In attendance: Bill Malloy, Maureen Posner, Darla lavicola, Brook Lacey, Nancy Moriatry, Jan Hines, Richard Marker, Jane Hetzel, Russ Either, Paul Sears, Jeremy Cole, Paul Kingston, Amy Gustman, Don Evans, Karen Thomas, Pat Triggs, Bob Triggs, Dominic Sarno, Virginia White, Larry Libow and Sandra Collins.

Guest speaker-Michael Piscitelli from the Planning Department for the City of Springfield. He discussed the Bing Theater and the new zoning by law revisions.

*The Bing Theater was discussed. The City took the tax title. There is 15, 000 square feet of property. A reuse plan has not been identified yet. RFPs will be released soon and on the street for two months. The City would like to see it reopened as a cultural center. The main problem is lack of parking.

*The Zoning Revision Committee has been working of one year. The terms and structure are archaic and need to be rewritten.

Purpose of the committee:

There was a discussion on sign controls which would be handled under site development and "Special Districts" are the flood plains, overlay zones and cluster zoning (residential)

RESIDENTIAL ZONING HIGHLIGHTS

COMMERCIAL ZONING HIGHLIGHTS

INDUSTRIAL ZONING HIGHLIGHTS

SPECIAL DISTRICTS

SITE DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Input process from neighborhood associations: can submit written input over time and can not receive input once it is filed.

Regarding the Bed and Breakfast ordinance-there are two parts-the BB home and the BB establishment. The BB establishment is eliminated. BB home-needs to meet design standards and parking-making no changes-can do 3 bedrooms for use. Length of stay can only be 14 days. Do not foresee a problem with college students. Enforcement will be nuisance related.

*The Belmont Laundry suit-settlement failed and the case will be in court on 4-12-99. The settlement was dropped by the owners.

*Store on Fort Pleasant Avenue is seeking a full liquor license-FPCA will oppose. Bob Triggs and Bill Malloy have been involved with this issue. The request by the store was withdrawn. On April 28th the store will again seek a package store permit.

*Roof situation on 38 Greenleaf-Richard Marker attended the Historic Commission meeting on 4-8-99. Opposing the removal of the slate roof. The roof has been repaired over the years. The owner has done a lot of inquiring about prices and options. The Commission did grant permission for an asphalt roof with no color advice being given. The owner may choose gray.

*Graffiti Day will be on Saturday, April 10th at the Forest Park Middle School

*Illumination Night is June 19th at the triangle of Garfield, Fairfield and Greenleaf.

*Parks Issue-replace broken bench near Tavern Restaurant-the repair was completed the next day-after the recommendation was made to repair it.

*A subcommittee needs to be formed to assist in making decision on how to use the Dashevsky Fund. How much should be utilized for the legal costs for the Crystal Avenue Project?

*Parks Issue-Bob Triggs attended a meeting regarding Blunt Park issues of having a guard and admittance fees. The charge will be $2.50 per vehicle. This is being used to help curtail the drugs and alcohol being brought into the park. People will still be able to park in the school parking lot and walk over to the park. Area residents wanted more police instead of drive by policing.

Forest Park Issues:

*Another issue with the park was the concession stand which will be operated by the

Hockey League at the Cyr Arena.

*Bright Nights-the Barney Hill exhibit will be the first one removed after Bright Nights.

A plan is in the development stage for possible sledding to be done on the Red Hill. Some maintenance work is needed there-Pat Sullivan and Bob Triggs are planning to tour the area this week. Inmates from Hampden County Jail could assist in the maintenance.

A motion was made for the F.P.C.A to take a position on the use of Barney Hill for sledding with Barney Hill to be the first choice for sledding and for Red Hill to be the second choice and for this to be the position of the F.P.C.A., which would be communicated to the Parks Commission. The motion was seconded and passed.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Jane Hetzel distributed the applications to high schools, the Forest Park library and the Goodwill. An article will also be printed in the newspaper. There will be four scholarships granted two for freshmen and two for sophomores. Jeremy will have some information listed on the Website. Some applications will be given to VACA. The deadline will be June 4th. Maureen Posner, Karen Thomas and Paul Sears will assist in reviewing the applications and in the selection process.

The store front churches issues were discussed. So far it has not been a zoning issue. The suggestion was made by Michael Piscitelli for neighborhoods and people to call and voice their concerns. The Saigon Market is also becoming a problem as far as parking is concerned. Perhaps a meeting with the police, neighbors, marker owners and pastor could be arranged to discuss the concerns with the Saigon Market and the storefront church. There is a chiropractor’s office in that area also that may have some issues with parking and such.

There was a request made on Belle Rita Novak’s behalf for $500.00 to be donated to the Farmer’s Market to be used for advertising costs and perhaps entertainment. The Farmer’s Market did receive money from the City for banners to be hung from the street signs. A suggestion was made for a written proposal to be completed and submitted for the request or an in-person request to be made at the next FPCA meeting. The thought is that perhaps less money should be granted to the cause due to the legal fees for the Crystal Avenue lawsuit. Perhaps only $300.00 should be given.

*$6000.00 has been paid to the lawyers for the Crystal Avenue law suit in the past 4 weeks. $3,500.00 was raised in the special appeal legal fund drive.

A motion was made to allow $250.00 for the Farmer’s Market and for Belle Rita Novak to make a formal presentation to the Board.

A mention of another house tour was briefly discussed as a possible fund raising event. Viable fund raising events needs to be planned. A subcommittee will be developed-possible members will be Pat Triggs, Jan Hetzel, Jan Hines and Sandra Collins.

The by-laws were discussed-the goal to make the current by-laws more functional and to be used as a guideline for operation. Changes were made and provided to people for review. The changes are also on the Website for people to review. The by-laws still need to be approved at a general meeting and by the board. This issue will be postponed for one month for people to review the by-laws.

Jan Reynolds needs information on Illumination night for the newsletter.

If people are interested in replacing the street signs a telephone call can be made to DPW and the sign will be replaced; however, not with a black one but with a modern green one.

Virginia White has information on how to obtain the street signs, names and telephone numbers of whom to contact-she will bring this information to the next meeting.

New Business: The Historic House tour is on May 2^nd , homes on Bellevue Street will be open.

The Zero tolerance march for domestic violence will be on May 6^th, meeting place will be Mount Carmel and marching to City Hall.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20pm

Next meeting will be June 6, 1999 at 7:00pm in the Community Room at St. Barnabas’ Church August 26, 1998