MANSFIELD DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP, INC.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Mansfield Downtown Partnership Office
Tuesday, October 5, 2004
MINUTES
Present: Steve Bacon, Tom Callahan, Dianne Doyle, Dale Dreyfuss, Al Hawkins, Janet Jones, Philip Lodewick, Fred Maryanski, Betsy Paterson, Dave Pepin, Caroline Redding, Steve Rogers, Betsy Treiber, Frank Vasington, David Woods
Staff: C. van Zelm
1. Call to Order
Philip Lodewick called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm.
2. Opportunity for Public to Comment
There was no public comment.
3. Approval of Minutes
Betsy Treiber made a motion to approve the September 8, 2004 minutes. Dale Dreyfuss seconded the motion. The motion was approved with one abstention by Steve Bacon.
4. Director’s Report
Cynthia van Zelm said most of her Report would be covered in other agenda items.
5. Update on Municipal Development Plan and Related Storrs Center Project Issues
Ms. van Zelm went over the draft timeline for the Storrs Center project that she prepared in conjunction with the Storrs Center Alliance team, Town Planner Greg Padick and Partnership Attorney Lee Cole-Chu. She said there would be several meetings in November and December to review the design and the technical Municipal Development Plan (MDP) The goal is to have a draft MDP completed in mid-December. The state and local review process would occur in early 2005, with the local, state and federal permitting process to take through 2005 and mid-2006. The goal is to have preparation of final construction documents occur in mid-2006.
Tom Callahan noted that the timeline is fluid and the MDP process is a complicated undertaking. There will be several opportunities for the public to comment on design and the MDP. He asked Board members to be flexible with Board and Committee meetings to accommodate the issues of scheduling many people i.e., on the Board and the development team.
Mr. Callahan said the September 8 meeting to introduce the Storrs Center Alliance team to the public was well attended with over 150 people. The response has been positive. A comprehensive media plan was undertaken with good coverage in both the Chronicle and the Hartford Courant.
6. Debrief Festival on the Green
Betsy Paterson said the Festival on the Green went well! There were some adjustments due to using the rain date but she has heard very positive response. Lon Hultgren of the Organic Blues Trio that played at the Festival said it was the most well run Festival in which he had participated.
Ms. Paterson said the Festival Committee was one of the best committees she has worked with and she hopes to keep the members involved next time.
One of the comments she heard most frequently was to try and condense the Festival – it was too spread out.
She commended Wendi Richardson, who was in attendance at the Board meeting, and was in charge of music.
7. Grants
Martin Berliner updated the Board on grants. He said the Town had received its second $500,000 Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant which will be used for the town green and surrounding infrastructure i.e., utilities and moving roads. Mr. Berliner will be meeting with Howard Kaufman of LeylandAlliance to work on specifics. Mr. Callahan congratulated Mr. Berliner and the Town for their work on the grant.
Mr. Berliner noted that the downtown project has been the recipient of over $1.25 million in grants.
8. Report from Committees
Mr. Callahan reiterated that the Development Agreement between the Partnership and LeylandAlliance calls for a Preliminary Business Plan to be completed in 30 days and the MDP to be completed in 120 days from the date of the signing of the Development Agreement (August 3). The LeylandAlliance team indicated that their submission from June, when they were reinterviewed to be master developer for the project, represented the first iteration of their Preliminary Business Plan. Not much had changed. Mr. Callahan said there would be an opportunity to update this after the design meeting in October. Mr. Callahan did say the Plan focuses on phasing with retail playing more of a role at the beginning phase than originally anticipated. Other issues that the Finance Committee brought up that need to be determined further are the size of the green and the height of buildings.
Mr. Callahan said the Board had approved an additional staff person for the Partnership and the hope is that the person can be hired quickly. Mr. Callahan asked Board members to think about someone that would be able to perform a variety of tasks for the Partnership and get back to him or Ms. van Zelm by tomorrow if they knew of a candidate. In response to Dave Pepin’s question about what the position would entail, Mr. Callahan said the person would assist Mr. van Zelm with day to day tasks, freeing her up to strategize and move the development project along. The person should be well organized, a multi-tasker, a good communicator and the be comfortable working in a small organization.
Steve Bacon said that the Committee met last month but did not meet with Lou Marquet or Michael Klemens. Next steps for the Committee’s work will be dependent on what comes out of the design meeting in New Haven on October 27.
9. Other
Philip Lodewick noted that a meeting had been set up with LeylandAlliance and Intrawest-The Village People with Dean Woods to discuss how the economics generated at the UConn School of Fine Arts affect the downtown project. Dean Woods said they have the numbers on how many people attend shows, etc. and there needs to be consideration of the economic impact of these people buying meals, shopping, etc. on the downtown project. A further dialogue between Dean Woods and Intrawest was planned.
10. Adjourn
Ms. Paterson made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Betsy Treiber seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia van Zelm
Executive Director, Mansfield Downtown Partnership