Record of Meeting

Place: Old City Hall 4th Floor Conf. Room             Project: City of Bradford Master Plan
Date: June 11, 2007                                            Client:  City of Bradford
Time: 10:00am-1:00pm                                        MCF No.: 44506002

Attendees:

Mike Glesk, Bradford Area Alliance
Sara Andrews, City of Bradford OECD
Debbie Houston, City of Bradford OECD
Jeff Andrews, City of Bradford OECD
Rick Esch, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
*** McDowell*, Bradford Area Alliance
John Peterson, Bradford City Clerk
Denny Puko, PA Dept. of Community & Econ. Development
Simon Tripp, Impact Economics
Roberta Sarraf, Zoning Consultant
Albert Filoni, MCF Architects
Ken Lee, MCF Architects
Amy Maceyko, MCF Architects
  * indicates partial attendance

Purpose: To kick-off the master planning process, discuss the criteria for the steering committee membership, and outline the strategy for developing and implementing the plan recommendations

Items Discussed:

1. The OECD, the Downtown Bradford Revitalization Corp, the Main Street Manager and a new non-profit for Bradford Economic Development are all currently working on strategies to help the city.  Strategies are being developed to try to raise the amount of home ownership in the city, as well as working on retail strategies, elm street programs, street beautification programs (Boyleston Street) and working to save existing downtown buildings when they are threatened (Hooker-Fulton Building).

2. The City of Bradford and the two townships currently operate with a unified school district, flood control authority, water authority and sewer authority.  Each municipality has a separate fire department, police department, garbage collection and road crew.  The city provides emergency ambulance services to the townships for a minimal fee, and it provides police and fire back-up to the townships without compensation.  In addition to the public school district, there are 3 private K-6 and K-8 schools in the area.

3. Ms. Saraff spoke about her expectations for the zoning and planning efforts.  The group will speak to the two townships this afternoon to see if they are interested in revisiting their zoning codes, which would allow Ms. Saraff to look at the whole community comprehensively instead of just focusing on the city.  During the process, in addition to walking around town and reviewing the existing zoning code, she would like to speak with real estate agents, developers and downtown merchants to get their input.  There will be a zoning sub-committee to help direct Ms. Saraff’s efforts, especially concerning housing, recreation and the downtown commercial district.

4. Mr. Tripp spoke about his expectations for the economic development portion of the process.  Before meeting with the economic development sub-committee, he will want to complete the data collection and analysis to help determine what areas the group should focus on.  Based on his preliminary review, there seems to be potential in the local economy given the presence of diverse resources and various manufacturers.  There are challenges, for example, the oil industry produces a lot of capitol but employs a relatively small number of workers.  And the area also lacks a strong R&D engine.  But this process will consider the key assets of the county, determine the best possibilities for economic growth and suggest strategies of action.  Mr. Tripp will be doing his data collection and analysis at the county level.

5. Route 219 is and has long been an issue for the city.  Construction removed many homes and most of those residents left the city limits.  The 219 Bypass doesn’t allow travelers to see Bradford’s charm and the exits into town don’t drop visitors off at desirable locations.  Finding a way to make city gateways more pleasant and more recognizable is important.

6. Lewis Run is not a primary focus of this planning process, but it would probably be a good idea to talk with representatives of this small community during a planning team visit.

7. Discussion of some of the local assets (the regional hospital, the regional airport, nearby railroad lines, existing refineries, greenway plan & new trails, connections to parks & forests, and existing historic district), led to a discussion about downtown Bradford.  It is unclear right now if there is a “center” of town.  In some ways downtown acts as a gateway to other parts of the community and there is no single part of town that has been the primary focus of development efforts.  The public square might look on a map like it should be the center of town, but given that it is a popular hang-out for the unemployed population in town, it isn’t a place where other residents spend time.

8. Mr. Glesk suggested that all local government officials (mayor, councilmen, supervisors, planning commissioners, etc) and major businessmen (CEOs, Alliance members, etc) be invited to be on their own committee (name TBD).  It is important that these key players in town meet with the planning team at least 2-3 times during the process to be told directly what is happening.  They need to feel that they are being included in the process, and even though they will likely be informed of the process by steering committee members, it is critical that they be given the opportunity to meet with MCF, Mr. Tripp and Ms. Saraff in person.

9. As stated in the proposal, there will be at least two public meetings with open invitations to the community.  The first should probably be scheduled for the 3rd or 4th visit of the planning team.  This will allow the team to become intimately familiar with the area and begin to develop ideas, but it will allow community members to provide input before any decisions have been made.

10. There are some aspects of Mr. Tripp and Ms. Saraff’s work that will need to inform the work to be done by MCF, but we don’t want to string the process out by completing tasks in a purely linear order.  The whole planning team will work simultaneously, but some interviews and discussions will want to wait until some of the zoning and economic development work is completed.

11. The main steering committee for the project should have around 20 members and each sub-committee shall have at least one steering committee member in its ranks.  The steering committee shall also include members from the city and both townships.  Local residents who may be opposed to some or all of this process should also be considered.  The sub-committees were discussed in order to inform the make-up of the steering committee.  It is hoped that the committee structure can get 90-100 people from all three municipalities involved in the process throughout the year that the master planning process will encompass.

a. The Economic Development Sub-committee should include members with the following professions/backgrounds/interests:
 School superintendent or HS Principal
 Higher Education
 Several Major Employers (2-3 CEOs)
 Wood Products/Lumber
 Manufacturing
 Energy (Oil/Gas)
 Entrepreneur/Start-up
 Healthcare
 Retail
 Hospitality/Tourism
 Transportation
 Real Estate/Property Development
 Recreation

b. The Planning and Zoning Sub-committee should include members with the following professions/backgrounds/interests:
 Planning Commission Representatives
 Developers
 Chamber of Commerce
 Downtown Business Authority
 Municipal Authority
 Watershed/Floor Authority
 Code Enforcement
 Landlords
 Student Organizations
 Younger residents
 Historic Architecture Review Board
 Arts associations
 Boosters/Athletics
 City Zoning Board Chair
 Tuna Valley Trail Association

c. The Downtown Strategy and Regional Business Sub-committee should include members with the following professions/backgrounds/interests:
 Shop owners
 Investors
 Main Street Manager
 Building owners
 Bank
 Churches
 Legal and Accounting Community
 Walmart manager
 Downtown Bradford Revitalization Corp.
 Chamber of Commerce
 Commercial Development Organization
 Arts associations

d. The pros and cons of including local media members on any master plan committees were discussed.  No decision on this issue was reached.

e. Additional sub-committees may be added later in the process if they are needed.

12. Ms. Andrews, Mr. Esch and Mr. Glesk will use the lists above to determine who should be invited to make up the main steering committee and the three sub-committees.  They will send letters to these individuals once the date of the first steering committee meeting is established.  MCF will send Ms. Andrews a list of available dates for the first steering committee meeting once they return to Pittsburgh.

With no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned.  If there are any additions or corrections to these minutes, please notify the Architect.

Respectfully submitted,

MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.

Amy P. Maceyko, AIA, LEED AP