Sister Cities Commission

City of Naperville 400 S. Eagle Street Naperville, IL 60540 Meeting Minutes - Final Tuesday, January 24, 2023 6:30 PM NEU Sister Cities Commission Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 24, 2023 A. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Fuhrer called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. B. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Arista Wang, Bill Donofrio, Alan Lowe, Lance Fuhrer, Tony Chamberlain, Arun Mani, Neelam Saboo ABSENT: Sophia Luo, Becky Anderson Student Representatives: Zach Wu, Mohammad Khan Staff Present: Rachel Pruneda, Assistant to the Mayor Sister City Foundation: Roberto Ramirez, Patty Gustin C. PUBLIC FORUM: There were no speakers under Public Forum D. OLD BUSINESS: E. REPORTS: Approve Sister Cities Commission minutes of October 11, 2022 Motion was made by Commissioner Mani and seconded by Commissioner Donofrio to approve the Sister Cities Minutes of October 11, 2022. Motion passed by voice vote. CHAIRMAN REPORT - LANCE FUHRER SISTER CITIES FOUNDATION: SHAFEEK ABUBAKER Shafeek Abubaker was not present at the meeting. No report was provided. SISTER CITIES UPDATE NEWS/UPDATE: ALAN LOWE Commission Lowe provided information about sharing costs with the organizers of the Irish Festival for the fencing around Central Park. The Irish Festival will be held just a week apart from the Hispanic festival, which provides an opportunity for cost sharing. The fencing is a huge expenditure and this would cut down on costs/expenses tremendously. Commissioner Lowe said that he and Terry O'Dowd discussed possibly adding Ireland as a Sister City. Chairman Fuhrer added to this discussion and said this is certainly something we can look into. City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 3/7/2023 Sister Cities Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 24, 2023 Roberto Ramirez, Sister City Foundation member was involved when we added Pátzcuaro, Mexico as a Sister City in 2010. Roberto said that they had a established a committee to do an assessment of the City in Mexico to see if they were a match and reported back to Council on their findings. Roberto suggests touring a city in Ireland and presenting findings to the Commission for a vote. Chairman Fuhrer stated that he would conduct some researching to see which towns are comparable to Naperville. Chairman Mani asked how do we find a City? Chairman Lance stated that there would be a sitting commission in another country and that would be a good start. NEELAM SABOO: TREASURER'S REPORT F. NEW BUSINESS: Commissioner Donofrio is working with a Mexican artist to bring a alebrije sculpture to the Naperville area. He will reach out to the library to see if they have an interest in displaying this sculpture. It's a huge piece, approximately 14 feet by 9 feet and the shipping costs and other fees will most likely be around $800, but exact costs are unknown at this time. Cantigny had several alebrije sculptures on display in the past. Patty Gustin (Foundation member) asked for more information: what are the conditions, expenses, liability associated with moving and displaying this artwork. Chairman Fuhrer asked Commissioner Donofrio to bring this back with a proposal and if the Commission wishes to pursue this, we could bring it back for a vote, provided we have all of the information associated to costs, etc. The overall consensus is that we would like to pursue this and get more information. G. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 7:33 p.m. motioned by Tony Chamberlain, seconded by Arista Wang. Motion passed by voice vote. City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 3/7/2023