LOWELL CENTER CITY COMMITTEE, INC.

 

Stakeholder's Representatives Meeting
August 26, 2008

MEETING MINUTES

The meeting opened at 8:38 AM.

The Stakeholder groups were represented by the following members:

Artists, Steve Syverson;
Building Owners, Marshall Field;
Business/Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne Osborn;
Business/Community Banking, Jamie O’Hearn;
Business/Resources, Terry Williams;
City of Lowell/DPD, Chris Samaras;
Cultural Organizations, Suze Cromwell;
Education/Middlesex CC, Molly Sheehy;
Education/UMass Lowell, Dr. Joseph Lipchitz;
Non-Profit Corporations/CTI, Bill Lipchitz;
Residents/Lowell DNA, Ted Lavash;
Visitors/Lowell Festival Foundation; Janet Leggat;

Absent:

Business/JAMBRA, Tim Shanahan;
Business/Lowell Plan, Jim Cook;
Business/Restaurants, Franky Descoteaux;
Business/Retailers, George Vallaras
City of Lowell/Police Dept., Sara Khun-Leng;
Education/Lowell High School, Roxanne Howe;
General Population/LRTA, Jim Scanlan;
General Population/NMCOG, Beverly Woods;
Visitors/CVB, Fred Hunter;
Visitors/Lowell National Park; P.
Youth/UTEC, Greg Croteau;

Also present:

Alternates: City of Lowell/DPD, Theresa Park;

Special Guest: Jane Calvin, Executive Director, Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust

Minutes of Previous Meeting

On a motion by Joseph Lipchitz, seconded by Steve Syverson, it was voted: to accept the minutes of May 27, 2008.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Jamie O’Hearn reported that the CCC has a balance of $2,473.66. The CCC is acting as fiscal agent for JAMbra and still has some bills to pay on its behalf. JAMbra has a new Treasurer and has applied for tax exemption but it has not yet received it. On a motion by Steve Syverson, seconded by Joseph Lipchitz, it was voted: to accept the report.

Special Guest

Bill introduced Jane Calvin from the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust who presented information about the Concord River Greenway Project that has just started construction at the Davidson Street Parking Lot in downtown Lowell.  LPCT is a private non-profit organization similar to the Audubon Society but concentrating specifically on Lowell. They are involved in several green spaces in the City including Jolene Dubner Park on Rogers Street and are also involved in historic preservation in buildings like the Spalding House on Pawtucket Street. The Concord River Greenway project will eventually run for about 4 miles along the Concord River from downtown Lowell through Chelmsford, and eventually hook into the Bruce Freeman Trail and on to Framingham. This part of the project will cover about 1.75 miles along the eastern bank of the river from Davidson Street to Lawrence Street. It will be a multi-use trail 8 to 16 feet wide that will also accommodate bicycles and take another 2-3 years to complete. (It has been in the works since the year 2000). Phase I, which has just started construction, will encompass the Davidson Street Parking area with historic wayside signage in three languages, public artwork designed by artist Wopo Holup, cast iron bollards topped with statues of river birds, and quotes from Henry David Thoreau. The second phase will start at Lawrence Street and work toward downtown, while the third phase will connect sections 1 and 2. For more information, visit www.lowelllandtrust.org.

Update

Downtown Lowell Blog

The blog was started in June as a joint venture with the Downtown Neighborhood Association, but after a few weeks, it was decided to separate the two because the DNA needed to also use their blog site as their website. The CCC created its own site using Wordpress and there have been several posts at the site http://downtownlowell.org/blog. Although several CCC members agreed to be authors, we are still in need of additional writers. Anyone interested in posting their stories, opinions or comments have several options. They can become authors and post directly to the site on a regular basis; they can write a blog occasionally and email it to blipchitz@comcast.net  or they can submit comments on the blog page itself in response to a post from someone else. The intention of the blog, similar to the weekly informal meetings, is to generate ideas to make downtown better and facilitate a dialogue about what is posted.

Hamilton Canal District

The project is moving along and a major issue involving traffic flow has been resolved with the developers, the City and the residents.

WIFI in Downtown

Theresa Park reported that  the idea of a free WIFI zone in downtown, which came out of the Downtown Summit, is being looked at by the City’s IT Department. They are also talking to LTC where there may be some expertise and maintenance capability. There is a live “drop” at the Leo Roy Garage on Market Street courtesy of the Parking Department so anyonr within about 300 feet of there can get service.

Reports from Representatives

Molly Sheehy said the park on Middle Street installed by MCC will have a ribbon cutting at noon on Monday, September 22nd, with a rain date of September 29th. There will be some performance art at that time.

Steve Syverson announced Open Studios this year will be held September 27 and 28 and will be in conjunction with other open studios efforts in the state. It was also noted that the Zoning Board of Appeals has finally approved the artist live/work space project on Western Avenue.

Jeanne Osborn said that the Chamber of Commerce will hold its Business Expo from 2-6 PM on September 25th and will hold a dinner that evening to salute Businesses of the Year. The three awardees are: Non-Profit business – Community Teamwork, Inc.; Large Business – Costco; and Small Business – Allied Waste (local office in Tyngsboro).

Suze Cromwell fron COOL announced a Poetry Festival to be held on Columbus Day weekend that will tie into the Kerouac festivities. More information can be found at www.masspoetry.org/festival.

Proud new father Chris Samaras talked about Newcomers Night which will be held from 5:30 – 7:30 PM on September 18th at the Doubletree Hotel. Seven restaurants have been lined up to provide food, there will be the usual musical entertainment, and tables for organizations and businesses to distribute their information to the new residents of downtown. The CCC is a sponsor of this event.

Theresa Park said the fall round of the City’s Best Retail Practices seminar will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Tuesday, September 16th.

Ted Lavash reported on last night’s meeting of the DNA where there was much discussion about certain bars that are not following the rules agreed upon for curtailing late night noise. Also, JAMbra will be holding a Garage Sale on Saturday, September 20, 2008 from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Early Garage on Middlesex Street.   Residents can rent space for a table at $1.00/foot (a six-foot table will only cost $6.00) and sell whatever treasures they wish. For more information, visit http://jambra.org/.

 The next informal meeting will be September 9th.
The next Stakeholders Meeting will be September 23rd.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 AM.

The Next Informal Meeting of the Center City Committee
Will be
Tuesday September 9, 2008
8:30 AM
Olive That & More
167 Market Street

The Next Meeting of the Stakeholder Representatives
Will be
Tuesday September 24, 2008
The MCC Morse Federal Building
East Merrimack Street
8:30 AM.

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