Stakeholder’s Representatives
Annual Meeting
March 30, 2010
The Inn and
Meeting Minutes
The Annual Meeting of the Lowell Center City Committee, Inc. was held Tuesday March 30, 2010
The Stakeholder groups were represented by the following
members:
Artists, Steve Syverson;
Building Owners, Larry Field;
Business/Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne Osborn;
Business/Community Banking, Jamie O’Hearn;
Business/JAMBRA,
Tim Shanahan;
Business/Resources,
Business/Retailers, George Vallaras
City of Lowell/DPD, Theresa Park;
City of Lowell/Police Dept., Captain Art Ryan;
Education/Middlesex CC, Molly Sheehy;
Education/UMass Lowell, Dr. Joseph Lipchitz;
Non-Profit Corporations/CTI, Bill Lipchitz;
Absent:
Building Owners, Marshall Field;
Business/Lowell Plan, Jim Cook;
Business/Restaurants, Franky Descoteaux;
Cultural Organizations, L.Z. Nunn;
Education/Lowell High School, Roxanne Howe;
General Population/NMCOG, Beverly Woods;
General Population/LRTA, Jim Scanlan;
Residents/Lowell DNA, Ted Lavash;
Visitors/Lowell National Park; Mehmed Ali;
Visitors/CVB, Fred Hunter;
Youth/UTEC, Greg Croteau;
Also present was Alternate Suzzanne Cromwell (Cultural Organizations) and Guests George DeLuca, Janet Leggat, Kathleen Marcin, Allegra Williams, Paul Marion ; Chancellor Marty Meehan; City Mayor James Milinazzo; and DPD Director Adam Baacke
The meeting opened at 8:00 AM.
President Bill Lipchitz opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking Jim Cook and The Lowell Plan for providing the breakfast. Bill also gave a special thanks to his Administrative Assistant at CTI, Christine DeFeo, for all her help with memberships, mailings, announcements, and putting together the Annual Meeting.
Welcome by Mayor James Milinazzo
Mayor Milinazzo talked about the
fact that the Center City Committee was established in 1972 and since then has
been a key force in the community in making sure stakeholders’ voices are heard
in the downtown. The mayor said the CCC
has played a major role in putting together a strategy and vision for the
downtown, working together with the LDFC, the City of
Minutes of March 24, 2009
On a motion by Joe Lipchitz, seconded by Molly Sheehy, it was voted to accept the Minutes of March 24, 2009.
Election of Building Owners Representatives
Referring to the revised CCC by-laws, which state that any stakeholder group not having an existing organization may have its voting member appointed by the total membership, the President proposed that Marshall Field be appointed voting member for the Building Owners and Larry Field be the alternate. On a motion by Jamie O’Hearn, seconded by Larry Field, it was voted to accept the appointments.
Election of Officers
As the Nominating Committee, Jamie O’Hearn reported on the election of officers for the following year:
President Bill Lipchitz
Vice Chair George Villaras
Treasurer Jamie O’Hearn
Clerk Marshall Field
Secretary
On a motion by Jamie O’Hearn, seconded by Steve Syverson, it was voted to: accept the Officers of the Corporation.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Jamie O’Hearn reported a
current balance of $1,293.12. Most
members have paid their dues; however there are two outstanding. Jamie mentioned that the majority of the
money goes to supporting nonprofits. It
was suggested that the CCC make a donation in the amount of $250 to the
upcoming conference Innovative Cities: Best Practices in Urban Development
taking place in
Dues are set each year; this year’s dues are proposed to be set at $50/year for organizations and $15/year for individual memberships. On a motion by Janet Leggat, seconded by George Vallaras, it was voted: that the current dues structure be retained at $50.00 for organizational membership and $15 for individual members.
Remarks – DPD Director Adam Baacke
Since the City Manager was unable to attend the annual meeting,
the Director of the Division of Planning and Development, Adam Baacke, gave an update on city projects this past
year. He noted that most issues brought
up at the City Manager’s Downtown Summit Series held in 2007 have either been
completed or significant progress has been made.
Bill announced that due to time constraints, the annual CCC work plan would be addressed at the next stakeholders’ meeting.
Award Presentation
This year’s CCC award was presented to Marty Meehan for his
contributions to the economic development of downtown
Chancellor Meehan thanked the CCC but emphasized that the
award should really go to the entire team in the city of
Chancellor Meehan spoke about the privatization of public higher education as state funding has been reduced. Only about 20% of UMass Lowell’s funding presently comes from the State and the rest has to be raised privately. Meehan stated that UMass Lowell needs to grow its student enrollment and that its focus on student success has paid off with student success rates increasing from 75% from last year to 81% for the present year for freshmen. Graduation rates are up as well.
Chancellor Meehan also spoke about other strides the
University has made over the past several years such as the expansion of its
business incubator, the construction of the
Kathy Marcin commented on how nice it has been to see the UMass students in the downtown. Molly talked about MCC moving student parking to the Early Garage which has meant MCC students have been walking through more of the downtown to reach their classes. This in turn has been good for downtown businesses. Chancellor Meehan said he would like to have the infrastructure set up so that events and lectures at UMass Lowell are advertised to the wider community. Adam Baacke thanked the University for generating a cultural shift in the downtown. He added that institutions of higher education have been instrumental for innovative cities.
Joe Lipchitz asked if there was a possibility of having classes scheduled for the downtown, particularly as there is a shortage of classroom space at the University. Chancellor Meehan said the University is looking at property such as the present courthouse, and the University is looking for space for an arts department in the downtown.
Bill once again thanked the Chancellor for the huge impact his work has had on the downtown.
Member Updates/Announcements
No updates were given due to a lack of time.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 AM.