Minutes of the FoWF Board of Directors’ Meeting, November 8, 2012

*** These minutes were approved by unanimous vote at the Board of Directors meeting on February 21, 2013 ***

MINUTES

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

November 8, 2012

Federal Realty, 1626 E. Jefferson,Rockville,MD

 

The Friends of White Flint (FoWF) meeting was called to order at 7:11pm at the offices of Federal Realty Investment Trust, pursuant to notice and a proposed agenda.  Present were Directors David Freishtat , Evan Goldman, and Barnaby Zall.  There was no quorum established.  Also present were Paul Meyer, Dee Metz, Peggy Schwartz, Francine Waters, Dan Hoffman, Lindsay Hoffman, Dan Reed and Corey Flynn.   Directors not present were Mike Springer, Greg Trimmer, Todd Lewers, Mike Smith, Ken Hurdle and Suzanne Hudson.

 

Announcement of Resource Changes and New Team Members:  Dan Hoffman announced that, due to his new position as Chief Innovation Officer for Montgomery County, he can no longer act as a paid resource for FoWF, and therefore is resigning as Project Manager.  The following new team members were introduced and proposed to assume Dan’s responsibilities:

¬ Dan Reed whose duties will include providing articles of relevant subject matter to the FoWF website.

¬ Lindsay Hoffman who will be taking over the position of Project Manager for FoWF.  Duties will include, but are not limited to, making sure membership invoices are going out, handling current event posts, making sure content of website is spread out and that finances are in order.

¬ Corey Flynn who will be handling the administrative duties for FoWF.  Duties will include checking the P.O. Box, hotline outreach activities, taking meeting minutes (as needed), and other various administrative tasks.

Dave Freishtat moved to approve the modification to the contract with Forward Progress; Evan Goldman seconded.  Because no quorum was present, it was agreed by consensus that a vote would be conducted via email regarding this matter. Barnaby Zall moved to table the motion pending an email vote.

 

Overview of New Website and Outreach Tools: 

¬ In the last couple months, work moved forward in setting up the new website which is cleaner, simpler, and more user friendly than the old website.  The test server (flog.browsermedia.org) was shown at the meeting.  Once the website is launched, the new domain will be www.whiteflint.org.

¬ FoWF blog will no longer be called FLOG, however historical content will be migrated onto the new site.  Specifically, Barnaby Zall inquired about older posts regarding new urbanization and traffic calming. Dan Hoffman suggested the important articles and post from the old FLOG be sorted through and the content tagged.  Not everything will transfer to the new website as the goal of the new website is look to the future and start fresh.

¬  Advantages and upgrades of new website were discussed. New posts will be tagged to make it easier for users to find content and the Archive page will link to the White Flint 1 & 2 Plan.  Membership renewal will be available online and we will have PayPal availability.  We will also be able to invoice organizations that require particular records.  The website will work on most new phones and will be integrated with our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

¬  Evan Goldman inquired about links to developers’ and other websites.  Dan Hoffman replied that there will be no direct links to other websites because of the level of effort required to maintain accurate links.  The developers can provide information and Dan Reed will simplify and post it. Blog posts referring to particular developers and their projects will also be tagged accordingly.

¬  MailChimp will be used for member management and email.  It has the functionality to track membership status and will also include non-members who are just interested in information regarding the redevelopment.

¬  There was a question about who currently maintains the FoWF Facebook page. A new Facebook page may need to be created because no one presently actively involved in the organization has access to the existing one.

 

White Flint (WF) Updates:

¬  Urban Services Group:  Ken Hurdle will provide an update at the next meeting.

¬  Branding Consultant Update: Francine Waters reported that there was no update at this time.

¬  White Flint Mall Sketch Plan Update:  Francine Waters reported that the sketch plan for the White Flint Mall property was approved and the community reaction to the plan was supportive.  This led to a longer discussion on the types of restaurants expected to open in White Flint.   Evan Goldman reported that Federal Realty expects a mix of different restaurants. The bigger spaces will tend to be occupied by local flavor while the smaller spaces will tend to be more chain restaurants.

¬  Community Events: Evan Goldman recommended an annual/biannual event to engage the community.  Also discussed was a potential event to recognize officials who have supported White Flint.

 

Organization Discussion:

¬  Dan Hoffman recommended a move toward quarterly board meetings with the hopes that this might increase the board’s engagement with the organization.

¬  Next meeting will be held in the first quarter of 2013.

 

CR Zones:                             

¬  Discussion regarding how the Planning Board is interpreting CR Zones and how they are being implemented.  Specifically, the discussion focused on the recent Planning Board hearing on the Lerner site and the disagreements that ensued during that encounter. A follow-up meeting regarding CR Zones was recommended.

 

Barnaby Zall moved to adjourn at 8:37 PM.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Corey Flynn

Administrative Assistant

Secretary pro tem

Friends of White Flint

 

November 8, 2012