Minutes: Nov. 2015 meeting

[Christel Manning]

The Economic Development group met on Monday, Nov.9, 2015, from 6 – 7 pm at 20 Grand Avenue. Present: Christel Manning, Diane Panasci, Lee Cruz.

1. Blighted Housing. There was a special meeting about this on Oct. 26 at the Mary Wade Home, attended by CSNA members, representatives from LCI, and local aldermen. The action steps generated at this meeting included a plan to identify 5-10 blighted houses that we want to focus attention on. Diane reported on follow up efforts to this. Sally has found a city ordinance that defines “blight” and some pictures to illustrate. She will post this on CSNA website. We encourage anyone to bring suggestions for houses that meet this criteria to the CSNA monthly meeting on Nov. 18^th. Diane also mentioned a home buyer assistance program called Homelift, and she may post info about that on our website as well.
2. Soup Night. We had no Soup Night in October because nobody volunteered to host. So we scheduled Dining Out Night early, it’s Nov. 11 at El Fogon on Farren Ave. Next Soup Night will be in December. Christel will send out call for volunteers to host.
3. Middletown Bridge Beautification. Lee reported on possibility of having a mural painted under and around the bridge. He spoke with Arcy, the artist who did the underpass at the intersection of Lombard/Humphrey and State. The estimate is $33 – 44 thousand for 3 murals. We discussed fund raising options and ways to involve the community (e.g., maybe ECA students).