AUBURN’S HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITES COMMISSION
Meeting minutes from November 7, 2005
Present: J. Bryant, J. McCormick, B. M. Lewis, S. Craner, M. Alberici, D. Lamb, Leslie Leary and J. Kline
Excused/Absent: E. McHugh, M. Vanek, K. Walker, S. Tucker, P. Copes Johnson, T. Bridenbecker, D. Dempsey, T. Hussey, P. Wisbey and Rev. Carter
D. Lamb read the Commission mission and vision statement. M. Alberici welcomed new Commission member Leslie Leary, who was appointed by the Auburn Enlarged City School District. L. Leary is an Administrative Consultant for the Auburn Education Foundation. She works closely with the teachers, and will enable the Commission to plug into their programs, and visa versa. Those present at the meeting did introductions to L. Leary.
I. Approval of the Minutes
M. Alberici asked for approval of the September 13, 2005 minutes. J. Bryant made a motion accept the minutes as submitted, seconded by B. M. Lewis. All were in favor and the motion carried.
Committee Reports
II. Planning & Development Committee
D. Lamb said the Site Directors had not met, so there was nothing new to report.
III. Marketing Committee
J. Kline said as for leads from ads, in September 385 inquiries were fulfilled, and there were 984 fulfilled in October. J. Kline said the Commission ran an ad in the Country Home September issue, which is why our numbers have increased. We’ve had 16,568 inquiries year-to-date.
J. Kline said we are running low on Commission brochures. She has the remaining boxes at the Tourism Office, if anyone needs a supply for Holiday Traditions. J. Kline said we need to start thinking about compiling edits for the reprint. The group present decided it could be done by E-mail. The deadline for information was set for November 21st. Changes should be forwarded to J. Kline, who will then set a meeting with the designer.
IV. Community Outreach Committee
J. Kline said she has been busy gearing up for Holiday Traditions. She passed out master copies of the flier, and asked the sites to copy them as needed. She will E-mail one to L. Leary so she can forward them to the schools. J. Kline has placed three ads in The Citizen’s specialty publications, these include the Entertainment Guide (running 11/13/05), the Décor Guide (running 11/20/05), and the Gift Guide (running 11/27/05). The cost is $300. There will also be an ad in the Post Standard’s Cayuga Neighbors on Thanksgiving Day. The cost for that is $168. J. Kline said she was interviewed by Post Standard correspondent Dorothy Long, and an article should run the same day as the ad.
J. Kline asked if anyone would be interested in doing Eric Sorenson’s radio show to promote Holiday Traditions. D. Lamb said she would. There is a possibility to do it remotely, as a call-in. She will set it up at her convenience, but thought the week of December 5th would work. J. Kline has submitted a request to the City to hang the Holiday Traditions’ banner downtown. The dates would be December 5 - 12, but she is waiting confirmation. (It has since been confirmed.)
J. Kline will be sending out the press release after Thanksgiving. M. Alberici will look into the information running on cable. J. Kline said the “Cayuga Chords” are looking for a venue to perform for Holiday Traditions. If anyone is interested, please contact Katie Moran at Cayuga Counseling. There is potential for them to perform at Westminster Presbyterian Church, but it’s not confirmed.
V. Other Business
D. Lamb said they set a date for the Sites Reception, but she left her calendar at the Art Center. (The date is March 15th from 5PM – 7PM at the Schweinfurth.) They will serve finger foods, but not dinner. All of the Commission members, and their Board of Directors, will be invited.
M. Alberici said with L. Leary on board, that still leaves two openings on the Commission.
M. Alberici said she prefers to submit all of the recommended names to the Mayor at one time to eliminate confusion. M. Alberici said B. M. Lewis and J. McCormick need to be reappointed.
M. Alberici and J. Kline will drop by the Mayor’s office after the meeting to get the process started. Other ideas for new members include looking to IGNITE, the new young professional’s group, or past participants of Leadership Cayuga. But candidates must live in Auburn, and be approved by the Mayor.
D. Lamb said “Quilts=Art=Quilts” is up. This year they changed the format of the selection process, now it’s done with slides. They used to judge the actual quilts, and have to ship back the ones that weren’t chosen. Now, they had entries of higher quality and from further away. D. Lamb passed around cards for the show. D. Lamb said they aren’t having an opening reception for the quilt show, but their brunch is happening next Sunday. Also, nearly every weekend through the duration of “Common Threads,” there is a lecture or program scheduled at the sites.
M. Alberici said she has met with Bill Rapp from ACLS, a fulfillment house in Liverpool, about sending out the Commission brochures. She has received their initial proposal, but still has remaining questions on items that were not included. She would like to know, for instance, what their charge per piece would be. She also wants to be sure about the timing of when things are sent out. Do they send them out daily, or do they have to wait for a certain amount to send them bulk mail? She should know more by the next Commission meeting.
L. Leary asked whether the brochure is on the website, and couldn’t people just access it that way? J. Kline said that the brochure is not currently available on-line as a PDF, and that is a good suggestion. Yet, the people that respond to magazine ads, and request the brochure, prefer to receive a hard copy.
M. Alberici said the Tourism Office finally got the contract from the City today, and J. Kline dropped off their signed copy to the City Attorney’s office, as requested. J. Kline said please see her monthly reports of what was done on the Commission’s behalf, since the last meeting. J. Kline said that her hours have been kept to a minimum since she has been working without a contract, and their admin. fee has been waived until the end of the year.
J. Kline passed out the Treasurer’s Report and went over expenses incurred since the last meeting. D. Lamb made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as submitted, seconded by J. McCormick. All were in favor and the motion carried.
M. Alberici said she would check with Councilor Dempsey on the timing of the next meeting with Council and the City Manager regarding the Commission’s increase in fulfillment and their participation in the PrePrint Publishing ad again. The Commission would need more money to do this; even the cost of the ad ($750) is not included in this year’s budget. At the last meeting with the Manager, it was suggested that Commission members come to a Council work session in December, when they have a better idea about the budget.
S. Craner passed out fliers and posters for the Holiday Parade happening November 26th at 6PM. There are many additional activities planned, including wagon rides and a silent auction. The annual tree lighting ceremony will happen after the parade, in front of City Hall. The next day, there will be a “Breakfast with Santa” at the Holiday Inn. The Downtown BID is promoting “America Unchained,” an initiative to buy from local businesses on November 19th.
D. Lamb said they are hosting the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce’s “Business After 5” on February 23rd, 2006. It is the Schweinfurth’s 25th anniversary. D. Lamb said Nancy Duffy from Channel 9 came to the Art Center and filmed the crow exhibit. M. Alberici said “Chef’s Night” is scheduled for February 2nd. Tickets will be available in early December. M. Alberici said she will be out of town from February 3 - 23, 2006.
With no other business to discuss, the Commission adjourned at 5PM. The Commission’s next meeting will held January 17th at 3:30PM, 3rd Floor City Hall. The site directors should plan to meet prior to the meeting.
Recorded by Jesse Kline
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