Downtown Business District

Downtown Business District Annual & Regular Meeting Minutes June 26, 2024 363 Main Street, Suite 404 Middletown, CT 06457 Attendees: Matt Lefevbre (Chair) Kevin Elak (Health Dept) Diane Gervais (Commissioner) Cassandra Day (Press) Chris Conley (Commissioner) Dep Chief Rich Davis (Dep Chief MPD) Patrick Harding (Commissioner) Chief Erik Costa (MPD) Jen Aexander (Commissioner) Sara Mendillo (Chamber) Brent Thomsen (Commissioner) Off. Jesse Stantostefano (MPD) Laurie Salafia (Commissioner) Rani Arbo (WESU) Tom Ford (Commissioner) Trevor Davis Sandra Russo-Driska (DBD Coordinator) Maryellen Schukrow (St. Vins) Capt. Brian Hubbs (MPD) David Masaroe (Property Owner) Andy Stephens (Assoc. of D. Masaroe) Call to Order- Meeting was called to order by Matt at 8:32 a.m. by Chairman Matt Lefevbre. Sandra introduced Laurie Salafia, Asst. Branch Manager at Liberty Bank (Main St) who will be filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Commissioner Marie Kalita. Mayor- Not Present Police-  Chief Costa reported he is proud of the great work from all parties with all events that we have held in downtown Middletown.  PD will be closing roads at 10am for fireworks event.  Chief announced new downtown officer position went to Officer Jesse Santostefano. He was uniquely qualified for this position given his relationship with many of the downtown businesses and his role will be to strategize and work with downtown stakeholders to implement the new public spaces ordinance, crimes in downtown, and fairly and equitably enforce the laws in place.  Officer Santostefano told us he has been on the force 11 years and primarily has worked in the downtown area. He was in the military and is proud to serve our community. His focus will be people and businesses and business owners. Family is from Sicily and he loves this City.  Chief noted he will work with CIT and mental health professionals to continue to address problems from root up.  Chief stated PD will be looking for data driven results to look for rates on crimes to go down with this program and will share with the public. These data points are important for effective policing.  Sandra noted that Officer Santostafano will be sharing his information with a number to call, and it will go out to all partner and stakeholders.  Jen asked if we could add road closures as a topic for next meeting. The chief agreed it was a good idea to discuss.  DBD Minutes Pg. 2 Public Works- Not present Economic Development/Parking- Not present  Jen reported on Parking Commission meeting and the vote to increase rates, which she was not present for.  Rate increases were reported.  Jen informed the commission that Sandra along with Matt, Diane and herself were attending the FGO Committee at the City and presented reasoning against raising rates. The council members unanimously voted to send it back to the Parking Commission with specific requests for information on expense and revenue numbers.  Discussion followed. Health Dept-  Kevin reported the Health Dept. has been present at recent events from Pride to Kids Health and Safety Day and more.  Juneteenth event was very hot and fire department and health have discussed having cooling station tents for future events  Car show issue reported with porta potties arriving late  Opening soon: T-Bone Prime, Nitro Crème and Cumbz, Wine Bar at Sicily and Parsley COMMUNITY PARTNERS St. Vincent’s-  Maryellen thanked PD for creating the position for downtown and is happy to have Officer Santostefano.  Busy hot summer. Suspended cleaning crew for a few weeks to regroup, and James will now lead them.  James’ position was funded by the City and they are in good shape moving forward.  New building is moving ahead working with state to fill funding gaps.  Amazin Grace remains very busy.  Chamber-  Sara thanked everyone that helped make Cruise Night a success and thanked Sandra for working the gate.  No CBB meeting in July. Next meeting is in person only and August 1st.  Chamber received $3.28 million for building renovations from the state.  Annual Small Business Awards being held.  Corn Hole Tournament on July 13th at the Mansion.  Oct. 26 is the Middletown Pages event. NECD- Not present Wesleyan-  Rani Arbo just got back from vacation and campus is very quiet.  Joe Banks is not in meeting, but all is going on schedule for the building and asked to report any issues.  No very busy for summer events this year on campus. Minutes-  Motion made by Jen to approve May minutes  2nd by Tom  All in favor  DBD Minutes Pg. 3 Treasurer’s Report- Chris reported balance on hand is $110,000. Reported we received $139k but we budgeted $162k ($23K difference) Expenses have been approximately $150k so we are trying to understand and requested meeting with the City.  Motion by Jen to approve Treasurer Report  2nd by Tom  All in Favor NOMINATION OF LAURIE SALAFIA: Tom asked Laurie to tell a little about herself. Laurie discusses her position at Liberty, becoming treasurer for the United Way, and living in town. She noted that she loves our City and and especially our downtown. Motion-  Jen made a motion to approve Laurie Salafia as the new commissioner to the DBD.  2nd by Diane  All in favor. DBD COMMITTEE UPDATES: Advertising/Promotion- Sandra reported social media continues the primary source of advertising and many businesses contact and tag the DBD to push their content. We are in process of updating brochure and maps for printing. Gift Cards- Program continues to do extremely well. Maintenance & Beautification- Jen noted the new garbage can look great, and is wondering if we can talk to the PW crew or the clean up crew about cleaning the tops of them as needed. Sandra will follow up. Laurie reported that Liberty Bank was approached to provide paint for south green project. Sandra reported that Howard told her previously new metal benches have been purchased to replace warping benches at the park. Special Projects- Sandra reported Trevor will have blues music on July 18th with our $1500 grant, and the other two events were First Fridays, and the stage at Holy Trinity. 925 Report- Matt thanked David and Andy for attending and asked them for an update on the Bob’s building. Discussion followed. Sandra discussed a recent issue that has come up with flag style banners at businesses and asked commission if the agreed for her to meet with P & Z to discuss regulations and allow for items like grand openings. Adjournment-  Motion to adjourn @ 9:36 am made by Jen  2nd by Tom  All in favor.