MANSFIELD DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Mansfield Downtown Partnership Offices
Tuesday, February 4, 2003
MINUTES
Present: Steve Bacon, Phil Barry, Martin Berliner, Tom Callahan, Al Hawkins, Philip Lodewick, Betsy Paterson, Dave Pepin, John Petersen, Steve Rogers, Phil Spak, Chris Thorkelson, Betsy Treiber
Staff: C. van Zelm
1. Call to Order
Philip Lodewick called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
2. Opportunity for Public to Comment (occurred at end of meeting)
Penny Williams, of the Planning and Design Committee, asked whether the Looney Ricks Kiss consultant team was well versed in green building techniques. Ms. van Zelm said that Ed Wilson at Looney Ricks Kiss had been contacted about this and is familiar with green building techniques and the LEED rating system. Mr. Wilson indicated that Looney Ricks Kiss could discuss these issues further with the Planning and Design Committee. It was noted that the municipal development project plan work that Looney Ricks Kiss will do does not entail final architectural design where the inclusion of green building techniques would be more appropriate.
Helen Koehn expressed the need for the engineering team to have experience in stormwater management.
3. Approval of Minutes
Al Hawkins made a motion to approve the minutes. Betsy Treiber seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously.
4. Update on Municipal Development Plan
Phil Barry said the Finance and Administration Committee continues to work with Looney Ricks Kiss. A Scope of Work has been finalized and the contract between Looney Ricks Kiss and the Town of Mansfield is being negotiated.
5. Update on Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) for proposed Graduate Student Apartments and Downtown Mansfield Master Plan Projects
Tom Callahan said the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees reviewed the EIE at its Board meeting last month. The EIE will now go to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) where it will be distributed to other state agencies for their review. Mr. Callahan expects that the University will hear back from OPM in 60 to 90 days.
6. Update on Hiring Partnership Attorney
Mr. Bacon reported that a Request for Qualifications for an attorney for the Partnership had been sent to firms the ad hoc committee had considered might be appropriate for legal service to the Partnership. The Partnership also advertised through the Connecticut Law Tribune. Cynthia van Zelm said she had received one phone call inquiring about the position thus far.
7. Discussion on Bulk Rate for Partnership
Betsy Treiber, Chair of the Membership Development Committee, said that Committee is seeking to do more mailings to increase membership and would like to take advantage of the bulk rate which would be less expensive. Betsy Paterson made a motion to approve applying for a bulk rate permit for the Partnership. Chris Thorkelson seconded. The motion was approved unanimously.
8. Report from Committees
Membership Development – Ms. Treiber said the Committee would be doing a membership mailing to the UConn Advocates list in Mansfield and UConn faculty and staff. She received confirmation from Dale Dreyfuss that the Partnership can have a drop box for returned memberships on campus. Ms. Treiber also said that Ms. van Zelm and Committee members would staff a Partnership information table at the open houses this fall at the elementary, middle and high schools. The Committee is also looking into meeting with UConn faculty. There are currently 158 members with about 40 of those members being businesses and organizations.
Nominating – Mr. Lodewick said the Nominating Committee met and was seeking to fill Phil Barry’s position on the Board (Mr. Barry decided to step down after his term ends in June). Mr. Lodewick encouraged the Board and public to let him know if they have potential nominees to recommend.
Advertising and Promotion – Ms. van Zelm gave the Advertising and Promotion Committee report in Mr. Woods’ absence. Ms. van Zelm said that Ananda Ames, a Mansfield resident and student at the University of Virginia, was applying for a grant to look at the administration of art space downtown. Ms. van Zelm and Mr. Woods had met with the Town’s Arts Advisory Committee that was supportive of looking at ways to incorporate art into the downtown. With respect to the newsletter, Ms. van Zelm said she was pursuing working with local papers to publish a newsletter. The newsletter will include advertising space to defer the costs of the
publication.
Planning and Design Committee – Steve Bacon referred the Board to the “Town And Gown” article in the Agenda packet noting that many of the design ideas in the article are similar to the ones developed by the Planning and Design Committee.
9. Other
Mr. Lodewick distributed an evaluation form for Ms. van Zelm’s annual evaluation and asked Board members to return comments to him within the next week. The Board will discuss the evaluation at its March meeting.
Mr. Callahan updated the Board on the positive changes in the downtown including the arrival of Starbucks, c.o. jones, Husky Bean, and the renovation of Friendly’s.
The meeting adjourned at 4:35 PM. The next meeting is set for March 4 at 4 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia van Zelm
Executive Director, Mansfield Downtown Partnership