Town of Cary, North Carolina

SISTER CITIES COMMISSION

Minutes of November 14, 2001 meeting.

Present: Barry Mitsch, Sharon Hannigan; Ildiko Trombitas, Steve Morrison, Samuel Fudzie, Scotty Elliot and Terry Scott of the Town of Cary.

The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m.

Previous Minutes: The minutes of the previous meetings were read. Barry Mitsch motioned for the minutes to be accepted. Ildiko Trombitas seconded and the minutes were approved by the members.

Treasurers Report: Barry informed the members that the Association's bank account balance is $1,700.00. He further informed the members that the Cary Chamber of Commerce has yet to credit the Association with the expected $500.00 refund from the cancelled Ireland trip. Tom McCuiston will check with Mr. Howard Johnson, President of the Cary Chamber of Commerce, as to whether or not the deposit for the hotel rooms has been credited to the Chamber's account to allow the Chamber to issue the $500.00 refund to the Association.

Markham: Barry gave a report on the exploratory visit made to the City of Markham by Mr. Ben Shivar, Assistant Town Manager of the Town of Cary, Mr. Howard Johnson of the Cary Chamber of Commerce, Mr. John Powell, Chair of Economic Development for the Cary Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Mike Gallagher, Chair of the Cary Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. Barry Mitsch of the Sister Cities Association. According to Barry, the City of Markham has a lot of similarities such as the numerous high tech industries and businesses with the Town of Cary. Among the other similarities are demographics, recreational and sporting facilities. The area has over twelve golf courses. Both the Town of Cary and Markham have sister city relationships with Chin Shu City in Taiwan.

The Cary Chamber of Commerce is planning Cary's inner-city visit to Markham for the last week in April 2002 (April 25 - 28).

Meath: Sharon Hannigan informed the members that she has mailed a package that included a video, a couple of CDs of the Cary High School Band, and an issue of the News & Observer newspaper to the County of Meath. Towards establishing a contact person in the County of Meath to facilitate communications with the Cary Sister Cities Commission, Kevin has informed Sharon that he had forwarded Sharon's name to a Ms. Alison in the County of Meath. Ms Alison is expected to contact Sharon.

As regards to the Commission planning a trip to Ireland during 2002, Sharon informed the members that she has asked for suggestions from Kevin as to the best time for a group from Cary to visit the County of Meath. Spring or Fall of 2002 were mentioned by the members of the Commission as possible times to make the trip. Discussions among the members of the Commission showed that an early Fall 2002 trip would be preferred, as it will space it out with the planned Fall inner-city visit to Markham.

Sharon was asked to check with Mr. Kevin Stewart when information from the schools in the County of Meath should be expected.

Sister Cities Association: Members again discussed the need for membership drives to get more of the Cary citizens to sign on and participate in the Association's activities. In addition to developing activities and functions that will help to highlight the Association and thus get the citizens of Cary interested in the Association, the members stressed the need to define the benefits to be enjoyed as a member of the Association.

Cary Sister Cities Association Information Directory: The members were informed that the cover design for the Town of Cary information catalogue put together by Sarah, Sharon and Nadette is being worked on. It was suggested that after completion of the cover design, the information catalogue should be made available to the various sisters cities.

Other Business:

Lazy Daze: The members were reminded that the application for funding for Lazy Daze activities is due November 16, 2001.

GIS: Barry attended the GIS presentation on the County of Meath done by Terry Scott. He told the members that it was a good presentation.

Next Meeting Date: The commission's next meeting date is December 20, 2001.

The meeting was adjourned at 8.45 p.m.

By Samuel Fudzie
Sister Cities Commission