CENTER CITY COMMITTEE STAKEHOLDER REPRESENTATIVES
MEETING MINUTES
September 26, 2006

The meeting opened at 8:35 AM.

The Stakeholder groups were represented by the following members: Building Owners, Marshall Field; Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne Osborn; Community Banking, Matt Fitzpatrick; Cultural Organizations, L.Z. Nunn; Middlesex CC, Molly Sheehy; Non-Profit Corporations, Bill Lipchitz; Lowell Police Dept., Ken Lavallee; LRTA, Bob Kennedy; Lowell DNA, Ted Lavash; Lowell National Park; Mehmed Ali.

Absent: Artists, Steve Syverson; City of Lowell, DPD, Brian Connors; UMass Lowell, Dr. Joseph Lipchitz; Lowell High School, Roxanne Howe; Lowell Plan, Jim Cook; CVB, Jennifer Shea, NMCOG, Bob Flynn; Restaurants, Frankie Descoteaux; Retailers, Mark Coddaire; Lowell Festival Foundation; Janet Leggat; UTEC, Juan Carlos Rivera;.

Also present were Dora St. Martin (Pollard memorial Library) and Terry Williams (LSBAC).

On a motion by Jeanne Osborn, seconded by Molly Sheehy, it was voted: to accept the minutes of June 27, 2006.

Treasurer Matt Fitzpatrick reported the balance in the CCC Checking Account was $843.00. On a motion by Marshall Field, seconded by Mehmed Ali, it was voted: to accept the Treasurer’s Report.

President Bill Lipchitz reported that City Manager Bernie Lynch has intended to attend today’s meeting but had a scheduling conflict. He has stated his interest in meeting with the CCC and will be at next month’s meeting. The meeting will be on October 24th with a starting time of 7:30 AM to accommodate the Manager’s schedule.

Subcommittee Reports

The Subcommittee for Goal 1, making downtown more pedestrian friendly, is chaired by Marshall Field and includes Ted Lavash, Sara Khun, Steve Syverson and Matt Fitzpatrick. Chairperson Marshall Field provided a written summary of the information gathered from the Committee’s tour of the city along with a letter to DPD Director Matt Coggins requesting a meeting. The subcommittee will also request a meeting with newly appointed Traffic Engineer Jeffrey Gomes who started in July. The report documents 22 intersections in the downtown with suggestions for making them more pedestrian friendly. Deputy Police Superintendent Ken Lavallee said he would also take the list to his sign crew to see how many issues they could resolve by adding or fixing existing signage. It was reported that City Manager Lynch has also taken a walking tour of the downtown, particularly to view the physical state of sidewalks, trees, street furniture etc.

The subcommittee for Goal 3, long range planning, is currently comprised of Mehmed Ali, Bob Kennedy and Bill Lipchitz. Chairperson Ali also produced a report on the Paige Street area that has also been submitted to Matt Coggins. The report contains a list of short and long-term suggestions to improve the appearance of the area. The potential re-use of the restaurant space formerly known as La Terazza would also provide an impetus to do something in the back of that building next to the LRTA walk-through. Bob Kennedy said there is now a bus that goes by Lawrence Mills to get people downtown from that area.

LZ Nunn, the Chairperson of the subcommittee for Goal 2, Integrating Residents into Downtown, reported that both Newcomers Night and Destination World on September 7th were successful. She estimated over 250 people attended Newcomer’s Night in the Parking Lot of Enterprise Bank that featured a Latin America theme with the band The Sugar Kings providing lively music. 14 businesses and organizations participated as well and new City Manager Bernie Lynch addressed the crowd. LZ thanked the sponsors including Enterprise Bank, the National Park, the CCC, the City, the Chamber of Commerce and COOL. Among the ideas to improve the event was the suggestion that people be identified by name badges or buttons; and that a central data base of residents be developed that could be used as an email list for notification of events and other activities in the downtown. The subcommittee also hopes to develop packets of information to give out to new residents as they move in. LZ also said the Destination World event, held at the Whistler House was well attended with many families participating. Thursday, October 5th will be Destination World Italy.

Stakeholder Representatives Reports

COOL · The Jack Kerouac scroll project will have a fundraiser as a kick-off event at the Pollard Memorial Library in Memorial Hall with jazz, poetry reading and food on Friday, October 6th.

Pollard Library · There will be a book sale to benefit the Library to be held at the O’Leary Library on the South Campus of UMass Lowell as part of Literary Month in October.

· The PML also will be doing some long-range planning and invites community members to join in the process. Call Dora St. Martin at 978-970-4120 if you are interested.

· The PML is holding “Movie Night” on the second Thursday of each month featuring independent foreign films. Admission is free.

The next informal meetings of the CCC will be October 3rd and 17th. (no meeting on the day after Columbus Day).

The Next Stakeholder Representatives Meeting will be October 24th at 7:30 AM as noted above. Please note change in time.

On a motion by Bob Kennedy, seconded by Ted Lavash, it was voted: to adjourn the meeting at 9:20 AM.