Attendees: Lindamarie Hill, Bill Provost, Sherry King, Sandy Wheeler, Kathy Besaw, Tom Lavin, Barbette Dupree, Stephen DuBray, Maureen Bradish, Jeff Mills, Shawn McElwain, James Mousseau, Nancy Monette, Chris Dominianni

1. Meeting called to order by Tom Lavin at 8:38 am.
Motion by: Steve DuBray Seconded by: Barbette Dupree

2. Chris Dominianni introduced new attendees: Sean McElwain, Activities Director at PSUC, Maureen Bradish, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Bill Provost, City Councilman, Jeff Mills, Black Sheep Farm.

3. Kathy Besaw was given the floor to discuss the Battle of Plattsburgh. She spoke of the cost of putting on the event of $80,000. Funds from sponsors had raised $13,000 with the city donating half. Besaw encouraged business owners to help push the Admission Buttons, as those will be a major factor in fund raising. The cost is $8.00 until September 1st and $10.00 after that. She asked if businesses would consider giving incentives for purchasing buttons.

Another fundraiser for the Battle of Plattsburgh is the Plucky Rooster contest. Besaw distributed flyers with details and encouraged business to participate and promote the contest.

4. Nancy Monette was given the floor to speak about her new position with Plattsburgh State College. She spoke of her involvement with improving student/homeowner relations in community partnership. Nancy had attended a conference in Colorado where she acquired many new ideas and tools for facilitating better and more effective relationships. She will share more at the next meeting.

5. Discussion on ongoing projects and ways of improving them:

Concert series-How to improve attendance?

Bill Provost will look into the possibility of redirecting traffic to eliminate the road sound interference.

b. Press Republican Ad-The question was raised if businesses could offer discounts or specials to increase attention.

c. The Protection Avenue Clean Up has been determined to be an ongoing project, especially with the college students returning. What other groups can we involve in this effort? The Probation Department was suggested.

d. Jeff Mills gave an update on the Farmers Market. It has been a very good season despite the weather. Bazzano's is the current food vendor, with 22 other vendors.

Soliciting new memberships was discussed and encouraged.

Barbette Dupree is working on the Kiosk and suggested some updates of current events. Jeff Mills mentioned the vendor list for the Farmers Market was out of date.

6. Rick Bove will present an architectural presentation on his controversial project next Thursday, August 17, 2006, at 8:30 am at the Great Adirondack Soup Company.

Suzette Nephew, Key Bank, sent a Treasurer’s report. She had written six checks for the bands for the concert series.

Future projects discussed were the Tree Lighting Ceremony for the holidays and the Snow Sculpture Workshop. Now is the time to think about and organize the events.

Katie Driver, ABC 22/Fox 44, dropped in to speak about her ideas on a “Come to Celebrate Plattsburgh” campaign. She will discuss details with interested parties.

Steve Dubray made a motion to adjourn. It was seconded by Sandy Walker.