New Britain Borough Community & Business Committee Meeting Minutes

January 12, 2017

In attendance: Robyne Kelemen, Lorraine Moxey, Dick Moxey, Jackie D’Agostino, Steve Gieseler,  Peg Remmey, Andrea Antell, Dave Fermier

Excused: Debbie Byrne, David Joss, David Holewinski, Stephen Barth

Not Present: Bill Vandergrift, Steve Gilmore

Co- Chairman Robyne Kelemen called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. There were no previous meeting minutes to approve.

Old Business:

• At the meeting in December, Jeff Gilmore resigned as Co-Chair of the committee.

The members in attendance agreed that they would like to see the work of the committee continue.  

New Business:

• The committee discussed our current membership due to Jeff’s resignation.  It was determined that we no longer needed Co-Chair or a Vice Chair (Peg Remmey) and that only one Chairman was necessary.  A nomination for Jackie D’Agostino to become Chair of this committee was made. All were in favor of electing her as new our new Chairman. Robyne will continue on this committee as our Liaison to Council and Peg as our resident/Planning Commission representative.
• Discussions continued about what our mission is and what it means to be a committee that reports through the New Britain Borough Planning Commission.  Our members, who also reside on the Planning Commission, explained that the Planning Commission is more of a reactive committee, reviewing and making recommendations on plans that are submitted to them.  That committee also works with the county to develop our New Britain Borough Comprehensive Plan.  So could we then be the proactive committee?  Some suggested projects for our committee included: a lighting and signage plan for the Borough in support of the Main Street Plan, develop an inventory of available properties within the Borough so we could work with Stephen Barth to find the right business, develop an inventory of current businesses and act as a liaison between them and the borough as well as continue to support the need for the Bristol Road extension.
• All agreed that our first action item was to review our current mission statement to ensure that it reflects the purpose and goals of our committee: “To enhance the experience of living in New Britain Borough, improve the look of the borough especially Butler Avenue and create a framework to attract businesses to fill vacant properties, primarily along Butler Avenue, in the spirit of the New Britain Borough Comprehensive Plan”.  Members were encouraged to review this statement and come prepared to the next meeting with any suggested revisions.
• The committee agreed to hold our meetings bi- monthly moving forward instead of monthly.
• The committee requested copies of the New Britain Borough Comprehensive Plan and Main Street Plan for review.
• The committee requested that Stephen Barth provide an update via email when not attending our meetings.

Action Items:

• Review our current mission statement and come prepared to the next meeting with any suggested revisions: “To enhance the experience of living in New Britain Borough, improve the look of the borough especially Butler Avenue and create a framework to attract businesses to fill vacant properties, primarily along Butler Avenue, in the spirit of the New Britain Borough Comprehensive Plan”.  
• Develop a list of projects for our committee based on our mission statement.  

The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be on March 9, 2017 at 7:30 PM.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Jackie D’Agostino