Salem Beautification Committee
Meeting March 24, 2015
Minutes
Present: Chairman pro tem Lisa Lyons, Marc Berube, Sam Fiore, Marcia Lambert, Mary Ellen Halliwell, Sandi Power, Judith Wolfe, Ellen Talkowsky; Guest Flora TonThat
Absent: Bev Moustakis, Barbara Sirois
Following the resignation of Chairman Barbara Swartz in February,
Pro Tem Chairman Lisa Lyons called the meeting to order at 7:05. Lisa was nominated for the position of Chairman. It was moved and voted to elect Lisa as chairman, who was well prepared with an agenda and proceeded to chair the meeting.
Rotating Recording Secretary Lisa Lyons’ report was moved and voted for acceptance with the correction of the word grammatical edit to factual.
Recording Secretary: A sheet was circulated for members to each sign up for one month for recording-secretary duty. Sandi agreed to do this month and the following schedule was agreed on by those members attending:
April 28th – Marc Berube
May 26th –
June 23rd – Mary Ellen Halliwell
July 28th - Marcia Lambert
August 25 – Sam Fiore
September 22 – Judith Wolfe
October 27th, -
November 24th –
December 22 –
Clean Salem, Green Salem, May 2nd: It was moved and voted to make Lafayette Park and Lafayette Street, also Mill Hill, the Clean Sweeps target of the Beautification Committee. As City street sweeping will take place in May, volunteers will sweep and rake from the curb inward, extending into the street only for trash and litter pickup.
The Common will be the tool and pizza party central, with Lafayette Park serving as the tool center for Park volunteers.
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Lisa will do fliers and help with the publicity.
Ellen will check supplies, has paper goods, water, will order pizza from Flying Saucer for noon festival at The Common.; ? Bev (absent) cookies and chips at Shaws; Marc, bananas, fruit, from Crosby’s; Sam, gloves.
Plant Sale, May 16th and 17th: Ellen will be away that weekend, but will arrange with Tom for tables and carts delivery on Saturday and pickup on Sunday, and will arrange for change money. John, at Darlene’s, may be away on Sunday, to be confirmed in a couple days. If that is the case, the home-growns will be the mainstay on Sunday with the possibility of picking
up annuals at a nursery on Sunday. Ellen will invite the Bertram House to participate as they did last year.
Raffles: Lisa will donate a large pot for a geranium, also a basket for garden magazines and books to give away, Sam an arrangement, Marc a flower arrangement, Sandi an unusual watering can with flower arrangement.
Signs, helium balloons, in-ground wired signs were discussed. Marc will be in charge of two A frames Ellen will provide.
Publicity possibilities are John Andrews of Creative Salem, Facebook, Salem Events, also Destination Salem.
Traffic Islands: Sandi has begun to reach out to last year’s sponsors. She will be speaking with the three downtown sponsors who last year did not pay for maintenance to encourage them to do so this year to ensure their gardens are maintained properly. She will speak with them all about their intentions for 2015. She will also call many of the volunteers who signed up last year to bring them on board with the current needs in 2015.~ Ellen is asked to send out the MOU’s with transmittal letter in April.
Concern was expressed about the time lines of two City projects, - the intersections at Riley Plaza and Loring Square, as the projects remove traffic islands in those areas. Ellen will obtain that information. (3/26 Ellen has verified the two projects will start in spring of 2016, a one-year delay).
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Lady of Salem: The Ladies of Salem will leave the YMCA after Memorial Day to be installed by the DPW along the Pedestrian Mall, ready to be part of the:
1. Salem Art Fair & Festival, June 5-7
2. Salem Maritime Festival 2015, Saturday, August 1, at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, 185 Derby Street
3. Antique & Classic Boat Festival on the weekend of August 22-23 at the Brewer Hawthorne Cove Marina.
4. Trails & Sails: Two Weekends of Walks and Water, Sept. 19-20 and 26- 27.
They will leave for the winter in October. Mary Ellen advised that the committee may contract with a wood carver to join her at one of the festivals. Marc suggested purchasing a mold of the lady that an artist could paint during the festivals. It was moved and voted to invest in a mold of the Lady of Salem for the purpose of painting it during the festivals.
Old Business: Ellen gave an explanation of the City’s revolving accounts. The state mandates a sweep at the end of the fiscal year in July to remove a percentage of unspent funds and place the remainder in the General Fund. A way must be devised to spend the funds or set them aside for planned projects. There is presently in the BCom account about $5500.
Mill Street Median Project: Marc Berube requested a few minutes of planning time, and asked for visions of what the strip could look like. Sam envisioned high, narrow metal tubs, two or three extending from the intersection and spaced widely down the strip. Like a train, maybe coal cars. Ground cover suggestion: Guest Flora TonThat, hens and chicks to withstand dry conditions; others cobble stones, large peastone. Landscaper was suggested and Ellen will speak with Michael Blier, a landscape architect, and City employee Tom Shea who is a landscaper. The need to spend down BCom’s account was brought up as a justification to generously finance this project. Ellen was asked whether labor can be expected from City staff.
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The corroded utility box on the Washington Street median: Sam reminds us that the box, for which BCom had offered last summer to pay 50%, has not yet been replaced nor a time frame for replacement offered. Ellen will
confer with Tom O’Shea. She also advised that a company called Metal Box, who does City plowing, might be able to create the needed box.
Hanging Flowers on Essex Street Mall: Prices and basket availability need to be checked at nurseries at which Purchase Orders are accepted; e.g., Gibney’s, Darlenes, etc. Ellen will check with Bev Moustakis when she returns. Bev managed the purchase and hanging of the baskets two years ago.
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