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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-28-LEX250-minSemiquincentennial Commission (Lex250) November 28,2023 Meeting Minutes Pursuant to notice duly filed with the Town Clerk,the Semiquincentennial Commission (Lex250)convened in a hybrid meeting in the Parker Room at the Town Office Building and via Zoom video conference on Tuesday,November 28,2023 at 4:30 pm by Ms.Barry as allowed by legislation (S.2475)extending the suspension of certain provisions of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. Present in person: Suzie Barry,Select Board Member,Co-Chair Doug Lucente,Select Board Member,Co-Chair Jillian Tung,Music &Arts Representative,Clerk Noah Michelson,Community Representative Barry Cunha,Business Representative Mona Roy,Community Representative,Vice Chair Bebe Fallick,Tourism Committee Representative Cleve Coats,Community Representative Tom Colatosti,Community Representative Ashley Rooney,Community Representative Mona Roy,Community Representative,Vice Chair Steve Conners,Reenactment Community Representative Jane Hundley,LPS 6-8 Social Science Department Head Present remotely: Julie O’Leary,Civic Representative Cerise Jalelian,Town Celebrations Committee Representative Bridger McGraw,Community Representative Paul O’Shaughnessy,Historical Organization Representative Guests: Ananth Udupa and Abbey Judd from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (part of meeting) Jim Malloy,Lexington Town Manager (part of meeting) Sandhya Iyer,Lexington Economic Development Director (part of meeting) ●The meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Ms.Barry ●Ms.Barry noted that the Select Board expanded the charge of the Commission to 16 members with the addition of Doug Lucente as Co-Chair ●The members welcomed Doug Lucente ●Update from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)on the permanent memorial: (Ananth Udupa,Abbey Judd) ○A draft of the Call for Artists (CFA)document was presented and discussed among the committee;members offered feedback and suggestions for edits ○Financial awards for finalists selected among applicants submitting design concepts in response to the CFA was discussed ○MAPC staff estimate that 3 -5 finalists will be selected;the search will be conducted nationally ○A motion was made by Ms.Barry to allocate up to $5000 total,$1000 per finalist,of ARPA funding for concept development for the Call for Artists released in 2023.The motion was seconded by Steve Conners and passed unanimously. ○MAPC staff are expecting to release and publicize the CFA within the next 10 days ●Next regional collaborative meeting:Wednesday,December 6,6:30 pm -8:30 pm,Arlington Community Center ○Attendees will include members from the 250th committees from Lexington,Arlington, Lincoln,and Concord,town staff,and representatives from Minuteman National Park and possibly Hanscom ●State 250th committee update: ○The committee has new co-chairs ○The governor will release the budget on the last Wednesday in January ●Discussion re:Lexington250.com website ○Lexington250.com is a website administered by a student without input from the Lex 250 Commission or town staff ○Mr.Malloy and others pointed out that the website has been expanded in recent months with the addition of entries on history and events ○Members shared thoughts and concerns about the site ○The site and trademark issues will be further discussed by the Select Board during a meeting to be held in executive session ●Merchandising agreement ○Merchandising agreement ■Mr.Malloy discussed the documentation that covers trademarks and the type of merchandise generally covered ■Costs of merchandise,types and quantities of items,and how the proceeds would be distributed were discussed ■Ms.Iyer shared spreadsheet with a list of merchandise to be purchased for resale at the Visitors Center and the associated costs ■Ms.Iyer requested and a license to use the logos and $75K in funding from the Lex 250 Commission to cover the cost of purchasing merchandise for resale at the Visitors Center ●If the funding request is approved right away,the Economic Development Department staff could begin ordering merchandise ●If the request has to be presented at Town Meeting,they wouldn’t receive funding until 2024 ■Questions and discussion included the following: ●Use of both logos (first place and 2nd runner up)on merchandise ●Amount of markup:50%markup profit would be expected to yield $37.5K in profit given the amount of merchandise being proposed ●Mr.Michelson and others asked about the percentage of profit that would be returned to the Lex 250 Commission.Ms.Barry and Mr.Lucente pointed out that neither the amount of the initial funding nor the amount of profit returning to the Lex 250 Commission are as yet determined under the agreement.The amount of return would be at the discretion of the Town Manager. ●The Economic Development office would reimburse the Commission $5K for licensing of the logo ●Mr.Lucente and others suggested purchasing a smaller quantity of branded items with next seasonal purchase and considering a larger purchase later ●Mr.McGraw and Mr.Colatosti suggested branding to a larger extent to increase the level of profit ●Ms.Barry conducted a poll asking if members heard enough information to allow a vote;a majority of members answered in the affirmative ●A motion was made by Ms.Barry to authorize funding of $75K from the Lex 250 /Semiquincentennial budget for the purchase of merchandise to be sold in the Visitors Center.The motion was seconded and passed by a majority of members with 9 voting “yes”and 7 voting “no” ■Next meeting:December 6,4:30 pm ■A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:34 pm passed unanimously Respectfully submitted, Jillian Tung