Federal Hill Neighborhood Association (FHNA)
General Membership Meeting
Draft Meeting Minutes for October 21, 2014
Date: October 21, 2014
Start Time: 7:00 pm
Chair: Beth Whitmer
Location: Christ Church
End Time: 7:55 pm
Secretary: Jessica Damen
Board Members Present: Jessica Damen, Walt Ettinger, Gayle McClure, Bob Merbler, Aimee
Sanfilippo, Brooke McDonald, Beth Whitmer
Board Members Not Present: Deb Nelson
Members / Guests in Attendance: approximately 26 members.
Call to Order: Beth Whitmer called to meeting to order at 7:03
Itemized Agenda:
Adoption of September 16th Meeting Minutes – Jessica Damen -Walt Ettinger and Aimee
Sanfilippo moved to accept minutes as written. Approved by majority.
Treasurer’s Report - Beth Whitmer: Ivo requested an itemized donation list. Gayle clarified that
the large donations were included in the annual budget and then the Board approves. Lane Bert
moved and Aimee seconded to accept Treasurer’s report as written. Approved by majority.
FHNA President Transition Update – Beth Whitmer presented an overview of the process for
the membership. Ivo inquired whether Beth would continue as Treasurer if she were elected
Acting President? Questions were raised as to “whom” and “how” of administration of the
following: Facebook page, web page and membership list. Gayle is the administrator of the FB
and during the transition time other specifics are being worked out.
Baltimore Beach Volleyball – Dave Sivak is a Board member of FH Main Street. Dave reported
that Inner harbor 2.0 plans for Rash field do not include the beach volleyball courts. Dave S is
asking members to write a letters of support for the continuing Beach Volleyball. He encouraged
member to sign the on-line petition. He also asked the Board to write a letter of support for
Beach Volleyball. The Board will defer to the majority opinion of the membership to determine
whether to write a letter of support.
Public Safely Update – Butter Bean Officer Kevin Voight. A lot of larceny from cars therefore the
officer reminded members to clear their cars. There have been no burglaries. There was one
robbery that is under investigation. Question regarding the implementation of curfew for
students. The Southern District police may pick up students for curfew violation but the school
police process them. No update on the attacks that occurred in Federal Hill this summer.
FHNA GM / BoD Meeting Minutes for January 08, 2014 -- DRAFT
DHHS Alliance Update – Jessica Damen reported about the more frequent DHHS student
disruptive behavior this Fall such as truancy, late arrival of students, student roaming throughout
FH park, smoking weed in public and private property, two incidents of threats. She described
the meetings that School Liaison committee and others had with The School’s principal and vice
principal. DHHS has hired four more hall monitors and has instituted procedures for more
monitors in the neighborhood. There was some discussion the problems associated with the
interpretation of the State’s Code of Conduct and how this Code does not promote individual
student accountability for inappropriate behavior. Jessica thanked the helped of other members
and request for more involvement from the neighborhood.
CHAP Update - John Thompson reported on the events that occurred last spring. The
membership took a vote to see if there is support for creating a CHAP district. He clarified that
the vote was not unanimous but was a majority. As recorded in the Minutes of February 18,
2014: The motion stated: “Does FHNA wish to send a letter to the Mayor requesting the creation of a
local Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) district? Yes or No
Kelly Sheehan moved and Walt Saxon Seconded the motion. The motion carried with 27 in favor of
exploring the CHAP District for Federal Hill. 15 opposed the motion.
The letter sent by FHNA president regarding the FHNA request for exploring CHAP districting stated,
“The membership of FHNA voted unanimously to support our request for the creation of a local Historic
district, at a meeting on February 18, 2014”. http://federalhillbaltimore.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/02/2014.02.22_RequestForFederalHillCHAP.pdf
It was noted during membership’s discussion that since the vote was not unanimous why the
letter had not been corrected. It was explained to the membership that the FHNA Board had
taken up the question whether to correct the letter written by Eric Costello. The Board decided
that the vote, whether unanimous or, 27 to 15 in favor did not materially change the outcome
and therefore, there was no need to redress the mistake in the letter.
Some members expressed confusion about the Mayor’s response of August 12, 2014. The
Mayor’s office wrote: “…. I have asked the Planning Department to begin preparations for the Federal
Hill local historic district designation in early 2015.” http://federalhillbaltimore.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/09/2014.08.12-Mayors-Letter-to-FHAN-on-CHAP.pdf
John Thompson continued his summary of events: the FHNA did not hear back from the
Mayor’s office for months because there were not enough people in the office to handle the
request. However the 2015 budget does include one additional preservation employee to
address CHAP requests. The process for CHAP designation has several steps. A mailer is sent
to every address in the proposed designated area. IF it is determined that the membership
wants a CHAP designation from the mailer results the legislative process is initiated. In other
words, a bill needs to be introduced to the State Legislature and approved by the State
Legislature for a CHAP district designation. John Thompson assured the membership that the
preservation committee would meet with Federal Hill residents to address their questions.
In summary, Eric Costello’s letter incorrectly reported unanimous approval rather than majority
approval and the Mayor’s response is confusing. Nonetheless, the process for CHAP local
district designation requires first, the affirmative support through mailers and Legislative
approval.
FHNA GM / BoD Meeting Minutes for January 08, 2014 -- DRAFT
Liquor Advisory Committee Update – Rufus Lusk reported the next LAC meeting is Tuesday
10/28/14. Rufus turned the presentation over to Len Homer, member and retired partner of
Ober/Kaler, Attorneys-At-Law. He presented an update regarding the legal suite against
Crossbar’s license validity question. The NA won at the latest Liquor Board meeting and the
Crossbar license was declared invalid. However, there is still a long legal process that may not
end until January 2015. Former Senator Della was a witness for the NA presenting testimony
that clarified the original intention of the license extension aspect of the liquor law. Rufus
believes Senator Della has done a great service for our and other neighborhood communities
with his testimony.
New Business: Carl Warner spoke about getting representation from different demographic
populations from the neighborhood. We need to address the FB page issues regarding
openness in information.
Gayle: offered to do social media administration during the transition but she does not want to
do it after transition. She asked for someone in the neighborhood to volunteer who is more
social media knowledgeable.
The Coat Drive is being organized by Diana Sugg coordinated with the Police Department
Meeting Adjourned at 8:26 pm Rose moved and Aimee seconded.
Minutes Approved On:
Minutes Approved By: Vote or Board Members?
FHNA GM / BoD Meeting Minutes for January 08, 2014 -- DRAFT