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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-01-11 Parking Commission Minutes Bozeman Parking Commission Meeting June 1, 20117:00 a.m. City Hall Commission Room Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Pam Bryan Chris Naumann Chris Pope Tammy Hauer Ben Bennett Ben Lloyd Lisa Dazl-Scott City Staff in Attendance: Cyndy Andrus, City Commissioner Laurae Clark, Treasurer Paul Burns, Parking Manager Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk Guests in Attendance: None Action Items: • Paul will follow up with our sister cities and find out if they have a courtesy ticket program similar to ours, and how it has affected them. He will also look into how this program can be refined. I. Executive Session, personnel. The BPC met to discuss Paul's evaluation. IL Call to order Pam called the regular meeting to order at 8:30 am. III. Approval of minutes Pam asked for approval of the May 11, 2011 minutes. Tammy motioned to approve the minutes, Lisa seconded. The motion was carried unanimously. Chris P suggested that all motions made during the meetings be put into bold font to make it easier to review. IV. Public Comment for any member of the public wishing to comment on parking issues, State name and address. Please limit comments to 3 minutes. None. V. Manager's Report, including finance report. Millers Jewelry bought an ad for the garage. Teaser ads are already on the walls at the garage to encourage advertising. 550 courtesy tickets were issued in the month of May. This number is fewer then the past months. The east elevator at the garage broke again. Without knowing, the pump failed. It has been fixed; the cost to do so was $350.00. Paul and Lonnie swept the garage. Paul will be doing a demo on a sweeper with a guy from Billings. The Carnegie lot has new sod, again. Sod was laid last August. A snow plow got too close and took a chunk off. A boot was stolen. The offender used a torch to remove it from his tire. He was later caught and arrested. The boot fee, tow fee and all outstanding tickets were paid in full. He will still go in front of a judge due to the damage done to the boot. The upstairs office space at the garage is still being considered to be leased out. Paul met with an architect. James Goehrung is still meeting with people for estimates. Spring Maintenance needs to happen on the surface lots. Paul is proposing to do this Sunday the 5th if it's nice. He will have the lots chip sealed and new lines painted. Chris P asked that the BPC review the courtesy ticket program again. He stated its alarming the number of courtesy tickets that are still being issued. He asked what is this program doing for the BPC? Chris N stated that since January when the program first started, there has been a slow decline in those numbers. Pam asked what the parking staff thought about this program? Chris P mentioned talking to the Downtown Business Association. He thinks folks do not understand the purpose of the program. Paul will follow up with our sister cities and find out if they have a program similar to ours, and how it has affected them. He will also look into how this program can be refined. Paul should possibly send out an email every month to remind the merchants of the courtesy ticket program. As of May 30, 2011 the revenue numbers at the parking garage show a decline. This is the first time sense the garage has been opened. A comparison from April 2010 and April 2011 shows a slight decline in revenue. There is not a lot going on in the downtown area this time of year, the numbers reflect that. Paul stated that growth can't go on forever. Garage permits totals are also lower. Part of this is because not every permit holder pays on time. VI. Mendenhall Marketplace meeting, Update from Ben B. on annual meeting. Ben B attended a meeting with fellow business owners located at the parking garage. Businesses such as Mint Dental, Think Tank, Massive Studios, Fantasia Showroom and Starkey's all attend this meeting. The garage was brought up in the meeting, and Ben wanted to share what was discussed with the BPC. A discussion about insurance policies came up. What is covered under the garage insurance policy? What would happen if a natural disaster struck? What would happen to the businesses that are located there? Ben B stated there was a misconception about having a high level of surveillance at the garage. If something were to happen, and there were no surveillance cameras, the city would be held responsible. It was asked if better gates need to be installed because the ones currently there are "always" broken. There is a desire to have a stronger police presence there. It was suggested that maybe they use the glass office located on the main level. The APMs located at the East and West entrances of the garage seem to have issues in severe weather. Could those be moved inside the building? The tenants of the garage are concerned about the kids who are able to get onto the roof and the potential loitering and vandalism that could take place. If something happens to someone, who is liable? Ben mentioned there is a decline in the interest of using solar panels at the garage. This idea is shelved for now. It was suggested that possibly Paul could go to a future meeting to respond to these concerns. Chris N asked if there were meetings that could take place in the future between the two groups. Ben B said he could make that suggestion. VII. New members and chair starting July 2011 Ben L has agreed to be the new Chair for the BPC beginning in July. Chris N will be Vice Chair. Pam plans to remain on the BPC for at least another year, though she will need to reapply as her term is expiring. Lisa and Chris P will stay on for at least another 6 months. Their terms expire June of 2012. The Executive Committee has developed a list of potential members. Chris N stated that good candidates should come from the downtown area. Bankers, merchants (etc) those are the folks that are on this list. The BPC should also lean towards having someone in the retail business as well. Pam asked for a motion to accept slate of officers starting July 1 st. Lisa made a motion that for the incoming 2011/2012 BPC year that Ben L will become the Chair and Chris N will serve as Vice Chair. The commissioners will remain the same for the next 6 months. Tammy seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. VIII. Carnegie Lot status, General discussion and feedback from May meeting. The next City Commission meeting will be held on June 13, 2011. Paul will go in front of the commission and present them with the BPC's motion and findings and ask them to determine whether or not there is a higher and better use for the Carnegie lot. Brit will also go in front of the City Commission in hopes to give them the broader spectrum for the lot. There will be an RFP process done for the potential sale of this lot. Before ANY decision can be made, the City Commission must first make their decision on whether or not there is a higher use for the lot. If the City Commission does decide that there is a higher use for the lot, an appraisal will need to be completed. There are a few people who have voiced their interest in the lot. Cyndi asked if the RFP is open to new development? Paul said yes. Pam stated that there is an issue of what the community is willing to give up. There has to be a better use for this lot in order to add revenue to the downtown core. Paul said that if there are other opinions out there that they need to be heard and taken into consideration. The hotel is a great idea but not the only idea. Chris P stressed his concerns about just taking the first thing that sounds good, instead of what might actually be the best choice for downtown. Making a decision like that could be a huge mistake. Brit talked to the group from North Carolina. He told them there was a good chance that there would be a preference to go with an RFP. This group said they were okay with that. Pam stated that the Downtown Improvement Plan wants something done, and wonders what a hotel in the downtown area would bring for revenue. Lisa brought up the point about selling the lot and then needing to turn around and buy more space for parking, does this make sense? Chris N stated that looking at the parking study done in July; it talked specifically about the downtown area. This project is not only about planning for the future of downtown and planning well. It's about smart growth for the community. The BPC needs to look into the issue of losing good opportunities. What role should the BPC play what role could we play? IX. New business None. X. Adjournment Pam adjourned the meeting at 9:30 am. Respectfully Submitted Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk