Woodburn Commission

Woodburn Redevelopment Commission Meeting Minutes July 24th, 2014, 7:00 PM Meeting was called to order by Chris Haddox at 7:02 PM. PRESENT: Mary Angel Blount, Christina “Nikki” Byrne-Hoffman, Mark Furfari, Chris Haddox, Kerry Lilly, Tim Mashburn, and Bonnie Witmyer. City Manager Jeff Mikorski, City Council Representative/Deputy Mayor Marti Shamberger, and Commission Member Mark Furfari were unable to attend. Council member Bill Kawecki was also in attendance. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Minutes were approved as submitted. Kerry Lilly moved to approve, and it was seconded by Bonnie Witmyer. CORRESPONDENCE/ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: Municipal League Award- The WSRC has been nominated for a community project award from the WV Municipal League. Chair Haddox is in the process of filling out the application. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Property Upkeep Update- More recycling bins are present on the property. There has been an improvement on trash policing. Update of Leasing/Marketing- City Manager Mikorski is still working on finalizing the details and will provide an update at the next meeting. The Woodburn video was discussed further. Chair Haddox asked for thoughts on the video. Secretary Byrne-Hoffman mentioned that titles under people’s names might be helpful to let the audience know who people are, such as Mayor Jenny Selin. She also mentioned that the website should be changed to reflect the city’s hosting website instead of Tim’s original site. Chair Haddox said the commission may be beyond the scope of the original video at this point. It was suggested that the video includes additions that update viewers to our progress. Tim Mashburn mentioned he has a friend in Roanoke that is a videographer who may be willing to help with additions. Bonnie Witmyer said she also worked with public service announcements at her job and could help with determining the central message of the video. She wanted to know the goal of the video to determine content. Bill Kawecki suggested “Where we are and how we’re moving forward” as a central message, and suggested “the beginning”, “where we are”, “property aspects”, and the website as points to include in the video. Tim said he can make a summary of “where we are”. Continuation of Nonprofit Center Discussion- There is money available from the Clean Water Trust Act violations. A judge directed damages to WV Land Trust. The trust currently has $12 million dollars, plus more. WSRC may be eligible to apply for some of these monies. Terrell Ellis is the executive director for the land trust and gets inquiries about multitenant nonprofit centers. This indicates we may be headed in a good direction. Kerry Lilly had talked to a United Way director in another county and they encouraged the pursuit of the nonprofit center idea. There are also Brownfield and Benedum funds available that we may be eligible for with this project. Chair Haddox said he has a meeting with the WV Brownfields group tomorrow and will engage Mary Hunt with Benedum on the topic. The Morgantown Green Space coalition was also mentioned as a source of collaboration. Chair Haddox also said he is working with Pat Kirby to complete the feasibility study and will meet with Terrell Ellis to discuss the WV Land Trust funds. He will also touch base with AU Associates as he believes they are still working in this area on the Arthurdale school renovation project. There is a nonprofit conference (NPC Network) on the shared space model of nonprofit center in Denver Oct 8th and 9th that might be good for members of the WSRC to attend. Registration is $500 a person. Chair Haddox will ask Jeff and Pat Kirby about whether we can send some people to the conference, if anyone is interested. NEW BUSINESS and DISCUSSION: Rec Center News- Al O’Connor had gone to Oliver Luck and asked for improvement of hockey programs and facilities. WVU does not want to own the facility, but wants to lease a property and has verbally committed approximately $22 million dollars to a rec center project. The community has a combined and approximate $67 million dollars available for rec centers. Instead of a massive building, it was suggested as possible to have small pieces at various places. Ron Justice is coordinating the project, but nothing has been decided. A satellite facility will go to BOPARC and a wellness program is at Lakeview. Kerissa Kuis was scheduled to attend, but was unable to make it. She is the community representative for area wellness programs. Al O’Connor is managing the competitive sport side. Kerissa would like to submit a proposal to rent part of Woodburn for a wellness program. ADJOURNMENT: Tim Mashburn made the motion to adjourn. Bonnie Witmyer seconded the motion. Chair Haddox adjourned the meeting at 8:03 PM and reminded everyone the next meeting would be August 28th at 7PM.