Soldiers Memorial Commission, Meeting January 13th

December 9th, Minutes:

Pledge

Roll Call

Colleen Chesmore on Phone
Kevin Thomas
Ken Harstine
Laddy Rua
Don Andrejczyk

Guests:
Renae Cutcher
Robert Comeau

Accepted minutes

Guests present to discuss 250th Revolutionary war activities
Renae grew up in Holyoke. Currently honoring dead from previous wars. Asking for a Revolutionary War memorial for casualties from this area. Reinstall the Spanish American War memorial.
Revolutionary War:
Edward Day, Died at Fort Ticonderoga
Robert Day, Died on way to deliver food and supplies to Ticonderoga
French and Indian War
Elisha Chapin, Killed outside Fort Massachusetts in Williamstown.
Needs photos of the Spanish American Memorial stone at DPW.
Need a proposal for CPA funding for monuments. Deadline is January 9th.
Randy, Mike and Wayne should be brought into this process.
Jim Wildman handles the JFK memorial rehabilitation.

Old Business:
Security Systems: No news. System has lately been more reliable. Placed on capital improvement plan
Front Door: Found original handle.
Chandeliers: Possibly remove from dimmer and connect to a hard switch. Will table until more funding comes available.
Winter grounds care: City eventually gets to us but low priority
Attic cleaning: Cages need to be emptied. Need to remove stuff and find homes. Agreed to allow Heather to take items to Scouts. “Buy Nothing Holyoke”. Metal recycling to take to Chicopee recycling for money. See if Rick Purcell can do this.
TShirts: Need Friends of the War Memorial funds which are not currently accessible. Need to finalize the design.
Audio Systems: Tabled.
Bathroom Refitting: waiting for quotes. Rooms have been cleaned and lights repaired. Auxiliary traffic managers need to have a plan for janitors access.
Janatize has been contracted to clean the building. Funding has been changed from DPW to Janatize to pay for service. Here Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Job description was finished. The Janitor stepped down in November
Capital Improvement Plan: No new items.
Recent events: Salsa night. Janitor Brian was here for the building. Internet was not working well. Need to reset WI-FI passwords for building. Giving feedback on fire evacuees operations. Need police or equivalent to police the building during these events. No medical persons on site either. Need plan for pets.

New Business:
War Memorial Kitchen:
Kate’s Kitchen: Would like to take over our kitchen. Serve lunch and dinner. Run seven days. Have a thrift shop. Board of health examined the kitchen. Needs cleaned and refurbished. All present voted against accepting this proposal.

Next meeting: January 13th.