CHCA board re-elects officers to second term

By KATIE WORRALL

Last year¹s officers were re-elected to new terms by the Chestnut Hill Community Association board of directors at its meeting on May 27. They are Maxine Maddox Dornemann, president; Douglas Doman, vice president of the operational division; Tia Burke, vice president of the social division; Stan Moat, vice president of the physical division; Chris Kemezis, treasurer; and Dina Hitchcock, secretary.

While presenting the slate for executive committee members, nominating committee chairman Stewart Graham told that the board the committee tried to select candidates who could understudy positions of officers. Elected by the board, with one abstention, were Leigh Filippini, who will understudy vice president of operations; Sanjiv Jain, vice president, physical division; Jane Piotrowski, vice president, social division; Brien Tilley, secretary; and John Shea, treasurer.

³This does not mean that the officers don¹t plan to continue, but it means that people could step up to fill a position. All these people bring special talents,² said Graham.

Filippini brings experience in fundraising, while Jain is a commercial property owner who is on both the Chestnut Hill Parking Foundation and the Chestnut Hill Business Association boards, Graham said. Tilley chaired last year¹s Chestnut Hill Community Fund drive and will chair this year¹s drive, as well. Shea will head the CHCA¹s proposed capital campaign.

Hedging her comments with the phrase, ³This is not to take issue² with the slate, former CHCA president and current at-large director Betsy Masters pointed out that the ³understudy² is radically different from past practice. Graham replied that it was an idea of Lloyd Wells, who founded the CHCA in 1948, and that it was brought back so that the association would have leadership prepared for the future.

³On a point of information,² long-time board member Jane Becker noted that four of the new executive committee members are new to the CHCA board, and asked if the nominating committee had considered contacting all the board members to find out if they were interested in serving on the executive committee.

Graham replied that board members were asked at the last board meeting, to which Mary Anna Ross Cowper, another long time board member, suggested that every board member should have been asked if he or she wanted to run for the executive committee because not everyone is able to attend every meeting.

Moving on to institutions that will be asked to select a representative for the CHCA board, Graham reminded the board that bylaws concerning the number of institutional directors had been changed at the annual meeting in April. Graham said that the nominating committee selected three institutions for two-year terms that are considering or will make changes in the future, or have close ties to the Community Association. They are Norwood-Fontbonne Academy, which is considering a master plan; Woodmere Art Museum, which is currently working on expansion plans; and the Chestnut Hill Community Center, which has had strong ties with the CHCA in the past and which gave $5,000 to the Chestnut Hill Community Fund drive two years ago.

Institutions that will continue to be represented on the CHCA board until 2005 are the Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5205 and the Stagecrafters. Graham pointed out, in response to a question, that the Chestnut Hill Business Association, the Chestnut Hill Parking Foundation and Chestnut Hill Historical Society are interlocking, or permanent, directors.

The nominees for institutional director were passed unanimously.

Other action items

The board approved a motion made by Kemezis that the Chestnut Hill Community Fund allocation to the Chestnut Hill Meals on Wheels be increased from $1,000 to $2,500. The increase is largely a bookkeeping measure, because the service that delivers meals to about 40 clients had received a grant from the state that it received through the Community Fund.

BNB International Cigars and Accessories, which will open soon at 7920 Germantown Ave., received the board support for a variance it needed to sell tobacco in a C1-zoned property. Presenting the motion from the CHCA¹s Development Review Committee, Masters said that the committee deemed the application a ³minor² one and expedited the Philadelphia Zoning Board Adjustment hearing, which took place May 26, by sending a letter ahead of support from the board.

Jain welcomed BNB business owners Brian DeCesare and Brett Hoffman to Chestnut Hill, and thanked the DRC for putting through the application despite a reputation for not expediting applications

Social Division

Burke reported that the May 22 wine tasting, a fundraiser for the CHCA, brought in $7,000 and had $1,200 in expenses. The event at Woodmere was attended by 100 guests, she said. Burke was pleased with results, saying that the goal to raise $7,500 was an ambitious one for a first-time event.

³Janice Manzi [the wine tasting party chairperson] did a fabulous job. She is a real community builder. She made her kitchen available to slice ham and the kids dipped strawberries in chocolate. People got to know each other and laugh in her kitchen,² Dornemann said.

The Chestnut Hill Senior Center is planning its fall bazaar for late October at the Church of St. Martin-in-the Fields.

(A lengthy discussion about Pastorius Park concerts is reported in a separate article, p.1)

Physical Division

Moat reported that Woodmere¹s plans for expansion will be discussed at a Land Use Planning & Zoning Committee meeting on Thursday, June 3, at 8 p.m. at the museum, 9201 Germantown Avenue. Moat said that the LUPZ hopes to vote on the plan that evening so that DRC and the board of directors can consider the application this month, completing the CHCA review process.

Noting that Woodmere had not been able to contact all of its neighbors, Moat said that those who had responded were not against the expansion, but what one neighbor termed ³in your architecture.²

Tilley, who lives near the museum, said that several neighbors had called him. The lack of response is due to the ambiguity of the plans, he indicated, with concerns about issues such as how the museum will handle expansion in the number of visitors without expanding parking.

Tolis Vardakis, a board member, said that he museum had sent information to its neighbors via Federal Express. Neighbors have a right not to respond, but the museum did try to contact them, he said.

An operational division report was not given because Doman, the division vice president, was not present.

Old Business

Kemezis announced that new guidelines have been added for organizations and committees that receive money from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund. In a fiscal year that begins April 1 and ends March 31, grant money will be available the second month of a fiscal year and will expire at the end of the fiscal year for which it was awarded. When organizations or committees request money from their grant allocation, the representatives must complete a form rather than writing down the information on a scrap of paper for the Community Fund accountant. Organizations must make the requests one month before it is needed, he said.

Community Manager¹s report

Marie Lachat, the community manager, said that she applauded the hard work Kemezis and accountant Kari Ghezarian had done. Work is underway to improve the CHCA Web site. She reported that the CHCA¹s new administrative assistant, Susan Medosch, is ³extremely energetic and bright.² The CHCA is moving into new areas, Lachat said, pointing out that e-mail provides a wonderful record and cuts down on postage. Items such as the agendas for CHCA meetings, which were previously sent to committee members via U.S. mail, will be e-mailed, she said.

President¹s report

Dornemann invited board members to think about committees on which they would like to serve. Volunteers who have already agreed to organize events are Fred Walker, blood drive, (Dina Hitchcock chaired the most recent drive because Walker was away on business); Manzi, 2005 wine-tasting party and raffle; Leigh Filippini, Suzanne Lentz and committee, Black & White gala; Ann Standish, ice skating parties; Brian Filippini, screening of old children¹s cartoons; Mary Steelman and Sherry Nottingham, 2005 holiday house tour; Jane Piotrowski, a gingerbread house contest; Brien Tilley, fund drive; John Shea, capital campaign; Tia Burke, Pastorius Park concerts; John Ryan membership; George Parry, publisher¹s committee; and Jane Becker, education.

Membership on the Land Use Planning and Zoning, Development Review and Aesthetics Committees require special credentials, Dornemann said, asking board members to talk to Graham if they meet the committee requirements. The CHCA hopes to reactivate the Traffic, Transportation and Parking Committee and Finance Committee, she said.