NEWTOWN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

LUNCHEON MEETING AT GOODNOE FARM DAIRY BAR

Approval of the Minutes: Mr. Worthington moved to approve the minutes of the April 7, 2005 meeting as presented. Ms. Britsch seconded; the motion carried unanimously.

Present: Dick Weaver, Hal Roberts, Thomas Harwood, Sue Britsch, Wayne Bishop, Cindy Cortes, Regina Klein, Patrice Martin, Robert Michaud, Mary Ann Broderick, Deborah Gould, Steve Schreiber

Call to Order: Mr. Weaver called the meeting to order.

Codes Department Business Development Report

Mr. Harwood distributed and reviewed the report for March 2005.

Approval of the Minutes

Mr. Schreiber moved to approve the minutes of the March 3, 2005 meeting as presented. Ms. Britsch seconded; the motion carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

Lower Bucks Chamber of Commerce

No report. Information and further detail about all LBCCC events is available on the website:www.lbccc.org.

Joint Downtown Newtown Corporation

Main Streets Assistant Leslie Dunleavy reported that Ms. Ortwein has been working with PennDOT to include State Street in the closed loop traffic signal system. She said there was a ribbon cutting at the last aha! Friday, on April 1^st for the newly renovated Newtown Design Group (formerly Newtown Paint and Decorating); the renovations represented a major reinvestment in the downtown retail area. Ms. Dunleavy reported that Newtown Borough had been awarded a Preservation Award from the PA Historic Commission Museum and PA State Association of Boroughs; the adaptive reuse of Chancellor Center (one of JDNC’s first efforts) was the cornerstone of the grant application.

Newtown Business and Professional Association

It was noted that the association was preparing for Welcome Day, to be held on May 14^th; State Street will be closed from Washington Avenue to Greene Street and participants will include 45 artists and various businesses. Information is available on their website:www.newtownbpa.org.

Economic Development Commission

Mr. Weaver reported that the Business Commons Association has been formally established and has adopted a charter and bylaws. He said that officers had been elected: President Doug Terry, Vice President Michael O’Conner, Secretary Betsy Habla, and Treasurer Steve Schreiber. Mr. Weaver said he and Mr. Pellegrino would serve on the board as advisors. Mr. Weaver said that a reception would be held at Cam Trillo’s Building, the old France Building, on May 26^th, at which sketches and architectural plans of the planned Hilton Gardens hotel and conference center would be on display.

Community Map

No report. Mr. Weaver said he thought that there were only a few advertising spots available on the map.

Acme Site

Mr. Weaver said that three developers were given agreements of sale; a single developer had not yet been chosen.

Next Meeting

The next scheduled BDC meeting will be Thursday, April 7, 2005.

Adjournment

Without objection, the meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

______________________________
Leslie Dunleavy, Recording Secretary