On Tuesday 12 August 2008 the Seton Hill Neighborhood Association had its monthly general membership meeting. There was no board meeting this month since most of the board is out of town.

Vice President Mico called the meeting to order at 19:40. Our president is no longer living in the neighborhood. He accepted a job offer in another country. No minutes will be distributed today.

The Treasurer’s report: was given. We have money that we have to spend because it was earnmarked for a specific purpose.

CHAP: Ellissa has some communication about the sale of the lots. A date has not been set for a walk-through. The information on the web site is not correct. The lots are being auctioned off this Saturday [16 August 2008]. The City has ten lots on Orchard Street. Mico might bid on them if the prices are not too high.

There is a rehab on Saint Mary Street and another one on Orchard Street. That one is going on nicely. 707 Monument Street is for sale.

On the Paca Street Car Massacre, they are supposed to post the signs tomorrow [Wednesday 13 August 2008] and construction is supposed to start on Monday on Paca Street.

Ken Proctor of Scopis Design Studio made a presentation for the Richey House. There is a plan to build a children hospice on North Eutaw Street. The Planning Department requested that they present the design to the neighborhood. Mico had some issues with the original designs.

The hospice has been in operation for 22 years. The children facility will be one of the first of its kind in the country. The project is in row houses which were offices. They are creating hospice for terminally ill children. They will share the Mount Calvary parking lot. They need to be able to get ambulance behind the building and handicapped facilities. The church has given them some right of way on their property. There is a lot that they want but there are issues.

There are two row houses. Two are currently occupied. They will also repair the sidewalk.

The rear of the building will be demolished so that they can create a more usable building. They are also trying to screen the backs of the buildings from MLK. Eutaw Street will be their zero. The entrance will be on MLK for security reasons. He asked his four year old to draw a house and he used that for inspiration.

Right now they have every approval from the City except from Bob Quilter. They are not in the historical area. Most of this was vacant land. This is the second children hospice in the United States, the first is in California. This will be the first in urban environment. There are several in Europe. Ellissa does not like the design, especially the round windows at the top. There is no solar technology in the building. They are using an extremely high efficience system.

Mico has a problem with long facade with no entrance or exit. It seems like adding one more pedestrian unfriendly facade. It looks like a backyard facing MLK.

Charlotte, the executive director, said that they have not gotten that far yet.

The first floor area will be like a house. There will be a small meditation chapel there. The front of the building on Eutaw Street is office space. There will be patients’ rooms on the second floor. A seven foot six inch high brick wall is an invitation for a dead zone and graffiti. On the Eutaw Street there is an issue with security. The windows on the first floor are hurricane grade windows. They want the windows to be operative. All their buildings shake when a bus goes by. The green space will be s playground. They have a small indoor play area also. There will be bars throughout the area. Charlotte does not think that it would hurt to put in a gate so that they can move things in and out.

They have not looked at any of the HUD design for the State Center. Bob Quilter likes what they have here at this point.

Mico will send them the link to the State Center web site. They will send us the design as PDF files. They will also leave the prints here for our review.

Deacon Michael Bishop raised the issue of flyers. Donna will draw up a form letter to go to the merchants and Deacon Michael will look up the ordinance. So far he has not been able to find out anything from the City's web site.

Dawn raised the issue of the courtesy survey by CHAP. Ellissa will find out.

Elections are in October. Dawn said that the Board can appoint to fill a vacancy and the general membership can support.

Dawn asked about motor bikes. We do have money in the budget for traffic calming and Ellissa thinks that this will handle it. The bikes come down from Pennsylvania Avenue. When you call 3-1-1 or 9-1-1 there is a document. At 20:42 Ellissa moved that the meeting be adjourned. Motion carried.

The next day Deacon Michael took a walk around the neighborhood and photographed the area in question.

On Saturday 16 August 2008, Deacon Michael went to the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation for dinner. On the way home he greeted a woman and her granddaughter who were staying at the Richey House and they were very positive about the Richey House and said that it was a real blessing for them.