BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES – Meeting of November 2, 2020

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

ABSENT:  Chastity Houston; Amy Sweeney.

The meeting was called to order by the President at 6:35 p.m.

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

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

Motion: By Joe Mikuliak, seconded by Matt Ochs. “To ratify both Board polls taken in the previous month; i.e, a zoning clarification and establishment of a policy to forbid firearms in the Community Center.”  Passed 12-0-0

NLNA President’s Report

1. Planning, Development And Policy

• I-95 updates: PennDOT has responded well our requests for when they begin construction on the section of I-95 running through Northern Liberties. The highway will be widened only 15 feet at Brown Street, much less than originally anticipated. The project is expected to begin construction 2021 and finish in 2028. We will continue to receive updates from PennDOT on construction schedule, detours, and public outreach.

2. Finance And Administration

• Website: We have received many responses to the website RFP and will select a vendor soon.
• Annual Appeal: We continue our efforts to launch the annual appeal on Monday, November 9.
• More from Marketing/Communications and others.

3. Events And Outreach

• Election 2020 Update: The election is tomorrow, November 3rd. We sent out a voter guide with specific information about voting in Northern Liberties. The Community Center will be a polling place.
• Neighborhood Leaf Clean-Up: The BID would like to organize a neighborhood clean up and is asking for our support and volunteers to help coordinate. The Leaf Recycling Program runs from 11/9 - 12/20 this year. 
• October 19 General Meeting: The meeting, which provided neighbors with information about the upcoming election, had a low turnout, but brought out a few neighbors, some of them new, who had a lot of good questions and were able to have them answered.
• Halloween: Thank you Janet Finegar, Liz Briggs-Fandek and Jessica Tyler and everyone who organized the Little Halloween Parade at Liberty Lands. It was a big success.

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

A. 2020-21 Budget

• The 2020-21 budget was adopted by the Board at the October 2020 meeting. There were no changes made by the Board to the budget that was recommended by the Finance Committee.
• The adopted budget projected $144,340 in income and $167,505 in expenses in the General Fund and Liberty Lands accounts combined yielding a net income of ($23,165). In addition, the budget anticipated the availability of nearly $41,616 in prior year funds, left an additional $10,345 available to be programmed and recommended a carryout of $8,406 to 2020-21.

B. Income and expenses recorded In October 2020 were generally in line with expectations. Notably, we received a $3,500 sponsorship grant from the PTSSD for the redesign of the NLNA website.

C. Other Items

• Accountant’s 2019-20 Financial Report and Tax Preparation – Our accountant (Joseph Brunner, CPA) will begin preparing our annual Compilation Report and Tax Return this month. Steve, Lara, Joe and I had a Zoom meeting on 10-30-20 to answer Joe’s questions on the documentation supplied by Lara. Lara sent Joe the additional documentation he required.
• Report on Account Balances – This month’s Treasurer’s Report includes a three-year statement of bank balances. Attached is a table reflecting activity through the close of the 2019-20 fiscal year showing a cumulative increase of 4% over the three-year period.

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

Communications & Marketing Committee: Caitlin Antrim. Written report attached and reviewed.

NLNA Communications and Marketing Committee Report

Meeting Date: 10/26/2020   Chair: Caitlin Antram;  Board Members Present: Joe Mikuliak; Shakirra Clark  Community Members Present: Chelsea Clark

Points of Discussion​:

• Interfaith Philadelphia Crafting Community project - The majority of our meeting was devoted to a presentation on the project by Chelsea Clark. My complete notes are HERE but the main takeaways were:
  • They have funding to complete the project in three regions: South Philly, N.Libs/Fishtown/Kensington and West Philly.
  • Last year they ran the project in South Philly - the culminating community project was a cookbook that they’re currently in the process of printing.
  • The project has three main components
    • Community Meetings/ Listening sessions
    • Intergroup Art and Educational Programs (or series)
    • Community Art Project
  • Their asks of the NLNA
    • Help get the word out and distribute their community survey via our newsletter/website (they hope to disperse their survey by the end of Nov.)
    • Answer their introductory questions:
      • What are the strengths/assets of your community (places, people, resources, etc.)?
      • What are the challenges/concerns/needs faced by your community?
      • What do you think is needed to help build inter-group relationships, understanding, and solidarity in the Kensington/Northern Liberties area?
• Annual appeal language - we didn’t get much time to discuss this at the meeting but I (Caitlin) started a Workbook Document based on language from the website (some of which needs to be updated) to begin to parse out how to talk about our value to the community and frame our ask. (I also just saw the sample letters Steve sent to our
• working group - super helpful, thanks!) This is most relevant to our working group but I just wanted folks to know this is in progress.
• Update on Social Media
  • October was a really intense month for me (Caitlin) work-wise but things are beginning to calm down so I’ll have more time to focus on it.
  • I’d like to begin working out a schedule for who posts what and use our board meetings to identify any important events/messages we’d like to get out via social. I saw great pics go up from the Liberty Lands Halloween party!
  • Goals:
    • Working doc/social calendar
    • Use meetings to identify content for social
    • Firm up language for annual appeal

Next meeting: Nov 16

Fundraising:

Although there is no active committee right now, Don noted that he and Kevin are working on building a comprehensive database for NLNA contacts and asks all Board members to give him any and all lists or databases from their committees or volunteer work.

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

Liberty Lands Report

• The park continued to see pretty constant use through October – I was there on a pleasant Saturday afternoon and saw more than 100 people at the park, although maintaining relatively good distancing and mostly masked. There were two approved events at the park in October: the NLArts Gala picnic, which had a tight distancing and masks structure, and the “Little Halloween Parade” (likewise). Both were very well attended. There have been quite a few parties just happening, as well, and those seem to be a good bit more loose about masks, but part of the reason for not taking official reservations was so we wouldn't feel a responsibility to try to police people's behavior at private events.
• The birch tree at the southern end of the park lost one of its two trunks in early October: the tree is old, but also took a lot of damage from lanternflies, so either could be responsible. Dennis Dougherty, newly here from Oakland, helped deal with the damage.
• We applied for and were awarded a grant from Penn Treaty SSD to repair the stage! This is pretty huge: the understructure is quite rotten and we'll replace it with metal so it won't rot again. Ken Grono's company Buckminster Green will do the work. 
• The community garden had a good year but is mostly closing down for the winter. City Harvest donated many pounds of vegetables to Sunday Love over the summer, and has a large crop of garlic in for the winter. The Garden Coordinators are dealing with how to remove/reduce the Compost Pile from Hell and other cleanup issues.
• The Parade of Spirits team is planning a small gathering in December – no advertising or posters – dependent on how the virus plays out in the next month. 
• Lara is planning on organizing Christmas treecycling as usual, and we'll hope to get professional tree pruning done as usual, too.
• Over the winter we need to look for lanternfly sacs, do basic park cleanup, and – at some point – start thinking about the future. At the moment I, Janet, have no energy for that, but assume it will come.

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

Operations Committee Report

October 21 meeting – Attendees:  Amy, Jacek, Lara and Barbara

• Christmas/Neighborhood Tree Company
  • Barbara shared a recap of the Board meeting which included the discussion of the Christmas tree sale.  Discussion followed. Point of clarification:  At the October Board meeting a comment was made that the Neighborhood Tree Company was a nonprofit.  That is not correct. The Operations Committee is supportive of the board decision and looks forward to the follow up from the Communications committee who is working on suggestions on how to leverage the opportunity.  Barbara will follow up with suggestion that the negotiations include donation of trees to families that NLNA is supporting through COVID relief and/or Operation Santa program.  Barbara will also follow up with Caitlin/Communications to see if we can review agreement prior to sign-off.
• Snow Removal
  • Monika was not able to participate in the meeting but shared that she had made contact with Lisa regarding NLNA Center snow removal. 
    • Update:  After the meeting Monika followed up and shared that Lisa and her firm will not be able to provide service. Monika shared that her son would be an back-up option while home from college.
    • Request: Do any board members have referrals? 
• Election
  • NLNA Center is being used on Election Day.  Discussion on need to do outreach, coordinate and communicate with election leads and Lara.  Amy will follow up with emails to connect everyone and stress the need to coordinate to ensure the day and voting process goes well.
• Old/New Business
  • Lara worked on replacing hallway lightbulbs and has followed up with renter to clarify needs. 
  • NLNA office has a new computer.
  • Lara will check on snow/ice melt to make sure NLNA has pet and environmentally friendly version.
  • Barbara asked if there were maintenance/annual projects/repairs the Operations Committee should be aware of/preparing for at this time of year and moving forward. Lara said that the sprinklers/faucets get serviced.

Next Meeting:  November 18 at 7 PM.

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

Safety Committee Report

Meeting minutes, 10/29/2021 – In attendance: Matthew Ochs, Joe Mikuliak, Brett Cohen, Alex Boland, and Guest:  Kristine Kennedy (Executive Director, NL BID)

• Kris Kennedy met with the committee to introduce herself and discuss a meeting we had with Claire about merging the BID and Safety Committee in an effort to keep both the commercial and residential corridors in the neighborhood safe Kris has created a crime map that shows where any reported crimes were committed and the details of each incident – broken down by crime. Discussed adding a link to this to the Safety tab on the NNA website
• Overview of the rash of car break-ins over the past month, the police response, and plans to utilize neighbors’ reporting to police to request additional patrolling in those areas BID is working to get a survey from neighbors of who has cameras in the street to identify blind spots and see about grand funding to provide cameras and/or lighting in those areas Brett has agreed to work on a document that will work to educate the neighborhood on various camera brands, both wired and battery, in an effort to better monitor the community. Asking Captain Fisher how many cameras they have registered per block to see where more surveillance could be helpful
• Police have reported that sharing videos of crimes on social media can derail investigations as some criminals are in the group and can throw off police by altering their identifiable clothing. Best practices of providing police with video footage first before sharing it on social media.
  • We would like to add a pinned post on the FB group with suggested best practices to assist law enforcement with tracking crimes, such as when it is appropriate to share video footage
  • We would like to discuss some suggestions to Larry Freedman and the Zoning Board about some safety requests for new developments coming to the neighborhood: HOA providing separate exterior lighting on projects beyond individual porch lights, video monitoring of the exterior, etc.
• Matt, Claire and Joe are working on meeting with Joe Ferrero, the new community relations officer for the 6th district.
• Brett and Alex have asked to be invited to 26th district PDAC meetings; Matt to coordinate

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

Motion: By Janet Finegar, seconded by Matt Ochs. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 1127 N. Hancock St., i.e.: 'Thank you for your presentation. We accept the proposal as presented.'” Passed12-0-0

Motion: By Matt Ruben, seconded by Jacek Ghosh. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of the Civic Design Review for 1021 N. 3^rd  St., i.e.: 'Neighbors have concerns with the walkway, the amount of commercial space, reflections off the glass, the process of demolition, the total amount of units coming onto the market in the near future, unrelated individuals living together, and the type of commercial businesses being proposed. There was a request for a bike path through the combined projects. Similar to our comments regarding Liberties Walk 2, we are concerned with building height and mass. This project is surrounded on three sides by two and three story single family homes. The height is double than the adjacent structures and feels too tall, affecting light and air. Liberties Walk 3 through should taper down from thesize of Liberties Walk 2 as it approaches the single family residential portion of the neighborhood. We would like to see an active, well lit, open pedestrian experience. We are concerned that this space will feel neglected and unsafe. Please consider a lobby at 3^rdStreet. We would like to see an affordable, active commercial space. To improve the night time experience, in terms of safety and comfort, we’d like to see more restaurants and nightlife than office space on the ground floor. We would like to see a plan for reducing potential glare coming off of the Southern exposure. We are disappointed to see no affordable housing component to any of the projects being presented as a part of this master plan.'”  Passed 12-0-0

Motion: By Matt Ruben, seconded by Jacek Ghosh. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 1021 N. Hancock St., i.e.: 'Thank you for your presentation. We applaud the use of high quality materials, though we are concerned with the use of light colored materials in terms of how these facades will wear. We applaud the generous pedestrian walkways. We would like to see a bike lane on Hancock. Given the large number of added pedestrians we would like to see efforts made to encourage safety. As the tallest building in the neighborhood, we encourage a public amenity on an upper floor. We would like to see plantings and high quality paving materials maximized. Renderings show medium sized trees on the green roof and we would like to see this type of planting. Please ensure the green roof can support this.'”  Passed12-0-0

No old or new business raised

The meeting was adjourned by acclaim at 8:10 p.m.

ADDENDA:

Zoning Committee Report

Minutes Monday 10/27/20  Members present: Larry Freedman, chair, Joe Mikuliak, Kenny Grono, Philip Hensley, Charlie Abdo, Scott Sperry, (Ira Upin – left early), Sharon Richman, Christine Furman, Jonathan Sher  Members absent:, Melissa Magness, Abbey Spector, Matthew Ochs, 

879 N. Orkney St. - RSA5 - Lauren Thomsen– Single family dwelling with parking already approved at our 9/30/20 meeting. This is the technical required meeting appearance. Questions, if any, will be answered. 

No questions were raised. Previous motion stands unchanged.

1127 N. Hancock St. - RSA5 - Julian Bradley- A proposal for a single family dwelling - short on open space.  Not a complete demolition. Building on existing footprint. 4 stories within 38 feet. Some discussion centered around when the existing rear addition was built, creating the current condition of 18-19% open space. No record exists on Atlas.

Motion: Ira Upin, 2nd Jonathan Sher: Thank you for your presentation. We accept the proposal as presented.  Vote 8-0-0

1021 N. 3rd St. (Liberties Walk) - CMX3 - Post Brothers- A CDR (Civic Design Review) Motion: Group 8-0-0 

Neighbor concerns with walkway, amount of commercial, reflection off glass, demolition, affordable housing, amount of total units coming onto the market in the near future, unrelated individuals living together, type of commercial (Post Bros said food based). Request for bike path through combined projects. Similar to our comments regarding Liberties Walk 2, we are concerned with building height and mass. This project is surrounded on three sides by two and three story single family homes. The height is double than the adjacent structures and feels too tall, affecting light and air. Liberties Walk 3 through should taper down from the size of Liberties Walk 2 as it approaches the single family residential portion of the neighborhood. We would like to see an active, well lit, open pedestrian experience. We are concerned that this space will feel neglected and unsafe. Please consider a lobby at 3rd street. We would like to see an affordable, active commercial space. To improve the night time experience, in terms of safety and comfort, we’d like to see more restaurants and nightlife than office space on the ground floor. We would like to see a plan for reducing potential glare coming off of the Southern exposure  We are disappointed to see no affordable housing component to any of the projects being presented as a part of this master plan. 

1021 N. Hancock St. - CMX3 - Post Brothers- A CDR (Civic Design Review) Mercato: Demolish all structures. 14 story building. 280 residential units. 76 parking spaces. 1  Commercial space.  LEED Gold target. Studio up to 3 bdrm. Mostly smaller units but some 3 bdrm. Exceeded requirements for pedestrian walkways. High quality materials. Light colored textured brick. 25’ covered outdoor public space. Non-motor vehicle centric streetscape. Green roof and amenity space on the 6 story section. Public access to commercial and open spaces. Deliveries and large scale loading off New Market. Residential scale deliveries from front entrance/lobby.  Larry: ask them to please send entire CDR package when it’s complete. 

Motion: Joe, 2nd Philip 8-0-0  Thank you for your presentation. We applaud the use of high quality materials, though we are concerned with the use of light colored materials in terms of how these facades will wear.  We applaud the generous pedestrian walkways. We would like to see a bike lane on Hancock. Given the large number of added pedestrians we would like to see efforts made to encourage safety.  As the tallest building in the neighborhood, we encourage a public amenity on an upper floor. We would like to see plantings and high quality paving materials maximized. Renderings show medium sized trees on the green roof and we would like to see this type of planting. Please ensure the green roof can support this.