ATTENDEES: Steve Cafasso, Jay Campbell, Bruce Kellogg, Barb Mulkins, John Payne, Armando Petruccelli, Teri Schunk, Chris Smith, Tina Townsend, Phil Wade, June White
- Meeting called to order by Chamber President, John Payne, at 7:39 AM.
- Secretary’s Report: motion to accept by Bruce, second by June, carried.
- Treasurer’s Report: motion to accept by Bruce, second by Barb, carried.
- Phil provided a Village Report. Casey Caratelli has officially retired, and Tom Beames has been promoted to Chief. Phil Cole was also promoted to Sargeant. An officer from Greene will also be utilized for some additional patrol hours. No word yet on the NY Forward Grant Program. This is a $5.5 Million downtown revitalization grant. Phil is hopeful that he may be granted a portion of these funds. Keep your fingers crossed!! The rehabilitation of Well #1 is complete. Phil also spoke about drugs and homeless being an issue.
- Teri spoke about 4TownsForward. They are moving forward with the Music Festival. They have invited (2) B artists and are waiting to hear back – they should be able to announce the entertainers within the next couple of weeks. They are also starting to work on the 4TownsForward Community Yard Sale that will take place the last Saturday in April again next year. Letters to Santa took place in Sidney @ Roasted Coffee House and in Bainbridge @ Bob’s Diner. It was very successful – 65 letters were submitted between the (2) locations. Afton & Unadilla will be doing this next year too.
- Tina spoke about Small Business Saturday. It was very successful with 24 vendors ($480) and approximately 300 attendees throughout the day. The vendors were very happy with the venue. The food people cancelled but Bob’s Diner stepped up – thank you John!!
- Steve spoke about the Grand Opening of Bainbridge Athletics on December 3rd. WBNG stopped by and did an interview, and it aired that evening. Business has been steady with people coming in to do baseball & soccer and taking lessons. There are teams from Oneonta, Walton & Norwich that have signed up to use the facility all Winter. Steve has requests to add Golf and Archery. He will look to add but will probably add one at a time. June suggested Steve do a survey through Bainbridge Connects to get a better feel for the interest level of each.
- Armando spoke about the Deli. It is slowly building. The Chef is doing meals for Christmas gatherings.
- June spoke about Bainbridge. The Christmas Issue was very well received, and they need to determine how to do a 4Towns Forward newsletter going forward. This goes out to approximately 8,200 households. Cost for the year will be approximately $8,000 which they will try to get a grant to cover the costs for the entire year. They also feel that a paid Graphic Designer will be needed to put this publication together throughout the year.
- There was a discussion about the vandalism that has been occurring in Sidney with the Snowflakes. Feeling is that something needs to be done to help deter vandalism and crime in Sidney and the surrounding communities. Steve spoke about having someone in a role to coordinate criminal activities among all of those involved – local police, state police, etc. Without cooperation from everyone involved, it is hard to make anything happen. Group felt this needed more discussion and focus so 4Towns Forward will take this on. Their next meeting is Tuesday, January 24th @ 8:00 am at the back of Bob’s Diner.
- The Community Center is coming along. John Harmon will be bringing a crew in to finish up the sheet rock. Chris is getting a quote to have a 20’ x 3’ or 4’ sign made.
- A reminder that businesses need to have their Christmas trees undecorated and ready for disposal No Later than January 6th.
- 4Towns Forward is selling Gun Raffle tickets. They have more to sell and could use everyone’s help. The drawing will take place on January 3rd @ Bob’s Diner.
- Our next Board of Directors Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 3rd and the next General Membership Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 17th at the back of Bob’s Diner @ 7:30 am.
- Motion to adjourn by Barb, second by June, carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:47 am.
Respectfully Submitted: Christine Smith, Secretary