Downtown Development Commission

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: March 15, 2018 Time: 7:15 pm MEETING MINUTES 1) CALL TO ORDER: This meeting was called to order at 7:18 pm by Chair Mark Fabyanski 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: R. Conley, C. Brady, M. Fabyanski, J. Hollenbach, M. Kopas, L. Lajewski, E. Range, R. Stern, S. Whitehorn, M. Zimmerman MEMBERS ABSENT: M. Byrne, J. Burnet, B. Cramer, P. Flemming, G. Herzog, L. Jasen, R. Rocco, B. Short, D. Starker, M. Tomaszewski ALSO PRESENT: Lisa Ellis, Director of Business Development MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: John Hoover, Michael Pellessier 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 FEBRUARY 2018 MINUTES Motion to approve February 2018 Minutes as presented Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: L. Lajewski Voice Vote: Unanimous 6) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT: There was no report. 7) TREASURER’S REPORT: Lisa Ellis gave a brief overview. Financial expenditures are being kept to a minimum until the issues with the MMSF are resolved. Monthly financial reports were distributed. 8) MAYOR’S REPORT: Mayor Conley thanked Lisa Ellis for her presentation to Rotary at both their breakfast and lunch meetings earlier today. He also spoke about the planned March for Our Lives send-off rally will be held in the morning on Saturday, March 24th on the Hartley Dodge Memorial plaza. The event will features presentations and student speakers. This will precede the March for Our Lives being held in Morristown the same day. 9) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: There was no report. 10) DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPORT: There was no report. 11) PLANNING BOARD REPORT: Mayor Conley reported that the application for the new food establishment Weenies at 145 Main Street was approved. The application required several variances including for time of operation. The applicant has agreed to improve the landscaping and sidewalk as well. He also noted that the residential condo development at 174 Main Street was approved. 12) FOUNDATION REPORT: 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: The Committee had reviewed two applications since the February DDC meeting. i) Bottle Hill Tavern, 13 Waverly Place Received by Zoning: 02/27/18 Approved: 03/01/18 ii) Central + Main, 3 Central Avenue Received by Zoning: 03/06/18 Approved: 03/06/18 b) PIC (Public Improvement): Jim Hollenbach, Chair, Peter Flemming, Bob Rocco, Russell Stern Brad Cramer, Suzy Whitehorn, Marsha Ann Zimmerman, Larry Jasen: PIC will meet on Tuesday, March 20th at 8:45 am at the Nautilus Diner. Lisa sent the Committee some options for bicycle racks for downtown and materials on Adopt-A-Space models. These will be reviewed at the meeting on the 20th. c) University Relations: Carla Brady, Melanie Tomaszewski, Deb Starker: Lisa Ellis met with Marti Winer regarding University Relations and a document/template has been started. Lisa and Marti also met with Jared Sutton and Talia Smith, both Drew students in leadership roles on February 28 th, the students would like the DDC to consider adding student representation, giving them a seat at the table. The DDC discussed the University Relations document and the possibility of adding student representation to the commission. Mayor Conley proposed the possibility that three non- voting positions could be created; one a student at Drew, one an active volunteer and the third given to the new Borough Coordinator of Communications and Technology, Michael Pellessier d) Marketing and Economic Development: Eric Range, Leslie Lajewski, Carla Brady, Deb Starker Melanie Tomaszewski, John Morris, Karen Giambra, Michael Pellessier. Chair TBD: A meeting is being planned for later this spring. 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. Everything is planned and ready for Monday night. It is hoped that all will attend. Credit card transactions will be used for the Silent Auction for the first time this year. b) May Day (May 5, 2018): The T-shirt Art Contest ends tomorrow. Submissions will be collected and a date next week will be set for a meeting and the selection. Sponsorship/Donation/Volunteer mailing has been sent via email and posted on Facebook. Added a $500.00 20 th Anniversary Sponsorship. Two received this week. The envelopes are being distributed in the utility bills and are already coming in. c) DDC/MACA Sidewalk Art Gallery & Gala: Canvasses are available and being picked up. The plan is for them to be returned in mid-May for hanging in early June. d) Farmers’ Market (Thursdays, May 31 - October 25, 2018): Contracts have been sent to those who participated last year were emailed today. e) Drew University Town Tour (August 25, 2018): There was no report. f) Bottle Hill Day (Saturday, October 6, 2017): There was no report. g) Sidewalk Sounds (Incorporated into Madison Farmers’ Market) h) Downtown Concert Series w/METC (June 22, July 13, July 27, August 10, August 24, & September 7, 2018): There was no report. i) Madison Storytellers Festival (September 15, 2018): There was no report. j) MACA/DDC Holiday Arts Festival (Friday and Saturday, November 24th and 25th): There was no report. k) Rose City Summerfest (June 16, 2018): There was no report.  15) OLD BUSINESS a) METC - Madison Welcome Center: The Museum is planning on constructing a Madison Visitors Center within their front lobby. They have asked for and received funding from the Open Space fund. They will work with the Chamber and DDC as they develop the final plans and on what materials will be featured there. Eric Range thought that this project might be one the DDC would want to support with some level of funding. Once the plans are shared, the topic can be discussed n more depth. b) Paint the Yellow - Speaker. Funding needed from University Relations to cover cost: There had been significant discussion at the February meeting regarding getting a prominent speaker. Carla Bardy reached out to and was able to secure Donna Frietas to speak on March 28 th. Her fee is $1,000.00. Additional funding will be needed to cover this cost, After discussion the following motion was made and approved. Motion to approve funding in an amount up to $1,000.00 to cover the speaking fee of Donna Frietas for “Paint the town Yellow”. Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: M. Kopas Voice Vote: Unanimous 16) NEW BUSINESS: Funding request from the Garden Club: The Garden Club of Madison has requested $500.00 to help defray their costs for maintaining the Waverly Place planter throughout the year. There was a discussion on whether or not to offer more money to them to take on plantings in the Elmer Street Alleyway but it was decided that should wait and be dealt with as a separate project. The request from Joe Longo was reviewed but the group did not feel that this particular request fit the DDC’s mission. There was also discussion on creating some type of process for addressing this type of request consistently going forward. Motion to approve funding in an amount of $500.00 for the Garden Club of Madison to defray the costs of seasonal plantings in the Waverly Place planter Moved by: B. Conley and Seconded by: M. Zimmerman Voice Vote: Unanimous 17) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC: There was no discussion. 18) ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 8:13 pm Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: M. Kopas Voice Vote: Unanimous NEXT MEETING: Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7:15pm, Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building. Executive Board Meeting TBD.