Downtown Development Commission

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: July 16, 2020 Time: 7:15 pm – Via Zoom MEETING MINUTES 1) CALL TO ORDER: This meeting was called to order by Chair Suzy Whitehorn at 7:20 pm. 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: R. Conley, J. Hoover, B. Cramer, S. Whitehorn, T. Honohan, P. Flemming, J. Morris, E. Range, R. Stern, R. Rocco, C. Brady, Michael Pellessier MEMBERS ABSENT: J. Hollenbach, R. Landrigan, M. Tomaszewski, J. Regan, D. Starker, M. Fabyanski, G. Herzog ALSO PRESENT: Lisa Ellis, Director of Business Development; Madison Director of Arts & Events, Eric Hafen MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: None Present 1) 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 2020. Copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public. 2) APPROVAL OF JUNE 18, 2020 MINUTES: The August DDC meeting was cancelled so there will be no August minutes. Motion to approve June 2020 Minutes as presented Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: B. Conley Voice Vote: Unanimous 3) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT: Chair Suzy Whitehorn thanked Carla Brady and Eric range for their efforts on the Madison Strong social media campaign. a) 2020 BUDGET REVIEW: Vice Chair Eric Range walked the group through a 2020 budget review. Highlighting current actual budget numbers and the adverse impact on the budget from the pandemic and resulting cancellation of Bottle Hill Day. The following programs were revaluated and removed, either maintained or modified as shown. DDC Budgeted Expenditures July - Dec 2020 Budget Adjusted Restaurant Week $500 $500 Holiday Arts Festival $5,525 $3,000 1|Page  Holiday Lights $1,700 $1,700 Discovery Map $790 $0 Madison Eagle Dec Ad $500 $500 XMas Parade Expenses $625 $0 College Town Tour Program $4,000 $0 4) TREASURER REPORT: Brad Cramer shared the monthly financial reports. 5) MAYOR REPORT: Mayor Conley reported on the amendments being made to Borough Code Chapter 195, Land Development Section 32 that are necessitated by changes to affordable housing requirements. He also spoke about the ongoing challenges faced by restaurants still not allowed to offer indoor dining and the weather challenges of outdoor. 6) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: Council Member John Hoover spoke about the borough’s positive annual audit, which included only one minor recommendation, He also reported on the Borough’s new Municipal ID Program and the council’s approval of the $40,000 to install a lighting grid at the Madison Community Arts Center. 7) PLANNING BOARD REPORT: There was no report. 8) FOUNDATION REPORT: There was no report. 9) MADISON AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORT: Council President, John Morris reported on the current financial difficulties the Chamber is facing due to the pandemic. He has been participating in lobbying efforts to obtain federal support for local Chambers of Commerce. Though the Annual Chamber Awards Dinner had to be cancelled, the board will be moving ahead with awards for businesses in seven categories. 10) DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPORT: Lisa Ellis gave a brief update on outdoor dining and ways to help market it. 11) STANDING COMMITTEES: a) Sign & Façade: (2020 Membership: Suzy Whitehorn, Eric Range, Peter Flemming, Tom Honohan, Karen Giambra) i) There were two applications reviewed and referred to the Borough Zoning Officer since the June DDC meeting. (1) Hat Shop Madison, 16 Main Street (2) BTS Blow Dry Bar, 65 Main Street b) PIC (Public Improvement): (2020 Membership: Suzy Whitehorn, Chair; Russell Stern, Bob Rocco, Peter Flemming, Brad Cramer, John Morris, John Hoover) i) PIC met via Zoom on Tuesday, June 16 at 8:00 am ii) Action Items:  Follow up with three landscape architecture firms regarding request for proposal sent for METC Park.  Speak with Parks Advisory Committee Chair Tom Salaki regarding process for moving ahead jointly with a formalized Adopt A Space program.  Committee members to identify possible locations for this program. iii) Next Meeting – Thursday, July 9 at 10:00 am: Rescheduled to Tuesday, July 21, Time TBD iv) Potential Goals/Projects: 2|Page   METC Park Design  Adopt A Space Program a) Marketing and Economic Development: (2020 Membership: Suzy Whitehorn, Eric Range, Bob Conley, Russell Stern, Deb Starker, Carla Brady, Melanie Tomaszewski, Jim Hollenbach, John Morris, Michael Pellessier, Karen Giambra) i) Marketing and Economic Development met via Zoom on Wednesday, July 1 at 4:30 pm ii) Action Items:  Review potential Madison Flag Designs. Three possible design concepts have been selected and will be refined for review at the next meeting.  Formalize plan for new DDC logo and tagline, to work with new Borough branding. A proposal was requested from the original designer of the new Madison branding, Kris Pfeifer. The Committee will review the proposal at their next meeting. iii) Next Meeting – August 5 at 7:00 pm iv) Potential Goals/Projects:  Gateway & Wayfinding Signage  Creation of Marketing Materials b) Arts & Events: (2020 Membership: Suzy Whitehorn, Deb Starker, Melanie Tomaszewski, Carla Brady, Bob Rocco, John Regan, Tom Honohan, John Morris, John Pietrowski, Jerry Vezza, Karen Giambra, Michael Pellessier, Eric Hafen) i) Next Meeting – September 30 at 11:00 am ii) Potential Goals/Projects:  Sidewalk Art Gallery analysis and reinvention  Support of Madison Community Arts Center programming and fundraising  Explore public art projects iii) New proposal from Eric Hafen – Sponsorship for Drive-In Concerts (document sent with agenda): Eric Hafen spoke about the plans for the concert. The basic details are as follows. Three concerts: Saturday July 25 @ 2pm & 6pm; Sunday July 26 @ 2pm. Each will run about an hour and a half. There will be three tiers of pricing for cars. Car 1: $70 for two guests in the car Car 2: $95 for three guests in the car Car 3: $120 for four guests in the car There is a limit of four guests per car because, if the size of the “entertainment zone” which each parked car has either on the driver’s side or passenger side. Those spaces are approximately 8’ wide x 18’ long. Large vans and RV’s ate prohibited. He believes this could be a profit generator for the DDC and is asking that the DDC serve as the primary sponsor and provide any necessary seed money. A motion was requested to proceed. Motion to officially name the DDC as a sponsor of the Drive-In Concert Event and to allow the expenditure of up to $1,500 per concert. Moved by: B. Conley and Seconded by: R. Stern Voice Vote: Unanimous 15) AD HOC COMMITTEE AND PROJECT UPDATES: There are no planned reports for these items at this meeting. a) Taste of Madison (2021 Date, TBD) 3|Page  b) May Day (May 1, 2021) c) Farmers Market (Thursdays, June 11– November 19, 2020 d) Bottle Hill Day (Saturday, October 2, 2021) e) Downtown Concert Series w/METC July 17: Mama D & the Vexations July 24: Zaire Band August 7: Jumping the Gun August 21: Orquestra Los Nueve del Sabor August 28: House of Hamill September 4: What’s What 16) OLD BUSINESS 17) NEW BUSINESS a) Garden Club of Madison Request for $500.00 to support purchase of mums for businesses. Planned letter to merchants. Dear Madison Merchants, As in years past, the Garden Club of Madison will be purchasing mums to beautify downtown. In the past, the merchants have purchased yellow mums from us to place in front of their shops. This year, we are aware that many of you have taken big hits to your businesses as a result of the pandemic. Therefore, the GCM has decided to donate one mum to each merchant who purchased a mum last year. If we have extras, we will distribute them to other businesses that have a storefront downtown. Our mums will be the same 12" yellow Chrysanthemums we have offered in the past. They will be delivered to your business on Friday, Sept 25 by our garden club members. Please remember to water them regularly! If you would like to purchase additional mums, you still have the opportunity to do that here. Your purchase of additional mums will help fund this program, as well as other town beautification projects supported by the Garden Club. The price remains the same as last year, at $22 per mum. In order to protect you and our members, we will not be making sales calls to your businesses this year, so please make your order for additional mums through our website by September 1. If you prefer to pay by check, please send an email to: kate.ransom@yahoo.com and I will send instructions on pay-by-check. Motion to approve the expenditure of $500.00 to help the Garden Club of Madison purchase mum for the businesses downtown. Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: J. Hoover Voice Vote: Unanimous 18) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC 19) ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 8:22 pm Moved by: J. Hoover and Seconded by: T. Honohan Voice Vote: Unanimous NEXT MEETING: Thursday, August 20 at 7:15pm, format and location TBD 4|Page