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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-20-10 Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) Board Minutes Downtown Business Improvement District Board Meeting Minutes 1/20/10 Attending: Mike Grant, Dan Himsworth, Ileana Indreland, Buck Taylor Chris Naumann, Ellie Staley Absent: Mike Basile, Eric Bowman Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes ACTION:Buck Taylormotioned to accept the minutes from November and December 2009. Dan Himsworth seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report rd Chris outlined recent financial activity for the BID account. He noted that the 3 quarter management fee to the Partnership had been paid. The only other expenditures this month were some nominal costs associated with the maintenance programs in the form of wages, taxes, and material costs. Program Director’s Report Winter/Sring Events and Programs: thth  Winter Crazy Days, President’s weekend Feb 12 – 15 Unbelievable sales on winter merchandise at over 100 businesses o th  Bridal Walk, Saturday, April 10 Same-day Registration at the Baxter Hotel Ballroom o st  Annual Breakfast, Thursday, April 1 @ 7:30am Presenting the DBP Annual Awards, still finalizing a keynote speaker and/or presentation o th  Bobcat Fest on Main – Friday, April 30 (last day of classes) Event to celebrate the students and faculty that live and play within our o community…updates to come! th  Art Walks – first one June 11 6-8pm Other Items: -Holiday Marketing Campaign a success! -Holiday shopping numbers were good. Most businesses up from last year. -Many New businesses opening and vacancies filling. Check out the Downtown Newspaper for these monthly updates! -Working with other media’s to develop some more collaborative marketing avenues for downtown businesses as we go into the spring/summer season. -2 DBA Board terms are open and we currently have 2 nominations to fill the vacancies: Jon Edwards (owner of Schnee’s Inc.) and Jodie Delay (Director of MSU Public Relations). New Board members to be voted in at the February Board meeting. Executive Director’s Report Business Improvement District Board Downtown Improvement Plan On December 14, 2009 the Bozeman City Commission unanimously voted to adopt the 2009 Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan. On January 25, 2010 the Commission will pass the resolution formally adopting the Downtown Improvement Plan. This will be on the agenda as a consent item. The adopted Plan is, and will continue to be, available for download as a PDF on the downtown website and will soon also be on the City of Bozeman Planning Department webpage. Downtown Explosion Recovery Appropriations There have been two meetings to discuss the specifics of the two federal appropriations that have been awarded to the preservation and reconstruction of the explosion site. The first is a $150,000 grant from the Save Americas Treasures program of the National Park Service for the preservation of historic buildings. The second is a Housing Urban Development grant of $974,000 awarded for reconstruction at the explosion site. The meetings thus far have included Senator Baucus and Tester staff and City staff. We submitted a series of questions to Baucus’s appropriations specialist in Washington DC to learn more about the qualification requirements funds. Northwestern Energy Downtown Funds Following the explosion on March 5, 2009, Northwestern Energy contributed $50,000 to the City of Bozeman Clean-Up Fund (which also included funds from the COB revolving loan and the affordable housing funds). None of these funds were used by any of the property owners at the blast site. Bob Rowe, Northwestern’s CEO, approached me about investing their $50,000 from this clean- up fund in a downtown project. We agreed that the Downtown Partnership could administer the money in a similar fashion to that of the Downtown Relief Fund. To that end, I established a “Downtown Enhancement Fund” under the Partnership at First Security Bank. The City and Northwestern are finalizing an agreement to dissolve the Clean-Up Fund which will result in the $50,000 being transferred to our account. Mr. Rowe and I decided that we would form an oversight committee to administer the funds. This committee will include myself, Mel Kotur (NWE Public Relations Director), and a representative from First Security Bank. Although not decided at this point, Mr. Rowe and I have spoken at length about investing these funds in the Bozeman Creek park project that has been discussed adjacent to the public parking lot behind the Eagles. We also discussed the idea of using this money as seed funding for a Downtown Revolving Loan Fund, and while Mr. Rowe acknowledged the long-term benefits of such a use his preference is to invest the money in a public improvement project that will could be initiated sooner rather than later. Discussion and Decision Items Downtown Improvement Plan Implementation Chris reminded the board that they have $20,000 ($10,000 BID funds and $10,000 matching COB money) to invest in a project important to the Downtown Plan. Chris also mentioned that the TIF board has budgeted funds for a Downtown Plan project and there may be a sizeable contribution from Northwestern Energy. Chris outlined two projects identified by the Downtown Plan that could be implemented this summer. The first project, as talked about before, would be to convert the western edge of the public parking lot at the corner of Babcock and Rouse into a creek side park. In conjunction, the public lot would be reconfigured to not only function better but aesthetically represent our high-quality downtown. This park and parking project would also compliment the work done across the creek by First Security Bank. The second project Chris discussed was to expand upon the parking signage and kiosk projects to be more comprehensive and thorough. The idea would be to continue with the current plan to fabricate and install the parking lot identification signs this spring and complete the design of the directory kiosks. With the extra funding, the kiosk project could be expanded to include 4 rather than the original 2 units, be fabricated and installed. The project could also include the design, fabrication and installation of way-finding signs outside the downtown area. The grouped thought both projects would be great additions to downtown. Ileana expressed that she thought the way-finding signage and kiosks might have an immediate positive impact for downtown businesses than the creek project. Others agreed. The group suggested that Chris present both ideas to all three downtown boards and ask for an informal vote. Chris agreed that this would be a great way to decide which project should be of the highest priority. BID Renewal Process Chris updated the board that he had started preparing for the BID renewal process by coordinating with the COB finance and legal departments. He has prepared a draft property owner petition and a process timeline. The COB will handle all of the noticing requirements and the drafting of the resolution and ordinance. The BID is responsible for the printing and mailing of the petition. Chris said he has already begun to schedule meetings with the largest property owners acknowledging that the largest 40 of the 140 owners equal the 60% threshold needed to authorize the creation of the district. Chris asked the board to approve the expenditure of STIP funds to cover the costs of the renewal process, as he did not anticipate these costs in the FY2010 budget. ACTION:Buck Taylormotioned to authorize Chris to spend up to $750 of STIP funds to cover the costs associated with the BID renewal process including but not limited to paper, envelopes, printing and postage. Mike Grant seconded the motion. All voted in favor. New or Old Business Chris reminded the board that the City Commission would consider passing the Resolution to Adopt the Downtown Improvement Plan at their January 25 meeting. He noted that the resolution was on the consent agenda and he anticipated it to pass without discussion. With no new or old business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.