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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-21-21 BID Minutes Downtown Business Improvement District Board Meeting Minutes March 24, 2021 Attending: Jolee Barry, Mike Basile, Eric Bowman, Emily Cope, Ileana Indreland, Susan Neubauer, I-Ho Pomeroy, Ellie Staley Eric Sutherland Absent: Erik Nelson General Public Comments: None Minutes ACTION: Eric Bowman moved to approve the January meeting minutes as presented. Susan Neubauer seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Finance Report Emily presented the March finance report and highlighted streetlamp banner income is higher than budgeted with new organizations participating this year. District Manager’s Report Downtown Plan Projects Here are some updates regarding other projects proposed in the 2019 Downtown Plan. Bozeman Creek—The Downtown Partnership partnered with Mountain Time Arts to identify opportunities to enhance and improve Bozeman Creek. Their initial work was completed by Intrinsik and partially funded with a Downtown URD Technical Assistance Grant. MTA has created a project website that will be updated as more work is completed: https://mountaintimearts.org/see-bozeman-creek Part One has been completed and the decision to move forward with Part Two has been placed on hold until both organizations have filled their Executive Director positions. Soroptomist Park—The Downtown Partnership partnered with the MSU CATS program in the fall of 2020 to have a senior-level landscape design class and a stream restoration ecology class develop improvement concepts for Soroptomist Park. The final report can be found on the downtown website. https://downtownbozeman.org/uploads/MSU_SoroptimistBozemanCreek_Report_sm.pdf Alley Improvements—The Downtown Partnership partnered with DHM Design to develop a final preferred concept design plan for the alley next to the Bridger Park Garage between North Tracy and North Black. The final report can be found on the downtown website. https://downtownbozeman.org/uploads/2020-11-12_Bozeman_Alleyways_-_Report_Reduced.pdf Transportation & Mobility Analysis—The Downtown URD board approved the scope of work with Sanderson Stewart at their June board meeting. The SOW will provide analysis and recommendations associated with the transportation-related improvements in the 2019 DBIP. The deliverables will be shared with City of Bozeman and MDT for agency review. Structured Parking Planning—The consulting team is researching options to install simple decks above existing surface lots as a simpler more affordable way to create more spaces. This scope of work is scheduled to be completed in March. City Parking Policy Updates—The city held multiple parking engagement sessions over the past couple of months. At the April 27th City Commission meeting, the Economic Development staff will provide a presentation of the conversations. To view past meeting recordings and information on upcoming sessions: https://www.bozeman.net/government/parking/parking-engagement-hub The ”Park BZN” app is live and allows users of the garage to register their cars from their phone rather than visiting a pay station in the garage. Downtown Plan UDC Recommendations- No changes will be proposed for the downtown district during the Spring 2021 edits to the UDC related to building height. More details can be found on the City of Bozeman UDC Community Platform here: https://www.bozeman.net/government/planning/udc-discussions Homeless Working Group Members of the group currently are made up of Emily Cope, Chris Naumann, Susan Gregory (Bozeman Public Library), Susan Neubauer (Fresco Café owner), Amy Kirkland (Altitude Gallery owner), Erica Brubaker (Wild Joes Coffee owner), Marek Ziegler (Bozeman PD), and Heather Grenier (HRDC). The first version of the business resource toolkit was sent out to downtown property and business owners on November 11th. This toolkit will be revised as new resources and information become available. Emily Cope and Amy Kirkland met with Jeff Mihelich on January 12th. Jeff shared his experiences of working in Ft. Collins and offered an idea of piloting a program over the summer of having downtown resource officers who would develop relationships with all business/property owners and individuals who may be experiencing homelessness or mental health concerns. The resource officers would be available for anyone to contact if they are experiencing a situation with individuals downtown that does not require police presence. The next steps of this pilot program will be conversations surrounding funding sources and logistics of managing the program. Downtown Bozeman Partnership/COB Updates • Executive Director hiring status update • Bill Stoddart has resigned from the URD board. The online application is available now on the City of Bozeman website. This is a non-voting position and the term is through June 30, 2022. Maintenance Program Update Currently we have one part-time general maintenance employee (Mike), one weekend general maintenance employee and one part-time garage maintenance employee (Trish). Below are the maintenance statistics comparing the year-to-date figures from this year (FY21) to the corresponding stats from last year (FY20). FY2020 Y-T-D FY2021 Y-T-D Total Avg/mnth Total Avg/mnth Difference Trash Emptied 1696 212 2132 266 +436 Recycling Emptied 412 52 488 61 +76 Graffiti Removed 218 27 343 43 +125 Building Projects Osborne Building (233 East Main) 4-story mixed use building with 2 floors of restaurant use and 2 floors of offices. Construction began October 2018. See https://www.theosbornebozeman.com/ Merin Condos (on North Bozeman across from Dave’s Sushi) 28 units of owner-occupied housing. Under construction. Village Downtown 30 new residential condo units and 9 single-family lots are under review by the City. AC Hotel (5 East Mendenhall) 6 story 140 room full-service hotel. Under construction. East End Flats (240 East Mendenhall) 6-story mixed use project. Development review completed and final site plan approved. Carin Townhomes (northwest corner of W Beall & N Grand)—5 townhome condos currently under construction. North Central (20 North Tracy)—Mountain View & Medical Arts buildings, phased master site plan development proposing a total of 9 new mixed-use buildings, associated parking, open space and infrastructure. Application submitted. New Businesses • Stretch Lab—23 South Willson—formerly The Art Shoppe • Hooked Sushi—119 E Main St—formerly Montana Fish Co.—OPEN • Tanoshii—113 East Main—formerly Corx—renovations underway • Smoke, Fire & Coal—303 East Main—formerly Fire Pizza—OPEN • Sotheby’s International Realty—424 E Main-- formerly Sage Spa—renovations underway • TBD—27 East Main—formerly Crossroads—to be redeveloped as a restaurant(s) • TBD—441 East Main—formerly Coqui Coffee • TBD—137 East Babcock—formerly Gallatin Laundry • TBD—424 East Main—Yellowstone Wild Gallery is going out of business • TBD—544 East Main—formerly Heeb’s – building improvements underway • TBD—411 East Main—Formerly Knife Bistro • TBD—402 E Main St Suite 3— formerly The Montana Scene • TBD—South Willson—formerly Barley & Vine Discussion and Decision Items New Program Discussion (packet attached) Emily presented updated cost estimates for potential new programs of the BID. The board expressed interest of expanding the flower basket boundary to streetlamps on Babcock and Mendenhall. The board noted that during the renewal, one of the goals of the BID was to expand programs and services throughout the district. This roll out of this expanded program will be considered at the next board meeting after staff provides further details of staff and equipment capacity. The board held a discussion of organizing efforts to expand streetscape to side streets and along Mendenhall and Babcock. The board expressed interest for the downtown resource outreach program and said they would like to discuss further once a cost estimate is available. FY22 Draft Budget Discussion (draft budget attached) Emily presented several assessment rate scenarios estimated with a 5% increase to the total taxable value of the BID district. A draft budget for FY22 was presented with an annual assessment of $185,000 with slight increases to the DBP management fee, maintenance staff expenses, DBA support, vehicle insurance and storage for the Christmas lights. Meeting was adjourned at 1:15pm March 2021 BID Finance Report BID 2021 Potential New Programs The approved BID FY21 budget has $20,000 allocated for a new program. During the budgeting process for FY21, piloting alley snow removal or sidewalk cleaning services ranked as the top two preferences. Previous potential new programs discussed at prior board meetings included a dedicated downtown officer, district wide wireless internet, data collection and robust district marketing. Alley Snow Plow and Removal- Pilot $600-800/block per 6” snow event • Determine between which streets • Obtain price quotes from private service providers- Greenspace provided a rough estimate in spring 2020 • Develop fee structure o BID to fund 100% o BID to fund 50% + adjacent businesses pay 50% Sidewalk Cleaning Services-Pilot $11,000-19,000 • Determine how to administer o only Main or all streets o on-call/as-needed or on regular schedule o logistics of water supply o additional equipment (hot-water pressure washer) o require additional staff o contract the service with 3rd party  $2,750 per block  $11,000 Willson-Rouse  $19,000 Grand-Wallace • Develop fee structure o BID to fund 100% o BID to fund 50% + adjacent businesses pay 50% Dedicated Downtown Resource Personnel/Program- Pilot $TBD • Pilot a program during the summer of 2-3 resource personnel o Personnel patrol downtown and develop relationships with business owners, property owners, homeless members of the community o Personnel available for anyone to contact to de-escalate issues that do not require police presence • Contract out with company experienced with specialized training, rather than hiring full-time employees to pilot the program for one season • Potential to share cost with City of Bozeman, hospital and HRDC Prior Discussion from 2019: •New officer could be hired •Annual cost $90k •Share cost with BPD and Parks = 33% or $30,000/yr •Shared officer would spend 50% of time downtown Robust District Marketing- $5,000-15,000+ •Increased funding for formal PR plan to promote downtown within Bozeman and region (Gallatin Valley, Livingston, Helena, Gardiner, West Yellowstone) o Leverage BID funding with DBA and DBP into one coordinatePR/marketing plan Business data & property information collection- $5,000-16,000 •Data collection and reporting to inform/support business attraction and retention mySidewalk State of Downtown Dashboard •$5000 annually Vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle counts •Eco-Counter technology and serviceso$9,000 6-month tech rental + data serviceso$10,800 tech purchase + data services Customer base demographics ($0…DBP surveys) Annual sales/revenue ($0…DBP surveys) •Property information services ($0…DBP research & surveys) Value/Assessment/Taxation Analysis Lease rate data and trending “for sale” & “for lease” listing service District wide wireless internet $28,000+ •South 3rd to Church, Mendenhall to Babcock o Estimated cost for design, installation and document of system: $10,000 o Estimated cost of equipment: $18,000oMonthly cost of internet service and management fee $TBD •Could start with X number of blocks and expand further out Hand sanitizer stations- $480-1,600 for dispensers, about $8,000+ for hand sanitizer throughout the year •Two per intersection, catty-corner from each other •Grand to Wallace – 8 blocks, 16 dispensers total Expand Flower Basket Boundary- First year cost: $4,500+ “Downtown BID Flower Program Policy- The boundary extends along Main Street from, but not including Wallace Avenue, to, but not including 3rd Avenue. From Main Street, the program extends north to, but not including, Mendenhall Avenue, and south to, but not including, Babcock Avenue. The following streets are included in the program boundary for one block north and south from Main Street: Church, Rouse, Bozeman, Black, Tracy, Willson, and Grand. Outside Program Boundary In order to ensure consistency in appearance and quality, the BID will purchase and therefore own the necessary hardware (18” Imperial hanging baskets). For flower basket location outside the program boundary but within the BID district, the BID will coordinate the planting and delivery of the flowers utilizing their contracted nursery. The BID will invoice the property owner for those planting and delivery costs. For flower basket locations outside the program boundary, the property owners or tenants will be responsible for all watering and necessary maintenance.” • To extend to the South facing blocks of Babcock and the North facing blocks of Mendenhall, an additional 22 baskets would need to be purchased to fill the current number of streetlamps. • 22 hanging baskets & liners: $4,500 • Additional expenses and logistics to consider with current water tank equipment capacity and staff time BID New Programs Survey Results Business Owner Results: Sent to 577 contacts, received 67 responses Alley Snow Removal: 44, 65.7% Increased Police Presence: 13, 19.4% Summer Sidewalk Cleaning: 10, 14.9% Property Owner Results: Sent to 106 contacts, received 25 responses Alley Snow Removal: 12, 48% Increased Police Presence: 9, 36% Summer Sidewalk Cleaning: 4, 16% BID Survey Results Property Owner Responses Very Valuable Valuable Not Valuable Not Sure 11 4 1 0 69%25%6%0% 5 6 4 1 31%38%25%6% 2 11 1 2 13%69%6%13% 3 11 1 1 19%69%6%6% 2 8 4 2 13%50%25%13% 2 12 1 1 13%75%6%6% Sent out to 101 contacts- 16 responses. Alley snow removal was the most valued new program, followed by sidewalk cleaning services. How useful would these potential new BID-funded services be to your property and/or tenants? If you have other ideas about new BID programs, please add them in the comment section below. Alley Snow Removal- periodic plowing of the alleys to improve pedestrian and vehicle access during winter Sidewalk Cleaning Services- commercial power washing of sidewalks seasonally and as needed Greater Police Presence- a police officer dedicated to spending 50% of their time patrolling downtown Business Related Data- collection, analysis, and presentation of pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle counts; parking utilization; current lease Properties for Sale and Lease- listing service of properties available for sale and/or lease Downtown Marketing Plan- professional public relations campaign to promote downtown within Bozeman and the region Business Owner Responses Most important Least important 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 2 3 2 5 5 23%9%14%9%23%23% 2 8 4 2 4 2 9%36%18%9%18%9% 2 3 7 2 5 3 9%14%32%9%23%14% 2 0 2 11 4 3 9%0%9%50%18%14% 8 6 0 2 3 3 36%27%0%9%14%14% 3 3 6 3 1 6 14%14%27%14%5%27% Sent out to 664 contacts- 22 responses. Snow removal (alley & sidewalk) were the most valued, followed by sidewalk cleaning services. Sidewalk Snow Removal- contracted plowing and shoveling of downtown sidewalks Downtown Marketing Plan- professional public relations campaign to promote downtown within Bozeman and the region Rank these potential new BID-funded services in order of importance to your business. 1=most important, 6=least important. If you have other ideas about new BID programs, please add them in the comment section below. Alley Snow Removal- periodic plowing of the alleys to improve pedestrian and vehicle access during winter Sidewalk Cleaning Services- commercial power washing of sidewalks seasonally and as needed Greater Police Presence- a police officer dedicated to spending 50% of their time patrolling Business Related Data- collection, analysis, and presentation of pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle counts; parking utilization; current lease APPROVED DRAFT FY2021 FY2022 % change Income BID Assessment 175,000$ 185,000$ 6% BID Assessment--residual - Contract Income 17,000$ 17,000$ Interest Income 100$ 100$ Mobile Vending Fees 2,000$ 2,000$ Flower Sponsorships 8,000$ 8,000$ Christmas Light Sponsorships 4,000$ 3,500$ -13% Streetlamp Banners 9,000$ 9,000$ Total Income 215,100$ 224,600$ Expenses Management Fee Partnership Administration 35,000$ 36,750$ 5% District Manager 21,000$ 22,000$ 5% Total Expenses 56,000$ 58,750$ 5% Payroll Expenses Maintenance Staff 37,500$ 41,250$ 10% Taxes 3,300$ 3,630$ 10% Work Comp 2,250$ 2,475$ 10% Maintenance Staff--Garage 10,000$ 11,000$ 10% Taxes 750$ 825$ 10% Work Comp 750$ 825$ 10% Total Payroll Expenses 54,550$ 60,005$ 10% Programs New Program 20,000$ 20,000$ Downtown Bozeman Association (DBA) Support 25,000$ 26,150$ 5% Christmas Lights 2,000$ 2,000$ Christmas Light Spider Repair 1,500$ 1,500$ Christmas Lights Storage 1,000$ 1,400$ 40% New Banners 3,000$ 3,000$ Flower Expenses 24,000$ 24,000$ Flower Water 200$ 250$ 25% Tree Purchases 2,000$ 2,000$ Marketing 2,500$ 2,500$ Maintenance Supplies 3,000$ 3,300$ 10% Garbage Bags 2,625$ 2,625$ Graffiti Supplies 1,125$ 1,125$ Graffiti Contracted Removal 4,500$ 4,500$ Mule Service & Fuel 1,500$ 1,500$ Truck Service & Fuel 2,100$ 2,200$ 5% Vehicle Insurance 3,250$ 3,850$ 18% Program Contingency 1,000$ 1,000$ Total Program Expenses 100,300$ 102,900$ 3% Total BID Expenses 210,850$ 221,655$ 5% NET ASSESSMENT INCOME 4,250$ 2,945$ ACTUAL ESTIMATED ESTIMATED ESTIMATED ESTIMATED ESTIMATED FY2021 FY2022 FY2022 FY2022 FY2022 FY2022 Assessment Total 175,000.00$ 180,000.00$ 185,000.00$ 190,000.00$ 195,000.00$ 200,000.00$ Assessment Rate 0.025823$ 0.025296$ 0.025999$ 0.026701$ 0.027404$ 0.028106$ Total Taxable Value of BID District % increase YOY FY22- estimate 7,115,795.00$ 5% FY21 6,776,948.00$ 7% FY20 6,317,056.00$ 38% FY19 4,567,534.00$ 9% FY18 4,204,204.00$ Notes: Resolution 5140- The annual assessment rate shall not exceed $0.03 per dollar of taxable value for the duration of the district (2021-2030). BID FY2022 ASSESSMENT RATE SCENARIOS