation. We do not support this proposal. We do not think there is a hardship to enlarge the sign or to go from accessory to non-accessory.'” Passed 9-0-0
New Business
- There was a discussion in executive session about the future of the organization and leadership.
The meeting was adjourned by acclaim at 8:26 p.m.
Zoning Committee Minutes Monday 5/2/22
1st Live Meeting since 2020!
Members present: Larry Freedman, chair; Ira Upin, Christine Forman, Philip Hensley, William Smarzewski, Kristine Kennedy, Joe Mikuliak, Charlie Abdo, Sharon Richman, Jonathan Sher
Members absent: Scott Perry, Kenny Grono, Matthew Ochs
336-38 W. Girard Ave - CMX2- Tim Kirsten - Return visit doggie daycare grooming salon - no overnight boarding (requires special exception review). Tim explained not having outdoor space would ruin his proposed doggie daycare model - allowing dogs to have outdoor playtime. Dog space is adjacent to outdoor amenity space of Cigar Factory (that was brokered with developer of new adjacent development). hours: 7 am - 6:30 pm. Would like to have weekend hours too.
Did not specify number of dogs needed to make his business viable. Trash pickup - once/week, maybe twice when fully operational Landlord offered to share her phone number if there was a problem. Tim offered to share his phone number.
Motion - Group: 6-3-1 Thank you for your presentation. We support this proposal with the following provisos: Approval required every 12 months. Owners phone number and land lord’s phone number must be shared with neighbors.
Only 8 dogs permitted outside at a time with supervision. No weekend hours. No extension of hours. Trash pickup once/week but not on weekends. No noise to escape premises
1015 N. American St. - CMX2.5 - David Killian - Return visit to a 4th floor and 2 units to exist ing building with 5 units. (Refusal for not having commercial on 1st floor.) We did not support this project when presented 2016. ZBA approved the plan, however, the ZBA approval lapsed during COVID. Architect proposed to finish off the exterior of the first floor to match the other floors of the building.
Motion: Jonathan, Joe 2nd . 7-1-0 Thank you for your presentation. We support this project with the elevation presented and the screening of the first floor.
807 N. 2nd St. - CMX3 - Rich Miller - Proposal for a restaurant (requires Special Exception). Playa Bowls.
Motion: Group 8-0-0 Thank your for your presentation. We support 1. All access to the restaurant is limited to 2nd Street entrance. 2. Trash pickup cannot occur before 7 a.m. 3. Trash or trash cans cannot be left on the sidewalk. 4. A trash can should be placed inside the restaurant near the doorway. 5. There is no outdoor seating in the backyard. 6. The backyard cannot be used by employees. 7. There will be no application for outdoor seating on 2nd St without a review by NLNA. 8. There is no hot cooking on the premises. 9. There is no outdoor music. 10. Hours of operation will be: 7 am - 9 pm
500-08 N. 2nd St. - CMX3 - Steve Pollack - Conversion of existing roof top accessory digital single faced sign into a non-accessory digital roof top sign. 3/11/16 Motion: We cannot support the precedent setting roof top digital billboard at this location. We do not believe there is any hardship to erect a digital roof sign. It is the strong consensus of the neighborhood to limit or alleviate all digital billboards. Sign will remain a single face with multiple LED advertisements. Current purpose will be ex panded to include commercial advertisement as well as in-house use.
Motion: Phil, 2nd Jonathan. 6-0-1 Thank you for your presentation. We do not support this proposal. We do not think there is a hardship to enlarge the sign or to go from accessory to non-accessory.