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GRIA Community Meeting 3/18/2026

Board Members Present: Sadie Baker (Treasurer), Sam Horn (Secretary), Frances MCGaffey

Staff: Jennifer McKenzie

Cristina- Jermaine Jones’ Chief of Staff

Total Attendees: ~16

On Zoom- ~8-10

Zoom Recording here

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Agenda

• Community Introductions
• BPD- Officer Dandy
  • Northern District has wheel locks- not just for Hyundai and Kia- ask for NCO unit at the Northern district
  • Crime Stats- 0 homicides shootings rapes, 2 robberies up from 0 last year, 3 larceny- all shoplifting at Walgreens. Working on it and some warrants; 2 auto thefts and 1 was recovered; petty crime 7, violent crime 2
    • Overall very good for the past month
  • Question- report of gunfire near Greenmount School? BPD came to the scene, but nothing else was communicated
    • if it’s ongoing, BPD can’t share yet. 
  • Shootings vs discharged?
    • Discharged is gunfire without hitting anybody/anything
• Seawall
  • Potts and Callahan properties on Falls Rd. under contract
  • 3/24 Town Hall Listening Session- FOFJ, Jones Falls Gateway, BWB, Jones Falls 2076
    • 1 hour presentations, rest of listening
    • Goal is to connect Remington to the Jones Falls
• Remington Tree Canopy Project- Chris Billak
  • 545 native trees planted! 325 more planned for the spring
  • Removed 11k sq ft of concrete
  • Tree Baltimore trees, CBT grants, some BGE and other small grans
  • Trees should be considered infrastructure- look at Lorraine Ave and how much cooler it can feel
  • $400 tree provides up to $90k benefits over lifetime
  • JHU undergrads want to study urban trees and their impact d/t sizable data set
  • Have met other neighborhood associations thru this project- Harwood, Abell, CV, Barclay, Union Square and more
    • 26 trees on 29th street near Greenmount in progress
  • Question- how to get a tree?
    • Email GRIA!
  • Question- who is “we?”
    • Project sponsored by GRIA- Remington, Charles Village, Harwood, Abell, Old Goucher
  • Q- how can we plant trees?
    • 2 tree plantings- 3/28 Coppin Heights & North Ave Task Force- North Ave and Longwood
    • 4/11 in Barclay- 23rd and Greenmount
  • Caring for trees?
    • Grants include a 2 year warranty! 
    • If you want to help- mulch and water- fill the bag once a week
• Sisson Street Task Force
  • Website is live! 
  • Task Force Voted on the following recommendations:
  • Closure of the center only after the following seven conditions are met:
    • Reedbird sanitation yard is completely renovated, which may take 3-4 years. Bowley’s Lane stays open during construction.
    • Some of the recycling operations will be moved to York Road DGS facility, and the Benefits Districts will use a dumpster housed at the York Road DGS facility. The York Road DGS facility will be limitedin opening hours and materials collected.
    • Hazardous Household Waste drop off will be relocated to Bowley’s Lane and an alternative site 
    • The roles assigned to Sisson Street in the Less Waste, Better Baltimore plan will be re-assigned to other sites.
    • A comprehensive, robust, and consistent education campaign is conducted to help residents know all of the options for taking materials – all the sites, better recycling habits, anti-litter, and more
    • Pilot test the impacts of closure should wind down of Sisson take place. Factors discovered during the testing must be resolved 
    • If closed, the Sisson site will be turned to productive use that will include community and public input as to the use of the site 
  • Sustainability commission responsible for metrics
  • If it goes for sale, will it be under BDC and what will be the transparency levels?
    • Some city owned properties are under BDC. Property sale would need a city council ordinance- that is w
• CW Ramos-
  • Charter Review Committee- includes more time with the budget, veto timeline change suggestions
    • Public meetings coming up
  • What are Temington options for fighting the substation on the JHU campus?
  • What levers can we pull to hold JHU and BGE Acountable BEFORE construction starts
    • Odette- will hold them accountable- could push against their rights of way permits for road work
  • Are there potential changes to the charter that could help city council hold large institutions accountable?
    • Ramos- that’s a great thought and great for long term picture
  • Warehouse Fire cleanup in Lower Remington?
    • Insurance company said it would take years bc the fault may have been with employees within the building and/or they may have been under insured
    • Outside is cleaned and door is locked- people are breaking in; illegal dumping
    • 2/24- Councilman Jones’s office followed up on 311- keep submitting and sending the request number 
  • Stormwater waiver for DSAI Building- every development needs on, comment period thru 4/1-
    • Odette will not allow for the waiver- send photos of the debris in stony run to her office
• Sisson Street Bridge? Jermaine advocated and it’s high priority- hopes to have an update soon

• Community Announcements
• Volunteer call out for flyer distribution! Please reach out to Jen at volunteers@griaonline.org to take a flyering route next month. Routes are ~2 blocks and a great way to meet your neighbors
• RemFest 5/9

• Church of the Guardian Angel thrift shop, runs 1st & 2nd Sat of the month, 10am – 2 pm, bring donations during open hours only, also seeking volunteers; Food Pantry, every
  Wednesday from 9 am – 10 am, need volunteers for delivery drivers and some muscle on Tuesday mornings to unload trucks (9:30 – 10:15ish). Registration preferred but not required
• CSX covering 25% of bridge, city Remainder, 18 months out ideally from construction
  • Discussed scaling down bridge size
• If you’re concerned about stormwater management- submit public comment until 4/1- check Sacred Parks and Waterways, and bmoreagainstdsai.org

Adjourned- 8:40

Next Community Meeting: April 15, 2026