BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
4:00 PM
Present: Steve Bacon, Bruce Clouette, Dianne Doyle, Matt
Hart, Al Hawkins, Janet Jones, Philip Lodewick, Frank McNabb, Betsy Paterson,
Steve Rogers
Betsy Treiber, David Woods
Staff: Cynthia van Zelm,
Kathleen Paterson
1.
Call to
Order
Philip
Lodewick called the meeting to order at 4.04 pm.
2.
There
was no public comment.
3.
Approval
of Minutes
Mr.
Lodewick asked for any comments on the meeting notes from the June
meeting. There were no comments.
Betsy
Paterson made a motion to approve the meeting notes. Betsy Treiber seconded the motion. The meeting notes were approved
unanimously.
4.
Director’s
Report
Cynthia
van Zelm reported to the Board the following:
The Tour de
Mansfield is July 14. While most of the
planning has been done by the Mansfield Town Manager’s office, the Partnership
supports the event. There will be a
barbeque following the bike rides at the Community Center.
Matt
Hart added that there will be three options for riders, including a Family Fun
5-mile ride, a 20- and a 40-mile ride.
He noted that there have been some modifications made to the 40-mile
ride following feedback from last year’s event.
There will be less time spent on Route 32, and, for a short while, the
riders will venture into
Ms.
van Zelm said that the Partnership will staff a table with the usual
information.
She
then updated the Board in regards to the trip to Warwick Grove that she will
make with Ms. Paterson, Janet Jones, and Kathleen Paterson. Warwick Grove is located in
A
general question arose regarding the location of Warwick Grove. Ms. Treiber noted that the latest
LeylandAlliance newsletter locates
Ms.
van Zelm then requested volunteers to staff the Partnership’s table at the Know
Your Town Fair (KYTF) on September 8 from 11 am to 3 pm. The KYTF committee changed the time so that
more people might be encouraged to attend the Farmers’ Market immediately
following the Fair. Janet Jones and Ms.
Paterson volunteered to staff the table.
Ms.
Treiber volunteered to staff the Partnership table at the Festival.
Ms.
van Zelm noted that the ribbon cutting for the pedestrian walkway is set for
July 19. State Representative Denise
Merrill and State Senator Don Williams are scheduled to speak. A request is also into the Governor’s
office. Ms. van Zelm thanked Mr. Hart,
Ms. Paterson, and Town Councilors Bruce Clouette and Al Hawkins for all the
work the Town did on the walkway.
5.
Election
of Officers to Board of Directors for 2007-2008
Ms. Paterson made a motion to approve the Partnership
officers of Philip Lodewick as President, Betsy Treiber as Vice President,
Steve Rogers as Secretary, Phil Spak as Treasurer, and Matthew Hart as
Assistant Treasurer. Ms. Jones seconded
the motion. The motion was approved
unanimously.
6.
Appointment
of Committee Chairs and Members for 2007-2008
Mr. Lodewick said there were two changes to the
proposed list of Committee members that was mailed out in the Board
packet. Wendi Richardson will not be
able to serve on the Advertising and Promotion Committee and Marcia Firsick
will take her place. Ms. Treiber made a
motion to appoint the list of proposed Committee Chairs and members with the
changes noted by Mr. Lodewick. Ms.
Paterson seconded the motion. The motion
was approved unanimously.
7.
Update on
Ms. van Zelm said the wetlands application from
LeylandAlliance had been submitted to the Mansfield Inland Wetlands
Agency. Michael Kline and Michael
Klemens participated in the Inland Wetlands Agency field trip re: the application.
Ms. van Zelm said that BL Companies is working on the
permit applications to the State Traffic Commission, the CT Dept. of
Environmental Protection, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The goal is to submit these in a month; it
could take a few months to hear back from the agencies.
Ms. van Zelm said the team has been meeting on the
Dog Lane-1 building with the goal to still keep the cost of the building low so
the rents will be affordable. She said
that Partnership relocation consultant Phil Michalowski would be going back to
the affected businesses (re: relocation) and will present a rent
structure. He is still waiting for more
defined plans from BL Companies as part of his presentation.
Ms. van Zelm said no decisions have been made yet in
the House or Senate regarding appropriations for the parking garage. Mr. Lodewick asked what the impression was
from Preston Gates, the firm that is helping with the appropriations request. Ms. van Z Zelm said
it was positive but it is unlikely the request for a total of $6 million would
go through.
8.
Report
from Committees
Advertising
and Promotion
Dean Woods said that the Committee has reviewed the
CD/Video of the
He said that WTIC had offered to give the Partnership
a forum about the
There was also discussion about putting more
information about Partnership membership in the schools and UConn.
Dean Woods said the Committee reviewed clean-up tasks
for the UConn building (Store 24). He
said that Ms. Paterson and Ms. van Zelm would work to draft a letter to Tom
Callahan. The Committee offered to form
a work party to assist with the clean-up.
(letter went out July 30/Ms. van Zelm working with Don Anderson at
the University on some of the tasks).
Dean Woods said the UConn Co-op has come up with the
idea of creating a template of a mask of the downtown for the Festival whereby
children could add stickers, stamps, streamers, etc. to the mask.
Mr. Lodewick asked if the UConn Visitor’s Center
would be a good place to display Partnership material? Dean Woods replied “yes” wholeheartedly (Festival
brochures have been put in the Visitor’s Center).
Festival
on the Green
Ms. Paterson said that planning for the Festival was
going well. She said that Ms. Jones is
doing a great job recruiting food vendors.
The bands are lined up. Ms. van
Zelm said we are trying to have something for everyone, focusing on increasing
the number of activities for teens.
Ms. Paterson said that Committee members went before
the Town Traffic Authority to ask to close Storrs Road from S. Eagleville to
Dog Lane, for a limited time for the parade.
The Traffic Authority granted permission, as did the State. The road will be closed for only about an
hour.
Mr. Lodewick asked how the Committee was soliciting
the art submissions. Kathleen Paterson
said that a mailing had been sent to approximately 160 artists in the area, an
ad was placed in the Willimantic Area Arts Collaborative e-mail newsletter, and
press had been done thus far through The Reminder Press, and Horizons. Ms. K. Paterson also contacted UConn and
Eastern Connecticut State University art departments.
Dean Woods said that puppets and the UConn marching
band will be part of the Festival.
Ms. Paterson said that there will be fireworks on the
night of September 15 at Mansfield Hollow State Park. The little Big Band is confirmed to play at
the fireworks.
She reminded the Board that the Festival is Sunday,
September 16 from noon to 5 pm.
Finance
and Administration
In Mr. Callahan’s absence, Ms. van Zelm said that the
Committee discussed the wetlands application and relocation efforts.
Membership
Development
Ms. Treiber said that Ms. van Zelm was staffing a
table at the UConn orientation. She said
that letters were going out to the groups Ms. van Zelm has met with including
the UConn Council of Deans and other community groups such as the League of
Women Voters and Altrusa. Ms. Treiber
will add notes to the letters where she knows the addressee.
Ms. Treiber said the goal was also to send letters to
the businesses that put ads in the Partnership Annual Report but are not
members.
She said that $17,015 in dues was raised this year
with an additional $2,170 in donations for a total of $19,185. She said this was $6,000 over the expected
membership income.
Mr. Lodewick thanked Ms. Treiber for her efforts.
9.
Communications
Ms. van Zelm asked Board members to review the
attached Board contact list and let her know if there are any changes.
10.
Other
Al Hawkins noted that during the zoning process,
there were questions raised about security.
He suggested the idea of placing a police station downtown. Ms. van Zelm said she would talk to
LeylandAlliance about this idea.
Mr. Hawkins noted that many new developments have
police sub-stations. Ms. Treiber noted
that there is one at the Evergreen Walk shops.
11.
Adjourn
Bruce Clouette made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Treiber seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm.
Meeting
notes taken by Cynthia van Zelm and Kathleen Paterson.