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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-17-10 Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) Board Minutes Downtown Business Improvement District Board Meeting Minutes February 17, 2010 Attending: Eric Bowman, Mike Grant, Don McLaughlin, Cyndy Andrus Chris Naumann, Ellie Staley Absent: Mike Basile, Dan Himsworth, Ileana Indreland, Buck Taylor Guests: Daryl Schliem Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes Due to a lack of a quorum, the January minutes will be considered at the March board meeting. Financial Report Chris outlined recent financial activity for the BID account. The only expenditures this month were expected and budgeted costs associated with the maintenance programs in the form of wages, taxes, and material costs. Program Director’s Report Winter/Spring Events and Programs: 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 o presentation 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: 2 new DBA Board members Jon Edwards (owner of Schnee’s Inc.) and Jodie Delay - (Director of MSU Public Relations). Winter Crazy Days over President’s weekend was very busy downtown on an otherwise - quiet time. th “Moment of Silence” planned on March 5 at 10am. We will send everyone the details - and please help us get the community involved. Executive Director’s Report Downtown Explosion Recovery Appropriations There have been three 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 property owners impacted by the March 5, 2009 explosion were asked to submit letter of intent if interested in applying for these funds. The following owners submitted letters: Jalal Neishabouri (Rocky Mtn Rug), Ann Bates (Lilly Lu), Mike Hope (Rockin’ R), and Tom Jones (American Legion). Each of these owners has been asked to submit proposals outlining the projects they would like to be funded. Project proposals are due March 1, 2010. The City Commission will decide which proposals to include in the City of Bozeman Environmental Assessment, which must be completed to be eligible for the funding by HUD. Northwestern Energy Downtown Funds After a few rounds of revisions, we are finalizing a three-way agreement between the City of Bozeman, Northwestern Energy and the Downtown Partnership to transfer NWE’s $50,000 from the COB explosion clean-up to the Partnership. Bob Rowe, Northwestern’s CEO, and I have discussed the possibilities of investing those funds in a public project downtown. 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. Mr. Rowe expressed interest in letting the downtown boards recommend a high-priority project in which to invest the NWE funds. City Commission Support of Downtown Enhancing downtown and encouraging economic development should top the city's priorities, commissioners said during a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday to set the city's 2010 and 2011 goals. On the order of the city's most pressing needs, each of the five commissioners cited improvements to downtown. In the short term, commissioners said the city should help property owners rebuild following last year's March 5 natural-gas explosion and make use of a $968,000 federal grant that's designed to assist. In the long term, commissioners said the city should start to carry out the recently approved Downtown Improvement Plan, which includes encouraging a higher density of businesses and homes in the area, possibly converting Babcock and Mendenhall streets from one-way to two- way streets and opening up Bozeman Creek. Discussion and Decision Items BID Renewal Update Chris informed the board that he had finalized and mailed the petition to re-create the BID two days prior. He continued that he and City staff have established a timeline to complete the process prior to the end of this fiscal year. Chris reviewed that each property owner received a packet containing: a cover letter, the 2009 BID Annual Report, a map showing the existing BID boundary which is the proposed boundary, and a petition specific to the owners parcels. Don asked Chris if he foresaw needing assistance from the board to contact property owners and solicit support. Chris indicated that at this point he needed some time to see what the response to the petition mailing was and then he would update the board and ask for help if needed. Eric pointed out that he thought that the Annual Report was excellent and he felt it should be produced annually as an education tool for not only the property owners but also the downtown community. Daryl Schliem offered that placing the Annual Report on-line would be useful. Downtown Improvement Plan Implementation Chris reminded the board that the TIF, BID, COB and potentially Northwestern Energy have committed funds to implement a high-priority project(s) identified by the Downtown Improvement Plan and selected by the downtown boards. Chris formally introduced two potential projects that had been previously discussed. The first project is a comprehensive wayfinding and signage plan that would build upon the work to date on the Downtown Parking Sign Project and the Downtown Directory Kiosk Project. In addition to the parts of these projects that have already been designed and funded, this project would expand the scope and scale. If additional funding were committed to this comprehensive project, the additional components of the parking and kiosk projects could be fabricated and installed. New components would include the design, fabrication, and installation of wayfinding signs to be placed throughout Bozeman directing residents and visitors to the downtown district. While there are a handful of such signs based on downtown’s old logo, but they are largely ineffective. The second potential project involves creating a creek-side park along Bozeman Creek adjacent to the public parking lot at the corner Babcock and Rouse. The park would compliment and significantly build upon the pocket park installed by First Security Bank on the west bank of the creek. The new creek-side park would involve stabilizing the creek bank, trimming the existing trees, laying sod, installing benches and picnic tables. The park may also require some sore of railing along a portion of the creek and along the alley bridge to maintain public safety. This project would also involve reconfiguring the public parking space to not only make room for the greenspace but also to create a greatly improved and more efficient parking lot. Parking lot improvements would include: better vehicle access, more efficient space layout, and a storm- water catchment system. Chris asked the board which of the two projects they think would best benefit not only the downtown business and property owners but also citizens and visitors. Don indicated that he thinks the wayfinding project would yield the greatest benefit. Don also expressed concern that about the long-term aesthetic of the kiosk directories considering weather (water and UV). He continued that he feels that the creek-side park would be a very worthwhile project that may require more coordination that would be allowed by not being tapped as the top priority. Mike agreed that he would like to see the wayfinding project move forward as quickly as possible. He also offered the Downtowner Mall property as a potential kiosk location. Cyndy echoed Don’s concerns about the long-term effects weather on the kiosks. She also offered that the City Commission needs to see that the Bozeman Creek park project has the support of the downtown organizations. Eric said that while he understands the colors are not finalized on the kiosks he really likes the “urban” look of the kiosks as that will differentiate them from downtown’s historic look. Chris indicated that the TIF board also gave the nod to the wayfinding project. He also said that he would be presenting the proposals to the DBA board soon to get their opinion and would report back to all whether there is consensus. New or Old Business With no new or old business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.