Lowell Center City Committee, Inc.
Stakeholder's Representatives
Annual Meeting
March 25, 2008

MEETING MINUTES

The Annual Meeting of the Lowell Center City Committee, Inc. was held Tuesday March 25, 2008

The Stakeholder groups were represented by the following members:
Artist's League of Lowell, Steve Syverson
Building Owners, Larry Field;
Business/Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne Osborn;
Business/Community Banking, James O'Hearn;
Business/Resources, Terry Williams;
City of Lowell/DPD, Theresa Park;
City of Lowell/Police Dept., Ken Lavallee;
Cultural Organizations, L.Z. Nunn;
Education/Middlesex CC, Molly Sheehy;
Education/UMass Lowell, Dr. Joseph Lipchitz;
General Population/LRTA, Robert Kennedy;
Non-Profit Corporations/CTI, Bill Lipchitz;
Residents/Lowell DNA, Ted Lavash;
Visitors/CVB, Fred Hunter;
Visitors/Lowell Festival Foundation; Janet Leggat;
Visitors/Lowell National Park; Mehmed Ali.

Absent:
Business/JAMBRA, Tim Shanahan;
Business/Lowell Plan, Jim Cook;
Business/Restaurants, Franky Descoteaux;
Business/Retailers, George Villaras;
Education/Lowell High School, Bill Samaras;
General Population/NMCOG, Beverly Woods;
Youth/UTEC, Juan Carlos Rivera;

Also present were Alternates Susan DeMari (Community Banking); Sara Khun-Leng (Lowell Police Department); Chris Samaras (City of Lowell DPD); Kathleen Marcin (Residents); Matt Fitzpatrick and Guests Maxine Farkas, Maria Cole, and City Manager Bernie Lynch.

The meeting opened at 8:17 AM.

President Mehmed Ali opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking Jim Cook and The Lowell Plan who provided the coffee and pastries.

Business Portion of the Meeting:

On a motion by Joe Lipchitz, seconded by Larry Field, it was voted: to accept the minutes of April 3, 2007.

Outgoing Treasurer Matt Fitzpatrick gave the Treasurer’s Report. There is currently a balance of $1,792.00 with a few more dues still to come in. Matt said he was pleased to have been able to serve as Treasurer and wished the Committee well in the future.
On a motion by Bill Lipchitz, seconded by Steve Syverson, it was voted: to accept the Treasurer’s Report and Thank Matt for his service to the Committee.

Mehmed Ali gave the President's Report and reiterated the four main goals the Committee has adopted for the coming year:

Ali also mentioned that the Center City Website has been completely redesigned and is now available to be viewed in all browsers. Check it out at http://www.lowellcentercity.org

Due to a change in his job that will take him out of the country for a year, Ali said he would not be able to continue as President.

Noting the By-Laws of the CCC, the President announced that since the building owners as stakeholders do not have an organization, the Member and Alternate for that group need to be appointed by the Stakeholders. On a motion by Bill Lipchitz, seconded by Joe Lipchitz it was voted: to appoint Marshall Field as the member and Larry Field as the alternate for the Building Owners group.

Steve Syverson, Chair of the Nominating Committee proposed a slate of candidates, and on a motion by L Z Nunn, seconded by Larry Field, it was voted: to elect the following as officers of the Corporation to serve until their successors have been chosen:

President .......................Bill Lipchitz
Vice-President...............Molly Sheehy
Treasurer.......................James O’Hearn
Clerk .............................Marshall Field
Secretary.......................Terry Williams

The by-laws call for two types of membership. The voting members who are appointed by the Stakeholder Organizations, and General Members who do not vote but attend the weekly informal meetings and receive mailings and other information. On a motion by Janet Legatt, seconded by Bill Lipchitz it was voted: that the current dues structure be retained at $50.00 for stakeholders and $15.00 for Informal members.

Awards Presentations

Outgoing President Mehmed Ali presented the first award to Superintendent of Police Ken Lavallee for the Department’s ongoing efforts to keep the downtown safe and welcoming. Ken spoke of the passion of the people who want to see the downtown work that inspires him and the Police Department. He said there will be a restructuring of the Department such that the downtown, which will include the JAM Area and the Hamilton Canal District, will become a separate sector with its own commander. It will be called the Central Sector. He was also pleased to be able to report the city will be hiring fifteen new officers in May.

President Ali gave the second award to the Lowell Cultural Council, a seven member Board that oversees grants to artists and cultural organizations today represented by its Chairperson, Maxine Farkas, and Board member Maria Cole. In her remarks, Maxine explained the role of the Council is to award grants funded through the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Examples of previous grantees are: the Lowell Festival Foundation (for crafts exhibits wt the Folk Festival), COOL (for Destination World), the Festival of Lights Parade, MRT, the New England Orchestra, and Open Studios. The Council also gives grants to individual artists for worthy projects. Under a proposed reorganization, the Council, which has no staff or much of an operating budget, will be partnering with COOL in a new City Department that will help it to carry out its duties more easily. Maxine thanked the Committee for recognizing the good work the Council does.

The final award of the morning was presented to City Manager Bernie Lynch for the City’s willingness to take a new look at the downtown through the Downtown Summit and to carry through the ideas and plans from the summit to improve the area.

Manager Lynch thanked the Committee for the award, and talked about the initiatives the City is working on. He said he recognizes the importance of the downtown and sees it on two levels: as a neighborhood in itself and as the central focus and gathering spot for the entire community. It serves as a Community Center for the entire City and is an attraction to the surrounding region.

Over the past year, the City has stepped up the police presence to make the downtown safe and secure and has talked to stakeholders to find out their needs and ideas for improvements. He has been impressed with the interest and activity of some of the new and existing organizations, citing the Center City Committee, the DLBA and JAMBRA to name a few. Some of the physical changes arising from the Downtown Summit have already been implemented, such as the refurbishing of the island on Central Street, and installation of new lights and signage. The City has also stepped up its marketing campaign, bringing back the earlier slogan “There is a lot to like about Lowell”. He said that in the coming year there will be some major public improvements involving the streetscape and lighting including redoing some of the cobblestone streets to make them more pedestrian friendly while maintaining their charm.

The City is also working with businesses and how they market themselves through seminars and workshops run by the Economic Development Division of the DPD. He praised the Lowell Cultural Council for their work and said it all ties into the new cultural plan and the creative economy. The City is obtaining data on how culture can be used in Lowell to improve the economy and he will revisit the effort to combine COOL with event planning. An example of the new thinking is the extension of Winterfest into downtown, having stores participate provides a new model for other events.

Of course, the biggest initiative is the renovation of the JAM area and the Hamilton Canal District which was begun with great foresight by his predecessors in office. The new garage on Middlesex Street, recently named for former Councilor and Mayor Edward Early, is now open and new businesses will be coming in there soon. The plans for the area are designed to grow the downtown, not replace it. For example, Trinity Financial, the group chosen to develop the HCD, is planning 400,000 sf of commercial and office space, 600 residential units and only 50,000 sf of retail. The Manager conceded that physical connections between the HCD and the existing downtown are a challenge, and that Trinity is working on creating pedestrian linkages along Jackson Street to Central Street and through the Market Mills space to Market Street along with additional foot bridges over the canal. Unfortunately, it is difficult to put automobile bearing roadways through the area because of the placement of existing buildings along the canal. There is also a plan to extend Jackson Street across Thorndike Street into the Western Avenue area. Manager Lynch said the future of the downtown is positive and a priority for his administration.

Other Business

On a motion by Bill Lipchitz, seconded by Steve Syverson, it was voted: to allow the Center City Committee to serve as a fiscal agent for JAMBRA until they obtain their 501 (c) (3) status.

Stakeholder Announcements

Molly Sheehy said thee will be a ceremony on Thursday, March 27th at the Rialto Building on Central Street at 10 AM for the National Park Service to officially hand the building over to Middlesex Community College for use as classrooms, offices and a performing arts theater.

Also, MCC will be installing a permanent Art exhibit in Derby Park on Middle Street this year.

L Z Nunn said that there are two events coming up in downtown that should be very interesting: the Lowell Film Festival/Bette Davis Tribute in April and a street fair organized by JAMBRA for the Middlesex Street area in June.

Matt Fitzpatrick announced that the Pollard Library will have its second annual “Meet the Author” fundraising event on May 18th.

Bill Lipchitz reminded members of the CTI Carnivale event at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Friday, April 18th with a Jimmy Buffet theme, parrot head costumes, great food and dancing, all to benefit the Homeless Programs run by CTI. The highlight of th evening is a drawing of a $10,000 prize from one of the five-hundred $100 tickets sold for the event. See Bill for tickets.

Jeanne Osborn announced an event celebrating accomplished women that will feature Atty. General Martha Coakley.

Theresa Park said that there is a needs assessment form going out to gauge interest in a Kitchen Incubator project. The kitchen would be available to start-up businesses or small entrepreneurs who want to sell prepared foods but do not have a licensed kitchen to make it in.

Chris Samaras reported that a new Mexican restaurant, Mr. Jalapeno, has opened on Merrimack Street.

Maxine Farkas said the artists at the 125 Western Avenue Studios have opened a selling gallery at the site.

On a motion by Steve Syverson, seconded by James O’Hearn, it was voted: to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 AM.