FNA Board of Directors Meeting 4/2/2018. In attendance: Sara Karashin, Leah Suasnovar, Geri Cotten, Deanna Stuart, Susan Harper, Sean Ford, Betty Spitzberg
Also in attendance: Fred Harper
(Leah not present for beginning of meeting or call to order, so I am starting the minutes when I arrived at meeting)
Query, will we be placing an ad in the Star Telegram to publicize the Neighborhood Yard Sale? Reminder that we have bright green Neighborhood yard sales signs to put all over neighborhood that are stored at The Bastion. We can pick up the signs when we relocate our stored items to the new storage unit on the 7th.
The menu for Winedown after the Home Tour will be served by Chadra, they were able to meet our budgetary needs, and Winedown will be hosted at Rosen House Inn.
Board Member Updates:
Membership, Deanna Stuart: 4/13 is next Social, this is a “kid free” event, hosted at Chimera and Sinaca. No Social scheduled in May due to Home Tour. June and July are TBD. Still need volunteers for welcome packets. Discussion: Should committee members be current on membership dues? Should committee chairs be current on dues? Bylaws reviewed and there are no regulations addressing this topic. At this time it’s determined only Board Members need to be current on dues, but this may need to be addressed when we audit the bylaws at a later date. Discussion of benefits of membership in addition to fun neighborhood events and socials, you also have a person representing your interest with the NPO/Code Compliance/HCLC/Zoning/NSI Representation/Board of adjustment/Bond programs/NUSA, etc.
Administration, Leah Suasnovar: 4/7 is moving day! Items from old unit and items at Bastion will be moved into new unit. Some will meet at old unit to clear items out, and some will meet at the new unit to build shelves. We will catalog all items as they enter new unit. We need to reach out to old members to see if they have items in their homes that need to be put in storage. Sara has made arrangements to have the Bastion opened at 11:00 am to move those items.
Motion to review Conflict of interest form in July (prior to new Board members coming on board) Motion approved.
Infrastructure, Breinn Richter (not present), update by Sara Karashin. Park design submittals/Green Space maintenance proposals are coming in. Best concept will be selected and Board will seek membership input also.
There will be Public Arts tour in November and the last stop will be the Fairmount Park. Discussion regarding a possible purchase of green space on Allen, Susan Harper to contact greenhouse owner regarding property.
Preservation, Susan Harper: No update on a palaver flyer. Good Neighbors/Great Neighborhoods stated Fairmount is the largest contiguous historic district in the US. As such, the Ft. Worth HCLC is greatly understaffed. Fort Worth has 9000 designated historic properties. Discussion to approach general membership for approval in paying a student to do a thesis to prove/disprove Fairmount’s social and economic value to the City of Fort Worth compared to building new neighborhoods, in hopes this data could be used to leverage our causes with city action items and for more staffing for HCLC. Perhaps this could be grant funded, and a few names were mentioned in regards to grant writing: Rachel Leventhal Garrett and the family that resides next to Pat and Mickey Bradley. After much discussion, it was decided we need to work out more details before presenting this idea to General Membership. Additional discussion: How does the FNA give back regarding historic measures? Perhaps we can consider a scholarship or Internship and the opportunity for a student to attend zoning, preservation or other city meetings.
Communications, Betty Spitzberg: 4/4 is deadline for May newsletter. 4/14 is absolute last date to turn items in for including in newsletter. Betty needs homes article for houses on tour. Sara is going to try and write an article on “Why Be a Member?” Discussion on if Betty is grooming someone to take over her position in August. Betty is going to try and include zoning notifications in email blasts, Susan to send these to Betty for including.
Fred Harper to take our letter and application for Yard of the Month sponsorship to Archies.
Reminder to Board members, Sara needs updates for “bullet points” for General Membership agenda by the 3rd Wednesday of every month.
There are no speakers currently planned for for April’s general membership meeting.
Fort Worth League of Neighborhood membership is $35, FNA will be joining. They meet quarterly, next meeting is June 7, 2018 at University Christian Church at 6:30 pm.
If you are attending the NSI Shindig, you need to RSVP by 4/15.
Fred is undertaking a project to map electrical and gas lines throughout the neighborhood.
Board members should share the Home Tour posts from their personal social media accounts.
Motion to adjourn, approved, 8:48 pm.
Meeting minutes submitted by Leah Suasnovar, 4/11/18.