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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-16-10 Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) Board Minutes Downtown Business Improvement District Board Meeting Minutes June 16, 2010 Attending: Eric Bowman, Mike Grant, Dan Himsworth, Ileana Indreland, Buck Taylor, Chris Naumann, Cyndy Andrus Absent: Mike Basile, Don McLaughlin Public Comments Disclosures None Minutes ACTION:Dan Himsworth motioned to approve minutes from May as presented Ileana Indreland seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report Chris presented the financial report indicating that there was little activity other than the anticipated costs of the on-going maintenance program. In general, as the last financial report of the year, the year-to-date revenues and expenses will be on target with the FY2010 budget and projections. The board did want clarification as to the expenditures for “truck maintenance insurance” of $2049 in relation to the $875 budgeted amount. Chris noted that the line item name is a mistake in that insurance and maintenance are two different expense categories. Chris suspects that some maintenance expenses were mis-entered as “insurance” expenses. Program Director’s Report In Ellie’s absence, Chris presented the final schedule of summer events including: Music on Main, Art Walks, and the Cruisin’ on Main Car Show. Executive Director’s Report Maintenance Employee Update Our new maintenance employee, Brad Harris, is unfortunately leaving the position. He was accepted to a master stone masonry course. He will be able to work through June and assist in training the newer, new employee. I have received 4 applications for the position and will be selecting one this week to start next week. st Since May 1 BID maintenance staff has removed over 150 graffiti tags. BID maintenance staff has emptied over 290 trash receptacles. Flower Basket Update st Installation of the flower baskets has been delayed until June 21. They were originally thth scheduled to be installed on June 8. The day before (June 7) the Oak Garden crew had brought all the baskets outside for pruning when a sudden and unexpected hail storm hit outside Belgrade. The flowers took a beating and Renee requested some time to trim the flowers back and nurse them back to health. They have been working on the flowers ever since so that they will be ready next week. A total of 17 sponsors are supporting this year’s flowers bringing in $4250 of income. Tree Planting Update Cashman’s nursery planted three trees in front of the new Tire-Rama building on East Main Street. These are part of a completely new streetscape adjacent to that property also including new streetlamps, bike racks and a bench. Cashman’s will also be replacing the dead tree in front of Altitude Gallery in the next week or so. Downtown Alley Project In light of the Downtown Improvement Plan’s emphasis on enhancing our alleys for improved aesthetic and pedestrian use and the funding available for the alley adjacent to the explosion site, I convened a workshop about alley design. The workshop was attended by Don McLaughlin (Place Architects), Paul Bertelli and Ashley Sullivan (JLF Architects), and Rob Pertzborn (Intrinsik Architecture). The group had a constructive conversation about what makes alleys unique and how they might look and function better. Topics included: greening the south face of the garage with foliage; what to do or not do about dumpsters; pedestrian lighting; alley signage; and revising the COB UDO to allow “shotgun” Main Street retail spaces to be subdivided thus facilitating alley side businesses to open. Discussion and Decision Items STIP Savings Reinvesting Chris informed the board that he divested the BID savings from the State Investment Pool due to it dismal interest rate as discussed at May’s board meeting. The total savings of $63,000 was deposited in the BID checking account at First Security Bank. Per the board approved reinvestment strategy, Chris indicated that he did purchase a $10,000 3-month CD and a $10,000 6-month CD at American Bank. He continued that he still in the process of purchasing a 12-month CD and opening a money market at First Security Bank. One issue that needs to resolved is opening these new accounts under the unique BID Employer Identification Number (EIN). Currently the BID checking account is assigned to the City of Bozeman EIN. The board inquired why the BID checking account was assigned to the COB. Chris explained that he suspects that when the BID assessment first began being collected the City established an account before there was a more formal board/employee structure supporting the organization. Chris asked Anna Rosenberry, COB Finance Director, if there was any reason to have any BID accounts assigned to the COB EIN and she replied that there was no reason. The challenge that Chris said he has discovered is that FSB requires Montana Secretary of State designation to establish a business account or Federal 501c standing to establish a non- profit account…currently the BID has neither. Chris will continue to resolve the EIN issue with First Security Bank in order to finalize the remaining two investment accounts. Downtown Alley Project Following Chris’s update regarding the downtown alley workshop, the board engaged in a discussion regarding ways to enhance the alleys and encourage a variety of creative uses. In reference to the UDO changes that would promote vitalizing the alleys, Ileana expressed that the UDO needs to be more flexible to allow the creative private sector to maximize the utilization of their property. Dan was supportive of new and alternative use of the alleys as long as the primary use of them for deliveries, trash collection, and emergency access. Eric agreed with both Ileana and Dan considering that his building and business uses the alley for customer entrances in addition to all the traditional uses. BID Renewal Timeline Chris updated the board on the remaining timeline of the BID renewal. He outlined that the th public protest period ended June 14 and the City Clerk received two formal protests. The two protests did not come close to meeting the statutory threshold that constitute protests of enough significance to block the formation of the district. Moving forward, the City Commission will conduct a public hearing on the resolution for the creation of the district on June 21. On that same date the Commission will conduct the first reading of the ordinance. The second reading th of the ordinance will take place on July 12 and thus the effective date will be August 14. City Commission Liaison Chris reminded the board that Commissioner Andrus had requested to discuss her role as this board’s liaison to the Commission. Cyndy informed the board that the City does not define the role of the liaison and her interest was to make sure she was aware of any prior precedent and/or expectations of the board of her in this role. Ileana recalled that historically the board’s relationship with the liaison has been an informal but important one. She continued that the board has always felt it important to have a member of the Commission know who we are and what we do. Cyndy pointed out that she is also the liaison for the downtown TIF board and the Parking Commission because she is very interested in all issues downtown. Chris added that traditionally the same Commissioner has been the liaison to those three boards. The board agreed that this practice continues so that that there is an accurate representation upon the Commission. Eric concluded that he hopes she will not only convey the details of the BID’s work to the Commission but will also help the board understand how best to work with the Commission. New or Old Business With no additional new or old business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.