MANSFIELD DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP, INC.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

Mansfield Downtown Partnership Office

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

 

MINUTES

 

Present:          Stephen Bacon, Dianne Doyle, Barry Feldman, Mike Gergler, Al Hawkins, Janet Jones, Philip Lodewick, Dave Pepin, Peter Nicholls, Dave Pepin, Steve Rogers, Betsy Treiber, Frank Vasington

 

Staff:               Cynthia van Zelm, Tricia Rogalski

 

Guest:             Matt Hart, Macon Toledano

 

1.                  Call to Order

 

Philip Lodewick called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm.  He welcomed Barry Feldman, Interim Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at UConn, to the Board meeting.

 

2.                  Opportunity for Public to Comment

 

There was no public comment.

 

3.                  Approval of Minutes

 

Dave Pepin made a motion to approve the minutes.  Steve Bacon seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

4.                  Director’s Report

 

Cynthia van Zelm said that a bid had been received for the downtown connector that would connect the downtown to the Town Hall and the Community Center and it was being reviewed.

 

She said the last open house in July had about 8 people attending.  We are continuing to have new faces at the open houses.

 

Ms. van Zelm said the next newsletter will go out in September focusing on the Festival and will include an update on the project.

 

Ms. van Zelm said she hoped to have proposed changes to the Personnel Policies and a membership letter to interested parties for review at the August meeting.

 

4.         Election of Officers to Board of Directors for 2006-2007

 

Mr. Lodewick made a motion to appoint officers to the Board of Directors (President- Philip Lodewick, Vice President – Betsy Treiber, Secretary – Steve Rogers, Treasurer – Dave Pepin, and Asst. Treasurer – Martin Berliner).  Al Hawkins seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

5.                  Appointment of Committee Chairs and Members for 2006-2007

 

Mr. Lodewick made a motion to approve Committee Chairs and Committee Members for 2006-2007.  Mike Gergler seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

6.                  Update on Storrs Center project and Next Steps

 

Macon Toledano, Storrs Center project manager, reiterated that the approvals are in place from the Mansfield Planning and Zoning Commission for the building 1-A (building on Dog Lane).  The LeylandAlliance team with the Town of Mansfield is working on the financing of this first building.  Phil Michalowski, the relocation consultant, is continuing to work on evaluating space needs with businesses.  Mr. Toledano said he expects to proceed with construction documents this fall and look toward relocation next summer (2007).

 

Dave Pepin asked about an estimate for breaking ground.  Mr. Toledano said it was important to have the rest of the zoning in place before ground breaking.  The hope is that zoning applications will be submitted this fall.  There have been several staff reviews of the text amendment to the zoning regulations to be submitted.  BL Companies is working on the proposed map amendments.  Infrastructure such as the water and sewer connections need to be described.

 

Mr. Toledano said the team is still working on funding for the parking garage.  This is a threshold item.  He said he hopes that we will hear more soon from the state and our federal legislators on their assistance with funding.

 

Mr. Toledano said that it would be important to do a walkthrough of the special design district application showing images, and a model.  The Planning and Zoning Commission is supportive of showing information that is more than two-dimensional.  Leyland has brought in a team from Pittsburgh, Urban Design Associates (UDA), to put together a 3-D visualization.  It will probably be in computer form and model form.  They will give a presentation.  Mr. Toledano said this will add some time to the timeline but believes it will be very helpful for the Planning and Zoning Commission and the public to see these images in these formats.  He noted that UDA is one of the strongest planning firms in the country.  Mr. Toledano went with the team to look at other college towns including Northampton and Hanover for ideas a few weeks ago.

 

Mr. Toledano said he hopes that there would be a decision on the special design district by the end of the year along with some resolution on garage and 1-A building funding.  These three pieces of the project are threshold items.  He said it could take 14 to 18 months for construction to be completed once permits are in place.

 

The goal would be to have a couple of buildings on the town square completed for a soft opening in summer of 2009 and a major opening in fall of 2009.

 

Mr. Lodewick asked how this meshes with the timeline the Board was given in December.  Are we about 6 months behind that?  Mr. Toledano said the outline in December was aggressive which he noted at the time.  He said the idea is that it will be best if a few of the buildings can be ready around the town square at the same time instead of just one.  He said nothing could be built (outside the 1-A building) before the parking garage (or at least part of it) is ready.  The plan is to construct the garage in two parts.  The first garage would serve the town square buildings.

 

Mr. Pepin asked if the garage has to be built simultaneously as the buildings and Mr. Toledano replied in the affirmative.

 

Mr. Toledano expects there will be eight to ten different types of residential options.

 

Mr. Toledano said the Leyland and Live Work Learn Play have been working on the retail program.  They want the 3-D model completed before they go too much further. 

 

Mr. Pepin said he sees that target market for apartments to be graduate students and young faculty.  How do we market to them?  Mr. Toledano said he does see the apartments as a good opportunity for graduate students.  They will be designed for professionals who do not want to buy.  He said there continues to be a large interest from people in buying housing as well. 

 

7.                  Discussion re: authorization of Executive Director to sign Documents

 

Ms. van Zelm said that Board member Bruce Clouette had raised the issue with her about whether a mechanism was in place for Ms. van Zelm to sign documents on behalf of the Partnership, i.e., the joint applications with LeylandAlliance to the Planning and Zoning Commission for the 1-A building.  She said she checked the development agreement between the Partnership and Leyland and believes that authority was implicit for these documents.

 

Mr. Pepin asked if Ms. van Zelm is covered under the Partnership’s Directors and Officers insurance.  She thought she was but will check with Sumner and Sumner (the executive director is covered).

 

Steve Bacon indicated that he was ok with Ms. van Zelm signing grant applications. 

 

Assistant Town Manager Matt Hart thought that the Board could have a certified resolution about going forward with what type of documents Ms. van Zelm can sign. 

 

Steve Rogers expressed concern that Ms. van Zelm have Board support, noting that she should be able to use her best judgment re: signing documents.

 

Mr. Lodewick asked Mr. Hart to provide Ms. van Zelm with an example of a certified resolution to bring to the Board for authorization to sign documents.

 

8.                  Report from Committees

 

Advertising and Promotion

 

Ms. van Zelm gave the Committee report in Dean Woods’s absence.  She said that the Committee met in May and Mr. Toledano, and LeylandAlliance’s VP for Marketing Monica Quigley was in attendance.

 

She said that Ms. Quigley would be working with the Committee to develop a signage program (pre-construction, construction, post-construction, and relocation).

 

The Committee is also continuing to work on a brick program whereby people purchase bricks as support for the project and as a fundraiser for the Partnership.  Mr. Toledano will be evaluating a good location.

 

The Committee also started reviewing ideas for a groundbreaking for the downtown connector, which will hopefully happen late this summer.

 

Finally, the Committee discussed the DVD/Video grant that was awarded by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.  Ms. van Zelm and Tricia Rogalski will be working with Ms. Quigley on the outline for the DVD/Video.

 

Business Development and Retention

 

Mr. Gergler said the committee will meet in September and will probably be appointing a new committee member.

 

Festival on the Green

 

Ms. van Zelm gave the committee report in Betsy Paterson’s absence.  She said planning is moving along.  One of the big differences this year is a juried art show.  She said that sponsorships continue to come in and asked Board members if they knew other people to contribute.

 

Finance and Administration

 

Ms. van Zelm gave the report on Tom Callahan’s absence.  She said the committee met in May but not June.  Mr. Toledano and Howard Kaufman of LeylandAlliance were in attendance in person and by phone respectively.  They gave an update on the project as well as their other projects.

 

Membership Development

 

Betsy Treiber said the committee would not meet until September.  At the end of the fiscal year (June 30), there are 360 members that brought in $20,217.  Ms. Treiber and Ms. Paterson will also be at the Tour de Mansfield with a table.

 

Planning and Design

 

Steve Bacon said the committee met in June to discuss the status of the 1-A building.  Mr. Bacon said that the Planning and Zoning Commission still needs to review the design guidelines as part of the special design district regulations, before the committee can review what comes out of the Commission review.

 

9.                  Other

 

Mr. Bacon said the initial Board of Directors met in June 2001 at Rome Hall.  He noted that five years later, the thoughts and vision expressed at that time are taking shape.  He expressed congratulations to the Town, University and the business community.

 

10.       Adjourn

 

Ms. Treiber made a motion to adjourn at 5:45 pm.  Mr. Rogers seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Meeting notes taken by Cynthia van Zelm.