General
Meeting YMCA
Present: J. & S. Bovay, P. & D. Moonan, F.
& J. Gregory, B. Keck, G. Weyerts, S. & M.A. Schwartzberg. K & D.
Parse, J. Mason, M. Edic, R & J. Goldman, M. Buonocore, B. Strasenburgh, J.
Paris, M. & S. Shapiro, H. & K. McDonald, L. Garrenton, M. G. Mercurio,
L. Fyles, S. Phelan, K. Pier, N. Tuttle, J. Neary
1.
President
Sue Bovay opened the meeting by thanking the Eastman School of Music, the
Piers, Marilyn Klass, Elta Green, Barb Lovenheim, and Jim Bovay for their
assistance in making the December GPA holiday gathering at ESM such a
success. Betty Strasenburgh was
applauded and presented a gift of Gloria Weyert’s cards for pulling the entire
event together.
2.
Diane
Moonan read the minutes she had taken at the November meeting and they were
approved by the group.
3.
Sue
reported a balance of about $8700 in the treasury.
4.
Guests
and new neighbors were welcomed….Jim Neary from Rural Metro, Martin Edic, a new
Townhouse resident, and Nancy Tuttle from Gibbs St.
5.
In
John Lovenheim’s absence, Sue reported that John has convened a meeting of
representatives from all areas of Sector V to address issues relevant to the
group.
6.
Bob
Keck updated the group on the GPA website.
New links to our site include Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery (RoCo),
and Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC). Additionally, GPA Bylaws are now on the web
(Sue has hard copies as well) and useful City DES phone numbers.
7.
Sue
remarked that an Amtrak Revitalization Steering Committee has been formed. Sean Phelan reported that the group will
have a position paper out by late February discussing proposals for renovating
the current station or building a new one in order to prepare for high speed
rail service which will begin in 2005.
8.
Art
Committee Chair, Roz Goldman said John Lovenheim feels he can get funds to do
the upgrades needed for Arch Miller’s sculpture on the corner of Scio and Main
Sts. Plans are also being revived for
the placement of a plaque on Gibbs St. honoring the McQuays.
9.
Fred
Gregory announced that a new developer is showing interest in the Block L
project on the corner of Scio and East Ave. after an earlier deal had fallen
through. Fred also invited all those
interested, to join a table for the RDDC luncheon on Jan. 30th, at
the Hyatt, at which County Executive Doyle and Mayor Johnson will take part in
the “Repositioning Rochester” Series.
10.
Sue
introduced our speakers, Sean Phelan, project manager for RDDC, and Martin
Edic, of PowerTango Media. Sean
presented RDDC’s new website, “Everything Rochester” which has been designed by
Martin’s company. He described it as a
valuable tool for businesses and residents within downtown, and visitors to
downtown. With the exception of High Falls, Corn Hill and a section of
Alexander St. and Monroe Ave., the site will focus on downtown within the Inner
Loop though it will be linked to sites such as RMSC and Memorial Art Gallery
outside the designated area.
The designers have identified 13 “neighborhoods” and
created a descriptive web page for each.
The categories titled “Experiencing”, “Doing Business” and “Living” are
meant to lure developers and those looking for commercial or residential space
in the area. The site will be
continually updated to provide accurate information about real estate sales and
rentals, restaurants, shops and entertainment.
Services featured will be expected to keep RDDC up to date on their
offerings, but will not have to pay a fee to be included. GPA’s website will be linked to the RDDC
site and the GP neighborhood will be one of those featured.
Martin exhibited a new poster of Rochester with a
“cosmopolitan” look, that will be part of the promotional package for the
website. He stated that their studies
show that people locate downtown because of the urban environment that’s
offered there, an aspect that will be fostered by RDDC’s new website. With the City on the verge of a great
upswing in residential buyers followed by retail concerns, the new website will
give downtown not only local visibility, but national visibility as well.
Though the site is not quite ready for “prime time”,
it can be viewed in its current state at rochesterdowntown.com/bata 2. Phelan and Edic urged the group to review
the site and offer suggestions.
Sue thanked the men for their presentation and
presented them with packets of Weyert cards.
11.
Officer
Laurie Fyles reported one recent attempted burglary on University Ave. in which
an arrest was made. She also announced
that all four officer vacancies in our area have been filled. Roz Goldman asked what could be done about
the annoying screaming coming from protesters each week outside of Planned
Parenthood. Laurie stated she has been
in touch with the City’s legal council, but has not gotten any response. It was suggested that the neighborhood act
as a group to address noise and harassment problems resulting from these
demonstrations as they have clearly begun to affect the quality of life of our
residents.
12.
Our
next General Meeting will be held on Feb. 24th and will be hosted by
Strong Museum. Museum Director Rollie
Adams will discuss “Reinventing the Strong Museum”.
The
meeting was adjourned at 5:10 PM and the group was invited to a reception at
Elta Green’s.
Respectfully
submitted,
Judy
Gregory, Secretary