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Downtown Development Commission

Regular Meeting

Madison, NJ · October 15, 2015

AgendaMinutes

Minutes

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: October 15th, 2015 Time: 7:15pm MEETING MINUTES 1) CALL TO ORDER a) This meeting was called to order at 7:21pm by Chairman Russell Stern 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: R. Stern B. Cramer E. Range A. Baillie C. Erezuma B. Short J. Burnet M. Fabyanski S. Whitehorn C. Brady P. Flemming M. Byrne J. Hollenbach MEMBERS ABSENT: R. Conley, G. Herzog, L. Jasen, M. Kopas, L. Lajewski, E. Range, B. Short, D. Starker, M. Zimmerman Also Present: Lisa Ellis, DDC Program Director 4) OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT: In compliance with the open public meetings act, adequate notice of this meeting of the Downtown Development Commission was provided by distributing the Annual Meeting schedule to the Madison Eagle and Morris County Daily Record, posting a copy on the bulletin board at the main entrance to the Hartley Dodge Memorial Building, posting a copy on the Borough website, and filing a copy with the Borough Clerk, all on or about the first week of January 2015. Copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public. 5) APPROVAL OF AUGUST 2015 MINUTES (See brief notes from September meeting below. There are no official minutes as attendance was below the threshold for a quorum) Motion to approve August 2015 Minutes as presented Moved by: B. Cramer and Seconded by: E. Range Voice Vote: Unanimous 6) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT: Chairman Stern gave a brief report and encouraged everyone to volunteer to help out on Bottle Hill Day and with the DDC/MACA Art Auction on Saturday, October 24th. 7) TREASURER’S REPORT: Brad Cramer presented the Treasurer’s report, highlighting the current balance and Bottle Hill Day income. 8) MAYOR’S REPORT: There was no report. 9) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: Councilwoman Astri Baillie gave a brief report noting that included mention of the Borough’s new and improved website and the Ridgedale Avenue road construction project. 10) PLANNING BOARD REPORT: Astri Baillie and Peter Flemming spoke about various projects including the planned residential developments on Madison Avenue and the corner of Kings Road and Division Street. Also mentioned was the new commercial building being built on Main Street next to the Dunkin Donuts 1 Page which will be Sotheby’s Realty. 11) FOUNDATION REPORT: There was no report. 12) ASSISTANT BOROUGH ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT: Jim Burnet discussed the Borough process to develop a new Social Media Policy. He also requested that the CECM (Chief Executive Council of Madison) webpage be incorporated under the DDC’s page on the new website. The consensus of the DDC was that this should happen. 13) PRESENTATION/DISCUSSION: a) New Idea! PowerPoint: Jim Hollenbach presented a brief PowerPoint presentation on potential new projects for the DDC. He has been talking to residents and soliciting their feedback. Some of the ideas he mentioned were more benches on Green Village Road for extra seating for the METC concerts, continuing the pavers and historic lighting eastward on Main Street from Greenwood Avenue and new and improved garbage/recycling receptacles. The main focus of his presentation was the potential installation of water fountains with bottle fillers and pet fountains. These could be branded with the DDC logo and would be a welcome addition to the downtown streetscape as well as being a very useful improvement. The DDC asked Jim to do a bit more research on the pricing and come back with a more definitive proposal in early 2016. b) Lisa Ellis - Sample Videos. Two videos were shared: the marketing video for Downtown Westfield and a marketing piece for Nicky’ Firehouse Pizza. There was some problem with the video freezing so the links are as follows: http://www.westfieldtoday.com/images/new/DowntownWestfield.mp4 and https://vimeo.com/133414197 14) COMMITTEE REPORTS: a) PIC (Public Improvement): There was a discussion regarding the replacement of the white Christmas lights on Waverly Place and contacting Honor Tree to perform the installation. Lisa Ellis will follow up with Ray Massaro of Honor Tree. It was decided to a lot funding for this project as follows; Motion to approve the allocation of $5,000.00 from the Public Improvement Budget to fund the replacement of the white Christmas lights on Waverly Place Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: M. Byrne Voice Vote: Unanimous b) University Relations: There was no report. c) Sign & Façade: There was no report. d) Marketing/Branding: There was no report. 15) AD HOC COMMITTEE AND PROJECT UPDATES a) Scavenger Hunt b) Taste of Madison (Monday, March 7, 2016) c) May Day (Saturday, May 7, 2016) d) DDC/MACA Sidewalk Art Gallery & Gala (Gala date: Saturday, October 24, 2015) e) Farmers’ Market (Thursday, June 4th to October 15th. The hours will be 2:00 - 7:00pm) f) Drew University Town Tour: There was no report. g) Bottle Hill Day (Saturday, October 24, 2015): i) Lisa Ellis, Russell Stern and Mark Fabyanski gave an update of the event and asked that everyone sign-up to volunteer on the day of. ii) Incorporation of Art Gala into the Beer Garden tent. The auction will be held in the Beer Garden tent from 6-7:00pm because of the rescheduling of Bottle Hill Day. h) Sidewalk Sounds: There was no report. 2 i) Historic Town Tour: There was no report. Page j) Friday Night Concert Series w/METC - There was no report. k) Wayfinding: Craig Erezuma and Russell Stern noted that the signs should be available shortly and that the accessories needed had been ordered. They have met with Bob Vogel to discuss placement and potentially having the installation incorporated into the Ridgedale Avenue reconstruction project. There was also discussion about whether or not there should be consideration of creating named zones if and when the project continues. 1) NEW BUSINESS a) There was brief discussion of the upcoming Christmas Parade scheduled for Friday, November 27th. Those marching in the Parade should meet at Cramer’s Carpet. Motion to approve the purchase of branded giveaways for the Christmas Parade out of the Advertising/Promotion Budget for an amount not to exceed $1000.00 Moved by: B. Cramer and Seconded by: P. Flemming Voice Vote: Unanimous b) Deb Starker initiated discussion on how the DDC can best support the Madison Holiday Arts Festival scheduled for Friday, November 27th. It was decided that the DDC would allocate funds to offset the cost of entertainment, etc. as follows; Motion to approve the allocation from the Advertising/Promotion Budget line in the amount of $3,000.00 payable to MACA to support the Madison Holiday Arts Festival Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: M. Byrne Voice Vote: Unanimous c) Peter Flemming introduced a countywide program to aid Veteran’s called Operation Giveback and requested that the DDC and Chamber of Commerce look into supporting this program 2) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC: There was no discussion. 3) ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 9:15 pm Moved by: P. Flemming and Seconded by: M. Fabyanski NEXT MEETING: Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 7:15pm, Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building. Executive Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 8:15am. 3 Page

Agenda

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: October 15th, 2015 Time: 7:15pm MEETING AGENDA 1) CALL TO ORDER 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL R. Conley M. Byrne G. Herzog E. Range A. Baillie B. Cramer J. Hollenbach B. Short J. Burnet C. Erezuma L. Jasen D. Starker R. Stern C. Brady M. Kopas S. Whitehorn M. Fabyanski P. Flemming L. Lajewski M. Zimmerman 4) OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT: In compliance with the open public meetings act, adequate notice of this meeting of the Downtown Development Commission was provided by distributing the Annual Meeting schedule to the Madison Eagle and Morris County Daily Record, posting a copy on the bulletin board at the main entrance to the Hartley Dodge Memorial Building, posting a copy on the Borough website, and filing a copy with the Borough Clerk, all on or about the first week of January 2015. Copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public. 5) APPROVAL OF AUGUST 2015 MINUTES (See brief notes from September meeting below. There are no official minutes as attendance was below the threshold for a quorum) 6) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT 7) TREASURER’S REPORT 8) MAYOR’S REPORT 9) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT 10) PLANNING BOARD REPORT 11) FOUNDATION REPORT 12) ASSISTANT BOROUGH ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT a) Borough Social Media Policy 13) PRESENTATION/DISCUSSION: a) Jim Hollenbach – New Idea! PowerPoint b) Lisa Ellis - Sample Videos 14) COMMITTEE REPORTS: a) PIC (Public Improvement): Mark Fabyanski b) University Relations: Carla Brady c) Sign & Façade: Craig Erezuma d) Marketing/Branding: Eric Range 15) AD HOC COMMITTEE AND PROJECT UPDATES a) Scavenger Hunt (Saturday, March 21, 2015) 1 b) Taste of Madison (Monday, March 30, 2015) Page c) May Day (Saturday, May 2, 2015) d) DDC/MACA Sidewalk Art Gallery & Gala (Gala date: Saturday, October 24, 2015) e) Farmers’ Market (Thursday, June 4th to October 15th. The hours will be 2:00 - 7:00pm) f) Drew University Town Tour (Monday, August 24, 2015) g) Bottle Hill Day (Saturday, October 24, 2015): i) Update on event: Vendors, Sponsorships and Volunteer Recruitment ii) Incorporation of Art Gala into the Beer Garden tent h) Sidewalk Sounds - Sidewalk Sounds will take place every Thursday evening in the Farmers’ Market between June 4th and October 15th. In addition seven Saturday performances have been added. The Saturday dates are June 20th, July 18th, August 1st, August 15th, August 28th, September 12th and will culminate with a final performance on September 26th i) Historic Town Tour j) Friday Night Concert Series w/METC - The dates for this summer are June 26th, July 10th, July 24th, August 7th, August 21st and September 4th k) Wayfinding 16) OLD BUSINESS 17) NEW BUSINESS 18) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC 19) ADJOURNMENT NEXT MEETING: Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 7:15pm, Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building. Executive Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 8:15am. 2 Page DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: September 17, 2015 Time: 7:15pm MEETING NOTES Mayor Conley, Councilwoman Astri Baillie, Russell Stern, Brad Cramer, Deb Starker, Marsha Ann Zimmerman and Lisa Ellis were in attendance. The meeting entailed informal discussion on the Treasurer’s Report, Holiday Gift Check Program, Bottle Hill Day and various other topics. No formal action could be taken as a quorum of the Commission was not reached. DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: August 20, 2015 Time: 7:15pm MEETING MINUTES 1) CALL TO ORDER a) This meeting was called to order at 7:17pm by Chairman Russell Stern 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: R. Stern M. Fabyanski B. Short R. Conley J. Hollenbach S. Whitehorn B. Cramer M. Kopas M. Zimmerman C. Erezuma L. Jasen MEMBERS ABSENT: A. Baillie, J. Burnet, C. Brady, M. Byrne, P. Flemming, G. Herzog, L. Lajewski, E. Range, B. Short, D. Starker, Also Present: Lisa Ellis, DDC Program Director, Robert Rocco of Provident Bank 4) OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT: In compliance with the open public meetings act, adequate notice of this meeting of the Downtown Development Commission was provided by distributing the Annual Meeting schedule to the Madison Eagle and Morris County Daily Record, posting a copy on the bulletin board at the main entrance to the Hartley Dodge Memorial Building, posting a copy on the Borough website, and filing a copy with the Borough Clerk, all on or about the first week of January 2015. Copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public. 5) APPROVAL OF JUNE 2015 MINUTES (JULY MEETING WAS CANCELLED) Motion to approve June 2015 Minutes as presented Moved by: M. Kopas and Seconded by: R. Conley Voice Vote: Unanimous 6) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT: Chairman Stern gave a brief report. He suggested that a list of all 3 the awards, recognition and accolades that have been received by the Borough and the Downtown be Page recorded in a single document. He spoke about John Hoover resigning from the DDC ahead of his planned relocation out of state. It was noted that there would be a farewell celebration for John Hoover at Rocco’s on Monday evening at 6:00pm at Rocco’s. 7) TREASURER’S REPORT: Brad Cramer noted that the balance sheet is up. There was discussion about some challenges with the individual event budgets. 8) MAYOR’S REPORT: Mayor Conley reported about the Council’s plans to address the vacancy left with Jim Burnet moving to a new role as the Borough’s CFO. He noted that nothing has been decided but that it will be addressed later this year. Mayor Conley also talked about the very successful QuestCares Softball game that was held on July 28th. 9) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: There was no report. 10) PLANNING BOARD REPORT: There was no report. 11) FOUNDATION REPORT: There was no report. 12) ASSISTANT BOROUGH ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT a) There was a discussion of the future of the Theater on Lincoln Place. There was support for continued advocacy of maintaining the Theater. b) Proposed purchase of two planters with evergreens to be used to protect the Marquee from damage i) Quote from J & M Home and Garden for $594.33 and photographs (attached) Motion to approve the purchase from J & M Home and Garden for $594.33 Moved by: M. Kopas and Seconded by: M. Fabyanski Voice Vote: Approved by a majority. Larry Jasen abstained c) There was a discussion on new ways to make the downtown more successful. The issue of liquor licenses was part of that discussion. There was general approval of finding ways to work cooperatively with the Planning Board and Chamber of Commerce. There was discussion of holding a “Downtown Visioning Workshop” in the near future. Craig Erezuma brought up the concept of creating a “Business Incubator” in one of the open storefronts in town. 13) PRESENTATION/DISCUSSION: There was no planned presentation for this meeting. 14) COMMITTEE REPORTS: a) PIC (Public Improvement): Mark Fabyanski reported that Wi-Fi Project would be discussed by the Borough Council at an upcoming meeting. There was nothing new to report on the Theater Marquee. b) University Relations: There was no report. c) Sign & Façade: There was no report. d) Marketing/Branding: There was no report. 15) AD HOC COMMITTEE AND PROJECT UPDATES a) Scavenger Hunt (Saturday, March 21, 2015) b) Taste of Madison (Monday, March 30, 2015) c) May Day (Saturday, May 2, 2015) d) DDC/MACA Sidewalk Art Gallery & Gala (Gala date: Saturday, October 24, 2015). Larry Jasen suggested that consideration be given to creating lithographs or posters that would be sold in addition to the auction of the banners. e) Farmers’ Market (Thursday, June 4th to October 15th. The hours will be 2:00 - 7:00pm). The budget was discussed and though it will come in very close, it will be watched and reevaluated for next year. No action needs to be taken at this time. f) Drew University Town Tour (Monday, August 24, 2015). Mike Kopas asked that anyone willing to serve 4 as a tour guide for the event contact Carla Brady to confirm their participation. Page g) Bottle Hill Day (Saturday, October 3, 2015): Application coming in daily. The Sponsorship Packet has been sent out. It was noted that the amount originally budgeted was below last year’s expenditures. The budget tracking has become more events based. A correction will be needed and it was decided that additional funds be transferred from the Advertising/Promotion to the Bottle Hill Day line. Motion to approve the transfer of $10,000 from the Advertising/Promotion Budget line to that of Bottle Hill Day Moved by: S. Whitehorn and Seconded by: L. Jasen Voice Vote: Approved by a majority. Brad Cramer abstained h) Sidewalk Sounds - Sidewalk Sounds will take place every Thursday evening in the Farmers’ Market between June 4th and October 15th. In addition seven Saturday performances have been added. The Saturday dates are June 20th, July 18th, August 1st, August 15th, August 28th, September 12th and will culminate with a final performance on September 26th. The budget for Sidewalk Sounds originally did not reflect the increase in the stipends paid to the performers. The budget line will be corrected for next year but no action is needed at this time. Lisa Ellis recommended that there be consideration given to expanding the METC Downtown Friday Night Concert Series next year in lieu of the Saturday performances which have not been well attended. i) Historic Town Tour: Craig Erezuma reported that the next steps on this are in the hands of Mark DeBiasse the Supervisor of Humanities for the Madison Public School District. There will need to be curriculum written. j) Friday Night Concert Series w/METC - The dates for this summer are June 26th, July 10th, July 24th, August 7th, August 21st and September 4th. The concerts have been very well received and attendance has been great. k) Wayfinding: Craig Erezuma reported that the next steps were in the hands of the Borough’s Purchasing Department as a payment needs to be processed in order for the vendor to begin fabrication of the four planned signs. Lisa Ellis will follow up and make sure that this is taken care of. 16) OLD BUSINESS 17) NEW BUSINESS a) Proposed Purchase of Event Barriers (Pricing and Illustration Attached). The minimum purchase is 10 pieces at $106.00 each, total $1060.00. This was approved though no formal action was needed as they will be purchased within the Bottle Hill Day event budget. b) There is a need to elect a new Secretary in September. Mayor Conley noted that he will need to appoint someone to fill John Hoover’s spot on the Commission. c) Update of the DDC “Meet the Commissioners” tab and contact information. Lisa Ellis reported that she still has not received the requested information from all of the Commissioners but will hold off until the new Borough website is up and running to determine what this page will look like going forward. 18) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC: There was no discussion. 19) ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 9:10 pm Moved by: M. Kopas and Seconded by: M. Fabyanski Voice Vote: Unanimous 5 Page

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