Chairman Chas Stevens called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm on April 14, 2025.
Kevin Sluka conducted roll call and the following Board Members were present:
Present: Natalia Kleyman, Kevin Sluka, Chas Stevens, Andrianna Popowych, Conlyn Chan, Rick St Pierre
Missing: RanD Pitts,Tania Althoff, Chris Edwards, Beth Akkaway
CHAIRMAN REMARKS
Coming up we have Girls Night Out, Tour of Somerville, and The International Street Fair. The team has been working hard to coordinate these events.
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
Chas made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from March, Kevin seconded and the motion passed.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
- Infrastructure & Art (Kevin)
PSE&G pavement and repairs will start on Monday. This involves pouring concrete in sections. Road refurbishment has been scheduled 3 weeks prior to the tour of Somerville race.
The NJ American Water project will also be repaving 3 weeks prior to the Tour of Somerville race.
Project update – Olivia mentioned we’re still waiting to hear about the grant approval to fund these projects. This will not affect the timing of planters going out. The board is interested in being part of the decision process for the plants.
- Promotions
Women’s history posts got a lot of engagement. First time this was a community nominated initiative. Gained followers on both Facebook and Instagram.
The Easter micro event was moved indoors due to inclement weather. Still saw plenty of families come through Mannions for their pictures.
In the thick of planning Girls Night Out and the International Street Fair. Would prefer not to put these events so close together next year. We’re at the 100 ticket mark already for GNO, people are excited about the country theme.
We’ll be managing the community zone for the Tour of Somerville event. Our sponsorship will mainly go towards that area.
Vendor submissions have been slow for the International Street Fair. Entertainment is mostly booked.
- Finance (Chas)
NJ Tourism Grant is out. This is a marketing specific grant for tourism activities. Would like to apply for this grant with the US 250th birthday in mind.
RWJ renewed/increased their annual sponsorship and committed to 3 years. They want to title sponsor Jazzfest and Pride.
- Economic Vitality
Teas Up, a new business on Division Street is now open. Their grand opening ribbon cutting will be May 10th.
Feet Fleet, shoe store coming to Somerville where the music exchange was.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The St Patrick’s Day parade went well and brought in nearly 30,000 people. We gained 2 new volunteers. Discussed a pilot program with Big Belly, will proceed if we get the Main Street grant. Economic Vitality met for the first time in over a year. Photoshoots have been completed for the businesses but open to do more at a later time. We’re doing long form youtube videos for businesses, we’ve started with Tacowala and Revive and will continue one a month.
The new Governor’s budget proposes cutting back on funding for Main Street programs. We need to keep this in mind as we budget for the next year. There are concerns for non-profits for next year based on the climate of the US and what funds are available. We recommend planning for 2026 earlier, applying for more grants, and focusing on our assessment funds.
Proposing monthly training at board meetings. This will help everyone understand what their roles are and work better as a team.
Annual assessment requirements sent in a few months back, we were at the affiliate status, with the new assessment sent in, we are now an accredited Main Street.
NEW ITEMS/UPDATE
May 10th will be a municipal wide emergency response drills, 3 hour event.
Memorial day parade happening prior to the Tour of Somerville.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 7:40pm, next meeting May 12th at 6pm