CENTER CITY COMMITTEE STAKEHOLDER REPRESENTATIVES
MEETING MINUTES
October 24, 2006

The meeting opened at 7:38 AM.

The Stakeholder groups were represented by the following members:
Artists, Steve Syverson; Building Owners, Marshall Field; Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne Osborn; City of Lowell, DPD, Brian Connors; Community Banking, Matt Fitzpatrick; Lowell High School, Roxanne Howe; Middlesex CC, Molly Sheehy; Non-Profit Corporations, Bill Lipchitz; Lowell Police Dept., Sara Khun; Lowell DNA, Ted Lavash; Retailers, Mark Coddaire; Lowell Festival Foundation; Janet Leggat; CVB, Jill Taten.

Alternates present: Artists, Pam Goncalves; Community Banking, Susan DeMari.

Absent:
Cultural Organizations, L.Z. Nunn; UMass Lowell, Dr. Joseph Lipchitz; Lowell Plan, Jim Cook; LRTA, Bob Kennedy; NMCOG, Bob Flynn; Restaurants, Franky Descoteaux; Lowell National Park; Mehmed Ali. UTEC, Juan Carlos Rivera.

Also present were: City Manager Bernie Lynch, Matt Coggins (DPD), Chris Samaras (Downtown Coordinator), Jeffrey Gomes (Traffic Engineer), Captain Tom Kennedy (LPD), Lieutenant Tom Meehan (Coordinator of LPD Traffic Division), John Cooper (LPD Sign and Meter Division), Dora St. Martin (Pollard memorial Library) and Terry Williams (LSBAC).

Matt Cogins introduced Chris Samaras, the new Downtown Coordinator, who began his job yesterday. Chris said he was looking forward to working with the committee and the various stakeholders. Brian Connors introduced Jeffrey Gomes who is the recently hired Traffic Engineer. Bill Lipchitz introduced City Manager Bernie Lynch and gave a quick recap of Center City Activities and the current workplan.

Manager Lynch said he has been getting to various neighborhood meetings to meet and interact with the folks who attend, and sees downtown as a neighborhood as well, but also as the glue that holds the city together. He thinks the idea of meeting with all the stakeholders is very important. He sees filling storefronts with viable businesses, dealing with residents issues, expanding the economy by tying it to the cultural activities, and partnering with the educational institutions as all desirable goals. He said he had taken a tour of the downtown and noted many infrastructure issues such as sidewalks in need of repair, streetscape design and perhaps a performing arts center should be investigated. He is planning some kind of Downtown summit that would include the various stakeholders and would be held soon after the holidays. Molly Sheehy offered the facilities at Middlesex if it were held during the winter break, because there would be rooms for large meetings and breakout sessions. Members comments/questions related to the Hotel (Marshall Field: it is doing well and needs support from the community); yesterday’s DNA meeting (Ted Lavash: more lighting is needed in the Victorian Park on Shattuck Street); Parking in front of MCC (Molly Sheehy: cars parked on East Merrimack Street on the south side block pedestrians’ view when they are trying to cross from mCC to the Federal Building); the potential move of the high school out of downtown ( Lowell Plan is studying it now, issues as to where it goes and what replaces it in the downtown); the status of the JAM Plan (garage is underway, will have 17,000 sf of retail space on the first floor and is scheduled for completion by December 2007; the request for developers process has been narrowed down to three finalists; and the Marston Building is hopefully about to be sold and converted into artist work space. Bill thanked the Manager for coming and offered the help of the Committee in setting up the summit. The City Manager left the meeting.

On a motion by Jeanne Osborn, seconded by Janet Leggat, it was voted: to accept the minutes of September 26, 2006.

Treasurer Matt Fitzpatrick reported the balance in the CCC Checking Account remains at $843.00. Matt distributed a list of dues payers, and asked any organization that hasn’t paid their $50 please do so as soon as possible. On a motion by Molly Sheehy, seconded by Ted Lavash, it was voted: to accept the Treasurer’s Report.

Subcommittee Reports

Marshall Field, Chairperson of the Subcommittee for Goal 1, making downtown more pedestrian friendly reviewed some of the findings in their report with comments from Traffic Engineer Jeffrey Gomes. The report documents 22 intersections in the downtown with suggestions for making them more pedestrian friendly. Police Captain Tom Kennedy introduced Lieutenant Tom Meehan, commander of the Traffic Division and John Cooper of the Sign and Meter Division who added information about signage and enforcement. The Sign Division is looking at replacing or adding signage in key places in addition to better marking crosswalks. Janet Leggat mentioned the light cycle at Broadway and Dutton streets as a problem needing attention, and others reiterated the problem with the walk lights at Palmer and Market Streets. Marc Coddaire said some of the problems are created by pedestrians who jaywalk and that education is needed to make the streets safer.

In the absence of Chairperson Mehmed Ali of the subcommittee for Goal 3, long range planning, Bill had sent out copies of the report on the Paige Street area. Matt Coggins said that DPD is looking at the report and that much of the problem will be mitigated when the new restaurant, Hookslide Kelly’s, opens soon. They will be using the Paige Street side as well as the Merrimack Street side, and are working with the LRTA to clean up the side and rear areas. The City is also installing parking meters along Paige Street on both sides of the street, which will bring more activity to the area.

In the absence of LZ Nunn, the Chairperson of the subcommittee for Goal 2, Integrating Residents into Downtown, Pam Goncalves reported that Destination World Italy on October 5th was successful. The November Destination World will feature India and will include crafts, films and dance and food from the Bombay Mahal and Life Alive. She said there will be a greater focus on the film series in future Destination World celebrations and COOL is trying to get more support from businesses.

Stakeholder Representatives Reports DNA
· Focusing on cleaning the canals, better lighting in Victorian Park, and creating a playground on the Mack Plaza. DLBA
· They will be meeting Wednesday night and the city manager is scheduled to attend.
· The recent survey of members allowed some members to vent their frustrations.
· The City of Lights parade will be held Saturday, November 25th .

MCC
· Middlesex Community College and UMass Lowell will partner in the first annual UML-MCC Night in Downtown Lowell for students and faculty in April of 2007.

Farewell to Brian Connors Susan DeMari announced that Brian Connors was leaving his position with DPD/Economic Development to take the Economic Development Directors Job in Springfield, and that a farewell party will be held on Thursday evening, November 2nd at Cobblestones. Members of the CCC are planning to attend. Bill noted Brian’s accomplishments in Lowell and thanked him for his service and cooperation with the Committee.

The next informal meeting of the CCC will be October 31stand 17th.

The Next Stakeholder Representatives Meeting will be November 28th at 8:30 AM.

On a motion by Jeanne Osborn, seconded by Ted Lavash, it was voted: to adjourn the meeting at 845 AM.