The regular meeting of the Main Street Project's Advisory Committee was held in the Main Meeting Room of the Village Office at 56 East Main Street, Trumansburg, NY 14886.

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Paula Horrigan, Scott Sears, John Ullberg, Jim Constantin, Fran Maguire, Annalisa Raymer, Fred VanDerzee, Don Schlather. ALSO PRESENT: Skip Davis, Bud Golder.

MINUTES TAKEN BY: Susan Henninger, Main Street Project Assistant

The meeting opened at 7 PM. No one reported having any general information to share so the group moved directly to the Design Report.

DESIGN REPORT:

*Jim presented the drawings that he received from Steve George at C&S today for review. Skip Davis had several questions for the Design Committee, including ensuring that he had an adequate space for his “right of way” driveway and wondering if it would still be possible for cars coming down Union Street to make right and left turns simultaneously. The Design group noted that the radius would be wide enough to accommodate safety vehicles, school buses, and trucks turning radiuses and that is a state/DOT requirement rather than a decision made by the Main Street group. At this point Susan also noted that she had spoken again to Eric Hansen at the DOT and that he had still not completed any work on the pending Operations Study but that he had assured her that he would be in Trumansburg “before the snow fell”.

*Along with the drawings, C&S had also enclosed a list of properties where existing street sidewalks extending onto private property are proposed for replacement/enhancement and a list of properties where proposed new or expanded sidewalk/curb ramps encroach onto private property. Susan noted that C&S also mailed a copy of these to the Village Attorney, Dave Tyler, along with the most recent drawings, so that he could begin to work on any legal issues pertaining to these properties.

*C&S also enclosed a list of four areas within the Village that they required some clarification on (the Post Office area, the island in front of Ron Don's, the south side of Rt. 96, and the Masonic Temple area) to complete their work on the drawings. The Advisory group took a few minutes to review these. It was decided that the best course of action would be for the Design Team to meet over the weekend to discuss the questions further. The team will then schedule a meeting with C&S for next week.

*C&S also included a copy of their letter to the State Historic Parks and Preservation Organization noting that the area where new sidewalks are to go was previously disturbed when Rt. 96 was widened a number of years ago so there should be no historical obstacles to construction there. Susan mentioned that Steve George had told her that SHPPO's decision would be crucial in the timing of the Project and that they expect that it will take about a month for SHPPO to respond to the drawings. If SHPPO accepts the plans as is, the Project can move ahead at full speed. However if they require more studies it could slow things down considerably. Once C&S hears from SHPPO, a more accurate Project timeline will be able to be developed by the Advisory Committee.

*C&S also submitted a preliminary budget to Jim but as there were some notable discrepancies in it, Jim will contact Steve George to iron these out prior to presenting the figures to the group for their feedback.

*Susan also mentioned that there was a dated (2001) review of Federal regulations by Don Ellis. She questioned whether there was anything that this group needed to be aware of prior to entering the construction stage. Jim will review these and let Susan know how to proceed.

*The Design report ended with Susan stating that Mayor Ferrentino has requested that the Advisory group prepare a job description, interview process, and timeline for the proposed “clerk of the works” position. Jim agreed to be responsible for this and to have it ready for presentation to the Village Board on their 10-14-03 meeting. Susan, Jim, Fred, and perhaps Don Schlather will plan to attend this meeting as Main Street representatives.

FUND-RAISING REPORT:

* Fran informed the group of her latest fund-raiser, the “Historic Homes of Trumansburg Tour”. This will occur on November 2 from 2-4:00 PM and will be a self-guided walking tour complete with light refreshments and an informational brochure. Fran stated that she has between 10-12 homes in the area of McLallen, Bradley, Congress, and Strowbridge Streets signed up to participate thus far. Tickets will be $15.00/person and $25.00/couple. Fran has scheduled a fund-raising meeting for 10-16 at 5:30 to work out the rest of the details of the event as well as to brainstorm new ideas for the winter months. Fred has volunteered to help with the refreshments and Susan will do publicity for the event as well as post fliers. Susan noted that Jackie Kippola from the Tourism Bureau would allow the grant money to be used toward publicity of this event as long as it can be evaluated so as to show its agricultural/historical roots. In light of this, Susan asked the group if she could order “Historic home” signboards from Sign-A-Rama. The cost would be $84.00 and she and Fran felt that this was an effective method of advertising for Corn on the Curb. Fred mentioned that her would find out how much a banner to put across Main Street would cost.

*Fran has two other “campaigns” that she discussed with the group. One would be a campaign focusing on Trumansburg school alumni and would be geared toward the big reunion next year (2004). Fran has been in touch with Dick Parker, Trumansburg Alumni Assoc. president. Susan mentioned that she had emailed Linda Ennis who does the Alumni newsletter to let her know that the Main Street Web site has been updated and improved for their use.

The second campaign would involve collecting change through the schools and would emphasize “safer streets and sidewalks for schools”. Fran noted that Nanette Butler at TCT Bank has agreed to take donations for the Project through the Bank at any time.

*Susan distributed the Main Street Figures sheet to the group. At this time approximately $30,000 has been raised. Susan reported that brick sales are currently at a standstill, however the brick order form has gone on the new web site and that, along with more current information about the Project, may increase brick orders somewhat.

PROJECT ASSISTANT REPORT:

*Susan asked the group what they thought about changing the Project Logo as the construction phase is entered. Group members did not support this idea, although some did suggest that a construction hat could be added to the logo. Susan also reviewed the progress that has been made on the Main Street web site so far. She and Lynne Porter, of Eastwind Designs, have met frequently and, after discovering a number of problems in the original site, have made several changes. Susan noted that Cornell had purchased, through the Engaged Community Grant, not only Lynne's services but also a DreamWeaver program, which will allow her to edit and update the site at any time once she has been trained to use it. Susan clarified for the group that she had spoken to John Levine, Trustee and Village host, and Village Office staff and that it had been agreed that the Main Street site and the Village site would be linked to each other but the two will be maintained separately. Susan and Lynne Porter will be responsible for redoing and updating the Main Street site and John Levine will be working with the full-time Village Office staff on the Village site updates.

Susan and Annalisa asked for some clarification as to how comprehensive the Advisory group would like the site to be. After some discussion it was agreed that, at least initially, the site should be streamlined, focusing on the most up-to-date information. Susan stated that this would agree with her allocation of 1-3 hours/week of her time spent working on the site.

*Also purchased through the Engagement Grant were some organizational tools (i.e. tubes to store drawings and maps in and press clipping albums) as well as the Speakers fee for the upcoming “City Repair” presentation.

*The Commemorative Booklet and the Role of the Project Assistant in grant seeking were also discussed. It was agreed that the Booklet would be a good winter project and that Susan will encourage Bill McAneny to become more involved in it if he is able to. In terms of grants, the Project Assistant was encouraged to pursue all available ones that do not involve cost sharing.

EVALUATION COMMITTEE:

*Annalisa stated that the Committee had met on 9-24 to discuss what material they could offer toward the final write up of the Engaged Community Grant as well as possible goals for the Committee in 2004. Annalisa noted that several goals that they had listed included doing an “assets interview” to see what people were willing to help with and recruiting some new, diverse members. The Advisory Board group could not think of any Evaluation goals to add to these at this time.

*”City Repair” a group that focuses on taking back pedestrian space in a fun, community development kind of way, will be presenting their program in Trumansburg on November 6 at 7:00 PM at the Ulysses Library. Annalisa stated that she would like the Main Street group to be an endorsing organization of the speakers, along with the Ithaca groups that they are also presenting for; these include the Northside Community Center, the Cornell campus, and a Pedestrian Safety group. Susan noted that she had spoken to Rick Willers, Trustee, about this type of publicity for the MSP and he had approved it. Annalisa will initiate contact between Susan and the publicity coordinator for the Ithaca appearances, Joanna Green, so they can coordinate their efforts.

SUB-COMMITTEES:

*Bus Stops: Don reported that Durand Van Doren would be contacting Cheryl Thompson, a local architect who has volunteered for MSP in the past, about developing a “generic” bus stop frame. The interior of the stops would then be decorated in creatively different ways. There was some discussion about the involvement of youth in the Project; Susan will speak to Kate Sinko and Nikki Clark, school art teachers.

* Economic Development: Don has met with Michael Stam from TCAD to discuss how he can best gear his 10-23-03 talk on Economic Development toward Trumansburg's needs. Don and Scott will meet next week to create a draft agenda for Michael to work from. Don will get that information to Susan to publicize by early next week.

* Historical Signage : Mary June King's High School History class has

been visiting the Grove Cemetery this week as they continue to gather information about past area residents. This year's class has shown some interest in coordinating a “Historical Cemetery Tour” as a small fund-raiser for the Project. The youth are also interested in sharing the facts that they collect with the Signage Committee.

A BUDGET MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 22, 2003 AT 7:00 PM

NEXT ADVISORY MEETING IS OCTOBER 29, 2003 AT 7:00 PM