BEAUTIFICATION COMMISSION

MINUTES

4/25/07

Attendees: Bill MacDonald, Anne Cumming, Kara Hurst, Ralph LaRue, Don Spencer, Marchetta Maupin, Sandy Poulson, Marilyn Bowers, Dale McGill, Jerry Staketee, Donna Ford-Werntz

Minutes of March meeting reviewed and accepted.

OLD BUSINESS

Status of Public Works/B.O.E. Letter – Bill hasn’t had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Boroff. Agenda item for next month.

Krepps Pool House Landscaping Project – The revised version of the project plan was circulated. The cost of the Biafora project will be $6362. The members accepted the modifications and asked that the contractor proceed with this project.

Airport – Rock Installation – The cost of constructing and/or modifying the two beds at the airport will be $6295. This work is ready to go forward.

As an aside – the South University island project contract is to be signed tomorrow and work should begin shortly.

Roles of Beautification Commissions in other Cities – Dale McGill has researched beautification programs in several other cities. We still have the question as to whether City Council is required to come to us with beautification issues. Most other cities have mission statements that show that most have more programs than we have (i.e., spring gardening workshops, festivals, more awards). Dale believes the Commission should recommend more projects to City Council. Suggested circulating our Proud of our Town flyers at the Gardening Tour as well as posting it on Comcast (she will take care of that).

We talked about needing better street cleaning and litter control which would be City projects. We also need to find ways to affect decision making such as turning state roads into city roads so they are covered under City rules and regulations. Sandy suggested that we have a facilitator attend a meeting and help us work through a brain-storming session. Ann Cumming has been trained as a facilitator and volunteered to do this for us. Ann moved that we choose a day and number of hours to meet so we can identify areas to work on for the next year. Ralph seconded and the motion was carried. We decided on June 29 from Noon-3.

NEW BUSINESS

Request for Attention to Vacant Lot Across from Hotel Morgan – we received a letter asking if we could do something with this property. Unfortunately, it is owned by an individual who lives out of town and isn’t interested in selling. This is an on-going problem. Jerry moved that we go to City Council and Main Street Morgantown to enforce existing ordinances with regard to maintenance of this property. Ann seconded and motion carried. Jerry will draft a letter to the City Council with a copy going to Main Street asking them to contact the City as well.

Request from Library for Flower Containers – The library seems to be looking for advice on types of planters and types of flowers. We agreed for Marchetta to help them out with advice and assistance in acquiring the appropriate stock. The Tree Board is meeting next week and will be looking at Spruce Street and they will look at this area as well.

Home Rule Issues of Beautification - Don Spencer spoke to the issue of burying wires and how to enforce this in new construction in Morgantown. The Public Service Commission’s position is that above ground is cheaper for their customer but that opinion is a short-sighted position. We talked about what other issues would affect the city appearance such as signage (bill boards)., graffiti, etc. Home rule would affect the county and the buffer zones right outside the city. This is another area that requires brain storming that might be addressed during our session on June 29.

Walnut Street Beautification – tabled until next month\

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Adopt-a-Street – Donna reported that people have been out cleaning up. She was contacted by the Center for Civic Engagement looking for a street to clean up and they were given the area along University Ave. near the Grand Central Station building. This coming weekend is Project Pride and groups have been notified via e-mail to clean up their areas before they leave for the summer.

Starbucks is looking for community projects. Ann will get a contact name from Starbucks, and send it to Donna so she can find out if they are looking for a long-term project or a one-time event.

Tree Board Report – Anne circulated the minutes from their last meeting as well as an article from the Bay Journal which encouraged tree planting on personal property.

Proud of Our Town Awards – Since the landscaping around Med Express has been suggested several times as worthy of an award, Sandy will contact them and the Dominion Post to arrange to present them with an award. Also, the house on the corner of Grand and Maple has been nominated to receive an award because of the recent exterior painting and renovation. Beege Bowers will contact them and arrange for their award.

Meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.