MEETING MINUTES
Friday, June 15, 2023 at 8:00am
CO-Presidents - Welcome / Urgent Business, Tracy Flater & John Paindiris
Call to order
A meeting of The Park Rd Association was held at Playhouse on Park on 5.18.23.
Urgent Business
Come see Webster’s Bitch at Playhouse on Park!! World premiere play with a promising future
Pasta Kitchen has closed its doors
Park Rd has been very busy as summer approaches, things seem to be returning to normal
Restaurant meeting regarding new health dept regulations will be planned
Hartford courant publishing health inspection reports
Tracy is pushing hard for volunteers to reinstate the beautification Club and membership committee. Membership is optional. Those that join
Parade Committee, Tony Landino
Parade is first Saturday in October, this year it is Oct 7 at 10:30am
Theme: Parade planned for last year- (canceled because of rain)
Money has been raised! Everything is there to plan a great parade
Grand Marshal Renee DiNino is very enthusiastic, and may be able to use her platform to promote parade and local businesses. We will showcase Renee’s causes: Foodshare, Fidelco, and Kenways Cause day of parade
Parade will be “In Memory of Rob Rowlson”. Rob’s family will be present that day.
Before parade will be a 1 mile fun run sponsored by Fleet Feet
Spread the word that we need volunteers
Sponsors and promotional material are all ready to go
Parade committee meets twice a month, a meeting will occur right after this one
Volunteer coordinator is retired, we are seeking a replacement
Parade is great opportunity for businesses to promote themselves during the parade and then with special activities to keep patrons on Park Road post parade
Contact Tony, Johnny, or Tracy with any ideas you may have
Parade Page on Park Rd has forms for participation to march/have a float
Parade will likely be rain or shine, we cannot cancel three years in a row!!
Town Reports:
Economic Development Coordinator, Kristen Gorski
-economic development had a successful workforce development roundtable last Monday supporting our manufacturers. We had great attendance from a variety of state and regional partners, and received helpful feedback from the five manufacturers of different sizes that participated. The goal would be to have similar types of round tables in the future for other industries. Timing TBD
-One Park is progressively working on getting units opened and leased. They are working on a variety of site work items and landscaping. Their current target goal for full occupancy is September/October
-BUDR is working towards a mid-July opening of their cannabis establishment at 1037 Boulevard. Opening date announcement coming soon.
Vape shop flags are gone!
Economic Development Specialist, Dan Pesce
Dan has resigned. Position will be filled, probably towards the end of summer.
Town Manager, Rick Ledwith
Juneteenth on Saturday, we will know Friday by noon if we need to move to Sunday (weather)
Pride Event 6.24
Travelers Golf Tournament in Cromwell- Rori McElroy wanted to know more about West Hartford, will be staying at Delamar. Snowballed into a large interest in West Hartford and the Delamar. 26 Golf Pros and CBS Crew staying there
Weekend of Pride will have a large amount of Travelers Marketing and Golf related activities in Blueback
Next year as many pros as possible will be staying here
Generating buzz about the tournament and the great opportunity for West Hartford
Charter is putting gift bags together
West Hartford One LLC developing UCONN, looking to create apartment buildings with 4 levels and a “village feel” throughout the campus with mixed use development. Small organic supermarket and 2 restaurants along with commercial and apartments. Application has been submitted to inland/wetlands
President Biden is visiting West Hartford/Hartford to speak at UHartt
Police, Officer Santoro
Bike officers for the summer, starting Tuesday
Officers Sanford and Hopkins from the high school
Everyday officers will be at different parks/camps
Officer Santoro has been attending various fifth grade graduations in the community
Catalytic converter thefts have dropped off, moved to Southington
Lock your car doors, not as many car break-ins when more people lock their cars. It takes even the police over 20 minutes to unlock someone’s locked car
No “takeovers” reported in West Hartford
Chamber of Commerce - Christopher Conway
AC Peterson won West Hartford Legacy Award
Park Rd Association recognized as economic drive
New Director is ready - incorporates new branding. Being printed by Crickit Press
New website will be up and running in July or August
Very successful job fair, approx 125 job seekers attended
Riverbend Books
Where’s Waldo Event at Riverbend- find Waldo at participating businesses throughout the community, culminating in a “search party” on the Riverbend lawn: https://www.riverbendbookshop.com/event/wheres-waldo-find-him-glastonbury-west-hartford-all-month-long
Local kid friendly businesses supporting the search party / donating raffle prizes
Sign up to participate if you have not already done so, display your waldo for patrons to find
Both a fun event for the community and an opportunity for local businesses to gain traffic
Riverbend partnered with Playhouse on Park, selling books in the lobby during Webster’s Bitch
Miscellaneous:
No pub crawl updates
Increase in dogs in the area, many families are adopting new dogs and bringing them around the neighborhood
New apartments (One Park) filling up, excellent for the local economy as more people join our community. Many tenants working at St Francis Hospital
Nobody replacing Pasta Kitchen yet, hopefully someone scoops up the property soon
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 9:33am.
Caraline Gartrell
5.18.23
Transcriber
Date of approval