November 2023 Community Meeting Recap
Note: Any changes to the minutes should be directed to secretary@upperfellspoint.org.
Hybrid Meeting
Welcome/Introductions
Guest Speakers:
1) Councilman Zeke Cohen (Dist. 1) gave an update:
The requested sidewalk repairs in UFP have been completed
An Office of Aging has been established to:
support aging in place, safety, access to fresh food, mobility, and other needs for the elderly
will work with other organizations as a “voice for seniors”
Redistricting of UFP to Dist. 13
District 1 grew in population by 5,700p while other areas of the City shrunk
The City Charter requires a review of districts every 10 years so all 14 districts are the same size
Due to population changes, District 1 must lose ~⅓ of constituents
Redistricting Steps
Mayor Scott’s map was presented with little community engagement
City Council President Nick Mosby presented a new map based on community feedback sessions; map passed (although Councilman Cohen voted against it)
Councilman Cohen proposed a compromise that seemed promising (would have included Upper Fells Point in District 1)
Mayor Scott vetoed the City Council map and stopped any further discussion
The new map will take effect once this term is over (after the 2024 election)
Councilman Cohen could not speak as to why Mayor Scott liked his map better but did note that Mayor Scott expressed an interest in having an “anchor institution” in each district. Councilman Cohen expressed disappointment in the district being split.
2) City Councilman Tony Glover (Dist. 13)
He has a long history in the neighborhood and surrounding communities
He voted against the Mayor’s map as it broke up many neighborhoods and believes the redistricting process was unjust.
An illegal dumping case was solved due to work with community members
Councilman Glover was asked if he was running for a 2nd term. Councilman Glover stated that he has not announced officially but plans to run again.
His contact information is:
Personal Cell: 443-839-3319
Don’t just call for issues, call to gather as a community
Votes
1) Ben Miller was the only candidate running for President; no nominations from the floor. Motion: To elect Ben Miller as President to fill the remaining term of office (through May 2025.); motion passed unanimously.
2) Motion: “To accept both 1) the proposed MOU governing the rules and responsibilities between UFPIA and the entities hosting the security cameras and 2) the UFPIA internal policies governing procedures for footage requests, transparency, and reporting and to include an amendment that requests for access to footage related to 311 incident numbers requires at least 4 out of 6 committee members to approve the access; motion passed (Y-19; No-1; A-3) (For details on the discussion prior to this vote, see Land-Use/Safety Sub-committee below.)
3) Motion: For Mark Hoffmann to serve as Election Judge for the special election for a new Vice President; motion passed unanimously.
Officer Reports
Treasurer’s report was given.
Committee Reports
Beautification
Mallory Kuehn - beautification@upperfellspoint.org
Had our final Dumpster Day and Monday night cleanups for the year
Volunteers cleaned the tree bed mosaics.
Won’t know dates for 2024 dumpster days until Jan. or Feb. next year
Cleanups scheduled for 12/2 and 12/16 from 9-11am, mainly to pick up leaves
If you need brown bags for leaves, contact Mallory
Community Garden
Jan Mooney - communitygarden@upperfellspoint.org
Still have tomatoes and other crops but DPW has turned the water off for the season; will be cleaning out for the season soon
Education
Latonya Watson - education@upperfellspoint.org
Holiday gift drive for Wolfe Street Academy families - All requests have been matched but if you would like to still donate, you can purchase a gift card and bring it to the School by 12/7.
Mural Discussion
WSA hopes to obtain a grant of $30K to add a mural on the wall by the playground
Would like community feedback https://forms.gle/iu2ZKusLnaCJ1H4r6
Artist is Jessy Desantis - https://www.jdesantisart.com/
WSA did meet with other artists but liked Jessy’s work and she is a parent of one of the students at WSA
Jessy will work with Jaz Erenberg and other community muralists
FUND-RAISING
Lisa Knickmeyer - fundraising@upperfellspoint.org
The Halloween Costume Contest was a “Fun-Raiser” rather than “Fund-Raiser”
If we do it again we will be changing some things to make it better.
Hoping to hold the Progressive Dinner in Feb
Email Lisa if you want to help on this or with future events
Land-Use
Mark Hoffmann - landuse@upperfellspoint.org
MOU for Sweet Carolina Liquors was approved by our attorney and sent to them; they have 90 days to respond
Sidewalk repairs are underway
Safety (sub-committee)
Dan Harrison - safety@upperfellspoint.org
Cafe Lighting
Working on installations: approximately 8 active now
Can provide a map of installations
We have to spend the safety grant money by May 14, 2024
Safety Security Cameras
Dan Harrison worked with those concerned about the cameras to draft an MOU to guide policies for camera use
The safety security cameras were purchased 60 days ago and had a 30 day return window but that window is now closed
Proposed MOU with recipients and UFPIA internal policies presented by Ben Miller.
Internal Policies can be easily changed over time
MOU must be signed by all parties
Community Discussion
The MOU will be publicly shared on the UFPIA website
Illegal dumping will not be covered since 311 is not a police report
Conflict of Interest was not discussed while drafting policies
As written, 2/6 people must approve access to the footage
Amendment discussion:
Proposed amendment to add 311 in addition to 911
Councilman Glover stated that he can help arrange to have 311 representatives come to our meeting to discuss how the system works
The Safety Committee was concerned about expanding to 311, as some categories may be perceived of abuse of footage access
It was suggested that dumping is important enough to address
Councilman Cohen stated that illegal dumping has been solved with cameras
New proposed amendment: to add 311
Vote on Camera Policies and MOUs
Motion: To accept both 1) the proposed MOU governing the rules and responsibilities between UFPIA and the entities hosting the security cameras and 2) the UFPIA internal policies governing procedures for footage requests, transparency, and reporting with amendments to 2) that requests for access to footage related to 311 incident numbers requires at least 4 out of 6 committee members to approve the access request; motion passed (Y-19; N-1; A-3)
MEDIA
Jan Mooney - newsletter@upperfellspoint.org
Thanks to our 22 volunteers who ensure you get your newsletter every month.
Reminder - No newsletter or meeting in Dec.
January newsletter deadline is Jan. 1st. at 5pm
Traffic & Parking
Kurt Schiller - trafficparking@upperfellspoint.org
12 people were on Team UFPIA in Cranksgiving on 11/18. The event was a bicycle scavenger hunt/food drive to collect food for Moveable Feast Food Bank and the Franciscan Center
Street Sweeping could be introduced during 3 hr windows to help keep streets clean, but would impact parking temporarily
Would need 60% of residents on each block to sign petition
ROWart project has been completed.
New Business
Heidi Weiss
Is the new community Partner at Wolfe Street Academy
Contact: hweiss-beedie@elev8baltimore.org
Election for Vice President
Mark Hoffmann will serve as Election Judge for the special election for a new Vice President (see Votes section above).
Brent Temeng was nominated to fill the position of VP and he accepted.
Anyone interested in the VP position should contact Mark at electionjudge@upperfellspoint.org. We will have a vote next year to fill the VP position
Meeting adjourned - Social at Spirits Tavern (1901 Bank St)
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.
