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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-28 Commission on Cultural Development Minutes City of Bangor, Commission on Cultural Development -Minutes- Oct. 28, 2009, 8 AM City Council Chambers Commissioners in Attendance: Steve Ribble, Commission Chair; John Rohman, Susan Jonason, Geoff Gratwick, Susan Carlisle Others in Attendance: Rod McKay, City of Bangor Director of Community & Economic Development; Shirar Patterson, Business & Economic Development Officer; Jim Ring, City Engineer Commissioners Absent: Robert Zavaleta, Sandra Blake-Leonard Handouts: Copies of Power Point Presentation Next Meeting Date: January , 2010 1. Welcome & Introductions Chair Steve Ribble welcomed Shirar Patterson of the Dept. of C&ED who is the ex-officio member on this board. Commission members then introduced themselves. 2. Approval of Minutes from 7/30/2009 meeting A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of 7/30/2009 as presented. So voted. 3. Recap Maine Arts Commission Grant Planning Meeting of 10/19/09 Shirar recapped a meeting of the Maine Arts Commission Grant Planning that was held on 10/19/09. Most groups were represented and those that could not attend had sent their feedback in advance with the group that attended. An overview was given with regard to the $10,000 grant received from the Maine Arts Commission and a $10,000 City match. The main focus of this grant is to market and bring attention to the Bangor arts community. The group determined they’d like to put together an RFP for marketing services with a portion of the grant funds to develop a marketing plan to develop a look and logo feel of the overall projects and to look at how a web site may work interacting with existing resources such as the City’s web site and downtownbangor.com. That group will meet later this week to review what the RFP will look like and then it will be sent out in order to get started. Shirar added that there are minutes from that meeting if anyone would like a copy. 4. Review Grant Application to Commission City Engineer Jim Ring presented a request from a Bangor resident for a memorial plaque to be installed on the elevated pedestrian walkway that goes from the east side to the west side of the Kenduskeag Stream. This plaque would be to recognize and honor Willard Carlton Orr who was a Bangor native and was the only person from Maine that was killed when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and other military bases on Dec. 7, 1941. Jim added that the materials proposed to be used in the plaque will be aluminum, fairly heavy flat stock with engraved lettering; size of the plaque will be 18” x 24”. This would be done by the City. Commissioners expressed concerns that by erecting this plaque it would invite many other requests even though they are with good intentions. Steve Ribble stated that there are already guidelines established with regard to precedent in the Commission’s review period. Commission members suggested that other materials be considered such as cast brass or bronze and to set quality standards for such plaques with consistency in design and materials. Suggestions offered regarding the costs were: to see if the veterans groups could possibly pay for such plaques instead of the City; if the City pays, the Commission would retain control as to how these plaques show up; Councilor Gratwick added that the costs should not be handled by the City - that every effort to obtain funds elsewhere should be done. At the Commission’s request, Jim Ring will print up another example of the size of the plaque, and schedule an on-site meeting with Commissioners for the first part of the week of Nov. 2 in order to determine the size, design and location. It was also suggested that until exact size and materials are decided on that a temporary sign be put up at the bridge site for the Dec. 7, 2009 annual Pearl Harbor Ceremony. A motion was made and seconded to allow a temporary sign be put up at the site location as discussed until the Commission’s approval of the final design. So voted. 5. Review Grant Application to Commission Shirar reviewed the grant application from the Bangor Center Corporation (BCC) to the Cultural Commission for $2,000 to support the Downtown Countdown program (this is the th same amount as received in past years). This is the 4 year of the event; in the past 3 years, the City through the Cultural Commission has supported the Downtown Countdown event to provide entertainment at Bangor City Hall in the Council Chambers. This event has been very successful and well received. Steve stated that it has been discussed that this application came in at a time when typically there is a small grant application round of $1,000; this came in as a $2,000 request. Discussion continued on issues of increasing the small grants from $1,000 to $2,000 or to treat this request as a large grant category. Susan Carlisle made a motion to approve the request for $2,000 as a large grant; the details to be worked out by City staff. Seconded by ?? So voted. 6. Discussion of re-organization of the Commission  Structure of full commission meetings going forward  Review meeting schedule Shirar handed out a copy of the power point that she recently presented to the Comprehensive Planning Committee – it is an overview of where the Commission is currently at and details the 5 year vision of the Commission as it was created in July 2007. Steve added that at the Commission’s July 30, 2009 meeting they voted to suspend their Program and Grants sub-committee, and the Art and Public Places sub-committee. Rod reviewed stating that the Ordinance in 2007 that established the Cultural Commission mandated 2 subcommittees thus the Commission was required to have them; then at the July 2009 meeting it was the desire of the Commission to have them only as needed, so the Ordinance was amended to reflect this change. They’re no longer mandated but they’re certainly available to the Commission. John asked that the existing schedule needs to be redone to reflect the changes, and have dates for the entire year of 2010. Shirar will put together an updated meeting schedule and send it out to members. 7. Review Commission financial Steve stated that at last evening’s Comprehensive Planning Committee meeting there were concerns as to whether or not the Cultural Commission will be funded this coming fiscal year. He added that the Commission needs to be prudent with decisions on how to spend the budget, yet seek the rewards for our investment so that we can share those with the City Council so that they can see there is an economic return on investment in arts and culture in Bangor. The Downtown Countdown is an excellent example of how the Commission disburses the funds to the benefit of the Bangor community. It was suggested that a meeting be set-up with the City Council, after the Downtown Countdown event, to speak with them on the Commission’s successes; perhaps invite past award nominees to speak on how they used their award dollars and what impact it had on their particular program and the City. Shirar added that the current guidelines for the grants require reports back to the Commission from the grantees. She suggests that this be formalized, model it after the application and require an actual report be submitted. She also plans on doing follow-up with last year’s grantees on their reports. At this point in the meeting, Susan Carlisle made a motion that the amount in the Small Grant cycle be raised from $1,000 to the maximum amount of $2,000. Seconded by John Rohman. So voted. Shirar will make sure the application forms will reflect the change to the Small Grant award amount. 8. Other Items As an informational note, to reduce paper waste it is suggested that Shirar will email members materials in advance of the meetings (that members usually print off and bring to the meetings), and that if anyone wishes to have a copy at the meetings, let her know in advance either by email or telephone.