Beautification Committee

Beautification Committee Meeting Minutes January 14, 2019 Present: Sam Fiore, Stephanie Hagyard, Sandi Power, Barb Sirois, Mary Ellen Halliwell, Micaela Guglielmi (City of Salem), Lisa Lyons Guests: Charlene Bailey, Eric Duffy (City of Salem) The Board identified 2020 event dates and that include: May 2nd - Clean Sweeps Note: This event ties into the Green Salem, Clean Salem event and Swap and Drop event on the Salem Common. May 16th - Plant Sale Note: Flowers by Darlene will not be supplying annuals for the Plant Sale; The Committee will look into partnering with Gibneys/Peter Gibney. Additionally, the Committee (Mary Ellen Halliwell and Barb Sirois) will reach out to the Salem Garden Club to seek donated 'home grown' plants for this year's sale. Pat Crane is a contact. The Garden Club meets on the first Thursday of the month at the Salem Community Center. Week of May 26th - Install Ladies of Salem on Essex Street (in time for Salem Arts Festival June 5th and 6th). The Ladies are currently stored at the Peabody Essex Museum (in the basement of the former Bernard's Jeweler's store. The PEM was very supportive and very helpful during the LOS take down process. Shout out to the Park and Rec (Bill and Steve), as always, for their affable and efficient help taking down the ladies this past fall. August 6th - Traffic Island and Window Box Competition Note: This event did not take place in 2019. The Committee plans to initiate promoting the Window Box Competition just after July 4th, with applications and photos being submitted through July 27th (thereabouts). Stephanie Hagyard will take the lead on creating Awards certificates, framed window box photos and ribbons for the winning traffic islands. The Committee will work with the Garden Club on voting for traffic islands. 2020 Essential Needs The Committee needs more active volunteers and members to the Committee. It was identified that there are likely people who can contribute to beautification efforts on a part time basis, a regular basis (part of Sandi's weekly volunteer group, and actual members of the Committee to help with planning, etc. Lisa, Micaela, Sandi will work on promotional pieces that specify our needs and invite residents to participate at any level. Sandi will develop a list of tasks for her volunteers that can be shared. Micaela will coordinate with Dominick Pangallo for promoting on Salem.com website, etc. Promotion will happen on the Salem BComm Facebook page as well. Charlene Bailey suggested putting in a recruitment insert into the quarterly tax bill. It was suggested to reach out to real estate lawyers and agents to include volunteering for the BComm when homes are sold. Traffic Islands 2020 Traffic Islands – many will need sponsors in 2020. The Committee will reach out to the Rotary (Brenda Smith), Chamber of Commerce for consideration. Micaela will send out a list of current sponsors, for reference. Sandi Power and Eric Duffy met on Thursday, January 9th to go over specific needs for Riley Plaza and the Summer Street traffic island. Riley Plaza is weed infested and needs to be reduced; Summer Street needs to be hardscaped. There's a persistent problem with the traffic island on Canal Street, the signs keep disappearing and ending up in the trash. The median strip across from the new hotel - on upper Washington Street was brought up. It is not on BComm's radar for care. Sam Fiore suggested hardscaping the island and installing big containers that can be filled and decorated seasonally. As a project for 2020, we will consider adding a big stone at the bottom section of the RCG island on Washington (intersection of Derby and Washington) to discourage people from driving over the end of the strip. Sam Fiore said that there is a giant, dangerous sink hole on the Washington Street (RCG) island that needs immediate repair. She has spoken with DPW about the problem and hopes repair happens soon. A conversation about the state of the City and unkempt buildings and facades took place. Many downtown buildings have rotted wood, condensation in windows, peeling paint. The Beautification Committee hopes that the City, the Chamber of Commerce, Salem Main Streets, others can actively work with businesses and landlords to do their parts to support beautification efforts. Other ideas/comments Lisa mentioned that there is a Conservation Expo hosted by the Wenham Garden Club on Wednesday night and floated an idea for a community art project/competition that encourages people to pick up trash. Other ideas included a campaign to stop use of herbicides on public properties/parks. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Lyons Salem Beautification Chairperson