Town of Cary
SISTER CITIES COMMISSION
Page-Walker Arts and History Center
Minutes of March 20, 2003

Present: Mary Brice, Jinnie Davis, Amy Feistel, Marythrease “Cricket” Harrell, Ian Henshaw, Steve Morrison, Sarah Sheffield, Jack Smith (Council Liaison), Darrell Stover (Staff Liaison), Nadette Welterlin-Hugg.

Absent: Mary Lou Addor, Samuel Fudzie, Sharon Hannigan

Guests: Barry Mitsch (Sister Cities Association), Ben Shiva ( Assistant Town Manager)

Handouts: Agenda and minutes (Steve), draft letter about Lazy Daze (Ian), bond referendum flyer (Ben)

CALL TO ORDER

Steve Morrison called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Nadette Welterlin-Hugg made a motion to approve the minutes of February 20, 2003 , and Ian Henshaw seconded it. The minutes were approved unanimously.

DIRECTION FOR 2003

In response to a member query about the commission’s goals for 2003, Steve referred Sister City Commission (SCC) members to the page entitled “Future Activities” in the white orientation notebook. He stated that it is still a rough draft and welcomed additional comments.

The status of edits to the existing Commission and Association bylaws was discussed.  Darrell will determine if Sue Rowland  has scanned the documents into a word processing format.  Steve notified members that nominations for vice chair and secretary are needed.  It was noted that the current bylaws do not indicate a term length for the position of secretary.

Steve described his vision that the Commission and Association members assemble into “teams” for various projects.  Five projects were immediately identified, one for each Sister City and one for Cary .  Steve would like members to step forward so that teams of 2-4 people can be the main contacts for each project.  The teams can meet outside of the monthly meetings.  In addition to the five City teams, teams are needed for specific activities such as the website, Lazy Daze, Spring Daze, Association membership, and possibly more.

Two notebooks should be developed for each city: one for publicity that can be displayed at events and one with correspondence and information that will be kept by the liaison.

BOND REFERENDUM

Ben spoke about the upcoming vote on the bond referendum on April 8, 2003 .  Ben handed out information regarding the bond issues, showed a video, and discussed the town’s procedure and history with taking on debt.  Ben answered commission member’s questions regarding the voting process and implementation of the results.

UPDATE ON SISTER CITIES ASSOCIATION

Barry stated that revision of the bylaws is needed.  Barry will revise and bring to the Commission for approval.  An important change will be the reduction in membership fee and a simplified membership structure.  Currently $2,400 to $2,500 are in the Association account.

UPDATE ON MARKHAM RELATIONS

Eight people from Markham visited recently.  Two of the visitors were from Markham and six were from York University .  They were in town to look at the local universities and research facilities.  They visited Research Triangle Institute, attended a hockey game, and took part in other activities.  A hotlink has been established on the Chamber of Commerce websites for both Towns.

Sarah brought to Barry’s attention that a vote of Association members will be necessary so that she can withdraw additional funds ($400) for a vertical banner for Markham .  Sarah described the banner to the other commission members.  Sarah also explained that the Town of Cary has purchased one, one was made for County Meath , and one is to be made for Markham .  The town gave the association a grant for a portion of the Markham banner and the remainder of the cost will come from the Association.

UPDATE ON SPRING DAZE PROJECT

Jinnie gave an update on the Spring Daze event.  The schedule is set, pickups are set, the set-up times are uncertain.  Jinnie hopes to have that information at the next meeting. 

An Association vote on changes to the bylaws is needed soon so that updated membership forms can be produced and given out at the event.

Steve volunteered to buy bottled water and bring extra napkins to the event. 

Jinnie would like to have a co-liaison who is aware of the schedule and other arrangements.  Cricket volunteered to assist Jinnie in this capacity.

Production of a new horizontal Sister Cities banner was discussed among the Commission members.  Darrell will learn who made the original horizontal banner.  Amy suggested that a new banner can be made, possibly at Kinko’s, 3’ wide x 5’ long, vinyl with grommets in color with Town of Cary seal and sister city names and flags.  Amy will get prices and will email information to the Commission.  There was a discussion of whether the banner will be a Commission item or an Association item.  If it is a Commission item, it will require the Town seal.  Steve stated that a decision regarding the banner will be made at the next meeting.

Amy described her ideas for presentation of Sister City information at events and her ideas for items that can be given to people to take with them.  Cricket described an easel-type portfolio that can be used to hold presentation materials that people can flip through at their leisure.

Jinnie reminded Commission members that La Farm will be at the next meeting and that they will need a deposit before Spring Daze.  Steve will arrange for the deposit before the next meeting.

Jinnie asked if there was a location where SCC materials can be stored.  Steve, Darrell, and Jack agreed that the Town might support storing Commission materials, but not Association materials.  Amy suggested that team leaders could keep that group’s items in their possession.  Darrell will keep the two boxes of items that he has until next month. 

Steve stated that next month’s meeting will largely be devoted to Spring Daze.

UPDATE ON LAZY DAZE INVITATIONS TO SISTER CITIES

Ian circulated his invitation letter to the Sister Cities for Cary ’s Lazy Daze Festival. 

Ian stated that Markham is sending a delegation to Lazy Daze.  Steve Chait and one politician will attend and possibly others.  The Commission will provide a booth for them and they will bring their own presentation materials.  Steve indicated that the SCC will have an informational booth there, but that Lazy Daze will not necessarily be used as a fundraising event.

A discussion ensued regarding the accommodations and events that the SCC or SCA can provide to its guests.  Jack indicated that the SCC can go through Sue Rowland to coordinate with the Cary Chamber of Commerce to obtain discounted rates at the Embassy Suites, and the Association can decide whether to further subsidize accommodations.  Jack also encouraged Ian to run the invitation letter through Sue Rowland since it may be addressed as a letter from the mayor. 

Steve and Ian stressed that letters should go out soon so that the Sister Cities will have ample time to plan a visit, and the Commission will have time to reserve booth space and plan other activities, such as a reception with Town Council.  Darrell will confer with Joy Cox with regards to preferred placement of booths for the Commission, Association, and visiting delegations.  Invitations should be sent out before mid-May.  Darrell will ask Sue Rowland to check on Friday, August 22^nd as a reception date at the Page Walker and work with the Chamber of Commerce for other activities.

Steve noted that Lazy Daze should be one of the Commission’s team projects.  Ian and Darrell are already participating and Steve asks others to volunteer to assist.  Ian stressed that liaisons and their project teams should be prepared to plan and assist with events and activities for each group that may attend Lazy Daze.

UPDATE ON HSINCHU CITY RELATIONS

Amy contacted the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), based in Atlanta , and learned that the person who was mayor of Hsinchu City when our Sister City relationship was established is no longer in office.  There is a new mayor and Amy explained the process for making formal contact with him and the City through TECO.  TECO is happy about the prospect of assisting in the renewal of the Sister City relationship as they know of three RTP companies that have contact with Hsinchu City .  TECO has expressed an interest in sending a representative to Lazy Daze. 

UPDATE ON LE TOUQUET SUMMER EXCHANGE

Nadette discussed the progress she has made on the upcoming summer visitors.  She has contacted the Le Touquet liaison.  They are planning to send a group of ten (max) fifteen to seventeen year-olds from July 11^th to the 25^th.  Nadette has contacted Maupin Travel to assist with their arrangements.  The parents of the visitors would like the kids to have a linguistic experience.  Nadette will look for an ESL (English as a second language) camp.  Trips to Washington DC or other large US cities may be off, but a trip to the North Carolina mountains may still be planned.

Mary described the information she received regarding the use of C-Tran for local group trips and will gather additional information.

A discussion ensued regarding background checks for host families and liability to the Town, Commission, or Association.  The visit will be an association event and that will relieve the Town from liability regarding background checks, liability.  Darrell suggested investigating school exchange programs to discover what apparatus they put into place for liability.  Steve will recommend getting legal advice through Barry regarding the Association’s liability.  Barry, Steve, Ian , and Nadette will discuss this issue further among themselves.

Ian has put together a  website presentation about Cary ’s relationship with LeTouquet and has forwarded it to Sue Rowland and Karen Gray.  It was noted that the links to our Sister Cities must be done through the Association website.  Amy posed the question of whether server space could be given as an in-kind contribution to the association.

UPDATE ON MEATH RELATIONS

Barry and Jack confirmed that a group is definitely traveling to County Meath this spring.  Barry feels positive that the visit to County Meath will renew our Sister City relationship. Jack volunteered for the County Meath project team.

UPDATE ON CARY BAND TRIP

Mike Ostrom of the Cary Band Boosters has sent word via email that the Cary band won’t be taking any trips abroad any time soon.

CULTURAL EVENTS

Darrell reported on upcoming cultural events being sponsored by the Town of Cary including the Cary Road Race, Performances at Bond Park, Spring Daze, and other events listed in the Cary Parks , Recreation, and Cultural Resources Program Brochure.

OTHER BUSINESS

Steve reiterated the need for members to come forward to be leaders for the various projects. 

ADJOURN

Jinnie moved to adjourn the meeting, and Sarah seconded it.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.