Board Meeting Minutes- September 2025

Jan 8

Written By Andrew Paniello

Soulard Restoration Group | Board Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 7PM
Soulard Station | 1911 South 12th Street

Minutes prepared by Andrew Paniello, Secretary

Call to Order/Opening Remarks

Amanda Ramcharan called the meeting to order at 6:58pm.

Anheuser-Busch Representative

The Board welcomed Adam Kazda, a representative from AB-InBev whose goal is to build connections between the company/brewery and surrounding neighborhoods. Adam will function as a direct point of contact when needed, the company wants to develop a stronger relationship within the neighborhood.

Topics of discussion included ways AB might contribute to the neighborhood financially, safety and security, the neighborhood’s disappointment in AB deciding not to sponsor Pride, current lobbying efforts, and more. The Board suggested Adam come to a General Meeting in the future.

CID

Next, the Board welcomed Terry Hoffman, our liaison to the Soulard CID. The CID is planning a major overhaul of the Neighborhood Plan–a process that involves a lot of work and funding–and is looking to the SRG for support. Terry requested the SRG considers contributing between $10,000 and $15,000; it will also be looking for contributions from MGI, SBA, and other organizations.

There will also be openings on the CID’s 7-member board, including openings available to SRG residents. Three areas of focus in the upcoming plan include a comprehensive economic plan, traffic claiming efforts, and beautification efforts. The board thanked Terry for his time and then briefly discussed how we will determine who will represent us on the CID board, including the possibility of creating a selection committee.

Though we did not make a final decision on how we will select this member, the Board voted, unanimously, to give $10,000 for this specific project.

Treasurer’s Report

Neil Putz, Treasurer, reported that the total assets on hand had decreased from about $83,000 to about $78,000. A major part of this decrease was the $5,000 we donated to victims of the tornado earlier this year. Neil was also pleased to announce that he and Brenton Henry had worked together to setup an SRG-specific debit card. We then discussed the check request process, including some checks written to Edele & Mertz.

Secretary’s Report

Andrew Paniello, Secretary, announced that the minutes have been posted and that he will send out an email containing the most recent minutes before the next meeting. He was also pleased to announce that he and his wife, Maggie Teson, had recently started the UMSL-NLA program and have already been learning a lot.

Committee Round-Up

Beautification: a patio crawl is scheduled to take place on September 20th from 4-8pm. The committee will also be holding a silent auction/fundraiser at Molly’s on 10/19; the fundraiser will be Oktoberfest themed and will have a suggested donation of $20 per person.
CI&E: the committee is planning a movie night, featuring The Nightmare Before Christmas, on October 12th. There will also likely be another movie night, possibly on November 15th, with the featured film to be determined.
Development: the development committee was proud of its successful event season, though there may be some revamping of the concert series next year. The committee is also continually working on its scholarship plans. There will be new merchandise ordered soon, with some old merchandise available at a discount.
Communications: no updates.
Historical: the committee happily hosted a talk from Dr. Williams, a historian. They are also excited for the upcoming Ghost Tour–the first of its kind through our organization–which is scheduled for 9/27. There are already 29 volunteers for the ghost tour.
Membership: Paula was happy to provide a detailed membership report, which illustrated that May, the month of our Membership Party, was the biggest month for membership. She also shared a heartfelt letter from Christina del Azodi, the membership chair, which explained the membership and recruitment processes more broadly.
Parlour Tour: the Parlour Tour has been getting increased attention from the media; we briefly discussed how we plan to address future inquiries.
PRT: plans for a garage built at 1041 Shenandoah were rejected due to the garage not conforming to the historic code.
Station: the Station has enjoyed a steady streak of rentals, with the building being used multiple times every month. Additionally, the roof is now DONE, the windows are being worked on, and the committee is gathering quotes for the stucco.
Safety: the safety committee is still looking for a new head. It might consider restructuring, depending on how the search goes.

President’s Report

Amanda announced that the lawsuit against the owner of 1222 Allen Avenue had officially been filed. Peter Hoffman, our lawyer, is our point person for all things related to this project. The preferred outcome, still, is having someone buy the property and restore it. There are some small developments regarding leads.

The Board approved sponsorship for the Missouri Preservation Conference, which includes a one day pass for someone in our organization. We decided to delegate that decision to PRT. The Board also decided to increase our event insurance, which will cost about $300 per year.

Lastly, Wade Weistreich announced that MGI is beginning its planning process. The Board unanimously voted to offer a letter of support for MGI’s proposed tent behind Social House.