Minutes: January 2015 meeting

[Christel Manning]

The Economic Development group met on Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, from 6 – 7 pm at 333 Front Street. Present: Christel Manning, Diane Panasci, David Hunter, Donna Cappuzo, Lisa Fitch.

 

1.  Riverfest Planning. Most of the tasks we set for ourselves in December have been completed. Christel contacted QRWA and they have committed to join us again with canoes. Lee contacted the New Haven Parks department to ask about additional water-safety certified volunteers, and they were open to the idea but not on a Sunday because of paying over-time. So we will need to look for other volunteers; perhaps Ranger Dan or Martin or some folks from the Land Trust. Christel contacted the magician but did not yet get a firm commitment. Donna said she knows another magician and also volunteered to look into other types of activities for young children, such as a pony-ride or petting zoo. This would cost a little more than last year’s magician, so we will need to raise some funds. Diane volunteered to take this on as part of her work with CT Main Street. Lisa talked to Kevin (owner of Boat House Café) about providing food; he is on board with that. They also discussed ordering bottles of the craft beers that will be available for tasting; he seemed uninterested in doing this, and Lisa wasn’t sure why. We do not yet have an update from Carlos regarding which breweries and which bands will be there. We also discussed Kevin’s desire to not have to pay for the porta-potty and the cops. Lisa said the marina has 2 toilets that people can use, so we could skip the porta-potty, and ask the city to pay for the police this year. Lisa also talked to Connie at Channel 8 about coming back, and Connie needs brief press release description of the event. Lee has created a draft document which we will forward to Lisa.

 

Action steps for next month:

--Lisa, together with Donna, will talk to Kevin again about the beer. Should emphasize that he will make money on this because he can set the prices for beer and people will want to buy what they are tasting. Also, we are doing what he asked regarding toilets and cops, so he needs to give a little too.

--Christel will forward the press release to Lisa

--Christel will call QRWA and find out what their requirements are for canoe volunteers (do they need to be certified, etc.); then get contact info for Martin, Dan, and others

--Christel will follow up w. Carlos about breweries and the bands

--Christel will forward last year’s fundraising form to everyone at this meeting

--Donna will do some research on children’s activities

--Lee will talk to the city about providing police

 

2.   Main Street program. At last month’s meeting Lee had proposed to lead a Grand Avenue food & wine tasting walking tour immediately after Riverfest; this tour could tie into funds available for CT Main Street and may help pay for the cops we need at Riverfest. After brief discussion, we agreed that if Lee wants to take this on, we would support it.

 

3.  Dining out night: We discussed the dearth of good restaurants in Fair Haven; we keep going back to the same places. It will probably be either Mexican or Italian again. Christel will check where we’ve been to recently and then post the event.