July 2023 Community Meeting Recap
Note: Any changes to the minutes should be directed to secretary@upperfellspoint.org.
Hybrid Meeting
Welcome/Introductions
Guest Speakers
Amy Zemanick, UFPIA Secretary, summarized the UFPIA safety survey results; 136 people participated in the survey. The main safety concerns expressed were theft, violent crime, traffic violence/injury and property damage. Possible ways to remedy the situations were to have more lighting, traffic calming treatments, security and traffic cameras, and ADA compliant sidewalks/crossings. There also was discussion about the types of safety cameras; however due to time constraints the discussion was tabled and will be discussed in more detail at our August meeting and there may be a vote. For the complete survey results, click here.
Wendy Bozel, UFPIA President, discussed sending a letter to BGE opposing their new gas regulators; click here. (Also see Votes section below.)
Votes
Motion: To support the lawsuit filed by Attorney Thiru Vignarajah on June 23, 2023 whereby individuals can refuse to give consent to BGE to install new external gas regulators and stop BGE’s threats to terminate service if an individual does not give permission to install the gas regulators; motion passed.
Committee Reports
Beautification
Mallory Kuehn—beautification@upperfellspoint.org
Pre-National Night Out Clean-up - 7/31 6pm
Cleanup/Dumpster Day - 8/26 9am
Community Garden
Jan Mooney - communitygarden@upperfellspoint.org
Honey Happy Hour at the community garden on August 19th from 4-6pm. There will be food and beverages by donation; honey for sale, a raffle (tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5) and a guest speaker will give a short talk about pollinators and how you can help them. Kids welcome with an adult but no pets allowed in the garden or tied to the gate.
Education
Vacant — president@upperfellspoint.org
Need a chair as George will be stepping down as they are moving out of the neighborhood.
Land-Use
Mark Hoffmann - landuse@upperfellspoint.org
A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sweet Carolina Liquors will be discussed at our August meeting and there may be a vote.
Safety (sub-committee)
Vacant — president@upperfellspoint.org
If you are interested in having café lighting installed on your block, contact Wendy.
National Night Out will be held on Aug. 1st in the 300 block of S Chapel from 6:30-8:30pm.
Media
Jan Mooney - newsletter@upperfellspoint.org
The deadline for the August newsletter is August 6th at 5pm.
Traffic & Parking
Kurt Schiller - trafficparking@upperfellspoint.org
Redline Transit Project - Related events will be posted on Facebook, Nextdoor and our website.
New Business
Mr. Johnson, State Attorney Ivan Bates’ Office, discussed the new citation initiative - https://www.stattorney.org/citation-docket. Mr. Johnson also stated that if you have a Honda, Kia or Hyundai you can get a lock for your wheel from the police dept.
Ethan Hasiuk, Legislative & Community Affairs Director in Councilman Cohen’s office, stated that a resolution to reject a BGE rate increase for next year was passed and that Councilman Cohen’s office will be working on getting sidewalks repaired.
To vote on issues at a meeting, you must have paid your current dues (based on calendar year beginning in January), attended 2 of the preceding 11 meetings, live in our boundaries and be age 18 and/or attended UFPIA sponsored events/activities per our Meeting & Voting Regulations.
