CENTER CITY COMMITTEE STAKEHOLDER REPRESENTATIVES
MEETING MINUTES
February 28, 2006

Present: The Stakeholder groups were represented by the following members: Artists, Steve Syverson; Building Owners, Larry Field; City of Lowell, DPD, Susan DeMari; Middlesex CC, Molly Sheehy; Non-Profit Corporations, Bill Lipchitz; LRTA, Jim Scanlan; Lowell Police Dept., Sara Khun; Lowell DNA, Ted Lavash ; Retailers, Mark Coddaire; Lowell National Park; Mehmed Ali; Lowell Festival Foundation; Janet Leggat.

Absent; Community Banking, Matt Fitzpatrick; Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne Osborn, Cultural Organizations, L.Z. Nunn; UMass Lowell, Dr. Joseph Lipchitz; NMCOG, Bob Flynn; Restaurants, Frankie Descoteaux; ; UTEC, Juan Carlos Rivera; CVB, Jennifer Shea, Lowell Plan, Jim Cook; Lowell High School, Roxanne Howe.

Also present: Alternates LRTA, Bob Kennedy; MCC, Colleen Cox; Building Owners, Marshall Field; Artists, Pam Goncalves.

The meeting opened at 8:40 AM.

On a motion by Ted Lavash and seconded by Molly Sheehy, it was voted: to accept the Minutes of the January 31, 2006 Meeting.

The Annual Meeting will be held on March 28, 2006 at 8:30 AM in the MCC Federal Building (1st Floor) thanks to Molly Sheehy and Colleen Cox. The President urged all voting members to respond to the request for payment of dues that was sent out earlier in February. Member organizations representing stakeholders must pay their dues in order to be able to vote at the Annual Meeting, and they need to notify the CCC of the names of the voting member and any alternate before the meeting. Steve Syverson introduced Pam Goncalves who will serve as an alternate for ALL.

There was a discussion of potential recipients for the award given at the annual meeting. The membership was in agreement that only one major award should be given, and that the President could single out others for mention. After further discussion a motion was made by Larry Field, seconded by Janet Leggat, and voted: to give the main award to Chuck Carney and his team for their improvements to the physical structure and operations of the Parking Garages.

Susan DeMari reported that Destination World – Ireland would be held this Thursday evening and that a full listing of events could be found on the Destination World website http://www.destinationworld.org/. She also said that the Destination World events would from henceforth be free to the public, and that the program has been refunded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council for another year, after Council members visited Lowell during the Destination World – England event and were suitably impressed. Susan also indicated there were several potential businesses “in the pipeline” including retail stores and restaurants that DPD is working with.

Ted Lavash presented some information from yesterday’s Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting, where they had Chuck Carney as a guest. The meeting was largely about parking issues downtown. According to Chuck, downtown Lowell gets about 5,000 cars per day traveling through, with only about 20% of the drivers from Lowell. He also reminded residents that they could use the Loading Zones for 30 minutes when loading/unloading their vehicles outside their residences. The DNA also adopted new by-laws and elected new officers, with Kathleen Marson as the President.

LRTA Director Jim Scanlan said that the new bus routes have been tweaked to accommodate some of the concerns voiced by people in the downtown when the starting of routes was moved to the Kennedy Center at the Gallagher Terminal. Four routes that come from areas such as Belvedere and Centralville have had stops added in the downtown on the inbound routes. Any bus that picks up or drops off at the Kennedy Butter and Egg Store on Merrimack Street will also continue on to the Kennedy Center on Thorndike Street, where any connection can be made. Ali asked what plans the LRTA have for the Paige Street waiting area, which has fallen into some disrepair since the busses moved out. Jim said that would be looking to spruce up the area since that will be where folks could wait for the bus. He also said there are video security surveillance cameras at both the Gallagher and Rourke Garages at the Terminal.

Mark Coddaire of the DLBA reported on their meeting of February 27th. The DLBA committee on parking is making progress on the possible setting aside of ground floor parking garage spaces for shoppers during certain parts of the day, and hopes to try it in April. The CCC had some discussion on delivery trucks in the downtown and the timing of their deliveries. The DLBA committee on public safety met with Police Chief Davis regarding rowdy behavior from teens in the downtown and the establishment of a “no tolerance zone”. The DLBA members have started using an “incidence report” form that will be kept track of with a database program. It was pointed out that most of the issues with teenage behavior is a societal issue, not just a downtown Lowell issue.

Marc was asked how businesses could join the DLBA (some have been waiting for months) and he said they were working on a new application form that would be out soon.

Colleen Cox mentioned that the annual WinterFest celebration was a big success. She is also involved in the National Curling Championships that are coming to the Tsongas Arena March 30th to April 8th. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact her for a form.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m.