Charles Village Community Benefits District Management Authority

MINUTES

Board Meeting

November 11, 2008

2434 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218

Present:

Steve Gewirtz Gary Letteron

Rob Books Dawna Cobb

Robin Truiett-Theodorson Derek Demaree

Susanne Riveles Jeff Millard

Jay Orr

Also Present: David Hill

Guests: Thomas Klein, David Briggs

The meeting was called to order at 7:08 pm without a quorum present. (Jay Orr arrived shortly thereafter and a quorum was then present.)

Presentation: Audit FY 2008, Thomas R. Klein, CPA of TR Klein & Company

This year’s audit was done solely on the basis of the CVCBD books as compared to the past when the audit was consolidated with that of the Charles Village Foundation. We reviewed the auditor’s letter dated 9/12/08. The auditor gave a “clean” opinion, which is the highest and best opinion that can be received.

Executive Director’s report

Mr. Hill reported on the following items:

Revenue and Fundraising – We received $121,000 in surcharge revenue since the last board meeting. We also received a $20.000 Goldseker grant for a newsletter and educational program on sanitation and safety issues; and a $2,100 grant from the City to support the Neighborhood Walkers on Patrol to purchase identifiers—t-shirts and ponchos. Other revenue received in this period included $1,000 from CSX for initial clean up of their 26^th Street property from Howard to Loch Raven. CSX will pay $500 for the winter clean up.

New sanitation truck - As of November 10, 2008, the CVCBDMA has available $30,000 for a new truck. This was made possible through donations of $15,000 from the Abell Foundation, $7,500 from the Johns Hopkins University, $1,000 M & T Bank, $500 from R. Griffin and S. Carrick, and $3,560 from Baltimore Community Foundation. The balance is being contributed by Anderson Automotive in the form of rebates and a donation.

Census Building -The Census Building will be made into 40 apartments for teachers and an office complex for non-profit organizations. Mr. Hill has been meeting with the developers and city officials about safety and sanitation issues in the alleys adjacent to the Census Building. He has been in touch with Healthy Neighborhoods, which might be interested in funding a clean-up and beautification project.

Maryland Office of Community Crime Prevention: The State is going to award 50 $3,000 grants for neighborhood security projects. The CVCBD will work with several community organizations on grant applications which are due in early January.

Neighborhood walkers - Mr. Hill reviewed the September and October Walkers program reports.

Mr. Demeree mentioned he had heard that the Mid Town Benefits District is planning to hire off-duty police officers as part of their safety program. Mr. Hill said he would discuss this with Peter Merle the Administrator of Mid Town.

Finance Committee

Jeff Millard reported that the committee previously brought forth a recommendation to wait until January to decide on staffing and the budget for the rest of the year. The committee has discussed how much money, if any, to set aside to improve liquidity and avoid the cash flow problem. Mr. Hill stated that it costs about $50,000 per month to operate the Benefits District.

Executive Committee

This committee met jointly with the finance committee and discussed the cash flow issue.

Governance Committee

Jeff Millard reported that the committee decided against recommending that the parliamentarian, Colleen Trohan, make recommended amendments to the by-laws. Mr. Millard personally recommended that the CVCBDMA commit $1,000 to complete the by-laws as recommended by Ms. Trohan. Following a discussion, a motion to commit the funds was made and carried by a vote of 4-3-2.

Safety, Sanitation and Revitalization Committee

Rob Books reported that the community dumpster project negotiation with the City is proceeding. There will be one roll off dumpster each in Old Goucher, CVCA and Harwood, (plus the one already in Abell) for one day per month. The locations will be permanent, i.e., they will not rotate. Dumpsters will be dropped off on Friday and picked up on Saturday. In any given week there will be one dumpster somewhere in the district. The schedule and dumpster locations will be put on the CVCBD website and in The Villager. Abell will be discussing this issue at its upcoming meeting; Abell residents are concerned that contractors use the dumpsters. The Benefits District Safety Team will “monitor” the dumpsters to try to ensure that they are used appropriately.

Mr. Books reported that residents in the area of Guilford and 27^th are concerned about open air drug markets; the community is meeting and a representative of Northern District is expected to attend. Commercial robberies in the 25 St. Paul Street have occurred.

Communications and Outreach Committee

Susanne Riveles reported that the committee met in October. The committee will rethink the role of the newsletter in light of the $20,000 Goldseker grant.

Approval of the August Minutes:

The August minutes were reviewed and approved.

Public Comment

David Briggs commented on various items on the board’s agenda including the cash flow issue, recent crimes and fundraising.

Announcements

The Greater Homewood Community Corporation is holding its Neighborhood Institute on November 15, 2008 at Barnes and Noble. Old Goucher Neighborhood Association will elect its president on November 25, 2008. An Abell Improvement Association membership meeting will be November 15, 2008 at 10:30 a.m.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.