IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corp board meeting held July 10, 2018 at 8:30am in the Syringa Networks board room. Those in attendance: Jill Hansen, Lisa Farris, Antonio Meza, Steve Fischbach, Derek Christiansen, Jim Francis, Tasha Taylor, Kevin Josephson, Brandi Newton, Shane Levitt, Teresa (Vogue), Catherine Smith and Mala Lyon. Annual Public meeting was held June 27, 2018 with 30 people in attendance. Presentations were given by Brad Cramer, Lee Radford, Mayor Casper and Catherine Smith. A video of the meeting will soon be online. Had some very positive feedback from those that came. Several of them were people who opposed the BID renewal. We were able to report what we are working on and past successes. Cindy Napier, co-owner of Idaho Mountain Trading, has expressed interest in being a board member. Motion by Brandi to make her a board member, Jill seconded and board approved. Minutes from May 1, 2018 reviewed – Brandi motioned they be approved; Steve F. seconded and board approved Financials – We have received the assessment from the city; we have paid for the concrete for Capital and A Street and the city will pay us back a portion through the curb and gutter city grant money; we will be paying for the pavers next; extra money that was not used for snow removal has been used to hire ‘4 Seasons Landscaping’ to make the planters and pots look good. The downtown looks wonderful and we feel it was money well spent. Jill asked if planter boxes were going to be replaced? No there will be large flower pots like what is at Shoup and A Street. Brandi made a motion that financials be approved; Kevin J. seconded and board approved. Catherine reported that so far we are coming in a little under budget for the A Street and Capital corner project. The next step is to have the pavers installed and then the trees. We have budgeted $520 per tree so we can get the biggest trees possible to replace the one that were removed. It will probably be late August before the trees are brought in. The wraps for the traffic cabinets has been approved and will be installed along Broadway and Yellowstone. We received a CHC grant for $8,500 and will be able to complete this project. Meeting tomorrow with IDT, I.F. Power and the sign company to finalize. Next public art project is murals – we have talked to property owners at the Villa, Jake Durtschi’s east alley (as possible extension of Pugslane Alley), Dave Nygard’s building in the alley off Park and the SnakeBite alley to the west. Dan Henry of the ACLU is promoting a civil right history mural in each city and they will pay for it. We will be working with them to do a mural celebrating the remarkable women in Idaho’s history and it will be on the wall of the Villa. Catherine is doing more grant applications to help with the costs. Antonio asked how a business might be considered to have a mural on their building and Catherine said to just talk to her. Brandi suggested a mural be placed on the south side of the ARTitorium and include the ARTI building. Catherine presented to the Redevelopment Agency a proposed project to redo the sidewalks, curbs and gutters on Broadway. We estimated the cost of the concrete to be $200,000 and the city public works office estimated $600,000. They like the idea but are worried about the support of the businesses along Broadway with such a disruptive project. They would like to see the property owners come to the next meeting and express their desire for this project. The project would take place next spring if approved as the money has to be spent by Sept 2019. We will be contacting them to ask for their support. Downtown Rocks – we have painted and hidden rocks downtown with instructions for people to find them and post a picture on facebook. Many of the rocks have disappeared so we will be putting out more soon. This is driving more people to our facebook page. Taste of Downtown will be Saturday July 28 – the same day as the Eagle Rock Art Guild River Walk event. We are advertising with posters thanks for MCS Advertising and Local News 8 is doing a matching ad campaign and will broadcast live during the event. We are working with BlackRock to have a live band in the alley next to them with lights strung across. Most of the restaurants downtown are participating. Brandi made a motion to add Lisa Farris to the agenda and Derek seconded – board approved. Lisa is updating the city website site to show before and after façade grant improvements from 2006 – 2018. From 2006 to 2017: $838,917 has been spent on the Façade Improvement Program in the downtown area using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds provided through Housing and Urban Development ( HUD). So far, over 73 businesses have been assisted and 100 projects have been completed. An additional 5 projects are in process and expected to be completed by the end of the year. An additional $55,000 for the 2018 CDBG funding cycle is pending approval from HUD and the 2019 application cycle is coming up in December of this year. Meeting was adjourned at 9:10am Our next board meeting will be held August 7, 2018. Respectfully submitted by Kevin Josephson, IFDDC secretary and Mala Lyon