BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Mansfield Downtown Partnership Office
1244 Storrs Road
4:00 PM
Present: Steve Bacon, Tom Callahan, Bruce Clouette, Gregory Haddad, Matthew Hart, Philip Lodewick (by phone), Frank McNabb, Steve Rogers, Kristin Schwab, Phil Spak, Betsy Treiber, Antoinette Webster, David Woods
Staff: Cynthia van Zelm, Lee Cole-Chu
1. Call to Order
Board Vice President Betsy Treiber called the meeting to order at 4:03 pm.
2. Opportunity for Public to Comment
There was no public comment.
3. Approval of Minutes
Bruce Clouette made a motion to approve the minutes. David Woods seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.
4. Four Corners Sewer Study Advisory Committee
Four Corners Sewer Advisory Committee chair Gene Nesbitt and Public Works Director Lon Hultgren gave a PowerPoint presentation on the work of the Committee. Mr. Nesbitt recognized Board member Phil Spak as a member of the Committee. Mr. Hultgren said the CT Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has indicated that there is a potential health issue with some failing septic systems in the Four Corners area. It is likely CT DEP will require the Town to have sewers in the area. It will cost approximately $5.1 million to put in a sewer system. In meeting with adjacent property owners, the Committee found that there was also interest in being able to supply water to the area. Mr. Hultgren said it would take about $9 million to get water to the site. He indicated that there was much more work to do in terms of looking at partners to assist with bringing water to the site.
Mr. Nesbitt said the next step is to meet on March 24 with the surrounding property owners (there are 59/approximately 20 are residential). Mr. Nesbitt said there is positive economic benefit to developing some of the Four Corners area, as well as helping the environmental situation. He said that the property owner meeting will be followed in the coming weeks with a community meeting. All meetings are public.
Mr. Nesbitt said he is looking for the Partnership to be an active player, and does not see competition with Storrs Center. Four Corners will likely be developed as individual parcels, and generate more traffic-oriented businesses because of its location vs. pedestrian-oriented at Storrs Center.
5. Director’s Report
Cynthia van Zelm said the Frequently Asked Questions have been updated on the website as well as some changes to the website to make it more user friendly.
Ms. van Zelm said that the House of Representatives had passed the FY2009 Omnibus budget bill which includes $712,500 for infrastructure for Storrs Center (focused on Phase 1A, and the interior roads). The bill will now go to the Senate. This funding was from a request from the Town in January 2008. The Town is working toward a similar request for infrastructure for FY2010.
6. Update on Storrs Center and Next Steps
Ms. van Zelm said that Leyland had recently sent a comprehensive set of changes back to the State Traffic Commission for its consideration of the Storrs Road permit. Mr. Callahan said the Town is moving ahead with requesting proposals for the design and engineering simultaneously while the permit is being reviewed.
Ms. van Zelm said the solicitation of businesses for the project, particularly for Phase 1A has begun in earnest.
Ms. van Zelm invited the Board to a Town Council sponsored workshop on parking that will be held on Monday, March 23 at 5 pm in the Town Council chambers.
Ms. van Zelm said the League of Women Voters will be sponsoring an update on Storrs Center on April 29 at 7 pm in the Town Council chambers.
7. Review and Approval of Bylaws Changes
Steve Bacon said the Nominating Committee had just met and recommended a series of Bylaws changes to the Board to consider including increasing the number of Directors to 19 from 18 with the addition of a UConn student representative. The goal would be to receive nominations from campus organizations. The Nominating Committee would make a recommendation to the full Board on the student. The student would serve for one term and then would have to be re-appointed for another term.
Mr. Bacon said the 2nd recommendation was to change the University ex-officio position to the President, or his or her designee, from the Provost.
The 3rd recommendation would be to do away with the term limits on appointed members (by UConn, the Town, and the Mansfield Business and Professional Association). Since these are appointments, the respective organization should have the ability to continue to appoint who they want to the Board. All elected Directors will continue to have terms limits.
Barry Feldman made a motion to recommend to the Partnership membership the adoption of the following Bylaws changes. Mr. Clouette seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.
Article V BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 2. Number of Directors. The Board of Directors of the Partnership shall consist of up to nineteen members as described in this section. Three Directors shall be appointed by the President of the University of Connecticut. Three Directors shall be appointed by the Town Council of Mansfield, Connecticut. Three Directors shall be appointed by the Mansfield Business and Professional Association. Three Directors shall be, ex-officio with full voting powers, the Mayor of the Town of Mansfield (or the Mayor’s designee); the President of the University of Connecticut (or the President’s designee in addition to the President’s appointed Directors); and the Chairperson of the Mansfield Business and Professional Association Executive Committee. Six Directors shall be elected by the Partnership’s members. One Director shall be an enrolled student at the University of Connecticut Storrs campus (undergraduate or graduate, full-time or part-time) nominated by the Nominating Committee (see Article VI, Sec. 3) and appointed by the Board of Directors. The Partnership may, by amendment to these bylaws, either increase or decrease the number of Directors.
Section 4. Term of Office. Each Director’s term shall be three years, except that ex officio Directors’ terms shall only end when they leave their respective offices and the term of the University of Connecticut student Director shall be one year from the date of appointment by the Board of Directors pursuant to Section 2 of this Article V. With the exception of ex officio Directors and the University of Connecticut student Director, Directors’ terms of office shall be staggered so that one third of the terms expire each year. In addition to any shorter terms, no Director elected by the members may serve more than two consecutive three-year terms.
Article VI COMMITTEES
Section 1. Executive Committee.
(a) Composition. There shall be an Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, the membership of which shall not exceed eight in number. Five of the members of the Executive Committee shall be the Partnership’s President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary, and the Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee, ex officio. If the Mayor of the Town of Mansfield is not one of the five ex officio members of the Executive Committee, the Mayor shall be entitled to appoint one member of the Executive Committee (who may be the Mayor himself or herself) to serve at the pleasure of the Mayor. If the President of the University of Connecticut is not one of the five ex officio members of the Executive Committee, the President shall be entitled to appoint one member of the Executive Committee (who may be the President himself or herself) to serve at the pleasure of the President. There shall be one member-at-large, who shall be nominated by the President and approved by the Board of Directors. If at any time the foregoing provisions of this section do not fill all eight seats on the Executive Committee, any vacancy shall be filled by the Board of Directors.
Section 3. Nominating Committee. There shall be a Nominating Committee consisting of a Chairperson and at least two other members appointed by the President with the approval of the Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee shall nominate candidates for Directors to be appointed by the Board pursuant to Article V, Sections 2 (student Director) or 8 (filling vacancies) and elected by the members pursuant to Article V, Section 2. A list of the Nominating Committee’s nominees shall be provided to the membership along with the notice of the Annual Meeting. Other nominations for Director may be made at the time of the election of Directors at the Annual Meeting. The Nominating Committee’s duties shall include the following, and such other duties as may be assigned to it by the Board of Directors: … [rest of section unchanged].
8. Report from Committees
Advertising and Promotion
Dean Woods said the Committee met on January 27. He said that Winter Fun Day was a successful event highlighted by ice sculpture, the Wacky Hat contest, and music by three UConn acappella groups.
Dean Woods said the spring newsletter would be published on April 7 in the Chronicle and April 9 in its Shopper.
Dean Woods said the Committee discussed the updating of the kiosk and decided at the very least, the brochure holders should be replaced. He said replacing the panels are being discussed with LeylandAlliance. There is a cost issue.
Dean Woods recognized the Partnership’s Festival on the Green Committee for providing a thank you cake to the UConn marching band for its part in the Festival parade. The cake was provided at the band’s end of the semester banquet.
Festival on the Green
In Betsy Paterson’s absence, Ms. van Zelm said the Festival planning had begun. She said there would be a real emphasis on creating even more of a Mansfield weekend celebration. The Committee will be working with the League of Women Voters on incorporating Know Your Towns Fair into the weekend. Kristin Schwab thought this was very encouraging.
Finance and Administration
Mr. Callahan said the Partnership had received an application for a relocation claim from Campus Florist and the Finance Committee had approved it at its last meeting. Per agreement, the Town and Leyland are splitting the costs of these claims.
Membership Development
Betsy Treiber said that 295 membership renewals had been received for a total of over $15,000. She said the Committee will be making follow-up calls starting at its next meeting.
She said letters had gone out to former members and at least five have renewed as members.
Mr. Bacon suggested sending minutes, agendas and Bylaws to the new Board members that will come on board in July.
Mr. Callahan made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss Ms. van Zelm’s evaluation. Mr. Clouette seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.
9. Executive Session – Personnel
Present: Mr. Bacon, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Clouette, Mr. Haddad, Mr. Hart, Mr. Lodewick (by phone), Mr. McNabb, Mr. Rogers, Ms. Schwab, Mr. Spak, Ms. Treiber, Ms. Webster, and Mr. Woods.
10. Budget
Mr. Hart made a motion to come out of Executive Session. Mr. Rogers seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.
On behalf of the Finance and Administration Committee, Mr. Callahan went over the budget recommended by the Committee, which includes the same amount as the last two years - a contribution from the Town and UConn of $125,000. The budget for memberships is $18,000. The Committee recommended that some of the fund balance be used for anticipated professional/technical expenses.
Mr. Callahan said the Committee recommended no pay increase for the next fiscal year for the Executive Director and Special Projects Coordinator to keep costs contained.
Mr. Callahan said he was able to negotiate with the office landlord a decrease in rent for two years for the office space. The Board asked Mr. Callahan to continue to discuss rent with the landlord.
Pending any further change in the rent, Mr. Clouette made a motion to accept the budget as presented. Mr. Hart seconded the motion. The budget was approved.
11. Adjourn
Mr. Clouette made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Feldman seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 6:15 pm.
Minutes taken by Cynthia van Zelm.