Beautification Committee

CITY OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS DOMINICK PANGALLO MAYOR APPROVED MINUTES Salem Beautification Committee: Chair: Henry Gulergun Vice Chair: Ariana Lema-Driscoll Secretary: Kim Parkinson City Liaison: Janelle Rolke 11/14/23 – Hybrid Meeting Present: Kim Parkinson, Zachary Schaad, Henry Gulergun, Janelle Rolke (City Liaison), Sam Fiore, Charlene Bailey, Mary Ellen Halliwell, Laurie Biel Absent: Brooke Nagle, Jason Lang, Jeremy Baker, Ariana Lema-Driscoll Guests: Maria Connell Agenda: 1. Call to Order 7PM 2. Mission Statement 3. Approval of October 2023 Minutes 4. Old Business: - MOU Changes 2024 5. Sub-Committee Reports: - Lady of Salem (Mary Ellen) - Traffic Island (Charlene/Sam) 6. New Business: - Artbox Sponsorship (Guest, Brian Donnelly) - Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Council - Discuss 2024 Monthly Cleanup Calendar - December Meeting 7. Adjournment Mission Statement: The mission of the Salem Beautification Committee is to assist the City in developing and pursuing initiatives that promote the beautification of the City. The goal of the Committee is to create civic pride and to motivate the City's diverse population to participate in the beautification process. The Committee will identify areas in need of improvement, will create programs, recruit volunteers and will secure the funding resources to achieve its goals. ● Minutes Approved from October Meeting unanimously Old business: ● Traffic Island MOU 2024 Changes o Laurie put a draft together and added it to the G drive, Charlene added comments o Still a work in progress o Janelle has what was sent in 2023 for city & sponsor responsibilities and clarity/updates need to be made. Sponsors do have responsibilities that they need to adhere to o We’re in great shape to be working on this already in November, need to have it finalized in January and send it out in February ideally (usually sent in March/April) o Katie at DPW said their goal was to include mulching (trial happened this year to help make continuity across the city with the color). Some sponsors had no issues with the city doing the mulch but some of them said that the timing was off because it killed the early bulbs blooming. Feedback is mixed on when the ideal time is to have it mulched - need to all agree on timing and include the timing in the MOU if we want to continue having DPW do the mulching ▪ This is one of the biggest items that needs to be discussed - was supposed to be a benefit but ended up being a surprise to people because it happened so quickly ▪ Need to confirm where the mulch will be dropped off (likely to remain as in the past) ▪ Next meeting we should have Katie from DPW here to talk things out and decide. Meanwhile, people on the committee should talk to others to see how it works in other cities o Next step is to get Janelle, Charlene, Laurie, Brooke, Katie on a Zoom o January the group will present to the wider BComm ● Window Box Competition o Zack and Ariana need to document how it all worked, POCs, etc. and get it added to the G Drive o Julie should have Garden club feedback (per Maria) o Need to do more promotion in the future ● Christmas Tree Update o Kim and Laurie attended a meeting with Kylie to provide some feedback o Still haven’t secured a tree as of last week but Katie is working on it o Will use gold/silver bulbs that we already have and Kylie will buy small blue bulbs to add as a pop of color with white lights o Someone will be creating a tree topper with the theme of Peace in mind Sub-Committee Reports: ● Lady of Salem (Mary Ellen) o Sponsorship agreement has been added to the website! o Website still needs updating - only 5 figureheads have stories/artists/etc. Mary Ellen and Brooke to reconnect and get it done in January o The Ladies are resting in the basement 2  o 2 new sponsors who have their Ladies, Mary Ellen ordered the backboards and will get in touch with them to get the Maritime story so they can post it on the website ● Traffic Island (Charlene/Sam) - full report attached as an addendum o Spent October doing work on the strip to help Sam get it where it should be this time of year while taking off the week of Halloween o Started on November 3rd on the bulbs - started with 670 bulbs to be planted. Maria and Laurie each took 75 to plant on their own time. Hannah and John from Essex Tech joined (saw event on Facebook and wanted to help) ▪ Still have more donations - RCG sponsored the plants on the strip. Volunteers have also donated bulbs ▪ They do have more that they got from donations so it’s likely more like 1000+ total. 206 to still be planted from purchase + 103 donated ▪ Next year - don’t buy 670 ▪ Zach to do some work at the unsponsored island across from the Federal Street Neighborhood one, Charlene will help give some bulbs o Covered MOU & mulch earlier o Oval in front of Adriatic - will be seeded by DPW. That’s where the snow goes so there is no opportunity to put flowers in, could only do grass New Business: ● Artbox Sponsorship (Guest, Brian Donnelly was unable to attend) o Janelle identified an area in August in the parking lot next to the Y that was overgrown o Katie confirmed it is a city owned space that is relatively new because of the Essex Street overhaul/paving o An electrical box was uncovered so Janelle reached out to the Public Arts Commission (Julie Barry) to see what we’d need to do to get it cleaned up o Multiple options to have it sponsored - would cost $500 one time if BComm wanted to sponsor it ▪ There was a suggestion to ask Caramel or Life Alive to sponsor it rather than BComm paying for it but it seems like there could be conflicting interests o Maria introduced Janelle to Brian who put together a sketch that could work - would need to get approved by the Beautification Committee (will invite him to the January meeting) o If we choose to sponsor it, we’d have to write the proposal to get it approved by the Public Arts Commission o To be followed up on in the January meeting ● Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Council o On March 25th, Jason, Zack, Janelle will be presenting on the BComm & programs we own (Traffic Island, Window box, cleanups, LoS, etc.) to all of the neighborhoods in Salem o Exciting opportunity to try and get more volunteers and to share great work being done o Jason, Zach, Janelle to start working on the presentation (to be added to GDrive) ● Discuss 2024 Monthly Cleanup Calendar o Ariana sent a draft of a potential calendar to the group - want to pilot getting ahead of things and then we can share the calendar with other groups like Salem Sound Coastwatch to let them know as they do their own cleanups too o Opportunity to partner with Salem Sound Coastwatch for one last cleanup of the year - thinking December 10th in Palmer Cove. Zack to reach out to Chris o Sub group to get together to confirm dates o Maria can help add these to the Garden Club newsletter and we should also reach out to city council to make sure they add it to their newsletters 3  ● December Meeting o Meeting is canceled for December o Proposing an unofficial celebration on December 12th at Flatbread potentially o Henry to work on planning this week Traffic Island Report Charlene Bailey Tuesday, November 14, 2023 Gardens: The Wednesdays in October were spent on the Washington Strip, weeding, pruning backvplants, cleaning out deadstock in the gardens and digging up old roots. On various days, Jack Melin, Janis Manning, Gabby and Meara Baker joined Sam and myself on the Strip. Bulbs: The 670 bulbs that B-Comm purchased arrived at the end of October, and we started planting them on Friday, November 3, 2023. The following volunteers have helped us plant bulbs in various locations since November 3: Janelle Rolke, Brooke Nagle, Kim Parkinson, Joann Kowalski and Meara Baker. Maria Connell and Laurie Biel met me to pick up bulbs so that they could go and plant on their own time. Hannah and John, students at Essex Tech, joined us for Saturday morning, November 4; they are very interested in Horticulture (Hannah is majoring in it, and both were very happy to join us, participate and learn. In addition to our B-Comm 670 bulbs; we also have additional bulbs that are supported by RCG for the Washington Strip and bulbs that have been donated by volunteers, As of Monday, November 13, the breakdown and planting is as follows: Beautification Committee Bulbs: We have planted 464 of the 670 – remaining to be planted 206. Other donations: We have planted 242 of 345 bulbs – remaining to be planted 103. Concerns: Mulch: Discussion is needed about distribution of mulch in Spring. MOU for 2024. Volunteers for the Gardens 2024. 4