Attending:
Elyse, Luli Boutique
Pernilla, Kreatelier
Asher, Frog & Toad
Crystal, Hope Returns
Dylan, Festival
Dan, East Side Monthly
Dixie, J. Marcel
John, Green River Silver
Line, Kreatelier
Virginia, Hope Returns
Jan, Stock
Capt. Stamatakos, Providence Police Department
CRIME
Captain Stamatakos talked to the group about crime. He stressed that one of the major East Side crimes is car break-ins. He urges everybody to either remove items or place them out of site.
Dan suggested running tips in the East Side Monthly which gets mailed to every 02906 home. Dixie suggested putting flyers on the counters. It was also suggested that the Summit Neighborhood Association include basic tips in their neighborhood list serve.
The other thing that is spiking again right now are wheel and tire thefts. Property crimes like this are most common around 4am.
Cheryl Simmons issues a daily break-in report for the neighborhood. For anybody who would like to receive this update, you can email her directly: cherylsimmons414@aol.com
HOLIDAY PARTY
Dixie and Elise thought it would be fun to get off of Hope Street and go to the BreakTime Bowl and Bar at Hope Artist Village. The HSMA would furnish heavy apps and a cash bar for a couple of hours. The proposed time is 7p – 9p Thursday February 5th. The budget for that is $500 including snacks and tips. It is a plus one event, meaning everybody can bring a friend or spouse.
BUDGET REPORT
John handed off an updated ledger of the Association’s fiscal picture. Currently there is about $5000 in the account.
HSMA MEMBERSHIP
Asher proposed dropping the annual fee to $250. There are approximately 40 members, but only about 20 are paying members. Some restaurants do services / fundraisers instead of cash. A vote was taken to approved this and the “AYES” carried it. An email with the new fee structure will be sent out soon.
NATIONAL GRID
National Grid has recently raised their fees. Ambit approached Elise and explained their services. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Ruth Horton of Ambit at rehorton2@aol.com. Dixie also shared that she has saved a lot of money with one of the services that comes around and offers to modernize store lights.
COMMUNITY GRANT
Miriam Hospital has agreed to $4,500 for street beautification. The goal is to have a cool chess table made by the Steelyard and a mosaic artist. It will go where the 7 Stars art was.
JOINT ADVERTISING
If HSMA wants to do a joint ad, it may still make sense to have a new logo. A logo team had been assembled which last included Jan, Jennifer, Sal & Elise. Anybody else who’d like to be on the design committee is encouraged to let us know and meetings can be arranged.
Dan brought the statewide pub, Hey Rhody, to the meeting. It is issued statewide and publishes about 25K copies from the East Bay to South County and Metro. The next issue will focus on the home. The reservation date for that is February 11rh. Following that the next themes will be an outdoor guide in May and then a Fall guide. They are distributed to places throughout the state and somewhat tweaked specific to the issue theme. It is an all gloss magazine.
Otherwise, the Hope Street page comes back in April to Providence Monthly and East Side Monthly.
LIGHT UP HOPE STREET
Line and Pernilla will come around to distribute materials and donation boxes. They’ll meet this week with the Johnson & Wales team to review the prototype concepts.
729 HOPE STREET
Will be tabled until February, but there is word that the owner will renovate.
SPRING FESTIVAL COMMITTEE
The event is SATURDAY, JUNE 6TH. Morning meetings at 9am will resume on Thursdays in February. One goal is to relax the restrictions around the beer garden and allow more free range for beer consumers.
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Pernilla did some research into becoming a Business Improvement District, as DownCity is. There are advantages and disadvantages. She was interested in learning more about what the cost / benefit analysis of becoming a BID be? Is there somebody who wants to launch that study?
PLAN FOR 2015
New ideas, fresh thinking, suggestions for improvement are welcome! Please email any time or join us at the next meeting with your ideas of how to make Hope Street the best business district it can be.
NOTES FROM DYLAN AT FESTIVAL BALLET
The second installment of our Up Close on Hope series runs Feb. 6, 7 and 13, 14. This time, we are taking a slight detour from our usual format (normally about 8-12 short works); this program features two longer pieces: the gripping tragedy Scheherazade and a spicy tango piece Soledad. More information on our website: http://festivalballetprovidence.org/
We will be hosting a benefit concert on Feb. 15 (6pm) titled She Moves. The concert brings together 11 of the strongest female voices in Rhode Island contemporary dance community. All net proceeds benefit the Women’s Center of Rhode Island. More information on our website: http://festivalballetprovidence.org/SheMoves.php
Finally we wanted to share the good news that our Nutcracker sales greatly exceeded our predictions and even our wildest expectations; we had the second best year of sales in a decade, only $1k behind our best year (2006). FBP relies heavily on our community to help spread us spread the word about our work, and no community’s support is stronger or more fervent than our friends and neighbors on Hope Street. Thank you all for your continued love and support.
0 Comments