IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

December 5, 2017 - IFDDC Board Meeting held in the Syringa Networks board room (460 Park Avenue, Idaho Falls ID) 8:35am Antonio Meza called the meeting to order. Those in attendance: Tom Judd, Brent McLane, Derek Christiansen, Lisa Farris, Kevin Josephson, Tasha Taylor, Steve Fischbach, Jill Hansen, Jake Durtschi, Chip Schwarze, Shanon Taylor, Catherine Smith, Brandi Newton, Kevin Cutler, Antonio Meza, Dana Briggs, Carla and Ashley from Vogue Beauty College & Salon and Mala Lyon. Minutes from Nov 7, 2017 were reviewed. Motion by Brandi to approve the minutes ; Derek seconded – board approved. Financial report reviewed. Motion by Shanon to approve; Kevin C. seconded – board approved Catherine informed the board that the Façade committee met last Tuesday, Nov. 28th. Lisa reviewed that the committee discussed what criteria each application needs to meet, that the caps will be $25,000 per project per side of a building, $1500 for an awning project and $500 for a sign project. Also Code corrections, roof and structural analysis can be covered. The committee recommends that no grant money be given for roof repair. The consensus is that a roof is a maintenance issue and the responsibility of the property owner, and is not a façade improvement. A decision needs to be made as soon as possible, as an application for roof repair has been submitted. It is suggested that if the roof problem is going to affect the façade in some real manner then it can be considered and then only enough to shore it up until the owner can pay to have repairs done. Antonio requested something in writing before a vote was made by the board. Façade improvements are eye level improvements to a building that improves the walking experience downtown. Brandi proposed that Catherine put together the proposal and it be sent out by email to the board and they will return their vote to her. Shanon seconded that motion and the board agreed. The committee will met again and create a specific criteria point system that will determine if a project qualifies. Director Report – Catherine shared photos from the tree lighting and the Find Santa’s Puppy events. We had great weather for both and estimate 400 to 500 people at the tree lighting. We gave out 350 free cups of hot chocolate. The special middle tree honors veterans from Idaho – we included a presentation of the colors by an honor guard and the singing of the National Anthem. A kids group sang and another danced. The Mayor and Santa arrived on the trolley and did a countdown to turn on the lights. We gave out 365 Find Santa’s Puppy maps. MCS Advertising designed the maps and donated the map cards. The lines for the horse drawn trolley rides were very long both days. Some people didn’t get a ride at the tree lighting as we had to stop and go pick up Santa and the Mayor. We are looking into providing a second trolley for those two days next year. If the lines are shorter the next 3 weeks the trolley will swing over to Cliff Street. Catherine also showed the latest design photos of the Broadway project. The 3 story building will be closest to A Street with 49 underground parking spots and 24 surface spots. The courtyard will have about a 100 foot square of usable space. There will be electricity, speakers and lighting available for events. The parking management process is still in the works. We will go ahead with the planned parking committee and are grateful to have Brent’s expertise. Social media – when Catherine started we had about 2,000 followers on face book and we now have 3,160. We need to have some guidelines and policies in place for our social media. Catherine will draft an outline of that and have it ready for the next board meeting. The board was handed a board members responsibility document. No changes were received so it is ready as presented in our last meeting. Each board member is asked to read it and sign it and return it to Catherine. Traffic Cabinets – Through the Historic Foundation we are planning to do vinyl art wraps around the 16 traffic cabinets. Art work from the Art Museum and photos from Kris Millgate have been offered to use. We have applied for a grant from the Air Show and should know in the next few weeks if we received that. It will cost $10,000 to do all 16. We are also looking at asking for sponsorships that would include a small logo on the wrap. Brent said we would need to check the rules on that so it does not violate the signage laws. Cliff Street – several of the businesses on Cliff Street have expressed interest in being part of the BID as class B members. We hope to install planter boxes and hanging flower baskets on Cliff Street, so that the feel of downtown is there also. Continued discussion of who is our ‘customer’ and what do they value – the property owner, the merchant or the clientele that comes downtown. Brandi said it is always everyone, when you market an event you want all aspects to be a positive experience from parking, the event itself, to the visual appealing look of downtown, to the safety of when they leave after an event or shopping experience. Jake said we need the perspective of when the customer and the community experience grows, so does business. Catherine said we need strategic planning so we know the priorities so our marketing dollars are put to the best use. Brandi suggested that reports to businesses be done quarterly or annually to show the impact of things we do. We reach out to diverse demographics with the variety of events. Catherine pointed out that we have not had a baseline in the past to be able to say this many people came to an event last year and this year we had this many more. With tracking the metrics we can show the value of what we do and accomplish. Then when someone questions our value we can show them the facts. Jill recommended that we think of a bigger project, something property owner can see such as the talked about alley improvements. SnakeBite, Blackrock and the Villa are all still interested in using the alley spaces next to them. Brent – the downtown plan has been approved and will go to vote before the city council next week. This will be a form based code rather than a zoning code. He offered to do a presentation next month at the board meeting to explain it. The area affected will be from E Street to Cliff and the river to Yellowstone. Meeting was adjourned at 9:25.Our next board meeting will be held January 9, 2017 at 8:30am in the Syringa Networks board room. Respectfully submitted by Kevin Josephson, IFDDC secretary and Mala Lyon