Minutes

Present: A. Barberet, P. Barry, M. Berliner, T. Callahan, E. Daniels,

C. Henry, R. Hudd, R. Miller, G. Muccilli, AJ Pappanikou, E. Paterson, W. Rosen, L. Schilling, W. Simpson

Staff: K. Grunwald, M. Hart, ~~Assistant to~~G. Padick

Visitors: R. Adams, C. van Zelm

1. Opportunity for Public to Address the Committee

None

2. April 8, 2003 Meeting Minutes

Postponed to the May 2003 meeting.

3. Update re: Mansfield Downtown Partnership

Cynthia van Zelm reported that the community meetings with Looney, Ricks, Kiss went well, and that the Partnership had recently issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) to solicit letters of interest from potential developers. Cynthia has conducted numerous speaking engagements around the community and memberships are up to 207. The Partnership’s annual meeting has been scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on June 12, 2003, and will be held at the Hellenic Society (Paideia) on Dog Lane. Tom Callahan complimented Cynthia for doing a “wonderful job” in her first year with the Partnership.

4. Spring Weekend

Chief Hudd opened remarks on this item, stating the attendees included students and a lot on non-students. Tom Callahan posed the question of “where do we want to end up?” The members responded as follows:

· Marty Berliner – the town will hold a debriefing with staff and may present various recommendations to the Town Council.

· Betsy Paterson – “as a community, we need to end spring weekend as we know it.” We have done a wonderful job managing the event, but the event continues to grow larger and to attract more non-students. She would like to put together a task force to address the issue and is concerned about the University’s reputation as a party school.

· Bill Rosen – “we were lucky” not to experience any serious injuries, and he still has “great fears” that someone in the future will be seriously hurt or handicapped for life. This would be inadmissible and our mindset needs to change.

· Phil Barry – should assess private property owners for the cost of police overt-time. (Martin Berliner responded that most of the apartment complexes do hire private duty officers for that weekend.)

· Chief Hudd – we use the most modern police techniques available.

· Carole Henry – a number of damages occur to the residence halls and each year is getting progressively more expensive. If we make a decision to end Spring Weekend, we need a good plan.

· Greg Muccilli – student reaction to the actions of University administrators, public safety personnel and others has been overwhelmingly positive. The problem exists with non-students, and we should try to reduce their attendance as opposed to doing away with Spring Weekend.

· Tom Callahan – in a perfect world we could avoid risk, but sometimes you can only manage it. The University’s reputation was enhanced in several areas, as the media portrayed the weekend as a “mellow” event. Students need to decide when its time for a change, to do otherwise would be very difficult.

5. Substance Abuse Task Force

Tom Callahan reported that the Task Force has issued a number of recommendations, which should probably be examined by a sub-committee of the Town/University Relations Committee. He suggested we begin this review in September.

6. Other Business

Tom Callahan reported that this was Greg Muccilli’s last meeting, as he was graduating. The committee members congratulated Greg, thanked him for his service and wished him all the best in the future.

AJ Pappanikou made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 5:10 p.m. Phil Barry seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Matthew Hart

Minutes

Assistant Town Manager