Downtown Development Commission

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: February 15, 2018 Time: 7:15 pm MEETING MINUTES 1) CALL TO ORDER: This meeting was called to order at 7:16 pm by Chair Mark Fabyanski 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: R. Conley, C. Brady, M. Fabyanski, P. Flemming, M. Kopas, L. Lajewski, E. Range, R. Rocco, B. Short, D. Starker, R. Stern, M. Tomaszewski, S. Whitehorn, M. Zimmerman MEMBERS ABSENT: M. Byrne, J. Burnet, B. Cramer, G. Herzog, J. Hollenbach. L. Jasen, R. Stern ALSO PRESENT: Lisa Ellis, Director of Business Development MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: John Hoover, John Morris 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 2018. Copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public. 5) APPROVAL OF JANUARY 2018 MINUTES: Motion to approve January 2018 Minutes as presented Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: P. Flemming Voice Vote: Unanimous 6) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT: Mark Fabyanski opened the meeting and asked for a moment of silence for the victims of the deadly shooting in Parkland, FL. 7) TREASURER’S REPORT: The financial reports were shared. There has been very little activity as is typical in the early months of the year. 8) MAYOR’S REPORT: Mayor Conley spoke about his presentation given earlier today to the Leadership Morris Economic Development Day at Picatinny Arsenal. He presented along with Hanover Mayor Fancioli, Mayor Dodd from Dover. The presentation can viewed here: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnwS_DqnT6nMgxVPDm6iEdA8Dkd6 Mayor Conley will be receiving one of two Leadership Morris Alumni Achievement Awards for 2017.The award will be presented at the Good Morning Morris Breakfast on April 25th, at the Birchwood Manor in Hanover Township. The Mayor also shared that the Council is in the midst of their budget season. 9) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: There was no report. 10) DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPORT: Lisa Ellis shared that she is now providing the Mayor and Council with twice monthly reports on the 1st and the 15th. She shared some items from tht report and about potential new businesses. 11) PLANNING BOARD REPORT: Peter Flemming noted that FDU will be coming before the board in the coming months with plans for athletic field upgrades. 12) FOUNDATION REPORT: Eric Range stated that there was no report. 13) COMMITTEE REPORTS: The DDC Chair, Mayor and Council Liaison will be invited to all standing committee meeting meetings. a) Sign & Façade: Eric Range, Chair, Mike Kopas, Suzy Whitehorn, Leslie Lajewski Karen Giambra Report: The Committee has reviewed two applications since the January DDC meeting. i) Rose City Flex Space, 29 Main Street - Sign Application Received by Zoning: 02/06/18, Approved: 02/18/18 ii) Site Plan Application for General Zod, LLC - ("Weenies Hot Dogs"). Susan G. Blickstein, AICP/PP, PhD (Preliminary & Final Site Plan with Variances, 145 Main Street/General Zod, LLC, Block 2601, Lot 18 (CBD-1/CC District, P17-013) directing the applicant to have the signage reviewed by Sign & Façade before final site plan review. Letter of Response Sent to Applicant: 02/13/18 Action Items: None at this time. b) PIC (Public Improvement): Jim Hollenbach, Chair, Peter Flemming, Bob Rocco, Russell Stern Brad Cramer, Suzy Whitehorn, Marsha Ann Zimmerman, Larry Jasen. Report: Pic met on Tuesday, February 13th at 8:45 am at the Nautilus Diner. Jim Hollenbach, Peter Flemming, Bob Rocco, Brad Cramer, Suzy Whitehorn, Mark Fabyanski and Lisa Ellis were in attendance. Jim Hollenbach invited Suzie Reilly and Shannon Salamone to attend as resident representatives. The Committee set the meeting schedule for 2018. They will meet on the third Tuesday of each month at 8:45 am at the Nautilus. Projects in process as well as future projects were discussed. Action Items: Lisa will send the Committee some options for bicycle racks for downtown and materials on Adopt-A-Space models. c) University Relations: Carla Brady, Melanie Tomaszewski, Deb Starker Report: Carla Brady, Deb Starker, Mark Fabyanski and Lisa Ellis met informally on Monday, February 12th at 5:00 pm at Drip Coffee to discuss next steps for the committee. The consensus was that a strategy that capitalizes on all the current Drew University has with the community and then turnkeys it for FDU and CSE will be pursued. Marti Winer the Vice President, University Relations for Drew University will play an integral role going forward. The tentative date for the Drew summer movie on the lawn was set for Thursday, June 21 st. Action Items: Lisa Ellis will work with Marti Winer to catalog current community connections that exits between Drew and Madison. This information will be shared with this group within the month. d) Marketing and Economic Development: Eric Range, Leslie Lajewski, Carla Brady, Deb Starker Melanie Tomaszewski, John Morris, Karen Giambra, Michael Pellessier. Chair TBD. Report: There is no report. Action Items: Schedule a meeting for an evening of the week of February 26 th or March 5th. 14) AD HOC COMMITTEE AND PROJECT UPDATES: a) Taste of Madison (Monday, March 19, 2018): The 2018 event will be held at Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park. Sponsorships are up from last year. Three of the schools are selling tickets - MJS, KRS, and TJS. Meeting at Brooklake regarding layout have happened and the space should work out very well for this event. b) May Day (May 5, 2018): This is the 20th Anniversary of May Day. The first was held on May 2, 1998. The donation envelopes for the utility bills have been ordered and the T-Shirt Art Contest is underway. c) DDC/MACA Sidewalk Art Gallery & Gala: The banners have been ordered and the call for artists has been sent and posted.  d) Farmers’ Market (Thursdays, May 31 - October 25, 2018): Lisa Ellis reported that the contracts will be going out to vendors from last year shortly. Sponsorships will be confirmed as well. New vendors are reaching out, and a waiting list system may need to be created. There may be some logistical challenges with vendor parking this season due to a change in the availability of onsite parking. Lisa will speak to the property owner to confirm. e) Drew University Town Tour (August 25, 2018) f) Bottle Hill Day (Saturday, October 6, 2017) g) Sidewalk Sounds (Incorporated into Madison Farmers’ Market) h) Downtown Concert Series w/METC (June 22, July 13, July 27, August 10, August 24, August 31 & September 7, 2018) i) Madison Storytellers Festival (September 15, 2018) j) MACA/DDC Holiday Arts Festival (Friday and Saturday, November 24th and 25th) k) Rose City Summerfest (June 16, 2018): Planning for this event is proceeding. Lisa Ellis has secured a stage and reached out to amusement company. She requested that a subcommittee form to work on the Beer Garden for this event. 15) OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business. 16) NEW BUSINESS a) METC - Madison Welcome Center: Deb Starker reported that the museum has been working with Morris Tourism to create a new Madison Welcome Center at the METC. There will be some construction needed, etc. If anyone has suggestions they should send them to Deb. b) Paint the Yellow - Sponsorship: There was a lengthy discussion on the initiative for this year. Carla Brady stated the importance that this even draw people downtown. The speaker series is a primary focus in this regard. She suggested that money perhaps be spent to get a “big name speaker. She suggested two possibilities - Donna Frietas who wrote the “Happiness Effect” and motivational speaker Michael Fallon. Lisa Ellis requested that the DDC sign on to be a Patron sponsor for $1,800.00 as per the new sponsorship model. It was suggested that the timeline be better managed going forward and that a debriefing session be scheduled soon after the event, sometime before the end of June ideally. The following motion was made. Motion to approve funding in an amount up to $1,800.00 for collateral materials for the Paint the Town Yellow Initiative 2018. Moved by: D. Starker and Seconded by: P. Flemming Voice Vote: Unanimous 17) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC: There was no discussion. 18) ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 8:21 pm Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: L. Lajewski Voice Vote: Unanimous NEXT MEETING: Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 7:15pm, Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building. Executive Board Meeting TBD.