The meeting was called to order at 7:05PM. Location was at Mobtown Brewing Company.
Treasurers Report
The following details regarding BHNA’s funds were shared:
· The checking account total is $10,000
· The money market account total is $43,000
· Annual dues are $10 a person for the year and can be paid via the website.
Guest Speakers
Emily Socolinsky from Five x3 Training
Emily shared information about a self-defense seminar to be held at the Five x3 gym on January 29, from 10am-2pm. Steve Wakefoose will conduct the seminar. The first part of the seminar focuses on situation awareness and how to avoid situations. The second part focuses on self-defense. Cost of the class is $75 per person.
Here is a short video of a prior seminar: https://youtu.be/9nGLked4gqg
You can sign up and pay here: Five x3 Self Defense Seminar
DPW
Update on water main project:
· There is a change order to revise the standards, the order will be approved soon but the contract will continue until September but could be done before September
· The water line work is done, remaining work is repaving
· The new traffic line standard is 2-foot-wide stripes
· DPW can check into adding crosswalks where they weren’t already
· DPW will continue to provide us with updates so we can keep the community updated
Recycling questions answered
· #6 containers are not recyclable
· You cannot put recycling inside bags, needs to go right in the cans
· Trucks dropping glass, that means a seal is damaged, crews are supposed to have brooms and shovels when glass is dropped, call 311 when this occurs
· If blocks are missed, call 311 and they guarantee a 24-hour turnaround
· Delays are typically caused by drivers and laborers calling out, they are asking trash drivers and laborers to work recycling after they are done their trash shift
· If recycling comes the next day because they were running so late, a call to 311 will let you know that this change will occur
· They plan to take back the suggestion for a virtual (twitter, website etc.) update regarding trash and recycling days in specific areas
· If anyone has any ideas on how we can help the recycling department get back to once a week recycling, contact Doreen to discuss
The DPW Sanitation guide was provided and can be found here and the DPW Recycling guide was provided and can be found here.
Contact info:
DPW project Supervisor, Shujaat Khan: shujaat.khan@baltimorecity.gov
DPW Project Manager, Larry Nunley: Larry.nunley@baltimorecity.gov, 443-615-2626
DPW John Guydon: john.guydon@baltimorecity.gov
Recycling, Doreen Moore: doreen.moore@baltimorecity.gov, 443-835-9257
Recycling, Antoine Arrington: antoine.arrington@baltimorecity.gov
Recycling yard number: 410-396-9952
Bark Social
Luke Silverman, CEO and Charlene Lee, COO of Bark Social, came to the meeting to request a letter of support for their new liquor license. Bark Social is Baltimore based startup that contains a dog park, beer garden and coffee shop. Their offices are located in Montgomery Park.
Bark Social mission statement - to create an online and physical space where dogs and dog lovers come to have fun and every day is a block party. They are proud to say that:
· Giving back is a core mission of their business, they want to create a safe space for dogs and the owners
· Every employee that works 30 hours or more they get 401K match, PTO, health insurance match
· It is a safe/cleaned/monitored dog park
· They have had no liquor, noise or health code violations in Bethesda or Baltimore to date
· Their prime hours are 10-4 weekends, 3-7 week days, they close early and are not a “2AM” “shot” type place
They are asking for a letter of support from the BHNA board to add a liquor license. They turned their beer/wine license in Montgomery County into a liquor license in 3 months but the process has been more difficult in Baltimore. Without the liquor license here, it has made a significant impact on revenue. A letter of support from Baltimore residents and boards will help them achieve their liquor license.
If there are any concerns for Bark Social please email the board.
Announcements
Background:
· BHNA started in 2017 as a way to get ahead of all the developments in the neighborhood and support neighborhood changes/updates
· BHNA is not a condo association or HOA
· BHNA dues cover insurance premiums for our events, helps fund activities (movie night etc.) and we adopted Graceland Elementary in O’Donnell Heights
· BHNA also helps with traffic issues, safety and truck traffic has reduced immensely
Projects:
· The Collective – Sapperstein project (by Bark Social)
· Business office is the current big project. It will have retail: F45, Pro Med health, Celebree daycare and 28 Walker and Collective will be moving in (Spring 2023)
· The Volo Sports Center will be on Haven st behind Starbucks. They are planning to open in Fall 2023. The Canton Car wash will also be in this space and is slated to open during Q3/Q4 2023
o Volo will require membership but we will continue to discuss with them how we can partner as a neighborhood
· Once the Collective is finalized they will implement traffic calming measures on Haven, a crosswalk and pedestrian light. BHNA has proposed a turn lane on Haven street to get to the Sprouts side.
· Refinery row- started the next phase of the development which includes 21 off street and 23 on street parking, probably will break ground later this year
· BHNA put together a MOU to put a traffic plan together that way anyone doing any type of work on Haven st they have a truck/reroute root for trucks
· Obrecht apartments (Avalon) – 400 units with onsite parking, will be placed to the left of sprouts and back towards DiPasquale’s
· The scrap yard has officially relocated, there will be a lot of remediation, once we get updates we will update the neighborhood
· Rails to Trails/Greenway Trail – trail that will go around all of Baltimore City, most exists already and Canton is the last missing piece to connect to Herring Run, then behind the Lucie, along Boston street and around the water to the stadiums, will add adequate green space to our neighborhood and add connectivity with the rest of the city
· BHNA hopes to add a mural on the under-pass wall and columns and some lighting underneath
· The street lights next to the Lucie aren’t turned on yet, we will look into that (BGE issue, the Sapperstein’s may be able to help) (hopefully turned on by end of month)
· Hogan’s refund the police grant – BHN was awarded a grant of $50,000 to add public safety measures in our neighborhood. We hope can get camera installations around the southeast, cameras that can locate vehicles, capture package thefts, etc. These cameras are $16-20,000 a piece. We would also like to add some lighting installations (café lights) to help some blocks add lighting
· hopefully there will be another round of this grant later this year, please provide input for security measures we can plan if granted more money
· Mobtown has offered to possibly accept packages or get an Amazon locker
· Spring cleanup, we would provide some plants, planters, mulch and cleanup the neighborhood after the DPW work
Open Forum
· The dog waste station on the corner of Grundy/Fait has become an issue. The neighbors that care for the station are looking for help with emptying by neighbors, Mobtown etc., and are looking for support to ask Mobtown to help facilitate emptying too
· Bark social has offered to donate bags
· A neighbor suggested that a skywalk/overpass for pedestrians could benefit Rails to Trails (Dillon and Haven). This was previously quoted at $2 million.
· Café lights – Chris Broughton spoke. He confirmed that a long block is about $100 a house to install.
o LED light bulbs are 1.5w a piece, .01 amps of current pulled a piece
o You could plug in 2000 light bulbs to one outlet and it would be less than $0.50 a house or $5 a month for a house to light the whole block (usually if an end house is covering electricity then other neighbors cover their install fees)
o 80% of the project is talking to your neighbors and organizing
o BHNA could help fund blocks with people unable to afford
o A well-lit block makes cameras more effective at night
Closing Remarks
Renewal of dues for 2023 is underway. Members can send payment via PayPal or Venmo (@BHNeighbors) or Credit Card to renew dues for 2023.
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 8:00PM. The next meeting will be April 11, 2023.