"Merchant Meeting today at 8:30 at the Culbertson Manson, 914 E. Main Street."

I meant to post this yesterday; better late than never. These merchant meetings are an extension of the ones that used to be hosted by Curt Peters, and have been a pleasure to attend.

According to the organizers:

We keep the meetings limited to one hour, so that you can promptly proceed with your day. We hope that you will join us as often as your schedule permits. It's been a wonderful opportunity to familiarize ourselves with our fellow business leaders, and their place of business.

Below are minutes from the July meetings.

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Minutes from Meeting - July 15th

Upcoming Events :
Family Fun Fest – August 24 from 1-6 at Community Park. Booth space available.
Indie Fest – September 21. Booth space available. Contact, New Albany First
Seussical the Musical – July 25, 26 and 27th.

News from the Mayor’s Office :
Mike Hall thanked everyone for supporting Boomtown Festival. All agreed that it was a great asset to New Albany and a successful event for everyone. Mike reported that the Independence Celebration with Fireworks and The Crashers concert at the Amphitheater, was the largest crowd to date.

Parking :
Parking issues were discussed at length. There is an everyday concern with parking spaces being occupied by those that work downtown, including business owners. This makes it problematic for our customers to park, who want to support our businesses. It was suggested that we each talk to businesses within our own block, make them aware of the free parking lots downtown and encourage them to utilize them. Put together a map showing the free parking areas. It was suggested that we contact the Street Commissioner and give him a list of items we would like to have addressed. The need for official “Parking” signs with arrows was discussed, to direct people to designated parking lots.
Business owners and staff, please “lead by example” and park in these designated parking areas. There is a parking garage on corner of State and Market as well as a large, free parking area near the Amphitheater/flood wall.

Christmas Lights/ Holiday Decorations :
Discussion took place regarding the possibility of putting together some guidelines for businesses; if they wanted to decorate trees and outer areas in front of their businesses, in order for us to have a cohesive look and feel during the Holidays. The City will put up lights in the median and light poles. The exorbitant price and manpower involved in outlining the buildings with lights was mentioned, as this is no longer done.

Parks Department :
Alicia, with the Parks Department spoke about the different tournaments hosted by Community Park throughout the year. We need to utilize the Parks Department to spread the work on our businesses and support one another.

Hotels, Visitors & Tourism :
Discussion took place in regard to our nearby hotels and providing them knowledge and information pertaining to our businesses and upcoming events. Perhaps we could have a map listing restaurants, retail and services available to hand out to Best Western and The Hampton Inn. Someone needs to make a presence every quarter to showcase and bring to their attention, all of the good things our New Albany offers to their hotel guests.

Next Meeting :
Our next meeting will take place Tuesday morning, August 19th at 8:30. The Culbertson Mansion will host our group, located at 914 E. Main St.