ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA 2025 -

9:30 Reception and refreshments (15 mins)

9:45 Meeting starts (15 min)

• Call to order & establish a quorum (Woody)

• Welcome, introductions & housekeeping

• Vote to accept minutes from 2024 Annual Meeting

• Treasurer's Report (Kim K)

10:00 Vote of New Slate of Trustees and Officers (10 min)

10:10 Committee Reports (35 min)

• Infrastructure: Jetport - Deborah N. & Carter W.; Historic Signage - David

R. and/or Dick F.; Traffic & Safety - Woody; 1877 Congress St Condos -

Woody; Stroudwater St. Westbrook new development - Mike A.

• Environment: Living Landscapes - Christie C.; Footbridge &

Portland Trails - Roy St. Clair

• Community Outreach & Events: Woody Howard & Diane D.

• Membership Appeal: David Roberts

10:45 Elected officials to briefly address the meeting (15 min)

“Yes” RSVP’s: Mayor Dion, Senator Jill Duson, Rep. Sam Zager, Rep.

Grayson Lookner, Councilor Regina Phillips, Councilor Ben Grant

11:00 Q&A and General Discussion (30 min)

11:30 Adjourn & Social Time (30 min)

12:00 Clean up

SNA ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES DATE: APRIL 27,2024

LOCATION OF MEETING:Stroudwater Baptist Church

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER @10:00am

TRUSTEES

Woody Howard ( President), Fred Faller , Deborah Napier ( Vice President), Richard Farnsworth , Anne Marie Wilberg (Secretary), Mark McAllister

Kim Keaney (Treasurer) Roy St Clair, David Roberts ( Clerk), Jen Stenberg, Michael Archibald, Carter Waldron, Christie Constantine, Charlotte Witt,

Diane DiConzo, Quorum present

GUESTS PRESENT : Mayor Mark Dion, State Senator Jill Duson, State Representative Sam Zager , CIty Councillor Regina Phillips, City Councillor at large Pious Ali , Joey Brunelle (running for City Council)

CALL TO ORDER/

WELCOME

SNA President Woody Howard

Woody thanked the Stroudwater Baptist Church for allowing us the use of their wonderful facility for this meeting and for other SNA related activities in the future . The Pastor hopes to have this become a community center for the neighborhood. Woody then introduced the current serving members of the SNA Board of Trustees. He thanked Kim Keaney, Oliver Garthwaite for their work in the past, having left the board earlier in the year and thanked Jen Stenberg and Mark McAllister who are stepping down now having completed their terms.

Introduction of Invited Public OfficialsMinutes of 2023 Meeting Woody Howard

Treasurer’s Report Kim Keaney

A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes of the 2023 Annual meeting. By a show of hands the minutes were approved.

(The minutes had been sent out ahead of time as part of the invitation to the Annual meeting and copies were made available at this meeting for those who might wish to review prior minutes.

Accept minutes of 2023 Minute Motion to accept Roy St CLar

Accepted

Calendar Year 2023 and YTD 2024 presented

$ 3700 ( membership/donations)

$ 400 ( In kind/ Business donations)

$ 4100

EXPENSES:

$ 2400 ( fixed expenses, insurance, bank, POBox ,website and

Annual Meeting expenses)

$ 1300

$ 3700

We began the year with $4100 Operating Account

and ended with $ 4460 in

Budgeting process for 2024: Fixed costs reviewed and put out to bid .

Reviewed project and Committee Expenses . Decision made to continue to support the Tate House programming and events

through announcements and attendance, but will no longer donate $200 since this does not fit within our budget

Decision made to increase budget for donations/ membership to $5000 to support our many important initiatives and projects

To date have received $2700 In donations/ membership through April and have incurred $2000 in fixed costs through April

CURRENT BALANCES:

Operating account $5413

Savings account $ 3653 (only to be used for projects that beautify the park and surrounding area)It was reviewed that any one who lives in Stroudwater isautomatically a member of the SNA . It does not require membership dues to join. However clearly donations are welcomed

Motion to accept report and budget as presented made/ seconded , and approved by show of hands

COMMITTEE REPORTS

INFRASTRUCTURE Woody Howard

Brief Overview of projects at the Portland Jetport

Proposed Parking Expansion:

Discussed package prepared with documents outlining concerns the Jetport committee identified regarding the project encouraging members to study and consider writing to the City and Planning board.

Enterprise Rental improvement/expansion

Reviewed initial contacts and hopes for collaborative process allowing for improvements in noise and light Pollution which would benefit the immediate adjacent neighbors

Hyatt Hotel

The DEP public meeting was held on night of one of the Storms, so that unfortunately only 8 people were able to Attend. A request has been made to schedule another. NO specifics were identified, other that building will be Limited to 3 floors

Safety concern / placement of Driveway from Hyatt

We are aware of the high speeds that are driven in this Area. the location of a person dying after being hit by an employee of Enterprise driving car back. We would like to see a coordinated effort by the City around these 3 projects to ensure safety

Proposed Condo development

Property across the street from the Jetport, close to the Dyslexia center has been sold. It has been proposed that

There will be ~100 Condos built there. Discussed Concerns that property will back on river ,and also further congest and already very busy Outer Congress St Charlotte Witt

David Roberts

ENVIRONMENT Jen Stenberg

( Already known to be one of the most dangerous streets In Portland)

The Dam

Update given status of the Dam. The Dam Subcommittee has been in touch with the Sustainability Office/ Troy Moon and

continues to communicate. A Powerpoint presentation has been created to present / support the case for protecting the Dam. It has been designated a “Contributing Structure” and it is on the National Historical Register, so that it is protected, as long as there is no change in it;s designation. Currently, City Lawyers are in the process of determining who owns the Dam . It was emphasized that the dam allows for a major recreational resource, and that we are planning activities around the water, On June 1st plan a Kayak/ BBQ event. All present invited

Signage

We have been planning to update the signage welcoming people to the Stroudwater neighborhood to more closely match the new Tate House signage. The design for the signage is complete and was donated. It will cost ~$1800-2100 to get these signs installed. This will likely

require a request for donations. We are working with the City to make these changes

SW Cemetery

It is considered to be the oldest cemetery in Portland, but is sadly in significant disrepair. The West end Cemetery will be hosting a tour and education on how to properly and respectfully restore Graveyards. We hope to be able to with the help pf the City work towards mindfully restoring our historic graveyard

Living Landscapes (see Attachment)

This committee was established last year with the aim of :

Bringing awareness to the vital importance of a balanced and sustainable ecosystem

Educating our Community and individual residents on how to revive and support biodiversity. Bringing awareness to the vital importance of a balanced and sustainable ecosystem.

Accomplish this by:

Holding monthly meetings, Community activities, Inviting Guest Speakers, Providing hands-on opportunities to learn

The Committee meets once a month and organizing many events and educational opportunities

(Please see attachments for detail

Stroudwater bridge update (see attachment for

description) Roy St. Clair

A collaborative effort of the CIty of Portland, Portland trails, developer of Stroudwater Preserve and Unum. The plan is to break ground this fall

Financing Update: Total Goal : $300K

Recreational trails Program initiative: $120K

Portland trails: $50K

Developer:$32K + sitework/easement

Still needed $60K

Opportunity to make a tax deductible contribution through the Stroudwater Bridge Project website

(https://portland.civilspace.io/en/projects/stroudwater-bridge-

fundraising-project)

Business owners or Companies interested in supporting the project can contact Lindsey Conrad ( lindsay@trails.org) for more info

OUTREACH Woody Howard

Several projects in the works /under consideration

Welcome WagonDevelop a resource to present to welcome new people into the neighborhood. It would include resources and a brief description of the SNA and what it has to offer.

River Kayak tour/BBQ

June 1st. Tour led by Paul Knight ( Maine Guide) and Kelly McDonald ( Scoutmaster). Followed by a BBQ on the grounds of the PortCity Baptist Church Walking tours also planned. . Depending on interest one or two sessions. The aim to showcase the wonderful resource and easy accessibility

SNA Yard Sale

First ever SNA sponsored Yardsale. To take place May 11 in the PortCIty Baptist Church Part of the money would be donated to the Church and the rest would be used for funding other SNA projects. This will be promoted on our website, FB and through an email to the SNA members. Any unsold items will be taken by the SNA to Goodwill or the Dump as appropriate.

Clean Up day

Sponsored by the LIving Landscapes Committee Original date was cancelled due to weather.

Future potential events:

Outdoor Family Movie Night

Revive tradition of Pancake Breakfast

2nd annual Block Party

…….open to ideas and suggestions

MEMBERSHIP APPEAL David Roberts

Clarified to the membership that we are a Non Profit. Our goal is to not just cover our fixed costs, so that we can exist, but to be able to raise sufficient money to be able to support and organize events that benefit our neighborhood.

We depend on donations for this. :

All Stroudwater inhabitants are automatically part of the SNA,regardless of whether they pay “ dues”. We have suggested some donation levels , however we are grateful for anything that you can give. If not money , consider donating some of your time. You donot need to be a Trustee/ Board member to be involved in planning and execution of planned activities. Another example would be considering donating items to our Yard sale and allowing the SNA to have the proceeds for future activities.

Public Official Comments

Mayor Dion:Commented that Portland is a dynamic city with a myriad of challenges and opportunities . He is grateful to have had the opportunity to attend, sit and gather information.and has taken notes which he intends to follow up on. Safety is a priority, and at times requires immediate action.

Senator Duson: emphasized that the Recreational trail Initiatiive is on the ballot, and to make sure we go out to vote.

Rep Zager : take a moment to focus on the fact that the Maine Legislature acted with conscience and bipartisanship to censor

behavior that was unacceptable.

Councillor Phillips deferred

Councillor Ali deferred

Mr Brunell is running for office and introduced himself. A long time resident of Portland. He alerted us to the fact that many other

organizations are similarly concerned about the Jetport project and development in Portland and encouraged us to reach out to him to

put us into contact with other organizations

Safety Woody Howard

According to the Traffic Division the t striped crosswalks at the two entrances to Stroudwater preserve will be completed by

this summer/fall. A flashing light has been requested but, due to the expense, that will probably be delayed for an unknown period of time.

Speed limits are not working around the neighborhood. The only thing that seems to work is the presence of police cars.

There are not enough police available on any regular basis to cover this need. For now, there is no answer except to try to obey the rules ourselves and hope that that will slow down traffic passing through.

A traffic study on Garrison and at the junction of Garrison and Congress did not support introducing speed bumps or other

speed reduction devices on Garrison nor the introduction of a light and/or crosswalk at the Garrison/Congress Street junction.

We will continue to remind neighbors to keep their vehicles secured in driveways to discourage thefts and we will promptly

spread the word when there is a flurry of vehicle thefts or any sort of vandalism in the neighborhood.

Question & Answer Session:

Q: Who is responsible for maintaining the SW Cemetery? The oldest burial ground in the city

A: City of Portland is responsible, however is overwhelmed and

understaffed. We are hoping to partner with the City and possibly obtain a grant to do appropriate work.

Q: What is going on with the Yellowbird trail. We used to be ableto walk it, but it was closed to pedestrians and bikes due to

increased traffic related to UPS. there has been a commitment by Mr Bradbury to reopen this , which has been stalled for some time

A: There has been some work done, including a retaining wall . Woody Howard reported that Mr Bradbury has indicated this

project will be “ off his to do list” by this summer.

Q: What happened to the plan to create a crosswalk at Garrison street. We know that there was an “ Outer Congress Street development plan”

A: Apparently the crosswalk was eliminated from the plan. Mayor Dion took note and will look into this.

Q: It was pointed out that there are no sidewalks at the location of the Bus stop. People waiting for the bus need to do so on the edge of the street, which feels dangerous, there is also no shelter in the setting of inclement weather . If the CIty is genuinely trying to incentivize the use of Public transportation this needs to be addressed. Councillor Ali has been in contact with the Metro Board

A: Mayor Dionne took note.

Q: Generalized concern re safety regarding speeding/ running red lights and dangerous driving . Concern regarding the safety of Pedestrians. The question was raised about possible use of cameras to assist in identifying.

A: Mayor Dionne commented that there are 35 vacancies in the police department . Concerned that cameras would be considered

by some to be an invasion of privacy

Q: A: What is the current status of the ongoing saga of the two abandoned houses on Garrison St. ( v elderly father and two

daughters.) they continue to pay the city at the very last Minute, so the city has no option. The current status of the houses are dangerous, no floors and It is being broken into by teenagers . Mayor Dion requested the addresses, and will look into it.

Q: What is the City policy re storm clean up

A: Mayor Dionne: The city is scheduling pick ups . they are getting around to scheduling and pick up, there are however constitutional/legal issues around funding for clean up of private property

Jen Stenberg Announced annual Tate House plant sale May 18

Adjourn Motion to adjourn made and seconded

Approved

MEETING ADJOURNED @ 11:30am

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY Anne Marie Wilberg (Secretary)