ENA Meeting Notes - Sept 12, 2022
Meeting Notes – September 12, 2022
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 7:02PM
· Welcome & Facebook Live Overview
o Matt Sisul 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 Because of recent flooding & sewer backups in the Ellendale neighborhood, there was unusually high attendance at the meeting. Matt Sisul reminded everyone present that this was the regularly scheduled General Meeting of the Ellendale Neighborhood Association and that there is business that ENA must conduct in order to continue & remain an active organization. He will try to give everyone an opportunity to voice their opinions & concerns about the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD), the City of St. Louis response to the situation, and any other topics relevant to the state of the neighborhood. However, he asked everyone to be respectful of one another and to our guest speakers & visitors and to those attending the meeting virtually by abstaining from any side conversations or similar interruptions.
· Special Guest Speaker
o State Representative Donna Baringer (82nd District)
§ Because of recent statewide redistricting, the Ellendale neighborhood will now be located in the 82nd House District of Missouri. This change takes effect on January 1, 2023.
§ Rep. Baringer plans to attend future ENA general meetings to provide state legislative & other community updates as her schedule allows.
· She will not be able to attend meetings between January and May when the State House is in session.
· Anyone who wants more frequent updates from her by email can sign up for her electronic newsletter.
§ Rep. Baringer personally assisted with many of the Ellendale cleanup & recovery efforts resulting from the severe flooding & sewer backup, including walking the affected areas of the neighborhood and coordinating responses from state emergency & relief agencies.
· Approval of Minutes, July 2022 Meeting
o Hard copies of the July 2022 meeting notes were distributed to those attending the meeting in-person. A weblink to the online document was previously shared on the ENA Facebook page; the Ellendale neighborhood page on NextDoor; and emailed to ENA subscribers.
o Because of the focused efforts to cleanup after the flooding & sewer backups, the rainout/pickup day cancellation (east side of McCausland/north side of Arsenal St) was not rescheduled.
o Motion to approve July 2022 notes as formal meeting minutes made by John Yarish and seconded by Steve Gibson. Approved by voice vote.
· Community Reports
o Alderman Bret Narayan (24th Ward)
§ Ald. Narayan has been discussing with Mayor Tishaura Jones office about the City’s response to the flooding & sewer backups and about general issues & problems with MSD.
· Solutions may include resident buyouts for those interested, litigation against MSD, and/or increased funding for flooding & sewer backup preventative measures for River des Peres.
· He encouraged everyone to contact the Mayor’s Office directly.
§ Ald. Narayan has also reached out to Congresswoman Cori Bush about involving the Army Corps of Engineers to address improvements for flood prevention measures along River des Peres, acknowledging that this is an issue bigger than the 24th Ward or the City can afford to take on its own.
§ The Citizens Service Bureau is reorganizing Neighborhood Improvement Specialist (NIS) assignments to be neighborhood-based, rather than ward-based. Karen Clifford has been relocated to a different area of the City. The new NIS for Ellendale will be Kathy Savage (SavageK@stlouis-mo.gov).
§ Refuse Division has both a shortage of personnel and a shortage of trash trucks serving the City. Scheduled pickups are running very far behind, including that for bulk pickups.
§ Board of Alderman returns to session on Friday, September 16th.
§ New group page on Facebook: “24th Ward Citizen Services”
· Created by Alderman Bret Narayan (admin) to help with reporting service requests to the City.
· Handouts outlining what to report & the CSB process are brought to every meeting.
§ Question: Is there an update on the stop sign previously requested for the crosswalk & the angled parking for Canterbury Ave?
· Bret Narayan: The board bill has been drafted & will be introduced when they return to session this week.
§ Question: Did MSD turn on the River des Peres pumping stations during the 9”-plus rainfall on July 26th to attempt to prevent the overflow & backups?
· Bret Narayan: He did not know. He has asked MSD and an attorney for MSD but did not receive an answer. There may be a record of MSD actions that day but it might take litigation to discover what they were.
§ Question: Who conducts the oversight of MSD?
· Bret Narayan: MSD is its own authority, as a quasi-state entity. They are subject to the State of Missouri. They conduct their business through open-to-the-public board meetings.
o MSD’s next Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for October 13, 2022 at 5PM.
§ Question: How can citizens attend or participate in Board of Aldermen (BOA) meetings?
· Bret Narayan: BOA meetings are currently conducted virtually by Zoom. Video recordings of full aldermanic and committee meetings are available on the BOA page of the City’s website. Every board bill has at least one public comment period during committee hearing.
§ Question: Who owns the River des Peres?
· Bret Narayan: Believes that MSD is the owner.
§ Question: MSD surveyors marked portions of Odell and Hermitage with stakes. Does anyone know why?
· Bret Narayan: MSD has not provided much information about their work in the area or their response to these issues.
§ Question: Can we get street cleaning for Odell, Hermitage, and Queen? There is still a lot of gravel, nails & screws, and other trash hazards to vehicle tires.
· Ald. Narayan: Yes, he will arrange.
§ The following federal, local, and state agencies are all helping the areas affected by flooding/sewer backups: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and City of St. Louis Emergency Management Agency (CEMA).
· Question: It appeared that FEMA was evaluating homes for a long-term plan, not just to assist households with their immediate needs. How do we find out what those plans are, if such exist?
o Ald. Naryan: Not sure about that, but will reach out to the administration of FEMA for more information.
§ Question: Is there tax abatement being considered for those whose homes and/or businesses that are currently condemned because of flooding/sewer backups?
· Ald. Narayan: There are no tax abatement incentive plans pending in Ellendale currently. Anyone who wishes to contest the City’s assessment of their property should reach out to the Assessor’s Office (Michael Dauphin).
§ Matt Sisul thanked Ald. Narayan for working with him to walk the neighborhood on Tuesday, July 26th, and for all his hard work & efforts to coordinate the City’s response to the disaster.
§ Matt Sisul also shared the City’s main resource page for July’s flooding & sewer backup events.
o Karen Clifford (24th Ward NIS)
§ Matt Sisul thanked Karen for all her hard work leading the City’s cleanup & relief efforts in Ellendale. She organized the City services: getting the police command center setup on McCausland Avenue; dumpster drop-offs for affected streets; staffing the popup tent form donations; and coordinating cleanup volunteers.
§ Karen thanked the neighborhood for supporting her.
§ The Citizens Service Bureau is reorganizing Neighborhood Improvement Specialist (NIS) assignments to be neighborhood-based, rather than ward-based. Karen Clifford has been relocated to a different area of the City. The new NIS for Ellendale will be Kathy Savage (314-657-1362 or SavageK@stlouis-mo.gov). Kathy was unable to attend, being at the Lindenwood Park Neighborhood Association meeting held tonight also.
§ Report requests for service can be made in the following ways:
· 314-622-4800, main CSB hotline
· Post to the ENA Facebook page (Karen Clifford still follows & will see it to share with Kathy Savage) or 24th Ward Citizens Services Facebook page
· Twitter: @stlcsb
o Officer Robert Skaggs (2nd District)
§ There is a new police captain for the Second District: Capt. Mike Miller. Capt. Christi Marks and our previous community liaison (Don Veile) have been moved to a different police district.
§ Officer Skaggs brought crime reports for the neighborhood from the last 60 days. Ellendale crime has gone down significantly. Mostly personal property or damage issues here.
§ Public safety handouts are brought to every meeting.
§ Question: Can we get police patrols of the neighborhood? Especially for those streets with homes condemned from the flooding/sewer backups.
· Officer Skaggs: Request through the SLMPD non-emergency phone number (314-231-1212).
· Guest Speaker(s)
§ Allison Sweeney
· Ellendale resident; member of the Ellendale Neighborhood Association housing committee; experience dealing with sewer districts located in Jefferson County
· MSD board is made up of members of the community but they serve the interests of MSD. A lot of the questions being asked during this meeting are not going to be learned until the discovery period of an action like a lawsuit. This process will take several months.
· Recommended exhausting all administrative remedies available: file a claim; if the claim is denied then file an appeal; etc.
· It is possible to transition a lawsuit into a class action with enough plaintiffs over the same issue/incident. This would then be taken up by the federal courts.
o For example, the issue could be one singular failure by MSD or a series of different failures by MSD all causing the flooding & sewer backup problems.
o Class action suits allow for different claims by different individuals based on their own individual damage amounts.
· There also may be multiple entities (MSD, City, etc.) involved in the failures that led to the flooding & sewer backups that affected the neighborhood.
· Question: Can we submit a Voyeur Request (or Sunshine Request) to MSD to learn what happened on July 26th?
o Matthew Sisul: ENA can request one and will share answers with the community. Anyone else is free to submit their own.
o Allison Sweeney: Sunshine Requests can only request specific documents. The way such requests should be worded will be very important to the information that can be learned from the formal inquiry.
· This is not a case that her law firm would take on. She has consulted with another attorney about possibly working with the neighborhood. There is interest in doing so.
· Question: An attorney for MSD sent letters to the neighborhood about how to make a claim for their overcharge system ($2900.00). Does this prohibit us from participating in a lawsuit against MSD?
o Allison Sweeney: She recommended not signing a waiver or agreeing to a release for future claims against MSD.
· Documentation of flooding & sewer backup experiences, including those from previous years, will be an important part of any legal action process.
· Question: If you need to sell your house & move before any legal action completes, can you still be a part of the litigation and recovery:
o Allison Sweeney: Yes you can. But you will need to show/demonstrate the difference between what you sold the home for & what your damages were. Also, your case would be different from the damages requested by someone who didn’t sell their home. So the legal arguments between the two cases would be different.
· Anyone who wants to be included in future group conversations about possible litigation against MSD can fill out the contact information forms she prepared & brought with her (attached below).
· Board Report
§ Treasurer’s Report (Matthew Sisul, for Joe Nea)
· Balance as of 07/11/2022: $ 1,285.46
· Deposits: $ 300.00 donations received
· Expenses: $850.76 expenses (signage)
· Balance as of 09/12/2022: $ 734.70
· ENA received a lot of offers of cash donations to help those affected by flooding & sewer backups. Matt Sisul asked that these donations be made instead by gift cards and hand-delivered them to those in need.
§ Housing Committee Report (Linda Boyd-Shell)
· No report
§ Beautification Committee (Matthew Sisul, for Jenise Nea)
· No report
· New Business
o Matthew Sisul: Showed the signs ENA purchased.
§ 30 meeting notice signs
§ 10 cleanup location signs
§ 10 Block Captain signs (put out throughout the neighborhood & got four new block captains signup)
o Matthew Sisul: McGuire Moving & Storage donated a mobile storage unit to the neighborhood. There are donated supplies inside. Reliant upon volunteers to staff it for anyone who needs/wants to pickup anything. Or contact Matt Sisul directly (314-606-3427).
· Officer Elections
o Terms are expiring for president, vice president, and secretary positions. The current officers (Matthew Sisul, President; Jacqi Kamp, Vice President; Susan Moody, Secretary) are willing to continue their respective roles for another term. Nominations are still open for anyone interested in running for an expiring position.
§ Per ENA bylaws, membership dues must be current in order to be considered a member-in-good-standing (includes association voting privileges, meeting actions).
o With no other candidates, Matt Sisul made the motion to close nominations. Seconded by John Yarish. Approved by voice vote.
o Motion to accept by acclimation: Matthew Sisul as President, Jacqi Kamp as Vice President, Susan Moody as Secretary made by John Yarish. Seconded by Barry LaLumandier. Approved by voice vote.
· Miscellaneous
o Membership applications are available. Online payment options are also available.
§ Annual dues are $6 per person, per household; $3 per person 65+; Business dues are $24
· Venmo @Joey-Nea; be sure to specify “ENA dues” in transaction notes
o Block Captains/Neighborhood Ownership Model
§ Reach out to Matt Sisul to find out who your block captain is and/or if willing to serve as one.
o 24th Ward Community Directories (Clifton Heights/Clayton-Tamm, Ellendale/Franz Park/Hi-Pointe/Cheltenham neighborhoods) are available for pickup. Contact Matthew Sisul (314-606-3427 or m_sisul@yahoo.com) for delivery.
o The next ENA meeting will be Monday, November 14th at Abbott EMS (2500 Abbott Place).
Motion to adjourn made by John Yarish and seconded by Barry LaLumandier. Approved by voice vote.
Meeting adjourned at 8:32PM
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