CENTER CITY COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
December 4, 2007

Present: Mehmed Ali, Larry Field, Marshall Field, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ted Lavash, Bill Lipchitz, Lt. Tom Lombard, Jamie O’Hearn, Theresa Park, Chris Samaras, Russ Smith, Steve Syverson, George Villaras, and Terry Williams.

The meeting opened at 8:35 AM.

Tom Lombard was asked about towing during snow emergencies and free parking in the garages. He said the concentration was on keeping the major streets open and downtown. It costs a lot of money to have the piles of snow removed from downtown streets and corners cleared out after a storm. The free parking during a storm is now confined to the Ayotte Garage and the new JAM Area garage that should be open by the end of this month, because the other garages are filled with monthly parkers.

Ali said he has talked to Adam Baacke about attending the next monthly Stakeholders Meeting which will begin with a tour of the new garage and the Marston Building and finish up at 27 Jackson Street Apartments. Adam will join us for that meeting. People should meet at the garage at 8:15 AM on Tuesday the 18th.

Ali asked if there has been any progress on providing wireless access to downtown. Theresa Park reported that while the City through its MIS department is looking into it, there is not much progress yet. She said Earthlink has pulled out of its agreement in Boston because there was not enough money to be made from it. She suggested that there may have to be a fee of some sort, or it may only be free during certain hours in order to work. Theresa said maybe a pilot program could be set up in the downtown to see who uses it and what the cost would be. There is also an emerging technology called WI-MAX that could change how access is provided. Terry Williams said she heard that Verizon is planning to bring FIOS to Lowell in the spring.

Ali said he had received some complaints from people downtown during the parade that parking meters were bagged the day before so people could not park along the route. Tom Lombard said part of the problem was that the bagging was done by union employees who had to do it Friday because they did not work on Saturday when the parade was scheduled. Chris Samaras said the parade committee will be doing a post-mortem and discussing how things could go better next year.

Chris also said that planning for Winterfest 08 is starting tomorrow. It will be held on February 8th and 9th. UMass Lowell has a hockey game at the Tsongas Arena on the 8th, and the planners are looking at ways to incorporate that into the celebration. It was asked if the DLBA or other downtown group is on the committee since one of the concerns is there is very little participation by the stores in the activities that all take place near City Hall.

Ali asked if there was any way that Western Avenue could be reopened to traffic now that there is artist activity there. Tom Lombard said the problem revolves around the railroad crossing issue: there was one there but it was removed when the street was closed to traffic and it is up to Guilford Rail to replace it. They have shown disdain for any requests or even orders backed up by fines to fix things and would be unlikely to help in this case. Ted Lavash said he has been looking into the alleys running parallel to Merrimack, Middle and Market Streets, one of which had railroad tracks with a supposed right of way. The tracks are now gone, and the alleys are privately owned (half of each alley section by the opposite abutting buildings). The deeds say that the alleys must be kept open so parkers can not block them. They are used for trash removal. This could be an issue of discussion by the newly formed Association of Condo Associations (ACA?). Ted said it night be called Trustees Association group (TAG)

Ted reported on their meeting last week. There were 10 buildings represented and 4 more that are interested in joining, representing over 1,000 units. They plan to meet quarterly and discuss things like recycling, trash pick-up, building insurance costs, and security.

Ali reported on the calendar project. He expects to get a proof today but it has been a very long process. Steve Syverson ventured that Brady Business forms did a good job on the ALL brochures

Steve also reported on the Cultural Oversight Committee, of which he is a member. The Lowell Plan commissioned a study by the Mt. Auburn Group to see how the arts can be economically viable in the city and this 15 person committee is to oversee how the goals are implemented. The Lowell Plan has hired a staff person to help with the work. The goals include restructuring COOL.

Theresa said the city has put out an RFP for a consultant to help retailers with best practices on things like customer service, signage, window displays etc. They have identified a consultant who has done similar projects in Cambridge and Nashua (Larry Field attested to the positive changes in Cambridge from tha project) and wants to start the project here in January. She said the City may have small matching grants for retailers who participate. There will probably be a workshop first, followed by individual consultations.

Theresa als has an intern working on a project to create an “Incubator Kitchen” somewhere in Lowell where entrepreneurs could start prepared food businesses. Making prepared food for sale such as special sauces, baked goods, etc. has to be done in a commercial kitchen that is approved by the Health Department, and can not be done in the home or even in a restaurant. The project would need sufficient work and storage space as well as commercial cooking appliances and equipment.

The first Charette for the Hamilton Canal District will be held on Wednesday, December 5th at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.

The meeting adjourned at 9:40 AM.