BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Mansfield Downtown Partnership Office
1244 Storrs Road
4:00 PM
Present: Tom Callahan, Bruce Clouette, Barry Feldman, Gregg Haddad, Matthew Hart, Dennis Heffley, Philip Lodewick, Frank McNabb, Betsy Paterson, Steve Rhodes, Steve Rogers, Kristin Schwab, Bill Simpson, Antoinette Webster
Staff: Cynthia van Zelm, Lee Cole-Chu
1. Call to Order
Philip Lodewick called the meeting to order at 4:05 pm.
2. Opportunity for Public to Comment
Maureen Estony introduced herself as a graduate of UConn. She said she believes the Storrs Center project is a great project and a long time coming. She lives in Woodstock.
3. Approval of Minutes
Betsy Paterson made a motion to approve the August 4, 2009 Board minutes. Kristin Schwab seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.
4. Director’s Report
Cynthia van Zelm passed out copies of the Partnership Fall newsletter.
Ms. van Zelm said she would be out of town for the October Board meeting. She suggested a meeting date of October 14. Antoinette Webster said she would not be able to attend. Ms. van Zelm will send an e-mail to Board members to ascertain whether October 14 works for most people.
Ms. van Zelm said the September Open House is on Thursday.
5. Appointment to Town of Mansfield Parking Steering Committee for Storrs Center
Ms. van Zelm referenced the agenda item in the packet and said that the Steering Committee had been formed to develop a parking management plan for Storrs Center, which would include coordinating with adjacent property owners. The Town Council approved the development of a steering committee and representatives including a representative from the Mansfield Downtown Partnership. Ms. van Zelm said that Karla Fox, who serves on the Partnership’s Planning and Design Committee, approached the Committee about her interest in serving as the Partnership’s representative. Ms. Paterson noted that Ms. Fox has been a long term member of the University’s Parking Advisory Committee.
Bruce Clouette made a motion to appoint Karla Fox, member of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership Planning and Design Committee, as the Partnership’s representative to the Town Parking Steering Committee for Storrs Center. Ms. Paterson seconded the motion.
Mr. Clouette said the parking steering committee is important for providing input to the Town Council as it addresses parking issues.
The motion was approved unanimously.
6. Storrs Center Action Items
Mr. Lodewick said that the key Storrs Center stakeholders are focused on continuing to move Storrs Center ahead. LeylandAlliance is talking with potential equity and debt partners to get Phase 1A started as soon as possible. One of the major draws remains the University and, in particular, its role in Storrs Center. He said that housing will continue to be an economic driver for the project, and the focus is on rental housing for the first phase.
Ms. van Zelm said that relocation negotiations continue and reported that Wings Over Storrs and Travelplanners had signed Letters of Intent to be part of the first phase. She said the relocation team expects that there will be several more Letters of Intent signed soon. She said that the goal is to determine the plans for the rest of the other affected businesses within the next month. She noted that some businesses will leave or retire.
Ms. van Zelm said that BL Companies has signed a contract with the Town to begin design work on Storrs Road. She said a coordination meeting is being scheduled with UConn as they are also doing some work in Storrs Road.
7. Four Corners Sewer Study Advisory Committee
Ms. van Zelm said she attended the last Four Corners Sewer Advisory Committee meeting which Matt Hart also attended. She said the Town is continuing to do some planning while issues of cost, etc., are evaluated.
She said the main item at the meeting was a presentation from Town Planning Director Gregory Padick on design criteria generally. He relayed to the Committee that the review process for any design criteria is important and used Storrs Center as an example. Mr. Padick suggested that the Partnership and the Town Design Review Committee could be resources. Mr. Padick said it is important for the design to be coordinated and cohesive. Because there are multiple property owners at Four Corners, it will be difficult to develop a special design district in the same way that the Partnership did for Storrs Center.
In response to a question from Mr. Clouette, Mr. Hart said that a study on financing options is not complete but he will share it once it is complete.
8. Report from Committees
Business Development and Retention
Ms. van Zelm said the Business Development and Retention Committee will be meeting on September 30.
Festival on the Green
Ms. Paterson said the wine tasting at the Altnaveigh is very popular and has sold out. She said that the Celebrate Mansfield Weekend will include Know Your Towns Fair, kayaking at River Park, the Farmer’s Market, the Picnicpalooza and the Festival.
Ms. Paterson said the Committee on Committees will honor volunteers at the picnic.
She thanked the Board members for contributing to the budget of the Festival. She said she was particularly pleased that almost all the sponsors from last year sponsored this year, and there were a few new sponsors.
Ms. Paterson said that the Committee was doing a dunk tank for the first time and was looking for student organizations to volunteer and to raise money. Dennis Heffley suggested the UConn diving team and Bill Simpson suggested the UConn spirit team.
Membership Development
Frank McNabb said the Membership Development Committee will meet next week. He said that Steve Rhodes agreed to serve on the Committee.
Planning and Design
In Mr. Bacon’s absence, Ms. van Zelm reported that the Committee completed revising its charge and will meet in October.
9. Adjourn
Tom Callahan made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Webster seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 5:15 pm.
Minutes taken by Cynthia van Zelm.