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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-07-19 - MinutesFayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Action Committee Meeting Facilitator Susan Norton Meeting Scribe Susan Norton Meeting Date July 19, 2013 Meeting Start Time 9:OOam Location Fayetteville City Meeting End 10:30am Hall, Room 326 Time Attending Susan Norton, Dede Peters, Peg Hart, Sarah Marsh, Teresa Mauer, Margo Jackson, Lioneld Jordan The meeting was called to order by Susan Norton in room 326 of City Hall. Norton asked for additions to the June meeting notes; the notes were accepted. Norton called for action group reports. Margo Jackson reported that the Inclusion group is being interviewed by the UA Applied Sustainability Center, having been given a STAR Community Rating. Margo met with the Mayor and Dede, working on a Compassionate Fayetteville plan to name February as the month of compassion and action. They will bring a proclamation to be issued by the Mayor and are working on a one-year action plan to become an official Compassionate City. Peg Hart reported on Phil Stafford's conversation regarding upcoming Wesley Chapel demolition. The University is performing a full recordation of the structure and exploring if it might be dismantled and re -erected at another site. Campus Planning have been instructed to inform Jeremy Pate with City Planning on the progress of the work. The Park Center Grid -connected Advanced Power Electronics (GRAPES) held its fourth annual PEDG Conference (Power Electric Distributed Generation) at the John G. Hammons Center on July 9. It was attended by over 100 people from around the world. Attendees toured the Park and participated in the Arkansas Strut, sampling food representing the four corners of Arkansas. BiologicsMD, a Park affiliated company, is working on a drug to help rebuild and strengthen bones of people with osteoporosis and has announced a new CEO, J. David Owens. The Town N Gown Committee met at the Park and subcommittees returned some reports, including one on a MAP of UA boundaries and buffer areas into the city and another on emergency response. Clorox Category Mgmt. Group visited the Park and HIDEC. Manufacturing Day is October 4 and Brandon Brown is the contact at AMS. Sarah Marsh reported on the Green Economy Group and mentioned that the City Council supported the Carbon Fee and Dividend Resolution, pointing out the need for an education campaign for this program. The Greening of the MLS is in fundraising mode to be able to include HERS rating scores in the search menu (Home Energy Rating System). They are grant seeking to fund a director and standards program to teach realtors how to use the system. Saturday will be "weatherize Walker Park" day and volunteers will drop weatherizing kits at people's homes. Teresa Mauer reported from the Local Foods Group about the new city ordinance to allow the market to close Block street for safety reasons and they are studying the best way to lay it out, trying various configurations. Businesses are having a favorable response. The Independent reported they had tripled their business due to new layout. Teresa reminded everyone that the Town Center Parking its Free and there are additional spaces behind the Bank for handicapped. The Dog Days Sidewalk Sale is next week. The Local Food Group Meeting is next Tuesday at the Chamber at 5:30. There will be updates from the Urban Ag Task Force and Feed Fayetteville on the Food Hub on Locust. Edible Ozarkansas will publish from the Food Hub. There will be a new Foods Facebook Page put up soon. The new Local Food Guide is coming along. It has grown from 16 to 52 pages with the inclusion of more businesses and farms. They will launch it at the Roots Festival in August. The guide is being funded by the NW Ark Council for 10,000 copies. There is a calendar of product availability sponsored by Ozark Natural Foods. It will be online; a mobile app is being designed by Julie McQuade. The Yvonne Richardson Center brought kids to the market and gave them $10 to spend. A new local non-profit, Ozark Slow Food is providing money for microgrants program to fund small farmers. There will be a Fund Your Farmers Fundraiser at Greenhouse Grille on Sunday, July 2l from 5-7. Dede Peters reported there will be a Party in the Park funded by the Community Development Block Grant today with hot dogs and ice cream at 11:45. The Wilson Park pool Dive In starts tonight with "Wreck it Ralph" - the movie starts at sundown. There are now free electric charging stations in the downtown parking area sponsored by the City and Swepco. Charging is free; parking is not. Mayor Jordan updated the group on a variety of items. The Flyover is progressing and steel is being laid. They will bring extension bonds to the Council for the expansion of the Walton Arts Center and the youth baseball and soccer fields at the Regional Park. The tunnel on Martin Luther King to get started under the Mill and Old Co-op at Government and School is underway and hope is to have it complete by September. Work has begun on Rogers Drive. In August the city will receive the dollars from the transportation tax to begin on the sidewalks. There are more sidewalks planned in the next 3.5 years than have been constructed or repaired in the past 20 years. The Mayor showed the group the Mayor's Box and design of roads, paths, and walkways interconnecting the corners of the city. The Ark/Mo RR passenger cards for a tourist line are still being explored. Wayfinding signs are being deployed this month. Lights of the Ozarks will extend down Block street to Dickson this year. The Midtown Business district will form an area around Evelyn Hills to focus on improvements on College. There is a new Pocket Map for Trials and Bikeways that won an ESRI award; it is being distributed at the Visitor's Center and bike shops in town. The City won an Outstanding Achievement Award for Beneficial Bio -Solids at the US Conference of Mayors. The city was awarded a $100,000 NEA Grant to develop an ArtScape on School from Rock to Dickson. The meeting adjourned at 10:10 a.m.