Downtown Development Commission

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Committee Room - Hartley Dodge Memorial Building Date: September 15, 2022 Time: 7:15 pm MEETING MINUTES 1) CALL TO ORDER: This meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Deb Starker 7:19 pm. 2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3) ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: R. Conley, J. Hoover, P. Teshima, P. Flemming, S. Tindall, D. Starker, P. Woolley, R. Rocco, Michael Pellessier MEMBERS ABSENT: J. Hollenbach, C. Kosakowski, M. Tomaszewski, J. Morris, R. Stern, S. Whitehorn, ALSO PRESENT: Lisa Ellis, Director of Business Development Events MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: No members of the public were 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 2022. Copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public. 5) REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 21, 2022 (The August Regular Meeting was cancelled) Motion to approve Regular Meeting Minutes of July 21, 2022 as presented Moved by: B. Conley and Seconded by: B. Rocco Voice Vote: Unanimous 6) CHAIRMAN/EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT 7) TREASURER REPORT: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnwS_DqnT6nMpGZAmIDUQSHk3Av3?e=ihNxU0 8) MAYOR REPORT: Mayor Conley joined the meeting after attending the Chamber’s Ladies Night downtown. He noted the great attendance and that the weather was perfect for the event. He also spoke briefly about a recent trip through Willimantic, CT, noting that the downtown commercial district there was virtually nonexistent. 9) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT: There was no report. 10) PLANNING BOARD REPORT: There was no report. 11) FOUNDATION REPORT: There was no report. 12) MADISON AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORT: There was no report. 13) DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPORT: Here are the websites for two organizations to which the Borough belongs. The offer a lot of different resources that I thought you may find of interest: a. Downtown New Jersey: https://www.downtownnj.com/ b. Main Street America: https://www.mainstreet.org/home c. Downtown Redevelopment Pipeline: 1|P age  i. For your information, all meeting information can be found through these links: 1. Zoning Board of Adjustment: https://www.rosenet.org/505/Zoning- Board-of- Adjustment 2. Planning Board: https://www.rosenet.org/457/Planning-Board d. New Business Report: i. Commercial Property Worksheet e. New! Madison Marketplace Newsletter, Current Edition: https://conta.cc/3ltjE7z f. Misc. i. Cook Avenue Parking Lot Reconstruction ii. Waverly Place Reconstruction (Project Webpage): https://www.rosenet.org/1410/Waverly-Place- Reconstruction 14) STANDING COMMITTEES: a. Sign & Façade: (2022 Membership: Jim Hollenbach, Barry Kroll, John Morris, Karen Giambra, Suzy Whitehorn) i. There have been two applications reviewed and referred to the Borough Zoning Officer since the May DDC meeting. 1. Pine Acres, 51 Madison Avenue The following Request for Variance was reviewed and will go before the Zoning Board of Adjustment: (1) 21 Cookie Dough, LLC (Bertolo & Warshaw Group), LLC 21 Cook Avenue b. PIC (Public Improvement): (2022 Membership: Russell Stern, John Morris, John Hoover, Paul Daly Suzy Whitehorn) i. 2022 Potential Goals/Projects: • METC Park Design • Adopt A Space Program ii. Action Items: TBD iii. Meeting – Tuesday, April 19: The Committee met and reviewed the following items: • METC Park Design – Square Acre Studio Perspective Render Package • Adopt-A-Space Program • Trash Cans • Cook Avenue Alleyway Lighting Replacement c. Marketing and Economic Development: (2022 Membership: Michael Pellessier, John Morris, Laura Sokol, Karen Giambra, Russell Stern, Deb Starker, Bob Rocco, Melanie Tomaszewski, Suzy Whitehorn, Christine Kosakowski, Peter Teshima) i. 2022 Potential Goals/Projects: • Gateway & Wayfinding Signage • Creation of Marketing Materials ii. Action Items: TBD iii. Next Meeting – TBD d. Arts & Events: (2022 Membership: Barry Kroll, John Morris, Stephen Tindall, Karen Giambra, Deb Starker, John Hoover, Bob Rocco, Melanie Tomaszewski, Suzy Whitehorn, Peter Teshima) i. 2022 Potential Goals/Projects: • Sidewalk Art Gallery analysis and reinvention • Support of Madison Community Arts Center programming and fundraising • Explore public art projects ii. Action Items: TBD 2|P age  iii. Next Meeting – TBD iv. Update from Director of Arts & Events John Pietrowski: 1. All arts center programming can be found by following this link: https://www.madisonartsnj.org/mcac/ 2. The next phase of improvements to the physical space will be completed by this coming Tuesday. This includes simple wainscoting around the room's perimeter to protect the walls, repairing imperfections in the walls, installing gallery hardware that will allow artwork to be hung easily, and re-painting to a new color scheme. Photos will be posted to the MACA website when the work is complete. 3. The Center is beginning the fall with two play reading series. The New Jersey Women Playwrights Series features well-known women writers in the state. The Italian Heritage Playreading Series will feature plays by three New Jersey women writers on themes that depict the lives of Italian immigrants in a non-stereotypical way. One of the plays, Grace Revisited, is by Dominique Cieri, who has family that still resides in Madison, and depicts the life of her mother, who used to run a restaurant in Morristown. One of the actresses in the play is Andrea Gallo, who was born and grew up in Madison. MACA has received partial funding from Coccia Foundation and the Dante Alighieri Society for this series. 15) AD HOC COMMITTEE AND PROJECT UPDATES: There are no planned reports for these items at this meeting except for those highlighted. a) Taste of Madison (April 25, 2022) b) May Day (May 7, 2022) c) Farmers Market (Thursdays, May 19 – November 17, 2021) d) Bottle Hill Day (Saturday, October 1, 2022): Planning for Bottle Hill Day is complete. Vendor applications are still coming in. It should be a great year, back to 2019 levels. e) Downtown Concert Series w/METC (June 24, July 8, July 22, August 5, August 19, September 2) 16) OLD BUSINESS 17) IDEA EXCHANGE & NEW BUSINESS Garden Club Funding Request: The Garden Club will be requesting financial support for their seasonal maintenance of the Waverly Place planter. This will be on the DDC October agenda. 18) INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION FROM THE PUBLIC 19) ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 7:59 pm. Moved by: D. Starker and Seconded by: B. Rocco NEXT MEETING: Thursday, October 20 at 7:15 pm. (Postponed until October 27) 3|P age