SRG General Meeting Minutes July 2025 (Draft)

Aug 6

Written By Andrew Paniello

Soulard Restoration Group
General Membership Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, July 9, 2025 at 7PM

Minutes prepared by Andrew Paniello, Secretary

LOCATION
Saints Peter & Paul Parish Hall in the Rose Room | 816 Allen Ave

Call to Order/Opening Remarks

President Amanda Ramcharan called the meeting to order at 7:01pm, wishing the membership a Happy Fourth of July.

Round Table — Committee Updates

Community Involvement & Events (CI&E)
Brad Pitlylk, CI&E Chair, discussed the plans for Bastille Day, July 12th. Details included the start time (4pm), location (Soulard Market Park), police escort, and general outline of events. Brad also mentioned that the summer concert series would take place immediately after. He then briefly discussed the cornole (bags) tournament scheduled for August 9th, which will also be followed by a concert.
Membership
Christina Del Azodi, Membership Committee Chair, welcomed our new members and announced that the after-meeting social would take place at the Legion building.
Safety

There were no updates from the safety committee. We hope to have a new committee chair decided soon, though Andrea Maddox-Dallas has continued helping with the role she has served for four years.

Beautification
Jeff Weitzel, Beautification Co-chair, announced plans for a Patio Crawl, scheduled to take place on September 20th from 4-8pm. The rain date for the event will be the following weekend (9/27). The committee is still looking for more patios to feature on the crawl, as well as a few more volunteers. They are also interested in hosting an event near or on Oktoberfest, with more details to come.
Communications Committee (ComCom)
Brenton Henry, Communications Chair, declared the committee is looking for someone to help with social media. The committee is also looking into several other upcoming changes, including potentially changing the point of sale system, synchronizing communications with the membership committee, and other general upgrades.
Development
Jim Dallas, Development Chair, expanded on the plans for the Bastille Day celebration, particularly making note of the concert plans. He mentioned the dates for the remaining two concerts–August 9th and September 6th–and discussed some of the plans for Oktoberfest. The committee is looking for Oktoberfest volunteers and is also working on a donation-sharing agreement with the American Legion (who will also supply volunteers).
Historical
Neil Putz, Treasurer, represented the historical committee on behalf of Veronica “The Boss.” Neil briefly discussed the successful NGA Museum tour in June, as well as a special guest who will be speaking at the August membership meeting. Furthermore, he discussed the ghost tour, which is scheduled for September 27th. Tickets will go on sale in August. Lastly, he mentioned that we are close to deciding on a spot for the time capsule, possibly the station, though the final decision is yet to be made.
Parlour Tour
Amanda reminded the membership that the parlor tour will be two days this year and that we are actively looking for volunteers.
Code & Zoning and Plan Review Team (PRT)
Walker Hamilton, PRT Chair, shared several property developments. There are repairs planned for 2401 South 9th Street. 2409 South 10th Street was victim of a fire and has been condemned. At 1300 Sidney, a permit was withdrawn; SRG initially supported the opening of a new establishment there but did not support the modified hours, which would extend much later than the neighborhood norm.
Properties (Station)
Bonita Leiber, Station Chair, opened her presentation with a funky tune. She then announced that there will be a Ladies Night on Tuesday, August 12th. She encouraged the men of Soulard to create a similar event–and we might want to consider creating a Kids Night, too. Bonita also gave updates regarding the new garage door, the hard work being done on the garden, and several other projects. She also noted that we are actively looking for contractors.

Treasurer’s Report

Neil Putz explained that our total assets have decreased from $97,000 to $93,000. However, this decrease was expected, given the cost of the new garage door and costs associated with our summer events. The financial position of the SRG remains strong.

Secretary’s Report

Andrew Paniello, Secretary, thanked Brenton for teaching him how to upload the minutes to the website. He also promised to share the June and July minutes before the August meeting–if you’re reading them right now, that is probably a good sign he did.

Crime Report

There was no crime report this meeting, likely due to the date change.

Soulard Neighborhood Organization Updates

Soulard Business Association (SBA)
Membership was encouraged to attend Bastille Day and the concert following immediately after.
Soulard Special Business District (SSBD)

There were no announcements from the SSBD.

Community Improvement District (CID)
Terry Hoffman, CID Chair, discussed the upcoming tree removal project, noting that the CID will be involved in a parallel effort. The goal will be to plant at least 150 trees, with the committee working closely with the City’s forestry department.
Mardi Gras Inc. (MGI)
There were no announcements from MGI.
St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC)
There were no announcements from SLDC.
Krewe of Vices and Virtues (KVV)

KVV announced plans to host a game night at pieces on Tuesday, July 15th. Everyone is welcome.

South Broadway Athletic Club (SBAC)

There were no updates from the SBAC.

Aldermanic Update

Our newly elected alderwoman, Jamie Cox-Antwi, introduced herself to the membership. She noted that she was going to be sworn in on Friday, July 11th. She mentioned several initial areas of focus, including trash collection, addressing the tornado damage, increasing street safety, and nuisance properties. She also shared her contact information:

314-762-1944, contact@jamiecoxantwi.com

Neighborhood Stabilization Update

James Simpson serves as liaison between city services and its neighborhoods. He announced the National Night Out will take place in October. He also discussed Phase Two for the disaster recovery process. The City is currently looking for a variety of contractors.

President’s Report

Old Business

Amanda Ramcharan announced that the budget has been posted and made available for review. Jeremy motioned to approve the budget, which Brenton seconded. The membership then unanimously approved the budget for FY26.

Amanda then noted that the 30-day notice for the property at 1222 Allen Avenue expires on July 9th. This means we can now pursue further legal action, however, we will not decide whether we want to exercise that right until after the new bylaws are voted on in August.

New Business

We then extensively discussed the tree situation, along with our guest, Alan Jankowski of the forestry department. A few of the topics discussed included maintaining trees on easement strips, natural prairies, maintenance for vacant lots, watering projects, and resident involvement.

The meeting concluded with a few final notes: Amanda discussed the adopt-a-tree idea, Neil distributed checks, and Jim Dallas provided some clarity regarding our upcoming bylaw vote.

Following a motion to adjourn, the meeting concluded at 8:04pm.