September 21st, 2023

Call To Order - 9:05AM 

• Today we were graciously hosted in the State Tower building. If anyone else would like to host our monthly meeting, please reach out to us.

• Dr. Eric Saxton (Cuse Chiro), Kimberly Cronk (State Tower Building), Mike Blowers (Owner, The Effect Group and Owner, 119 E. Water St), Bill Elkins (Resident), Betsy Elkins (Resident), Heather Schroeder (Downtown Committee of Syracuse - Economic Development), Derrick Pratt (Erie Canal Museum), Taylor Westerlund (Erie Canal Museum).

Elections

• Vice president and Treasurer positions are now open. Mike Blowers accepted the nomination for VP and Bill Elkins accepted the nomination for Treasurer. Both were unanimously approved. Thank you, Mike and Bill!

• (Thank you to Kimberly Cronk, our previous Treasurer, who is moving to Florida with her family. Best wishes for your new adventure, Kim!)

• Vice President duties: Run the meetings in the President’s absence. Attend officer meetings with city representatives once/month, preceding the monthly Hanover Square Association meeting.

• Treasurer duties: File two transactions each January for the website; file tax forms in April; process payments for grant administration (e.g. Hanover Thursdays).

Security

• Several security concerns were voiced, including threatening behavior from panhandlers (threats of violence if money not provided). Heather will invite Deputy Chief Rusin to the next general Hanover Square Association meeting.

Beautification

• Dr. Eric provided an update on the electrical box painting project – Ally Walker’s design concept was submitted to the Syracuse Public Art Commission. Approval is pending National Grid approval. Heather will follow up with Kate A. from the City and Chris Gorman from National Grid.

• Plantings: Betsy reported the spring plantings are doing well, despite zero watering provided by Parks during the season. Weeding is needed by City Parks. She will not be organizing a fall clean-up this year due to low participation previously.

• Fountain: Josh Wilcox sent updates, which Dr. Eric shared: the bricks will be replaced with a polished concrete surfacing. Mike will follow up with Josh to request details on timing of the work and subcontractor hiring for spring 2024. He will ask whether a spigot can be installed to facilitate watering plants in the park.

• Public restrooms: Members discussed the need for a public outdoor restroom. Mike shared an example from Montreal -- $400,00/each, serves 1,000/day. Self-cleaning.

• Dr. Eric shared updates from the Syracuse Flag Initiative, which is encouraging the public to download the flag specifications and print flags. The specifications are available for free here: https://www.syracuseflag.com/specs

Downtown News and Updates

• The Downtown and Lakefront section of Tomorrow’ Neighborhoods Today will host a social event at Board and Bar Charcuterie on Oct. 18 from 5pm- 7pm.

• St. Paul’s Church will host the groundbreaking for Phase I of their Open Doors construction project on Oct. 17 th at 4pm.

• The Erie Canal Museum is hosting “Eerie Canal: A Behind the Scenes Weighlock building Spooktacular” on Oct. 20 at 7pm: https://eriecanalmuseum.org/event/the-eerie-canal-a-behind-the-scenes-weighlock-building-spooktacular/

New Business/Updates

• Heather noted the need to revise the Bylaws to reflect the non-profit Hanover Square Association’s current structure. We are actively recruiting participation from attorneys from the neighborhood who have non-profit experience and wish to become involved.

• We discussed some possible time and location changes to hopefully grow our organization.

• We discussed meeting together with some of the other associations downtown.

• We should create another poll for the organization priorities.

Meeting Adjourned - 10:03AM