Downtown Development Commission

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: September 17, 2020 Time: 7:15 pm – Via Zoom MEETING MINUTES 1) CALL TO ORDER: This meeting was called to order by Chair Suzy Whitehorn at 7:18 pm. 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: R. Conley, J. Hoover, B. Cramer, J. Hollenbach, S. Whitehorn, T. Honohan, P. Flemming, J. Morris, D. Starker, E. Range, R. Stern, R. Rocco, Michael Pellessier MEMBERS ABSENT: R. Landrigan, M. Tomaszewski, J. Regan, M. Fabyanski, C. Brady, G. Herzog ALSO PRESENT: Lisa Ellis, Director of Business Development; Madison Director of Arts & Events, Eric Hafen; Council Member Deb Coen MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: None Present 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 2020. Copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public. 5) APPROVAL OF JULY 17, 2020 MINUTES Motion to approve July 2020 Minutes as presented Moved by: E. Range and Seconded by: J. Hoover Voice Vote: Unanimous 6) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT: There was no formal report. 7) TREASURER REPORT: Brad Cramer presented an overview of the financial statements. 8) MAYOR REPORT: Mayor Conley noted that at the next Borough Council meeting scheduled for September 30, a borough budget update would be presented outlining the impact of the pandemic on finances. He also spoke about looking at the lessons learned from the outdoor dining formats that were precipitated by the indoor dining restrictions imposed by the state due to the pandemic in the coming months. 9) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: Council Member John Hoover reported briefly on the affordable housing issues before the Borough Council and mentioned that there will be a town hall meeting on this issue in the comping weeks. 10) PLANNING BOARD REPORT: Peter Flemming reported about the current projects before the Planning Board. 11) FOUNDATION REPORT: The foundation will meet next month on the same night as the DDC meeting, either before or after. 12) MADISON AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORT: Chamber President John Morris reported that the Chamber members appreciate the moral and financial support have received from the Borough. He also noted that the Chamber would be moving forward with the usual scarecrow installation on 1|Page  Waverly Place. 13) DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPORT: Lisa Ellis reported on some of the new businesses that are moving locations and moving into town. 14) STANDING COMMITTEES: a) Sign & Façade: (2020 Membership: Suzy Whitehorn, Eric Range, Peter Flemming, Tom Honohan, Karen Giambra) i) There was one application reviewed and referred to the Borough Zoning Officer since the July DDC meeting. (1) Biladi Grill, 77 Main Street b) PIC (Public Improvement): (2020 Membership: Suzy Whitehorn, Chair; Russell Stern, Bob Rocco, Peter Flemming, Brad Cramer, John Morris, John Hoover) i) Potential Goals/Projects:  METC Park Design  Adopt A Space Program ii) PIC met via Zoom on Tuesday, September 15 at 12:00 pm iii) Action Items:  The Committee is working on developing a proposal for formalizing the Adopt-a Space program in coordination with the Parks Advisory Committee.  Set-up a meeting with Square Acre Studio to begin process for concept design work for the METC Park.  DDC final review of proposal from Square Acre Studio for METC Park design, tentatively included in the budget at the July 16 meeting: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnwS_DqnT6nMikhm2hwSqHMDtRmL?e=bEd7DJ Motion to approve up to $5,000 to move forward with the Square Acre Studio proposal for concept design work for the METC Park. Moved by: R. Stern and Seconded by: P. Flemming Voice Vote: Unanimous iv) Next Meeting – TBD 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) Potential Goals/Projects:  Gateway & Wayfinding Signage  Creation of Marketing Materials ii) Marketing and Economic Development met via Zoom on both Wednesday, August 5 and Wednesday, September 2 at 7:00 pm iii) Action Items:  Potential Madison Flag Designs were reviewed. Three possible design concepts were selected and refined designs will be reviewed at this meeting.  Formalize plan for new DDC logo and tagline, to work with new Borough branding. The Committee reviewed the proposal from the original designer of the new Madison branding, Kris Pfeifer at the September meeting and with the feedback given she has already made changes. These will be discussed at this meeting, see them here: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnwS_DqnT6nMiydR109KhmSAT1o2?e=vGr2pC iv) Next Meeting – TBD v) Notes: Eric Range presented the flag designs and new DDC and Love Madison Shop Madison 2|Page  Branding proposal. There was substantive discussion both on the flag designs and on the rebranding proposal. John Morris, Michael Pellessier were thanked for their work on the flag design. It was decided that it would be better to present just one flag design to Borough Council. A poll will be taken and the results presented at the October DDC meeting. After discussion, the following motion was made. Motion to approve up approve the logo designs as discussed and to expend up to $2,500.00 to fund finalizing the branding process with Pfeifer Design, LLC. Moved by: J. Hoover and Seconded by: P. Flemming Voice Vote: Unanimous 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 “Fall Back Into the Arts”  We will be closing the south bound or west side as we had planned for outdoor dining. It will be closed starting at 5:00 pm.  Series of six Fridays, September 25 through November 6.  Varied entertainment, performances from 6-8 pm.  We will open the area to any local businesses who want to set-up a table and the performances will happen in the area in front to Madison Bagel.  Coldwell Banker has signed on as the event sponsor. 15) AD HOC COMMITTEE AND PROJECT UPDATES: There are no planned reports for these items at this meeting. a) Taste of Madison (March 22, 2021 ) 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: There was none discussed 17) NEW BUSINESS a) NJ Monthly Proposal: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnwS_DqnT6nMiyhBv6N26Tfui9vZ?e=eEACix. This was introduced on an informational basis and will be discussed at the October meeting. b) Deb Starker and Deb Coen introduced the concept of installing a “Little Diversity Library” on the METC property and wanted the DDC’s thoughts. The project is a Girl Scout Silver Award Project. The concept is to have people donate books that focus on diversity; the books will be housed in 3|Page  the little red library on the METC property near the Columbus Memorial and will be free to anyone who would like to borrow them. After discussion, the DDC endorsed the idea in the following motion. Motion to endorse the installation of the Little Diverse Library on the Museum of Early Trades property. Moved by: B. Conley and Seconded by: J. Hoover Voice Vote: Unanimous 18) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC: There was no members of the public present. 19) ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 8:40 pm. Moved by: B. Conley and Seconded by: J. Hoover Voice Vote: Unanimous NEXT MEETING: Thursday, October 15 at 7:15pm, format and location TBD 4|Page