Minutes of January 14, 2020 Board Meeting
The meeting, which was held at Hotel Indigo, was called to order at 5:30 pm by President Richard Mones.
Board Members Present: Howard Davis, Jim Lampl, David Lough, Richard Mones, Sue Stewart, Moriah Taliaferro and Debbie Trice. Absent: Grace Howl, Ryan McBride. Visitors: Arlene Sweeting
Board activities since the last meeting:
none
AGENDA ITEMS
President's Report
Gillespie Park Neighborhood — Richard reported that he and Linda Holland are working to schedule a follow-on to our initial joint meeting of the two association boards.
Community Workshops — Richard is in contact with Michael Halflants regarding a presentation about the “Drapac” site (NE corner of Cocoanut & 4th) in mid-February. David volunteered to approach Bill Russell about a community workshop on Lofts on Lemon.
The Quay — Richard reported the City's rejection of the proposed design of The Quay's lots 2 & 3.
Secretary's Report & Approval of Minutes
APPROVAL OF MINUTES of December 10 by acclamation.
Vice President's Report
No report
Treasurer's Report
Richard reported a bank balance of $3,762.49. Howard indicated that Gulf Coast Community Foundation is holding about $4,000 in a fund for Rosemary District; use of this money must be within the scope of the fund's purpose.
Next RDA Board Election
There are 4 nominees for the 4 open Resident Board positions: Emmett Gregory, David Lough, Moriah Taliaferro and Debbie Trice. And there are 4 nominees for the 4 open Other Stakeholder Board positions: Howard Davis, Jim Lampl, Tracee Murphy and Melody Odell.
Debbie presented the Nomination Committee's plan for conducting the election and a list of questions for the Board. After discussion, the plan was accepted with resolution of the questions, as follows:
• We will call for nominations from the floor at the January 22 Community Meeting
• If there are no new nominations, we will proceed with the election as laid out, even though the number of candidates equals the number of open seats. If there are nominations from the floor, the start of the voting period will be delayed to receive and post the new Candidate
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Statement(s) and update the ballot.
• Establishing a tie-breaking procedure will be postponed until next year.
We'll take a group photo at the Jan. 22 meeting, and send a Media Release after the election.
The February Board meeting will be a joint meeting of the old and new Boards to ease transition.
Agenda for January 22 Community Meeting
Sequence: Neal Dollar (15 minutes total), Mark Lyons (20 minutes + 10 minutes Q&A), Elections (2 minutes per candidate, then nominations from the floor), RDA Reports: Business Alliance, Community Relations, Open Space, The Bay, Zoning.
We agreed to accept dues payments in cash or checks at the meeting if done carefully so that each payment stays with the Membership Application.
April Community Meeting
Richard will invite Stevie Freeman-Montes, the City's Sustainability Manager, to be our primary speaker. David suggested that we also invite Jerry Fogel, Director of Parks and Recreation. The exact meeting date in the latter part of April will depend on the availability of both Freemen Montes and Fogartyville.
Committee Reports: Business Alliance
Jim reported that Willows Cafe is still not open. He plans to introduce new business owners at the January 22 meeting. The banner made for event displays cost less than $200.
Committee Reports: Communications/Membership
Debbie reported that she sent renewal notices to everyone who joined before March 2019, and that we've received 35 dues payments within the last 30 days (32 resident, 3 other stakeholder). There are currently about 137 members.
The Board clarified our policy on dues waivers for certain business providing RDA a regular service. Each waiver is for 1 year. The Board will renew as appropriate. The dues waivers for 2020 have been awarded to Hotel Indigo and WSLR/Fogartyville.
The January newsletter will go out before the weekend.
Committee Reports: Community Relations
Sue indicated that she plans to remain on the Community Relations Committee and serve as a liaison to Sarasota Police Department (SPD) after her term on the RDA Board ends. She is still working to receive statistics on calls to the police from Rosemary District.
Committee Reports: Events / Programs
Richard has been in discussion with Shay Atluru of the Downtown Sarasota Alliance (DSA) about a City Grant Program to help fund events to promote businesses in neighborhoods outside of Downtown. The Grant is for $10,000 – $25,000. The receiving neighborhood must partner with a 501c3; both DSA and WSLR/Fogartyville qualify. DSA has offered to promote such an RDA event.
Richard and Debbie met with Arlene Sweeting about partnering on an event. Arlene said that Fogartyville will hold a celebration art exhibit on April 4. An opportunity for RDA, perhaps?
RDA will have a booth at Music on May Lane on February 6 to promote local businesses and RDA.
Committee Reports: Open Space
David reported the following:
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• RD Park: no change in status
• BotA: Rosemary District is high priority in Sarasota-in-Motion planning; FPL is planning to harden utility poles—perhaps the City will work this into a comprehensive plan on the streetscape; funding sources are Multi-modal and TIF.
• Trees: Trying to overcome issues with Florida Avenue ROW trees; perhaps make them a demonstration project of RROD-2 possibilities; Planting in 5th Street ROW in front of mural seems to be “mission impossible.”
• Traffic: timing for Fruitville closure, speed tables and 15 MPH signage tentatively early March • RD Population estimates: updated, working on assessed value estimate
• SSA&S Event on January 18: school will be open for tours in conjunction with planting effort • HUD Block Grant: suggesting use of $200,000 to fund purchase of land for RD park
• Lofts on Lemon: William Russell will fence the parcel to prevent trespassing before construction starts
Committee Reports: The Bay
The decision that the 7th member of the TIF Board will be appointed from the TIF district didn't appear in the minutes of The Bay meeting. Howard will write a letter to The Bay with this correction to their minutes.
Richard reported that the The Bay's improvements to the Garden Club site are quite positive. Committee Reports: Zoning
Howard reported that implementation of RROD-2 is the new challenge. This includes establishing financial accounts and controls for special Rosemary District funds for art and trees.
Meeting Adjourned at 7:45 pm.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 11 at 5:30–7:00 pm at Hotel Indigo.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Trice, Secretary
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