Woodburn Commission

Woodburn Redevelopment Commission Meeting Minutes August 28th, 2014, 7:00 PM Meeting was called to order by Chris Haddox at 7:02 PM. PRESENT: The meeting started with City Manager Jeff Mikorski, City Council Representative/Deputy Mayor Marti Shamberger, Christina “Nikki” Byrne-Hoffman, Chris Haddox, Kerry Lilly, and Bonnie Witmyer. Commission Members Mark Furfari and Tim Mashburn were unable to attend. Council member Bill Kawecki and Commission Member Mary Angel Blount arrived after the start of the meeting. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Minutes were approved as submitted. Kerry Lilly moved to approve, and it was seconded by Deputy Mayor Shamberger. CORRESPONDENCE/ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: Municipal League Award- The WSRC was awarded the WVML All-Star award for Community Enrichment. The award was presented to Chair Haddox, Tim Mashburn, and Secretary Byrne- Hoffman at the most recent City Council meeting. Congratulations, team! Chair Haddox said this is an affirmation that what WSRC is doing is making an impact on the community. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Property Upkeep Update- The City has $20,000 for handicap accessibility. Jeff may have a plan next month for what the City will do. Secretary Byrne-Hoffman has plans to do some weeding and mentioned there is some graffiti on the gym. Jeff said Kenny knows but may have forgot to take care of it. The shed is also open and unlocked, but the City plans to remove it. A neighbor has offered some hasta lilies to beautify the property. Secretary Byrne-Hoffman will send out a doodle poll for dates and times for a fall garden clean up and ask local businesses for donations for mulch, soil, flowers, and gardening tools. The Urban Landscape Commission was mentioned as a possible entity to involve. Update of Leasing/Marketing/Woodburn Video- Jeff is working with BOPARC to get Woodburn put on RecWare and then onto BOPARC webpage. Estimates that it will be up in about a week. Deputy Mayor Shamberger, Tim Mashburn, and Chair Haddox met with the video team and they are going to complete a documentary piece, about 4-5 minutes, regarding the history of the process of where we are. This will allow people to look at the process and validates and allows funders to see what the Commission is doing. The meeting is September 5th at 5PM. Mayor Selin plans on attending, and Pat Kirby will talk about the collaboration with WVRC. A link to the Woodburn website will be provided for those who want to learn more. Continuation of Nonprofit Center Discussion- Chair Haddox spoke with Mary Hunt at Benedum. She has been inovled in some NPCs and it hasn’t quite worked out with stability of tenants. It looked good on paper, but there was lots of turnover and subsidy doesn’t work out well. There is a WV Brownfields conference in two weeks. West Virginia Redevelopment Commission has asked to use Woodburn as a case study. Pat Kirby and Chris are on a panel to provide insight to challenges and steps taken. WVNPA is an umbrella association for all NPs. Have applied for $3000 in funding and for the WVRC team to work with us. Could use the funding towards securing a team of director/finance expert, NPC national level association, and a real estate professional. A reminder that 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: Year of Community Sports- Morgantown Museum Commission won the opportunity to host a traveling museum from the Smithsonian Insititute. The exhibit features hometown teams in small town America and the role of sports in the community. Features everything from little league to church teams. The main focus is on homegrown family-based games. Hosts are responsible for creating local content. The exhibit is pretty full from things that were donated or on loan. Items are curated into something that can be melded into the Smithsonian exhibit. The commission is also developing activities to promote the exhibit, so they are hosting a series of tournaments in the community and recruiting groups to participate. Currently they are scheduled to host a bocce tournament in Westover (there is a court there) and a marbles tournament for kids at the Children’s Museum. They would like to host a corn hole tournament and need a venue. Commission members discussed and agreed Woodburn would be a good place to have the tournament. The City is willing to waive the rental fee as a donation to the event. BOPARC will be approached about port-a-johns. The Museum commission also has a healthy advertising budget, so will have TV/radio spots, posters, and it will be posted on various internet avenues. October 25th was discussed as a tentative date. It is the kick-off of Mountaineer Week. Matt will also ask the commission if they’re interested in having a lecture at Woodburn. Rec Center News- Kerissa from the University of Wellness is backing off on using Woodburn as a location for wellness activities. There is a county leadership committee recreational group heading the project. They are looking to expand the community aspect. As of right now, it is mostly competitive sports. The University will move ahead with the aquatic center, and it will probably be located at Mylan Park. Marilla has been identified as a potential Rec Center location. An entrepreneurial program for students is working on a consulting project and conducting feasibility and economic studies. The City is working to identify funding and the wants and needs of the community. Everything may not be at Marilla. Also there is a shorter season due to school schedule, so two outdoor pools at Marilla may not be needed. An indoor facility might be a possibility. First, an inventory needs to be taken of what is available and then a public meeting for wants and needs of the community. This could lead into developing multiple sites. Preservation Alliance Endangered Property List- A simple form exists for registering with the Preservation Alliance Endangered Property List. Deputy Mayor Shamberger and Mary Angel Blount volunteered to work on putting together the application. Chair Haddox explained that this registration will put us on their radar to put time and energy into a significant piece of property and allows us access to Lynn Stasick’s time. They also provide coaching on how to fill out applications for various programs. Discussion- Chair Haddox asked the members if they felt the WSRC should be meeting more often. Members discussed they thought it was sufficient at this point in time, with the ability to discuss things through email. A Walk for Woodburn was suggested as a possible activity to draw interest in the property. Deputy Mayor Shamberger mentioned the Sydney Rush 5K Run, with 484 people in attendance and $18,000 raised. Secretary Byrne-Hoffman asked if a line of funding was available through the City for Woodburn donations. City Manager Mikorski said there was, and there was also a tax deduction form available for interested parties. He also mentioned there are some Neighborhood Investment Program funds that may be available for property improvements. Other activities suggested for the autumn season were apple butter or pumpkin painting parties. Mary Angel Blount also said she was interested in teaching classes at Woodburn for approximately $25/class. Chair Haddox and others also discussed a concert series could be held at Woodburn and options for a moveable stage. Access issues had been talked about at an earlier meeting and Secretary Byrne-Hoffman mentioned looking into a key pad with code access feature for the door, which could be set remotely for renters and changed after the event. Fundraising options such as local restaurant fundraisers were discussed, where a percentage of participating tickets would be donated. Councilman Kawecki discussed the local kennel club may be looking for a place for dog training and mentioned an article in the State Journal about creative arts spaces. It was also discussed to approach organizations like PACE to partnership and many community members have mentioned approaching yoga studios about renting space. It was agreed this would be more feasible when more rental information is up on the website. ADJOURNMENT: Bonnie Witmyer made the motion to adjourn. Mary Angel Blount seconded the motion. Chair Haddox adjourned the meeting at 8:03 PM and reminded everyone the next meeting would be August 25th at 7PM. He reminded everyone about the meeting to capture footage for the Woodburn video will be September 5th at 5PM.