Meeting Minutes: February 10, 2012

Guest Speaker: Pam Morin – First Wilderness Heritage Corridor

Old Business

• Don Butler met with DEC regarding a Town septic system and there is grant money available for this. A letter will be written to the Chester Town Board requesting them to have the town engineer draw up plans so when the monies become available, we can be toward the top of the list. It is possible for 2 or 3 smaller systems to be installed in a town, as opposed to a full scale system, but in order to be considered for grant monies, we need to have a plan on the shelf. Alliance agreed to proceed and Butler will be writing and presenting a letter to the Town Board to get this started.
• Sign Committee met with Fred Monroe who will be speaking to Betty Little and the Dept. of Transportation regarding reducing speed limits on town entrances roads. It is not allowed for business names to be added to any town signs, but the addition of “Gas”, “Food”, and “Lodging” on the Business District sign is possible. Committee is waiting to hear back from Monroe.
• Farmers’ Market Committee is moving forward, permission is in the works to hold a weekly Farmers’ Market on the front lawn of the Chester Town Hall every Wednesday, from 10am to 1pm, June 20^th to October 10^th. Requests for use of the Town Hall facilities and a request for “Start Up Funds” for the Market will be presented at the next Town Board meeting on February 14^th. Letters to local businesses to become Friends of the Market by making a small donation to get the Market started with insurance, signage, advertising, etc. will be going out by March1st.
• The Snow Cross at Green Mansions will be held March 10^th – 11^th, weather permitting. People from the entire northeast attend these events, and there are currently over 100 people committed to racing at Green Mansions. Ron Walker is working with the North Warren and Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce to get the word out, as well as town supervisors. Flyer is attached.
• Tom Hill, president of the Northern Warren Trailblazers, explained that the snowmobile trail system in our area is not conducive to ATV trails during the summer months as a majority of the trails are on National Grid property and/or State Land, neither which allow ATVs on their property.
• Fund Raisers – Wine Tasting: Members are contacting local people and wine distributors to assist in setting up these venues. The Panther Mountain Inn, Suzie Q’s and Green Mansions have offered their venues, and Adirondack Moonshine has offered expertise & resources. Outline attached. Date(s) will be set at the next TLBA meeting.

New Business

• Summer Fest will be weekend of July 7^th and the NW Chamber of Commerce needs volunteers. Interested parties should contact the Chamber.
• A Mission Statement for the TLBA has been developed and will be presented at the next meeting for a vote. Current proposal:” To improve the quality of life and promote economic prosperity in Northern Warren County through enhanced infrastructure, expanded tourism, and beautification of our economic centers.”

Guest Speaker

Pam Morin from the First Wilderness Heritage Corridor assists with Event Facilitation and expressed her willingness to assist our group. Concentration of the Corridor is for communities along the Hudson River, and as Chestertown is 4.7 miles from the Riparius train station, we are eligible for project assistance. As tourism railroads are sustainable only if they are developed as one component of a larger tourism experience, drawing on the smaller scale attractions of an area, the goals of our organization are in line with the First Wilderness Heritage Corridor’s mission.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 am

Next meeting February 24, 2012 @ 9am at the Panther Mountain Inn.

Meeting Minutes for January 13, 2012

Don Butler went over the presentations to the Chester Town Board regarding the extension of snowmobile trails into the town center and looking into a town sewer project. Don Butler will be meeting with the DEC Thursday, January 26^th, at 10am to get more information. Anyone interested in attending this meeting, please feel free. Regarding our request for the Town to look into opening up village streets or sidewalks to snowmobiles, we need to do more research and present it at an earlier time next year so we have more meetings for the Town Board to review the topic before the winter season.
ATV ticket sales at the high school are going well and the Ice Fishing Tournament on Brant Lake has been rescheduled for February 4^th because of unsafe lake conditions.
New Ideas:

*North Creek Alliance has had wine tasting events as fund raisers to provide a shuttle bus from Chestertown to Gore Mountain and it was suggested we do similar fundraisers to possibly provide the same service from the Riverside Train Station to our hamlets. Barb Dunham volunteered to do a wine tasting and tour at Railroads on Parade however they are closed until May. Bill Branagan of Adirondack Moonshine and restaurant/tavern owners also volunteered to assist with this venture. Bill phoned the NYS Liquor authority and they said the 1 day permit must be requested by someone with a “Club License” and not a retail license like his. They also stated we could only taste NY wines. A date and discussion will be set at the next meeting.
*A Farmers Market was suggested for the summer months with fresh produce and homemade goods & crafts (bakery items, jewelry, quilts, etc). Cindy Mead will be looking into this and will report at the next meeting.
*Ron Walker is looking into a Snow Cross (snowmobile races) on a yet to be determined weekend at Green Mansions for this winter. A meeting is being held Friday, January 20^th, 9am at Green Mansions and if you’d like to be a part of this or just listen in, please feel free to attend. An update will be provided at the next meeting.
*A suggestion was made to speak with the Northern Warren Trailblazers to see if ATV’s could utilize the existing snowmobile trails during the spring, summer and fall months. This is done in other communities with extensive trail systems such as ours, and could be a boost to the economy during these “off” months.
*Better signage directing people into the Chestertown “town center” was also discussed. Linda Muench volunteered to head this committee.

This and That:

*Horicon Supervisor Ralph Bentley stated that applications for funding from Bed Tax monies have to be submitted by September 1^st of each year.
*2013 marks the Bicentennial of Warren County. There is a scheduled parade through Pottersville on August 24, 2013, and Don Butler is working on a Rumrunner/Moonshine weekend with antique automobiles and a mock race reminiscent of Prohibition days.
* Glens Falls Economic/Community Development Director Edward Bartholomew will be guest speaker at the next meeting.
http://poststar.com/news/local/regional-economic-development-consortium-wins-federal-grant/article_47c0ddd8-1481-11e1-8e0c-001cc4c002e0.html

*Pam Morin,Events Coordinator for the First Wilderness Heritage Corridorwill be a guest speaker at a February meeting to further explore how our group can make a difference.

http://hadleybusinessassociation.net/doccu/Along-the-River.pdf

Meeting was adjourned at 10:00am

The next meeting of the Tri-Lakes Business Alliance is Friday, January 27^th, 9am @ the Panther Mountain Inn. Hope to see you there!

Great Turnout last Friday! Wayne LaMothe from the Warren County Planning Office spoke about current funding the Town of Chester has and other funding that is available. See Attached. He felt the Adirondack Gateway Council would be a great avenue for the group, and also suggested we have a representative from our local Rotary, our Fire Departments, and the Town Board at our meetings so discussions and ideas can be shared with the other organizations in our community. Eventually a liaison from the Students at North Warren would also advantageous. Another thought was to start going to Town Board meetings as a group, with one spokesperson, to let them know what the Business Owners in the Community would like to see happen.

Before the next meeting, if you could:

1: Try to get a Rotarian and/or Fireman and/or Town Board member to attend the meeting.
2: Bring a written list or reply to this email with a list of what you would like to see as this group’s Short Term Goals and Long Term Goals. We will consolidate and compile these in a written format so we have definite projects to work towards.
3: Bring or reply to this email with any winter events your business or town is planning so possibly we can co-ordinate some dates to give people multiple reasons to come to our area on a certain weekend….. winter-long activities (snowshoeing, winter carriage rides, etc. should also be noted).

We need to develop these goals and some sort of a Mission Plan so we know what to ask some of these speakers and what to request from others. We also need to have time during these initial meetings to accomplish this and get us started so hopefully we can have some small successes over the next few months, with larger ones to follow!

Again, Thank you all for coming and we hope to see you at the next meeting which is scheduled for Friday, December 30th, 9AM at the Panther Mt. Inn. As business owners, we understand if you can’t attend every meeting, and we will continue to email summaries to keep everyone in the loop.
Have a Very Merry Christmas and hope to see you next week