meeting minutes
Date: February 17, 2009 BA 122 Monthly Public Meeting- Minutes
Meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by Fialka Semenuik
I. Roll Call: Jubal Battisti, Mario Pinto, Fialka Semenuik, Haja Worley
II. Adoption of Meeting Minutes: Jubal moved that Minutes from the last meeting be adopted as submitted. Mario seconded that motion.
III. Board Report
a. Treasurers report-
$2,840.31 money market account (interest bearing)
$50.00 share deposit account
$26.00 cash on hand
___________________________
$2,916.31 total
*please email fialka_s@yahoo.com to arrange for payment of membership fees.
b. BA non-profit charity/tax-exempt status:
i. IRS has approved our 1023 application! IRS has determined that Block Association 122 Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity, that BA122 is exempt from federal income tax, and that contributions to BA122 are tax-deductible.
-Now that public charity status has been finalized, Fialka noted that the BA is obligated to remain in compliance with the IRS guidelines for Public Charities which include the following: accurate record-keeping; no political campaign activity and limited legislative activity.
ii. A copy of our amended Certificate of Incorporation has been sent to sister non-profit organizations Project Harmony & CPSR (Christian Parish for Spiritual Renewal) to notify them of our dissolution cause: they would inherit funds of the BA in the event the BA were to dissolve.
IV. Ongoing Business
a. Discussion of Proposed Amendments to BA122 Bylaws:
(See attachment for exact wording of proposed amendments.) Main points of discussion were as follows:
i. Official name of the BA to be: Block Association 122 Inc. (per our Certificate of Incorporation)
ii. In defining when/where meetings take place, Mario noted how it was important to stay consistent with meeting times. i.e. changing meetings to a different day of the week can cause confusion.
iii. Discussion of voting regulations, particularly in matters concerning money allocations and election of officers, resulted in the decision to better define membership. Membership to be defined as follows: Voting Members are those that pay their annual membership fees. Non-voting members have a voice in discussions prior to voting but are not allowed to vote. Haja recommended having a membership roster at each general meeting.
iv. In voting for money allocations, a quorum shall consist of ‘50% plus one’ of the voting membership.
v. The Executive Committee Officer positions originally defined separately as Financial Secretary and Treasurer shall be combined into one position of ‘Treasurer’.
-Haja moved that the amendments proposed thus far be accepted as discussed. Mario seconded the motion. Updated proposed amendments are to be emailed to all members for any final comments or discussion.
b. Continued Discussion of Goals for BA
i. General Maintenance of Block - No updates at this time.
ii. Educational or Camp scholarships - Rukaye is looking further into options, possibly proposing scholarships as part of Project Harmony programming. Proposal to be presented at the Potluck dinner.
iii. Contributing to Project Harmony Programs - Awaiting presentation from Proj. Harmony at the Potluck to see how their programming might best benefit from BA funds.
iv. Partnering with CSA via Project Harmony - Mario will represent the BA at the CSA meeting on Thursday, February 19th to ask whether members of the BA can obtain shares and whether the BA can help organize a trip to the farm with kids from the block.
v. Create BA122 events calendar to be emailed to membership - Awaiting update from Jude Overo.
vi. Fialka proposed that one of our goals should be to fill all BA executive committee positions. The executive is currently functioning with only two officers: President (Cator Sparks) and Treasurer (Fialka Semenuik) with members Astrid Storm and Mario Pinto volunteering to take Meeting Minutes. With only two officers, and the case where both might become unavailable to run a meeting due to other conflicts, no one is left to take care of business. Haja recommended that if such a case arises, that the Officers designate another member to run the meeting.
c. Tote Bag - research update from Jubal
- Jubal found out that the fourth vendor under consideration- Ultimate Impressions -cannot incorporate more than one color into the design. This leaves us with the original three vendors to select from: Sigui, Café Press and Zazzle. Given that Zazzle has the most design options - including text, and what appears to be a good quality bag for a comparable cost to other vendors, it was decided to order two bags from them to present as samples at the Potluck meeting. (ordering two bags vs. one will incur some price savings). Fialka and Mario offered to buy the two bags once received by Jubal.
d. Annual Potluck scheduled for Tuesday, March 17/09 will feature presentations from Project Harmony and from Rukaye on proposed kids’ scholarships.
- We are awaiting confirmation with CPSR on use of basement kitchen/dining room for the Potluck.
e. Setting up new BA website - Fialka presented a print-out of the proposed new BA website home page, as designed by Cator and his friend Laura. Along with a brief description of the BA and some photos, the home page contains links to the BA blog and other relevant websites. Cator and Fialka are currently researching potential website hosting companies. One, called ‘ourweb.net’ offers discounted prices for charities: $36/year for hosting + $15/year for registering domain name.Discussion is to continue at the next meeting.
IV. Block News
a. Precinct Meeting - No news.
b. JD Wilson Community Garden Update - No new developments.
V. Old Business
a. Donation to Explorers Club: Executive is to contact Officers Snead and Edwards regarding proposal to donate funds to pay for one child’s uniform.
VI. New Business
a. A few residents have suggested that speed bumps be installed on our block to help slow down dangerous speeding vehicles. Local cat ‘Oscar’ was killed by a car recently. Shortly after, BA member Penny Barten witnessed a child almost hit by another car.
-Fialka reported that the Dept of Transportation lists clear guidelines on how to request a speed ‘hump’. A letter must be submitted to the Commissioner of Transportation. Items recommended to include in the request are: petition of support signed by a majority of residents on the block, a resolution of support from the local community board, or a letter of support from local elected official’. It appears that a reduced speed zone may be an alternate solution should a speed hump not be viable.
-Discussion turned to the question of whether neighboring blocks should also be considered in a request for speed humps, given that there are schools nearby. Speed bumps isolated on our block may displace the speeding traffic to neighboring residential blocks. If we were to approach the Community Board 10 about the issue, Haja recommended that we attend their own Transportation Committee meeting.
-Fialka noted that Penny has already volunteered to help spearhead the speed reducing effort.
-Fialka asked if there were any concerns in requesting a speed hump. Mario noted that travel of emergency vehicles would be affected.
-Discussion is to continue.
b. Haja reported that neighbor and BA member Ms. Coggins is recovering from a stroke. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Minutes compiled by Mario Pinto and Fialka Semenuik.
