Business Improvement District

Business Improvement District Board Minutes Noon, Tuesday March 16, 2021 Country Traditions 303 N. Main Street, Fremont NE 68025 and via Zoom Board Present: Vince O'Connor, Jerry Johnson, Kevin Main, Howard Krasne, Ginger Rosenthal (on zoom), Richard Register, Brendan Murray, JJ Bixby, Roxie Kracl and Tom Coday Absent: Bill Parks Guests: Shannon Mullen, Brian Newton, Collin Spilinek, Jake Herre, and on zoom Michael Kuhns and Susan Larsen 1. Meeting was called to order by Chairman Coday. Roll call was taken. It was noted that a copy of the Open Public Meeting Act was posted and available in the room. 2. Motion was made to approve the minutes of the February 16, 2021 meeting by Vince O'Connor and seconded by Howard Krasne Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote 10/0. 3. Comments from Public – none 4. Discussion on landscaping bids- Shannon reported requests for bids are out to 13 different companies. If any Board member would like something specific please send an email to Shannon. Tabled until next meeting when can review responses to bids. 5. Discussion on Holiday Dynamics proposed Christmas Decorations- Chairman Coday suggested passing off to Kevin Main and his committee to review and to come back to Board with recommendations. Howard Krasne would like committee to look into Christmas trees on bump outs, and possibly exploring extending lights on Main Street businesses to complete at least through 3rd Street. Chairman Coday reached out to Barb Christensen to find out where the lighting project is headed. 6. Discussion on reimbursement to Mainstreet for hanging plants and new planter boxes. H Street businesses has reached out to MainStreet asking the BID to place flowers on H Street. At a previous meeting, the BID Board approved putting planters on H Street for 2021. Six planters will be planted downtown at a cost of $600 plus the cost of the hanging baskets of $6,250. It was suggested the MainStreet and BID split the cost. Motion was made by Vince O'Conner and seconded by JJ Bixby to approve a reimbursement of 50% or $3,425 to MainStreet for planters and hanging baskets. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote 10/0 7. Discussion on 2021 exemptions list and new mill levy- Brian Newton provided list of all exemptions made by City Council along with complete list of all property owners and new levy amount per business. Levy amount originally was 0.00185 with 2021 dropping to 0.001463. Newton explained why some properties were granted exemptions such as single family homes and owner-occupied properties where the owner lives on the second floor. 8. Discussion on BID's involvement on City's Comprehensive Plan- Chairman Coday again asked if members of the Board had concerns or ideas to please email him. So far he has received a couple of emails. Johnson & Krasne both mentioned loosening of the city codes to update old downtown buildings. Chairman Coday will send another friendly reminder to Board members to send in comments and suggestions. 9. Committee Reports - Financial- Brian Newton went over budget that was set and dollars spent in all categories for fiscal year 2020 and remaining dollars that were available. Howard Krasne requested if can move dollars around to other budgeted items that needed our attention. Howard suggested creating a spend plan for the carry over monies. Maintenance- Approved in a previous meeting was a reimbursement to City for flags, our last bill was $225 due to the cold weather and length of time it took to take them down. Chairman Coday will just update Board as the bills are paid. Future Projects – will come back to Board with a plan for a future project in the near future. Jerry Johnson suggested looking at combining groups that all have an interest in downtown so ideas and budgets could be combined. 10. Chairman Coday reported that the next meeting will be April 21, 2021 at 12:00 pm at Country Traditions and via zoom. A motion to adjourn was made by Vince and seconded by Jerry at 12:38p.m.. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote 10/0. Respectfully submitted, Roxie Kracl Roxie Kracl, Secretary