July 2026 Community Meeting Recap
Note: Any changes to the minutes should be directed to secretary@upperfellspoint.org.
Virtual Meeting
The meeting was held virtually only.
Introductions and welcoming of new attendees
Thanks to the Julie Center for hosting speakers!
Guest Speakers
1) Tyrell (Tye) Gibson, new director of the Julie Community Center discussed his new role and his vision.
He plans to expand access to food, small-group tutoring, outreach, family activities, etc.
Volunteers are needed and he would like to hear from residents regarding neighborhood needs and how the Julie Center can be a better resource.
Upcoming opportunities in the fall:
Julie Academic Scholars: Tye’s experience with learning centers enables the Julie Center to provide lower-priced, specialized, small-group tutoring.
Expand access to food: previously launched a program at 29th St. Community Center - plan to do it at Julie.
Once a month, please come and have a meal, particularly those who may struggle with food insecurity. Will have resources as well for help.
Will provide outreach to our immigrant neighbors.
Workforce Development: childcare certification program.
October - Swing for Change event: community softball tournament and resource village at Patterson Park.
Proceeds will go to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, picking up sponsorships.
Nonprofits will have ability to set up tables with resources.
Family activities for the holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
Quarterly newsletter coming out in August.
2) Rochelle Carpenter and Peter Lall from the Baltimore Red Line discussed their proposal for a high-frequency, high-capacity premium transit line between Woodlawn and Bayview (traveling through downtown).
There have been many setbacks due to Federal funding changes, the Federal Surfacer Transportation Authorization Bill expires Sept 2026, and there has not been a full funding grant agreement since January 2025.
Some of the options are:
Option 1 - Continue as is at 14 miles as a full light rail transit project
cost is $9B with limited state and federal resources for funding
to take 9-12 yrs. to complete
is the highest ridership option, lower annualized cost per trip and slightly faster travel times.
Tunnels are cost prohibitive - remaining surface alignments have substantial parking, property, and operational impacts
Option 2 - Build only 6 miles from Edmonson Village to downtown at the Shot Tower and not enter SE Baltimore until a later phase in the project)
to take up to 9 years to complete
cost at $2.2B-$2.5B
would maintain same capacity per vehicle compared to the 14-mile with slightly faster travel times than a bus.
No clear path to advance rest of corridor: Phase two would go west to Woodlawn and phase three would go to Southeast/ Bayview
Option 3 - Advance as a full bus rapid transit which Baltimore does not have now.
cost would be $750M-$1B
to take 5 years to complete with exclusive and dedicated lanes (no vehicles permitted but law enforcement would need to enforce the laws).
there would be a landscaped buffer between bus lanes and car lanes - physical separations and also would be a streetscape project with new buffers and medians, new signals, landscaping and trees and facilities for stations.
there would not be any property displacements with limited residential/commerical impacts.
can always add more buses if needed.
Bmore Bus plan: increasing frequency by 25% - Could advance at the same time as BRT Red Line: would cost less than half of what a 14-mile light rail project would cost
BRT does not preclude the light rail.
Places where they’re doing construction now (ex: Frederick Douglass tunnel in West Baltimore) are being built to accommodate light rail in the future
If LRT is done later it will be a separate project.
Number of utilities you have to move for LRT is more expensive than BRT.
Are aware of other projects that started as BRT and moved to LRT later on.
Are considering that MTA routes use BRT lanes but would need to maintain local routes that stop more frequently.
Every year it is delayed it becomes more expensive - if delayed for five years, inflation would add $882M in costs alone fo the least expensive option.
There is a survey to express your thoughts on the project – go to survey for the Red Line
Upper Fell’s Finds
This new topic was added to the agenda whereby residents can share some of the things in the neighborhood that they like.
This month Trevey highlighted an art deco handrail at 324 S Ann.
If you have one to share, contact Trevey at (parliamentarian@upperfellspoint.org)
Officer Reports
Treasurer’s summary report was given.
Reminder: if you pay your dues via the PayPal giving fund, please email a copy of your receipt to treasurer@upperfellspoint.org.
The new mural by Jaz Erenberg at S. Chapel & Lombard was completed.
Reminder: UFPIA was the fiscal sponsor of the project for a state grant
Brief documentary video on the details and inspiration was made.
Committee Reports
Beautification
Mallory Kuehn - beautification@upperfellspoint.org
Two cleanups this month
7/14 with free ice cream and treats and 7/21.
Meet at Mallory’s garage (1931 E. Pratt, garage on Washington St.) to pick up trash - bring your own gloves. Pickers and bags will be provided.
7/19 meeting to plan out the rest of the year; if you want to be involved, email Mallory.
Cleanup teams: we have four teams now. First place for June is team SANNitation who gets a picker! Second place is team Gough - they get cleanup bags!
Next monthly evening clean up is on 8/11 at 6pm at 1931 E Pratt (corner of Pratt & Washington by red garage doors on S Washington side).
Dumpster Day is 9/19 at the corner of Gough and Chester.
COMMUNITY GARDEN
Jan Mooney - communitygarden@upperfellspoint.org
Growing season is underway and garden is doing well but could use more rain.
Honey Happy Hour - 8/15 from 4-6pm at the garden to celebrate National Honey Bee Day. Will have beverages, snacks, a raffle and short talk by a local beekeeper.
Oktoberfest - 9/19 from 4-7pm at the garden to celebrate fall.
Both are fundraisers - proceeds to the greening efforts at the garden.
EDUCATION
Eliza Poffenberger - education@upperfellspoint.org
Wolfe St. Academy’s (WSA) Wolfest was cancelled;have lots of craft supplies and made keychains - hope to bring them to the kids for back-to-school activities in the fall.
Committee meetings are on the last Thursday of the month at 7pm (7/23 and 8/27). Contact Eliza for the location and more information.
There will be a ‘know your rights’ workshop in English by Safe City Baltimore at WSA. Eliza has flyers, but the overall request is to not share on social media. Email Eliza for info.
Cleanup on 6/20 - Cleaned the tree beds and added plants at WSA. Thanks to Lisa who helped to facilitate and to our 11 volunteers (including students and their family).
FUND-RAISING
Amy Zemanick and Wendy Bozel - fundraising@upperfellspoint.org
Monthly meetings on the fourth Monday at 7pm, Ministry of Brewing (7/27 is the next one).
Hoping to have a social event such as an outdoor movie night or social in Patterson Park - stay tuned!
LADY DAY WAY
Beth Russo - ladydayway@upperfellspoint.org
The street art work has been completed but there will be a 2x5 wall-mounted sign installed on the SE corner of E Pratt and Durham.
Three large gardenias are in front of where Billie Holiday spent time/ lived, music notes are part of her famous song, “God Bless the Child.”
At some point we will have a celebration party so stay tuned.
Thanks to Rolando for taking pictures during the process.
Worked with Community Design Center to design a cohesive Lady Day Way.
Thank you to the block residents for their patience, support, and participation.
LAND-USE
Mark Hoffmann - landuse@upperfellspoint.org
Next meeting on 8/3 at 7pm at the Julie Community Center.
Discussion of 200 S. Broadway redevelopment and Broadway Corridor improvement initiative.
Safety (sub-committee)
Dan Harrison - safety@upperfellspoint.org
Planning for National Night Out is well underway (event to be held on 8/4 from 6:30-8:30pm on the 300 block of S Chapel)
Please contribute potluck dishes!
BPD Central District Meeting: reinforced to them we continue to have the same problems on Gough & Broadway.
Problems in Fells Point: entertainment police effort moves people out of Fells, but they need to keep moving beyond the neighborhood. They move into UFP.
Will continue to follow up
MEDIA
Jan Mooney - newsletter@upperfellspoint.org
Deadline for the August newsletter is July 26th at 5pm.
Follow us on UFPIA instagram page (@ufpia_baltimore), Facebook and Nextdoor for up-to-date news.
STREETS
Stephen Porter - trafficparking@upperfellspoint.org
Is his last meeting as he’s moving back to his hometown of Pittsburgh soon. A volunteer is needed to lead the Committee; contact Ben at president@upperfellspoint.org.
The City keeps pushing back on adding traffic calming to S Washington St. The new estimated date is 2027.
New Business
Further discussion about sending a letter from UFPIA about the ongoing situation at Gough & Broadway. If you’d like to be involved in drafting the letter, please email Rolando (rjbatista@yahoo.com).
Straw poll about interest in UFPIA in sending such a letter - 17 hands raised out of 26.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Social at Spirits (1901 Bank)
To vote on issues at a meeting, you must have paid your current dues (based on calendar year beginning in January), attended 2 of the preceding 11 meetings, live in our boundaries and be age 18 and/or attended UFPIA sponsored events/activities per our Meeting & Voting Regulations.
