Board of Directors – Meeting of November 5, 2018

PRESENT: Matt Ruben, President;  Steve Richman, Treasurer; Janet Finegar, Secretary; Claire Adler; Kristen Ainscoe; Avery Amaya; Melanie Coffman; Monika Kreidie; Ben Mann; Joe Mikuliak; Don Phillips; Barbara Saverino.ABSENT: Barbara Mulckhuyse, Vice-President; Michael Coyne.The meeting was called to order by the President at 7:03 p.m.Motion: By Steve Richman, seconded by Melanie Coffman. “To approve the minutes of the October Board meeting as presented.”  Passed 10-0-0 President’s Report: Matt Ruben: written report attached and reviewed.NLNA President’s Report, November 2018

1. PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT, AND POLICY

• Construction Impacts – No major new issues or updates from last month.
• Waterfront Issues – I will brief the board on the current situation with Festival Pier and LiveNation, and the current status of the Central Delaware Overlay amendment process.
• Business Improvement District (BID) – The BID had an open house at its new Liberties Walk office on November 2. At our early December NLNA meeting, BID E.D. Kevin Moran will be on the agenda to introduce himself to the neighbors and take questions. The BID also has selected a firm to do marketing and branding, and is pursuing some cleaning and greening-related initiatives I will discuss at our meeting.
• Developer Relations – I met with representatives from GoPuff on Oct 8 and will update the board at our meeting.
• Waterfront Transit Study – DRWC did public meetings last month. I have no other update on the status of the study.

2. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

• NLNA Board Membership – Update in the Election Committee report.
• Office Management/Oversight – Updates in the Operations Committee report.

3. EVENTS AND OUTREACH

• NLNA December General Meeting. We need to have it in early to mid-December. Following our usual practice of Thursday evenings, that would mean December 6 or 13. The 6th would be far better for me personally; and given that the week of Dec 13 also gets into the period when many businesses and organizations hold their work holiday parties, it might be better for general neighbor attendance as well. At our meeting, I’ll seek the board’s approval to go with Dec 6.

4. COMMUNICATION AND PUBLICITY

• This month seems like a good moment make the NL Facebook group independent of the NLNA.

5. OTHER ITEMS

• Election Day – A reminder that NL’s two largest political divisions – the 17th and 21st – have been split into five. (I believe the 17th has been split in two and the 21st in three). There will be new voting locations on Election Day as a result – and the NLNA office will now host 2 divisions rather than one. In part because the official sources were late in updating polling-place information, it appears that many, perhaps most, NL neighbors got the updated info from the NLNA. While we are of course nonpartisan, this is a valuable public service and a great example of how the NLNA steps in to fill important gaps between government/official agencies and the ground level of neighbors’ everyday lives.
• Board Polls – Ratification of any online or online board polls since last month’s board meeting.

 Treasurer's Report: Steve Richman: written report attached and reviewed.TREASURER’S REPORT – NOVEMBER 2018

1. 2018-19 Budget

• The 2018-19 budget was adopted by the Board at the October meeting. There were no changes made by the Board to the budget that was recommended by the Finance Committee.
• The adopted budget projects approximately $173,000 in income and $170,000 in expenses in the General Fund and Liberty Lands accounts combined. In addition, the budget anticipates the availability of nearly $31,000 in prior year funds and leaves an additional $20,000 available to be programmed.
• Income and expenses recorded In October were in line with expectations. Notably, we received a $2,500 sponsorship grant from the PTSSD for the Fall Fest and the Parade of Spirits, and a donation of $1,500 from Premier Access Properties for Clean Streets.

1. Other Items

• Accountant’s 2017-18 Financial Report and Tax Preparation – Our accountant starts work this week on preparation of our annual Compilation Report and Tax Return.
• 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 2017-18 fiscal year.

Motion: By Claire Adler, seconded by Kristen Ainscoe. “To accept the Treasurer's report as presented.”  Passed 11-0-0 Communication/Marketing Committee Report: Kristen Ainscoe.Kristen reported that she has met with Kevin from the BID to ensure that our separate marketing plans are well integrated and audiences for each well defined. She will continue to meet with him as the BID's new marketing firm comes on board. Election Committee Report: Ben Mann.Ben reported that three nominations were taken at the November general meeting and that email nominations would close soon. The election will be held at the December 6^thmeeting. Fundraising Committee Report: Kristen Ainscoe.Kristen reported that the annual appeal brochure is nearly in final draft and then will go out as soon as printed. Barbara added that the committee will meet next week to work on the mailing and to begin planning for Winterfest.-Liberty Lands Committee Report: Janet Finegar: written report attached and reviewed.Liberty Lands Report  – November 2018

• Three sequential workdays in October resulted in the community garden fence being down, the Bodine Street planters removed, and the sinkhole in the gardens remediated (we hope). It was a pretty disappointing turnout for the workdays (although lots of repeat offenders to whom we're very grateful), but a lot of work got done thanks to the bobcat and especially the digger.
• Having the gardens wide open is definitely bad, so I'm working on trying to move up the install dates to this fall. I met last week with the fence contractor who says the sidewalk should go in first and did a new estimate because steel prices have gone up. The major change from previously discussed versions is that he recommended putting in only one “wide” gate (like the ones that were on most of the entrances of the wooden fence) and instead having only one on the Bodine Street side, with narrower gates (like the wooden one at the southern edge) for all the rest. I also met with the sidewalk contractor who thinks he can do it this fall: he just needs weather where it isn't freezing during the day. I'm still waiting on an official bid from him which we need before the project can move forward.
• I met this week with representatives from Streets and the Parking Authority about parking issues around the park (Corey Bell from Councilman Clarke's office, who set up the meeting, and neighbor William Reed, who is also President of the Business Improvement District, also attended). We covered:
  • our sidewalk project on Bodine Street. They seemed all right with it (despite seeming to understand that we were essentially going to legalize parking on what had been a sidewalk), but wanted us to communicate with the City Plans department to make sure that we were definitely building the sidewalk on park land so that it wouldn't have to be ripped up because of Streets issues. Corey promised to put me in touch with them.
  • The current pull-in parking on the sidewalk of the west side of American Street. The neighbors have applied for permit parking on the 900 block of American Street and it's been approved. Both the Streets and Parking Authority officials confirmed that the way people are parking there now is illegal and will definitely be ticketed once the permit parking signs go up: that will reduce parking in that area (from the crosswalk of American/Laurel to the telephone pole) from around four spaces to roughly two, since parallel parking will be legal.
  • The current pull-in parking on the sidewalk of the park that runs from roughly the telephone pole to the crosswalk of Bodine (by the old shed). It wasn't clear to anyone whether those spaces were technically on Bodine Street or American Street and therefore whether they'd be affected by the permit parking on American or not. The officials suggested, however, that those cars would almost certainly be ticketed for parking on the sidewalk, since the parking authority would be in the area anyway checking on the permitted block. That will reduce parking there from about 8 spaces to about 4 parallel spaces.
  • [There didn't seem to be any way to get around these issues, and the best we can do is to inform the neighbors so that they at least know to stop pulling in once the signs go up. We should also encourage the neighbors on Wildey to consider going to permit parking, since their block will be affected by the reduction in spaces.]
  • Permit parking around the park. The Parking Authority rep said that Liberty Lands can apply to get the 900 block of 3rd Street and the 900 block of Bodine made into permit parking by getting letters of support from the other building owners on the blocks (all businesses, Orianna Hill, residences with garage parking, and back/sides of houses on American). They recommended asking for a less restrictive limitation: 4 hour parking for cars without a resident sticker rather than 2, and to establish a 30-minute loading zone on 3rd Street for daytime hours.
• There is still some work to do to finish getting the garden ready for the new fence installation: we'll need to remove a little remaining vegetation and take out the old railroad ties along the fence sides of the garden.
• We need to discuss what we want to do in order to replace those beds – one possibility is to not build any sides on them and let gardeners build those up individually if they prefer. We could also use the granite curbstones for some of the edges (although they are very wide and would take garden space). We can build some new ones with cinderblocks (as we did with beds at the southern end) or with some of the belgian blocks and stones that came out of the planters. For discussion.
• November 10 is the fall Love Your Park workday and we have some non-gardener volunteers registered already. Plans to complete the rest of the prep for the fence/sidewalk and do some cleanup – anything else to suggest?
• The Fall Children's Festival was extremely successful. The PTSSD sponsorship and an additional sponsorship by Quadrat Academy meant that all expenses were covered and the event raised about $2,000 for the park! Big thanks to Ellyn Dvorin, Priya DeSouza, and Sara Hirschler for organizing again and making a great event.
• The Farmers' Market has ended for the season. While there were some stalwart vendors (especially Susan DeAngelus, who took on organizing for the season as well and was great: thanks Susan!), it continues to suffer from low community support and spotty participation by our farmers. This winter will be a time of thinking about whether it's worth continuing.
• I (Janet) attended an Public Space conference last week organized by the Philadelphia Parks Alliance, Philly Parks and Rec, and the Free Library. There was a lot of good energy about parks in general and I got some great ideas about marketing/communication as well. This month has highlighted for me, though, that communication is regularly our group's weak point and it's very easily made much worse if anything happens that reduces my opportunity/willingness to send out messages: that's a real problem. It would be wonderful to have a park volunteer who could put some energy specifically into improving communication among our friends and the larger community.

 Operations Committee Report: Monika Kreidie.Monika reminded the committee that the 3^rdfloor apartment is available for rent right now if anyone knows someone who might want to rent it. She further reported that NLArts and NLNA are (amicably) ending the relationship by which NLArts bartered staffing of the office for use of the community center. The executive committees of the two groups will meet to discuss rental rates for the mutual benefit of both groups in the future.-Public Safety Committee Report: Melanie Coffman: written report attached and reviewed.Safety Report

1. New Safety Committee started, 1st meeting November 14thWhat's on the agenda? Since we are getting into the holiday season, we’ll focus on package theft prevention, create a comprehensive list of resources for package delivery, and get the info out there through a campaign. Other issues the safety committee can help with:

• Street lighting
• Security cameras (the police have a program for businesses)
• Car theft prevention
• Office of Homeless Services
• Continue to collaborate with Police on information for crime prevention
• Help plan community activities to bring neighbors together. We want to encourage people to get to know their neighbors because that also helps with crime prevention. Activities like block parties, block yard sales, stoop nights, holiday decorating contests. Some neighbors have asked if the NLNA (Safety Committee) will lead a town watch with neighbors walking around. There have been multiple efforts to lead a town watch in the past, often times a group of people will show up the first walk, then it fizzles out after that. If any neighbors are interested in starting a town watch, I can help promote your events and you can meet at the NLNA community center if you’d like. The police have encouraged other ways to help prevent crime such as more lighting and cameras which they have programs to supply both to the neighborhood.

2. Lakim Wilson

I’ve been in contact with Anthony Gil and Elizabeth Rudolph, both ADAs for the Lakim Wilson case. Anthony is working on the property crimes, he’s provided an update on the hearing dates and whether or not people should attend. Elizabeth is working on the SA crime and indicated that due to the sensitivity of the crime she is not inviting neighbors to attend her hearings. ****THIS IS SEPARATE FROM THEL’s SA CASE). I do not know anything about her case other than what Sharrice Brown and Janet posted on facebook. Here is what I posted on facebook on November 1 st in the comment section in response to Meghan Coppola’s post: “to add to your info: the Email below from Anthony Gil regarding Lakim Wilson hearings: I'm writing to give you and the neighbors an update on Mr. Wilson's case. We had an opportunity to go before Judge Sawyer today for a status hearing. We are next listed ‪on 11/19/2018 for a Status of Plea/Trial date on all of his open property crime cases where Mr. Wilson will decide whether he wants to plead guilty to all of them or take them to trial. While I cannot comment on conversations I have had with defense counsel, I will give everyone an update on the property crime cases once we have our 11/19/18 status hearing. As for all other upcoming dates, here is the list I compiled:

‪11/15/18 - Preliminary Hearing in the Attempted Rape case in 806 of the Criminal Justice Center11/19/18 - Status of Plea or Trial on Property Crime Cases in 604 of the Criminal Justice Center

11/26/18 - Status Hearing on the Misdemeanor Indecent Exposure case in 404 of the Criminal Justice Center11/26/18 - Violation of Probation hearing in Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in Doylestown

12/26/18 - Misdemeanor property crime cases set for trial in 904 of the Criminal Justice CenterI would ask neighbors to respect the privacy of our complaining witnesses on the sexual assault cases, but otherwise are welcome to come to the property crime case dates I will be conducting. Please let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely,Anthony Gil, Assistant District Attorney, Trial Division

3. Jeffrey McCants

And SEPARATELY..here is info on Thel’s case. The above information for Lakim does NOT relate to the SA that occurred on 5th and Poplar which is Thel’s case. I believe the perp in that case is Jeffrey McCants. We’ve been told by Thel’s family that they DO WANT neighbors to show support for her and come to the hearings for her case. Janet wrote an update on another thread: “Hi all: update. The accused is being sent for a mental evaluation (and will stay in custody). Next hearing scheduled for Dec. 13. When details are available, we’ll post. We told Thel we were representing many neighbors who couldn’t make it: she appreciates the support”

4. NLNA meeting with DA office and Police

This was very helpful in sorting out some of the confusion in the Lakim Wilson case. Sgt. Massi answered the questions that were on the facebook page. I posted his response on facebook, and Kat helped organize the notes more and posted them on the NLNA website. She also changed some of the language from her previous notes, with suggestion from Sgt Massi.

5. PDAC meetings.

Joe M. is going to the monthly meeting for the 6th district, and I am going to try to make it to some of the 26th district meetings since they are in the evenings. The next PDAC meeting for the 26th district is November 8th @ 5:30pm. Sgt. Massi mentioned his meetings are not open to the public, but we can come as a representative of the neighborhood. This is in contrast to the 6^thdistrict meetings that Joe attends which are more open to the public.

6. Halloween Contest

Woohoo! We had a great turnout for the 1st year! 16 submissions were posted to the Northern Liberties Neighbors FB page and over 240 people voted! I think we also drummed up some excitement for next year. I’m going to work with Kevin Moran on future contests. We’re considering doing a contest for winter holiday decorating, so stay tuned! Also thanks again to everyone who helped get the word out there for the contest…Kristen, Claire, Kat, Matt.

 Zoning Committee Report: Joe Mikuliak; written report attached and reviewed.Motions from Zoning Committee Meeting of October 29, 2018

Motion: By Monika Kriedie, seconded by Donald Phillips. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 129 Laurel St., i.e.: 'To support the variance for restaurant use of the glassed in area of Jerry’s bar, actual address 131 Laurel Street, with the following provisos: 1) Sound must not escape premises; 2) No DJ’s or live music; 3) Music turned off by midnight; 4) Maximum capacity is 30 people; 5) Patio to be closed by midnight, seven nights a week; 6) Patio door to remain closed except for a) open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. for ventilation and trash removal, b) handicap and emergency egress, and c) a visual barrier will direct people to enter/exit via corner door; 7) No outdoor seating on Laurel St.; and 8) All deliveries on New Market St.'”  Passed 11-0-0

Motion: By Donald Phillips, seconded by Janet Finegar. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 431 George St., i.e.: 'To support the variance for a kitchen addition at 431 George Street as presented at the Zoning Committee meeting of October 29, 2018.'”  Passed 11-0-0

Motion: By Steve Richman, seconded by Monika Kreidie. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 1028 N. 3rd St., i.e.: 'Thank you for your presentation. We need the following to evaluate the impact of the requested variance on the community: 1) A complete site plan of the proposed use. (This should include the property in context with surrounding buildings, including the parking lot and deck; a floor plan of the apartment; elevation drawings; location of utilities; location of mechanicals {existing and proposed}; and the trash/recycling area.); 2) A list of possible commercial uses. They should have little to no negative impact on the neighbors. Suggested hours are no earlier than 8 a.m., no later than 6 p.m. Total number of staff and clients not to exceed 20; and 3) a plan for commercial trash pickup'”  Passed 11-0-0

Motion: By Avery Amara, seconded by Kristen Ainscoe. “To ratify the recommendations of the Zoning Committee in the matter of 945 N. Lawrence St/948 N. Leithgow St., i.e.: 'Thank you for your presentation. We agree to support the zoning variance for relocation of lot lines and below required open space when the following conditions have been met: Please return to the zoning committee with: 1) A color facade drawing of the new house with the materials called out; 2) A copy of the refusal that agrees with the assumptions in the Oct. 2018 presentation; and 3) Your agreement to meet with neighbors regarding the staging of construction and parking.'”  Passed 11-0-0

-Old BusinessSteve reported that the recycling bins funded by a PTSSD sponsorship were purchased for $15 each and will be distributed through the NLNA for a suggested donation of $20 each with the profits going to Clean Streets. They will be delivered on a staggered basis of 50 each, since we can't store 220 at once.Steve further reported that the Friends of Tip Top Playground group is moving forward with plans for renovating that space and hoping to apply to PTSSD for some funding for planning that project with NLNA as a sponsor. Steve has been working with the group regarding that proposal and Janet has been meeting with them as and advisor for the project.Motion: By Janet Finegar, seconded by Monika Kriedie. “To act as a fiscal sponsor for the Friends of Tip Top Playground for the purpose of applying for a grant from PTSSD.”   Passed: 11-0-0 Don reported that the Friends of Orkney Park continue to work toward an agreement of sale for the land and have plans for fundraising proposals.Matt reported on some of the liquor license issues regarding the “sushi” space at Front and Fairmount. The space was opened after a person to person transfer of the license but as far as we know does not now have an assembly license for the kind of live music events that they are holding. We have been told that L&I will investigate violations, and neighbors (including Claire, who lives nearby) should report 311 with complaints at any time that they see evidence of events happening at the space.Barbara reported that St. Joseph's Prep will have a special event at the Doughboy Statue at 1 p.m. on this Sunday, November 11, which is the 100^thanniversary of the end of WWI (Armistice Day).-New BusinessJoe invited all of the Board to attend his event to benefit Philabundance on January 6 beginning at 11 a.m. (and to bring food and/or cash donations). The meeting was adjourned by acclaim at 8:30 p.m.Addenda:Zoning Committee Meeting minutes October 29, 2018Members Present:  Larry Freedman, Chair, Joe Mikuliak and Kenny Grono, Rec Sec, Jonathan Sher, Charlie Abdo, Christine Furman, Ira Upin, Jared Foreman, Abbey Spector   Members Absent:  Melissa Magness, Chris Isaacson, Sharon Richman1) 129 Laurel St. - CMX2/RSA5 - Thomas Citro – To legalize an outdoor space for dining (glassed in area of Jerry’s bar and restaurant; had a temporary variance that expired.) Larry read our agreement with Jerry’s. Their attorney, Thomas Citro, agreed to all points of the agreement except the 10PM cut-off time for music in the outdoor space. He asked it to be extended to midnight, seven nights a week. Several nearby neighbors were present. They all expressed support for the temporary variance for the open space being made permanent. No one objected to extending the hours of music to midnight. No one objected to allowing the patio to be open until midnight seven nights a week.

MOTION by Joe Mikuliak, 2nd by Kenny Grono To support the variance for restaurant use of the glassed in area of Jerry’s bar, actual address 131 Laurel Street, with the following provisos: 1. Sound must not escape premises 2. No DJ’s or live music 3. Music turned off by midnight  4. Maximum capacity is 30 people  5. Patio to be closed by midnight, seven nights a week.  6. Patio door to remain closed except for A) open 8am-9pm for ventilation and trash removal  B) handicap and emergency egress C) a visual barrier will direct people to enter/exit via corner door. 7. No outdoor seating on Laurel St. 8. All deliveries on New Market St.  Passed 6-0-1

2) 431 George St. - RSA5 - Shawn Fitzpatrick - proposal for an addition to the kitchen (open space short) Applicant wants to be able to open his refrigerator and oven doors at the same time(?) The old shed kitchen will be torn down and a new one built. This will reduce the yard to five feet by eleven feet. He will install a new fence with a door along the sidewalk of Leithgow. 

MOTION by Jonathan Sher, 2nd by Jared Foreman To support the variance for a kitchen addition at 431 George Street as presented at the Zoning Committee meeting of October 29, 2018   Passed 6-0

3) 1028 N. 3rd St. - RSA5 - Andrew Zakroff - A proposal for a business and professional use on the 2nd floor Though 1028 N 3rd is zoned RSA5, the first floor is an existing commercial use, and the 2nd floor is single family residential. The presenter requested that the residential portion of the 2nd floor be reduced to 586 SF, and that the remaining 6567 SF of 2nd floor and mezzanine space be granted a variance for business and professional use. He brought a diagram that showed the proposed space allocation, but nothing else. No interior walls, bathroom locations, and no site plan or contextual drawings. Discussion centered on the need for more information about what the commercial use on the 2nd floor would entail, for instance - capacity, hours of operation, etc.

MOTION (group):  Thank you for your presentation. We need the following to evaluate the impact of the requested variance on the community:  1) A complete site plan of the proposed use. (This should include: The property in context with surrounding buildings including the parking lot and deck,  a floor plan of the apartment, elevation drawings, location of ultilities, location of mechanicals {existing and proposed,} and the trash/recycling area.)  2) A list of possible commercial uses.  They should have little to no negative impact on the neighbors. Suggested hours are no earlier than 8am, no later than 6pm. Total number of staff and clients not to exceed 20. Passed 8-0

4) 945 N. Lawrence St/948 N. Leithgow St - RSA5 Chris Sincavage - A proposal to adjust lot lines and erect a single family dwelling on Leithgow St.  Presenter wants to relocate lot lines for Lawrence and Leithgow properties to create a 9'6" backyard for the former and 9' yard for the new house to be built on Leithgow. Both properties would be short on open space. The proposed house would be similar to one the presenter built next door and currently lives in. The height would be lower, with the pilot house below 38'.

MOTION: by Joe Mikuliak, 2nd by Charlie Abdo Thank you for your presentation. We agree to support the zoning variance for relocation of lot lines and below required open space when the following conditions have been met: Please return to the zoning committee with: 1) A color facade drawing of the new house with the materials called out.  2) A copy of the refusal that agrees with the assumptions in the Oct. 2018 presentation. 3) Your agreement to meet with neighbors regarding the staging of construction and parking.  Passed 8-0