Downtown Advisory Board

CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE DOWNTOWN ADVISORY BOARD Downtown Program Office | 125 Fifth Avenue West, Suite 200 | Hendersonville NC 28792 Tuesday, November 12, 2024 – 4:00 PM MINUTES – APPROVED 1/15/2025 CALL TO ORDER - Present in person: Mark Pavao, Nancy Neikirk, Aaron Adams, Chris Cormier, Jerry Fitzgerald, Phil Wilmot, Caroline Gunther, Matthew Hickman, Patsy DuPre, Sam Simmons, Oliver Wall, Joe Dinan, Heang Uy, Council Liaison Jeff Miller Absent: Ryan Salveson, John Ryan Public present: Becky Benadayga Staff Present: Jamie Carpenter, Terrye Jacobs, Dakota Parker, Lew Holloway, John Connet, Brian Pahle APPROVAL OF MINUTES - August, 2024 Downtown Advisory Board Minutes – Patsy DuPre made a request to add the board position to each board member to the minutes. Jerry Fitzgerald made a motion to approve, Oliver Wall seconded. All were in favor PUBLIC COMMENT – Becky Benadayga, Sherman’s Sports & Army Store. Would ask about if you consider free parking in January, February and March, the slowest months on Main Street to encourage local people to park. APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Mark Pavao asked to add an item regarding Closing Main Street for events. Aaron Adams seconded. All were in favor. TEAM & STAFF REPORTS 1-A Parking Budget Overview, Brian Pahle – Caroline Gunther introduced this item of the Agenda that she had requested Brian Pahle and John Connet to attend to inform the board about the parking budget. John Connet introduced the topic and a brief overview of how the parking structure and paid parking was established. Also noting that someone will have to pay for parking, it will either be the MSD tax payers through a significant tax increase or it can be the customers. Brian Pahle gave an overview of the budget: FY25 Parking Enterprise Fund Budget  Total Revenue: $1,088,575 (Metered parking is approx. $800,000 of the total revenue)  Total Expenditures: $1,286,653 – the current revenue gap is covered by the General Fund currently.  Salaries & Benefits: $270,600 o Includes two fulltime parking enforcement staff, a fulltime public works technician, and a variety of support staffing salary splits (2% of total salary costs) from HR, Finance, IT, etc. DOWNTOWN ADVISORY BOARD – November 12, 2024 Page | 1   Operating: $208,603- Includes property/liability insurance, electrical utilities, technology software, credit card fees, and park-mobile transaction fees.  Debt Service: $807,450 - Approximate annual debt service cost on the parking deck. This is the third installment of a 20 year bond, final payment is expected June 30th, 2041.  If it isn’t paid one way, it has to be paid another way… to make the budget work, the following would need to be adjusted to pay for the over $1 million annual budget as described above: o Every $5 on permits = $15k in Annual Rev. o Every $0.25 on meter sales = $100k in Annual Rev. o Every $0.01 on MSD Tax = $12k in Annual Rev. o Every $0.01 on GF Tax = $300k in Annual Rev.  By not having paid parking in October (due to hurricane) sales/meters = $85,000 lost, $15,000 in permits Overall, there are no reductions to metered parking that can occur. We can continue to review parking coupon codes with ParkMobile and provide those in the off season. 1 B Closing Main Street for Events Mark Pavao brought up about closing Main Street early for events on Main Street. We closed Main Street so early for the event, event did not start until 5pm. Lost revenue on night of event. There was extensive discussion regarding the need to tow vehicles immediately instead of waiting. Closing the street during the day without activity happening quickly is very difficult for businesses. Several board members suggested to add this item to a future agenda in the interest of time and a more productive discussion. Mark Pavao made a motion to add this item moved to the next meeting. Joe Dinan seconded. Jamie will request police to attend the meeting. After discussion regarding a smaller group discussion, it was suggested to have the Economic Vitality Team discuss and offer recommendations to bring to the full board. Matthew Hickman amended the motion that it is brought the economic vitality team and to the downtown advisory board following that. Mark Pavao seconded. All were in favor. 2. Hurricane Recovery Updates, Jamie Carpenter Jamie provided a presentation on hurricane recovery efforts. In the interest of time, it was distributed to the board members. 3. Downtown Team Reports:  Community Character – Matthew Hickman updated about the 7th Avenue Street Fest that will coincide with opening day of the Farmers Market. Also noted that Saturday, December 14 – Soft opening on 7th Avenue open house at the bakery  Economic Vitality – Aaron Adams update that the initial plan was derailed by hurricane, but will continue to work towards the vacant building policy and will also be considering opportunities for displaced artists. NEW BUSINESS - Event Request: Hendo Earth Fest Location Change Request – Frank Stewart with the Environmental Sustainability Board was in attendance virtually. The ESB has suggested that Earth Fest has outgrown its 2 block closure footprint and would like to do a 3 block closure from the Courthouse to the visitors center. DOWNTOWN ADVISORY BOARD – November 12, 2024 Page | 2 When we established the updated special event pricing, it was created to have standardized event closures. This request is for a 3 block closure is not a standard Main Street closure as outlined below so staff would like the Downtown Advisory Board to advise. The board discussed and suggested the event to use the Rhythm & Brews closure which is Allen to Caswell. This event closure has a smaller impact on businesses and provides space for the event, right along the Ecusta Trail. After discussion, there was no longer a quorum (Phil Wilmot, Mark Pavao, Heang Uy, Patsy DuPre and Joe Dinan had to leave the meeting before the discussion concluded at approximately 6pm). Matthew Hickman noted that the consensus in room is R&B closure – Allen to Caswell ADJOURNMENT DOWNTOWN ADVISORY BOARD – November 12, 2024 Page | 3