HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-20-08 BID MinutesDowntown Business Improvement District
Board Meeting Minutes
2/20/2008
Present: Eric Bowman, Chris Naumann, Ellie Staley, Dan Harding, Dan
Himsworth, Chris Pope, Travis Collins, Buck Taylor
Absent: Ileana Indreland,
Travis calls the meeting to order
Public Comments -David Loseff, owner of the Baxter Hotel, is looking for
support regarding the Planning Department sign issues with a potential new
tenant, Ted's Montana Grill. According to the letter he received back from the
City, the sign plan for Ted's Montana Grill would require to deviations according
to the City Sign Ordinance including the size of one sign and 2 signs for one
business on one building. He explains the importance of a business like Ted's
Montana Grill is to downtown Bozeman and the board agrees it would be a great
addition to downtown on many levels. He also explains that the necessary
deviations are very minor and is looking to get support from the BID either
through a letter or by attending the design Review Board meetings.
• Eric Bowman notes that David has pointed out some specific inconsistencies and
feels that the City should have more flexibility in the downtown area. Chris Pope
feels that the board should stay on the policy level in reference to situations like
these. Dan Harding thinks that the BID board should assist in facilitating
progress in the downtown area with situations like this and that we can possibly
help to give a vision of what we feel would benefit downtown. Chris agrees to
attend the DRB meeting in reference to this issue and will discuss this with the
board further if there is in fact a reason for the BID board to get involved. Chris
will make this a discussion item at the next meeting. Chris will also plan to add
this idea to the agenda for the Annual Meeting next month.
ACTION:
Eric Bowman moves to approve the minutes from January.
Chris Pope seconds the motion.
There is no discussion.
All in Favor.
Financial Report -Very little changes since Dec. since it was over the holidays.
Chris indicates that we should discuss the flower watering program and will add
that to the agenda in March.
The board welcomes Eric Bryson, the new City Commission liaison to the BID
• Board. He asks how the BID board generally handles situations like David
Loseff's and indicates that he would like to address the inconsistency issues
regarding permitting in downtown.
Executive Director Report
The Willson-Armory Project
The proposed project will be before the City Commission on Monday, February
25th. Chris gives the background of this issue to the board and held like to hear
what message, if any, the BID board would like voiced at the Commission
meeting. After discussions on this issue, it's noted that "it is okay to have a
stance" at the BID level but that everyone agrees that the board needs to
develop a consistent process on how we respond so that we as a board do not
lose credibility. Chris will a-mail everyone with more information on this subject
and then the 2 boards can discuss how we would like to respond and what we
would like our stance to be if any.
After discussion on this subject, the board showed concern about a certain string
of emails that were disseminated outside the board without the boards consent or
knowledge.
Parking Sign Plan Update
Intrinsik is putting together a sign inventory and fabrication cost estimate to re- •
sign the downtown parking district. The BPC expressed a willingness to
contribute financially to the project. The TIF board currently has $20,000
budgeted for this project. One of the proposed STIP projects involves
contributing funding to this project.
Website
The Downtown Bozeman Partnership will launch a new website in early March at
www.dowtownbozeman.org. The new site will contain a much greater volume of
content including an online version of the Downtown Directory, an interactive
calendar of events, and a special media component to feature the Music on Main
performers. The website will also contain an "About Us" page that will explain all
of our acronyms: DBP, DBA, BID and TIF.
Annual Meeting
As prescribed in the BID bylaws, the annual meeting will serve the following
purpose at a minimum:
ARTICLE VIII =MEETINGS
B. Annual Meeting .
• The Board shall schedule and hold an annual meeting either in place of
the regularly scheduled meeting in March or April. The purpose of the
annual meeting is to: (1) Identify potential Board applicant for pending
vacant seats; (2) Elect Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Recording
Secretary for the upcoming fiscal year; (3) Establish goals and objectives
for the coming fiscal year; and (4) Draft a preliminary budget based on
said goals and objectives.
The Annual Meeting will be in place of the March board meeting!
Discussion and Decision Items:
In the interest of time, Chris Naumann suggested soliciting an a-mail vote
regarding the proposed STIP funded projects. The board agreed.
The Partnership's Annual Breakfast is on Wed. April 2"d at 7:30am. This is the
first year we will be presenting the Annual Partnership awards. This concept
came to be after Bob Paynich passed and the office became aware of how
important it is to show our gratitude to the people who make our great downtown
possible. Chris will a-mail the 3 awards and look to the board for any
suggestions.
Meeting adjourns
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