Stockade Association Board Meeting Agenda
November 11, 2015
First Reformed Church
Dirck Romeyn Room
Board Members Present: Beverly Elander, Keith St. John, Sean Philpott-Jones, Carol DeLaMarter,
Suzanne Unger, Bob Lemmerman, Bob Stern.
Members Not Present: Colleen Macaulay, Diane DeMeo, Evan Euripidou
Others Present: Richard Unger
The meeeting was called to order at 7:12 p.m.
Minutes: Mr. St. John moved to accept the minutes as corrected. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
Treasurer's Report: Mr. Lemmerman presented the Treasurer's Report. (see attached)
Agenda Review: There will be no report from the preservation and zoning committee because no memo has been finalized and the committee is without a chairperson in light of Stephen Boese's resignation. The committee will be meeting again on Saturday, November 14.
Spy: Ms. DeLaMarter asked for comments on the Spy. She noted that the next issue may be 12 pages with the theme of looking ahead. It will feature an interview by Mr. Philpott-Jones of Mayor McCarthy. An ad hoc group is meeting once a month to plan out the coming issues.
Ms. DeLaMarter read a letter from Gloria Kishton stating that while we are not ready to pick a new volunteer editor, Ms. Kishton would be willing to continue doing this for a small fee. Ms. Kishton provides graphic services to nonprofit organizations throughout the area. She wishes to be fair to her other clients who pay for similar services.
In the discussion that followed, it was noted: There is money available. The association pays about $360 a month to Nott Street Office to print the newsletter. $60 goes for delivery and the cost of mailing the Spy out of town is about $30 per month. By the end of May, the total cost for publishing the next six issues works out to about $2,700. A total of $6,000 has been raised from advertising for this year. Ms. Kishton estimates her fee would be between $120 to $200 per issue.
Mr. Lemmerman noted that More Perreca's, has not paid for the ad that has run in the previous three issues. Mr. Lemmerman has sent an invoice. He said he will have the ad pulled if no payment is received in time for the next issue.
Ms. DeLaMarter said that in addition to the Patroons, there are others who might want to buy ads for a 12-page issue. Mr. Philpott-Jones said Ms. Kishton deserves compensation. He proposed spending the money for the next few issues.
MOTION: Approve paying Ms. Kishton temporarily for the next two or three issues and see if there is anyone willing to step in and take over after that.
Discussion: Bob Stern noted there was a problem with the video project that has cost considerably more than what was originally proposed. Ms. DeLaMarter suggested that the motion be amended to “not to exceed $200 per issue.” Ms. Elander suggested setting a time frame.
Mr. Philpott-Jones amended his motion as follows: The board shall compensate Ms. Kishton for the production of the December and January issues of the Spy, at a fixed rate of $200 per issue. Mr. Lemmerman abstained from voting. All others voted in favor of the motion.
Neighborhood Survey: Mr. Philpott-Jones will be presenting a written report with graphics to the board shortly. Ms. DeLaMarter suggested dividing the board members and others in order to identify ways to bring in more volunteers and increase membership. She said we could either have a special meeting or change the format of the next board meeting. The survey raises questions for consideration. What can we do about the neighborhood's appearance? How do we get to 100 members? How are we going to raise more funds?
Ms. Elander said she sees progress, and named the Spy as an example. The fact that there are monthly meetings and that others are being brought in to work on the newsletter is good news. It is going to take time to tackle all of these issues.
Infrastructure Committee: Mr. Unger reported to the board on two projects. One is a follow up on what the committee did last year in identifying needed safety improvements throughout the neighborhood. The second is sidewalk improvements, which is being expanded to include the entire streetscape since sidewalks are part of the larger environment. Measurements will be done by the committee and put in a spread sheet. Volunteers will be needed to put in data on their property or perhaps their block.
Mr. Unger showed a graph to demonstrate what will be put together for every intersection for the safety improvements. He showed an example at Ferry and Union Streets. The graph included a list of what is needed at each intersection, such as moving signs, adding a crossing light at Ferry and Union, and crosswalks. Mr. Unger suggested the design of a stencil on crosswalks that says “Stockade” in a colonial style script. He noted the effect will be to slow down cars. The field notes will be organized into a report.
Ms. DeLaMarter asked about the city's involvement at this stage of the process. Mr. Unger said City Engineer Chris Wallen knows that the Stockade Association is working on this, although Mr. Wallen has not responded to the last few e-mails. Once data is collected, the list will be prioritize based on need. At this stage the Stockade Association will begin working with the city. We will be far enough along in the process that we will be ready to seek funding. The committee would present the plan to the planning commission and eventually to the city council as a way to get the plan incorporated into the city's work plan. In this way, the city can add jobs in the Stockade to their existing work plan.
Volunteers will be needed to help fill in forms. Mr. Unger would like time to speak at the general membership meeting on November 19 to explain the process and ask for help in collecting data. He said we have to be able to go to the city and say this is what the Association wants. The safety survey can be done in winter.
Mr. Unger anticipates taking small steps with feedback all along the way. All agreed on the advantage of raising awareness about this issue. A prototype will be developed based on the data collected. Then a more expensive alternative will be developed.
Mrs. Elander suggested using a workshop format with smaller subgroups working on individual parts.
Ms. DeLaMarter said the theme of the January meeting would be resolutions for new year with city officials discussing what they see for the neighborhood in the months ahead. After some discussion it was agreed that the association would sponsor a special workshop to be held the first week in January. The Infrastructure Committee would be given 30 minutes at the most at the November meeting to introduce the project and announce the workshop on Saturday, January 9, 2016 in the morning. Mr. Stern noted that everybody lives on a street and eventually non-association members will need to be included.
Finance: The committee met recently and went over the budget. Glenn Houston put together a spread sheet with deposits and withdrawals. It is more elaborate than earlier formats and allows for more detail. Mr. Houston is still working on this. The spread sheet will be available for future meetings.
After some discussion about painting incentives, it was agreed that the application needs to be tweaked and the rules about who gets money need to be reviewed, before we start disbursing money. The motion lights proposal was revisited (See October 14, 2015 minutes). Mr. Philpott-Jones offered to revise the criteria for painting and other incentives, such as the safety lights, and present them to the board.
Mr. Lemmerman reported that the tax form 990 has been filed with the Federal Government as required. The state tax form requires Ms. DeLaMarter's signature. He also reported that he anticipates receiving $8,000 from the historical society once the staff has reconciled the books. They are waiting for funds from Proctor's. Typically, in the past, the funds were released in late November or early December. There is money in the meantime.
Ms. DeLaMarter asked if the board wished to revisit the outstanding loan to the Soiree/Parks Committee for the lights in the park. Suzy Unger made a MOTION: The board directs the Corresponding Secretary to draft a letter to the Soiree asking for repayment of the $1,000 loaned by the Stockade Association to the Soiree for the lights in the park. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Stern said he will prepare a draft for the board's consideration.
Membership: Mrs. Elander said she will be presenting a monthly report on members of the Stockade Association. She noted we can get input from other board members where necessary. Ms. DeLaMarter said a complete list will be needed for next week's general meeting.
Membership fees are proposed to increase for next year. Ms. Elander would like to increase dues. The bylaws say that the board can increase the dues without approval by the general membership. No action was taken at this time.
Ms. DeLaMarter offered to bring refreshments on November 19 to the general meeting.
Events: Holiday tree lighting will be on December 6. Ms. DeLaMarter noted that everything is on track. The association is donating $100 to the Saratoga Tree Nursery education program. The after-party will be at the Presbyterian Church. There will be no required payment to the church. People will be asked to bring refreshments.
Bylaws Vote on November 19: There will need to be a quorum of 25 in order for the vote to proceed. Mr. St. John suggested that there be a separate vote on each of the 21 amendments through a series of motions. A 2/3 majority (17 votes) will be required to pass each amendment. Rather than voting on the text of the bylaw, Mr. St. John wants to incorporate the abstract of the amendment instead. Anyone can propose an amendment from the floor. None are contingent on passage of another amendment.
After some discussion, it was agreed that an oral vote will be conducted on each motion. Mr. St. John will submit new text to be uploaded to the website and distributed to members at the meeting. Mr. Philpott-Jones will not be able to get to the meeting until 7:15. Ms. DeLaMarter said John Samatulski would speak first, with the by law vote next, and the Infrastructure Committee presentation would be last.
Mr. St. John plans to have the list of amendment abstracts available for board review by Saturday, November 14.
Ms. DeLaMarter informed the board that a painting was purchased at the 1992 art show by a resident who subsequently moved to California. She bought it for $500 and wants to give it to the Stockade Association. It depicts a corner of St. George's Church and its fence. She brought it back recently and it will be officially presented at November 19 meeting.
Susannah Hand has received a request from Joe Piazzo, the videographer who recorded the oral history, to apply for a grant to continue working on the video. Ms. DeLaMarter asked Ms. Hand to have Mr. Piazzo contact her directly.
Diane DeMeo will be decorating a tree for the Festival of Trees. There is a $25 donation to the historical society for participating.
Ms. DeLaMarter said she is looking into using the Spy masthead as a logo to place on tote bags, coffee mugs, tee shirts, notecards, etc. as a fundraiser. In order do this, the original needs to be used to create a better digitized print. This would cost around $200.
Charlie Gelarden has also asked about the banner that has hung over the Indian in the past.
Motion to adjourn: Beverly moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:18 pm.