Minutes from the November 7th,
1999 meeting
Meeting
was held at the home of Belle Rita Novak.
Pat
Triggs chaired the meeting. In attendance was:
Maria Marangoudakis, Belle Rita Novak, Pat Triggs, Karen Thomes, Bob
Triggs, Russ Seelig, Sandra Collins, Liz Bramson and Paul Sears.
Minutes
from the October meeting were submitted for approval pending corrections. Brenda Davis should be Barbara Davis. The correct name for the Church on Forest
Park Avenue is: First Park Memorial
Baptist Church. The statement made
regarding Belmont laundry seeking a zone change for their newly purchased
property near White Street was incorrect-the zone change has not been formally
requested as of yet.
Treasurer’s
report was distributed, motion made to accept, seconded, voted and approved.
Two
code enforcement infractions were passed around for people to read.
The
Parks committee stated the clearing of Red Hill is slated to begin this week.
The
Program Committee-planning needs to begin for the annual meeting. The President will assist in following up on
this planning.
An
extra 1000 newsletters were printed last month and distributed door to
door. Paul Sears again stated that he
would ensure the distribution of newsletters on Maplewood Terrace and Sandra
Collins stated she would distribute newsletters on Longhill Street.
There
was a brief discussion on the House Tour for December. The Bright Nights passes are not available
yet. Paul Sears stated he would make a
telephone call to expedite the process of obtaining the passes.
Belle
Rita Novak spoke about the fundraiser for the X Main Street Corp. It is an architectural scavenger hunt. The price to enter is $5.00. She also continued to state that Scott
Hanson of the X Main Street Corp. is doing a wonderful job in his position.
The
Mayor has not made a decision on the Bing Theater yet.
A
vendor party was held for the vendors that participate in the farmer’s
market. The party was held on November
6, 1999 and was a nice way to end the season.
The
study of the Tabor Block was discussed briefly. The City has matched the State with $25,000.00, $50,000.00 total
to study the property and make suggestions for its use. The Southwest Community Health Center is
slated to utilize over two blocks of space for a health clinic.
There
were two scheduled guest speakers: the
Saigon Café and a guest speaker from the Department of Health and Human
Services. Jerry Sarno and Robert Santaniello, Jr discussed Saigon Café. Carlo Sarno would be the owner of the
business and Jerry would be the manager, although Jerry Sarno is not planning
to quit his daytime job. He will have
an assistant manager for the times he is not available to be at the site. The Café will be housed on the corner of
Dwight and Sumner in the Tabor Building; actual address will be 520 Sumner
Avenue. The building has been vacant
for a few years. The Café is seeking a
full liquor license. A two-year lease
has been signed with an option to renew for three years. A first right to refusal agreement has been
signed with Sarno and Michaelman, the owner of the property. Sarno is planning to do some renovations,
which would total approximately $20,000.00 he is planning to do some of the
work himself and have some assistance from friends and relatives. The building needs to be mechanically
updated. The actual structure is not
bad. New windows are needed. There is a
need for work to be completed on the heating/air-conditioning system. Any work purposed outside would be limited
due to other tenants in the building. A
sign would consist of some lights.
There are three bathrooms; one would be a unisex handicapped
bathroom. There will be a small bar,
which would seat 10-12 people. The
floor space for tables would be less than 900 feet. The total occupancy would be 49 people. The hours would be 11:00am-1:00am. The plan would be to serve
lunch and dinner. The kitchen will
remain open into the evening as the demand permits. There will be no live entertainment only a jukebox. The proposed sales would be 70% liquor and 30%
food. The clientele would not be people
from the Orange Café. Sarno stated that
he is interested in attracting people from local business during the lunch hour
and those driving home in the evening to purchase something for dinner.
Jerry
Sarno is a Springfield native. He has a
history with food service, although he does not currently have any operating
food businesses. He is currently
working with the Department of Corrections in Conn. in the food service
department. He has already purchased
some equipment, i.e. a steam table, soup warmers, reach in refrigerator and
fryer. The plan is for the nighttime
liquor sales to off set the lack of sales during the day. When asked why this location-Sarno stated
that he feels the location is good. The
“X” is a major center in the City.
Sarno stated that he is actually interested in purchasing the building;
however, the current price is too high. Sarno stated that without the liquor
license it would be difficult to make a profit. The profit margin is better with a full liquor license instead of
a beer and wine license. Regarding
having another bar, Sarno stated that various discussions he has had with local
people think another bar in the area would be a great idea.
When
asked why is would be focusing on Asian food, Sarno stated that his wife is
from Japan. Sarno feels that he has the
support of many people in the local Asian community. He has an interest in
Asian culture and food and is offering some interesting sandwiches and
meals. He also stated that he is
willing to experiment with the menu.
The
parking situation was discussed.
Currently the site would have 6 parking spaces in the rear of the
building, which are to be shared with other businesses. There are spaces that the World Gym uses
which would be available after 10:00pm.
There is also street parking that could be utilized. Sarno also stated that he is hoping to have
a lot of foot traffic customers.
When
asked why he had not meet with the Civic Association prior to now, his answer
was that he was too scared to meet with us because he knew we were not in favor
of his proposal.
The
next guest speaker was Carol Dautrich a Community Health Advocate from the
Department of Health and Human Services.
She was interested in gathering information on how the Association feels
about smoking rules in restaurants. She
conducted a written survey with those present.
A motion was made for the Association to support the Department of
Health and Human Services in their quest to formalize smoking rules in restaurants. The motion was seconded, voted and passed.
After
the guest speakers a discussion was held regarding the Saigon Café
proposal. November 18, 1999 at 4:00pm
is the next meeting for the Liquor Commission.
People will have an opportunity to address the Commission.
A
motion was made to oppose the proposal of granting the liquor license; the
motion was seconded, voted and passed.
The
meeting adjourned at 8:55pm.
WHERE: The home of Bill Malloy, 223 Forest Park
Avenue
WHEN: Sunday, December 5th at 6:00pm
(please notice the time change)
TOPIC: The success of the House Tour
will not be January 2nd
but instead will be held on January 9th at 7:00pm.
Jane Hetzel’s address
is: 47 Bellevue Avenue
Any questions please call
Bill Malloy or Sandra Collins