MEETING MINUTES MARCH 14, 2020

This meeting was held by telephone conference.  The following items were discussed:

• Meet & Greet scheduled for 5/30/2020 at the new Howell’s at 5000 Boardwalk. Tickets are $25 plus additional $5 for the Scholarship Fund.  Tickets are available online now.  Discount for North Beach members.  Brett DeNafo, the owner of the soon-to-be-open movie theater, is our guest speaker

• North Beach Café and Creamery is opening soon. This was formerly Mentos and the café at Vassar Square, owned by John and Agnes.  Ice cream, water ice, breakfast and lunch.  Possible light dinner.

• All North Beach events are listed on our website

• We discussed using the website and otherwise promoting our merchandise. Paul Steinberg suggested being able to take credit cards directly which will help in block parties, outdoor events, etc. He volunteered to look into the best program for us and added that the fee taken by providers is no different from what Paypal charges us to go through their system for payment.

• There was also a suggestion about linking the website to others, such as the Ventnor City website and offering merchandise on our Facebook page. Stacey mentioned that the Facebook page has almost 900 followers and that the website is getting a good amount of activity.

• It was decided to participate in the Ventnor City block party scheduled for May 9. A suggestion was made to offer free giveaways, such as oval stickers. Paul Steinberg offered to look into possibilities.

• The group is excited for the opening of the movie theater. There was a discussion about live events and the restaurant.  Stacey remarked that she had recently been to the Stone Harbor theater (same owners) for a great live event.  All hope we can do this in Ventnor.  Some had questions about the restaurant and what it would look like,

• An excellent discussion ensued about the idea of a North Beach merchant directory or possibly a business association. Everyone was in favor of creating a directory to begin.  We need to organize people to create certain lists; storefronts, professional services, home services, etc.  We will ask for people to do this.  We believe that the Ventnor Business Association is essentially disbanded.  Stacey agreed to call them and see how/if we can coordinate efforts.

• The pocket park construction has started. Joel Horowitz agreed to find out schedule information from Paula Deluca.  We will be purchasing a North Beach bench at a cost of $3000+/-.  We have about $2,200 committed from the last meeting and will reach out as it gets closer to see if we can have a full monetary commitment from North Beach residents.  We will not be using any North Beach Association funds. We still do not know all of the rules governing the park and will update as we find out.

• Membership is $25 per household per year and will renew June 1.

• Our scholarship student just received his first $1,000 check toward tuition and will be entitle again in the fall if he goes back to ACCC. We already have the $2,000 for next year’s student by donation from an anonymous donor.  One person questioned whether we could include trade schools as a possible school entitling a student to a scholarship and we decided to bring that up again at a future date.

• ACHS crew team cards are available through Ann Ianelli. She can be reached at 609-634-1379.  The cards are $10 and entitle you to discounts at many different local venues.

• Everyone is very interested in having future meetings available for people to call in or video conference. We will do what we can to set that up in the future, as it is valuable for everyone.  Possible to use Zoom or freeconferencecall.com