Meeting Minutes for Sept. 2012

[Christel Manning]

The group met on Sept. 10, 2012, from 6-7:30 pm at 333 Front Street. Lee, Sarah, Carlos, David, Stewart, Christel were present. Items discussed

1. Next Dining Out Night. This month we are having Soup Night at the Pellegrino’s house, so Dining Out Night will be in October. We talked about go to Grand Bridge, but it appears they may have closed. So we may  go back to Toral since they are the other restaurant supporting our Festival.  

2. The Economic Development Group will be taking on the Strong School issue. It’s a natural fit, since it concerns economic development of the neighborhood, plus many of us are already in both groups (the Economic Development Workgroup & the Strong School Committee) and it is more efficient for CSNA to have only one group. Lee updated us on the status of the building, which  the school system stopped using two years ago. CSNA has been working to put together a proposal for developing the building as an arts/business complex, which would help bring more traffic to local businesses. Ten different arts organizations  (music, dance, and theatre companies) have expressed an interest, and the city has been supportive. Various local experts have agreed to work on evaluating the building and writing the proposal, and another meeting with the various arts organizations is planned in the near future.

3. Graffiti. Christel will have her painter paint over graffiti on Strong School. Carlos mentioned graffiti on the Ferry Street Laundromat which has must been renovated and painted. Lee said there’s a city department that business owners can contact to have graffiti removed.

4. River fest. We discussed starting to plan for another river fest next May. But Jenelle’s is closed, and the new restaurant that Lisa plans to open there is not ready yet. They do have a web page. So please LIKE them on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/boathousecafenewhaven