ENA Meeting Notes - March 9, 2026
- 5 days ago
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Meeting Notes - March 9, 2026
The Ellendale Neighborhood Association held its general meeting at Abbott EMS
(2500 Abbott Place). The meeting announcement and joining/participating
information were provided in advance, consistent with the organization’s bylaws
(revised July 2015 and adopted November 9, 2015). Additionally, the meeting was
livestreamed & recorded via Facebook Live.
The full meeting broadcast can be viewed on the Ellendale Neighborhood
Association group Facebook page:
Meeting opened at 7:05PM
• Welcome & Facebook Live Overview
o Jacqi Kamp outlined the meeting procedures for the session so that
online participants could submit questions via Facebook chat, or by
email, or by text.
o Streaming our meetings via Facebook Live remains quite popular and
will be continued indefinitely for future meetings.
o Jacqi Kamp shared the following courtesy rules for those attending the
meeting in-person:
▪ Limit questions to one per person until others have a chance to
speak;
▪ If reporting service requests, please provide the address;
• If you do not have the address, please discuss with an
ENA board member after the meeting so that they can
better assist;
▪ No side conversations during the meeting, please step outside
the room for any such discussions.
• Approval of Minutes, January 2026 Meeting
o Hard copies of the January 2026 meeting notes were distributed to
those attending the meeting in-person. Meeting notes are available on the ENA
website. Notices are posted to social media channels & to the NA email list.
o Motion to approve January 2026 meeting notes as formal meeting
minutes made by John Yarish and seconded by Steve Gibson.
Approved by voice vote.
• Community Reports
o Alderman Bret Narayan (4th Ward)
▪ Board Bill #152 – Regarding the regulation of food trucks:
allowing them in more places; amending distance from their
physical (brick/mortar) location
▪ Board Bill #171 – Minor purchase order procurement: raises
the threshold (currently $500) that departments can authorize
expenses without additional red tape
▪ Board Bills #100/#101 – Authorizing the City earnings tax;
requires approval by public vote every five years; will be on
the April 7th ballot
▪ Question: Can the City use Rams settlement money for flood impacted
properties in Ellendale neighborhood?
• Ald. Narayan: He acknowledged being informed about
letters that were sent to Ellendale residents stating that
the City was no longer able to pursue FEMA funds for
buyouts; he reached out to Mayors Office when those
letters were sent out stating appraisers were available;
he will continue working with the administration to find
solutions and alternatives; the Board of Aldermen will
need to agree on how & when to allocate any settlement
fund principal
▪ Question: Is there an expenditure deadline for the Rams
settlement money?
• Ald. Narayan: ARPA (grant money) is different from
lawsuit settlement money; City has not made any
allocations or expenditures from Rams settlement
money, only using interest gained/earned from that
settlement money principal; there is no expenditure
deadline for non-grant funds
▪ If anyone has any questions relating to any legislation to be
considered, please reach out to him at (314) 622-3287 or
o Officer Jon Amesquita (2nd District)
▪ No violent crime in Ellendale neighborhood this year. Year-to-date
statistics are down 46% (7 vs 13 – criminal activities)
▪ Calls for service vs self-initiated calls (includes reports,
accidents, etc) approximately 60% of self-initiated police
reports are traffic stops
▪ Request for service: neighbor reports an abandoned car
located in an alley
• Officer Amesquita: Please make sure calls for service be
specific about alley location; include specific location of
vehicle in alley; regarding vehicles blocking alleys: keep
calling whenever there is an issue so that there is an
appropriate paper trail to document frequency of issues
at a specific address
o Magnolia residents & Jacqi Kamp (ENA) have
been reporting to police & directly to Officer
Amesquita (SLMPD) and to Citizens Service
Bureau
▪ Officer Amesquita: it is possible that the
City’s Parking Enforcement may also get
involved in this instance
o Magnolia resident has also reported illegal
outdoor cooking by 7-11 convenience store staff
in their alley
▪ Will have to follow up with City’s Health
Department regarding their response
▪ Question: How do we get signage (no parking, no blocking
alley, no dumping in alley) in the alley adjacent to 7-11
(Southwest Ave, McCausland Ave)
• Officer Amesquita: forward those requests to City
Streets Department
o Brian Kolde (Citizens Service Bureau)
▪ Citizen Service Bureau (CSB) is a way for City residents and
businesses to report issues and/or service requests
▪ 311 is the new short dial for CSB (easier than 314-622-4800)
▪ Brian met with Building Division about illegal occupancy of a
private property on Magnolia; owner has been cited
• Look for “public resolution” of CSB complaint; admits
that “closed ticket” is confusing
▪ Request for service: two burned down houses (one of
Southwest, one on Magnolia); both have become illegal
dumping sites
• Brian has been working with Officer Amesquita and
with ENA about many of these reported nuisance
properties. Some of the issues take time to resolve, as
they may involve Housing Court and/or the City
Counselor’s Office. Brian meets monthly with Problem
Properties Division.
▪ Contact Brian (koldeb@stlouis-mo.gov) for service requests,
such as potholes/tree limbs/street lights out. Submitting
requests by email works best.
▪ Question: How does CSB prioritize service calls?
• Brian Kolde: CSB is the intake system for service calls.
They then route the request to the appropriate City
department. Each department then has its own priority
for service calls (as shown by estimated completion
dates, which are set by each department)
o Calls for towing (vehicle on public street) have
the slowest response time
• Guest Speakers
o Mayor Cara Spencer
▪ Visiting neighborhood meetings to give outline & update on
City services
• Snow removal incentives to plows & trash; GPS is
installed in trucks to track their progress; primary &
secondary roads are prioritized during winter storms;
fleet maintenance went to 24-hour shift during the last
snow event to help make sure plow vehicles could
respond timely; CSB Neighborhood Improvement
Specialist (NIS) and Neighborhood Stabilization Teams
(NST) assisted with quality control checks (in-person
assessments in real time); additional shelter spaces for
unhoused or at-risk persons were organized
• City towing is currently working on an arrangement
with Treasurers Office for ticketing & booting of derelict
and/or abandoned vehicles
• City Stat – pilot program coming to STL soon
• 911 dispatch center buildout has a $12M-$15M gap;
looking for resources to fund this planned upgrade
• Regarding earnings tax (1% income tax on upcoming
April ballot); been a part of City budget since 1959 [tax
on residents & anyone who works in City] currently 1/3
of total City budget
▪ 311 is the new short dial for reporting issues to Citizens Service
Bureau
▪ Seven homes in Ellendale flood-affected area were working
with the City for buyouts of their properties; City does not have
a buyout program, so they needed funding sources from
elsewhere; State grant set a cap amount on funding available;
there were no responses to a Request for Proposals (RFP) last
fall that met the criteria for the required appraisal reviews
needed to utilize Missouri State and/or federal FEMA grant
funds; Mayor Spencer promised additional follow up and
answers to the seven homeowners impacted by this news.
▪ Water Department is funding some shortfalls through
reallocation of ARPA federal grant award; it remains important
to Mayor Spencer for the City of St. Louis to retain ownership
of its Water Department in order to control our own rates
(opposes privatization); for comparison the privatized St Louis
County water service through Missouri American Water is
nearly triple what City bills are
o Christine Portell, Streets Dept & Parks/Rec/Forestry
▪ Slideshow presentation: introducing neighborhood
organization: Streets Department maintenance team, traffic &
lighting (signing/striping/communications cables); Refuse
Division collection team; Street Department towing and
storage services; Recreation parks activities; Forestry Division
composting, weed control of vacant lots, natural landscaping;
Soulard Farmers Market management; Brightside St Louis
neighborhood blitz cleanups, graffiti removal, and community
garden grants
• Board & Committees Reports
▪ Treasurer’s Report (Joe Nea)
• Balance as of January 12, 2026: $1,223.00
• Deposits: $72.00 membership fees
• Deposits: $500.00 donation
• Expenses: $0.00
• Balance as of March 9, 2026: $1,795.00
• Annual dues are $6 per person, per household; $3 per
person 65+; Business dues are $24. 2024 ENA
Membership Application forms are available.
o Venmo @Joey-Nea; be sure to specify “ENA dues”
in transaction notes
▪ Housing Committee Report (John Yarish)
• No report
▪ Beautification Committee Report (Maria Gray, for Kimberly
Hanvy)
• Cleanup date for neighborhood pollinator garden:
Saturday April 11, 9am-noon
• Steve Cavin (CHNA) – Saturday, March 21st, 10am-noon:
invasive species remediation at Slay Park; volunteers
needed; working with Forestry Department on bulk
mulching of removed vegetation on site; then sow
grasses on those cleaned slopes
▪ SLACO Report (Neal Gilb)
• No report
• New Business
o Neal Gilb made a motion that ENA authorize the purchase of new
meeting notice yard signs, an amount not to exceed $300; seconded by
Maria Gray. Approved by voice vote.
• Miscellaneous
o Steve Gibson is interested in organizing an Ellendale neighborhood
yard sale. He is looking for volunteers to assist with planning efforts.
Will need to start thinking about potential dates & locations
o Check Ellendale website (https://ellendalena.wixsite.com/ellendale) and
Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/EllendaleNA.StL) for
communication and neighborhood updates.
o Please contact Matt Sisul at Matthew.Sisul@gmail.com or by phone at
(314) 606-3427 to sign up for our online email list.
Motion to adjourn made by Maria Gray and seconded by Steve Gibson. Approved by
voice vote.
Meeting adjourned at 8:55PM
###
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