IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corp board meeting held at 8:30am Sept 4, 2018 in the Syringa Networks board room. Those in attendance: Antonio Meza, Greg Crockett, Jake Durtschi, Shanon Taylor, Mark Munoz, Derek Christiansen, Greg Crockett, Steve Fischbach, Kevin Cutler, Brent McLane, Cindy Napier, Kevin Josephson, Chip Schwarze, Bear Prairie, Richard Malloy, Catherine Smith and Mala Lyon. Minutes from our August 7, 2018 board meeting were reviewed – motion by Cindy to be approved; Greg seconded; board approved Financial report – Shanon - we paid double rent in August due to moving the office; this move has cut the rent cost in half going forward; we will finish out the fiscal year in good shape. motion by Greg to be approved; Shanon seconded; board approved Catherine – proposed budget for 2018-2019 reviewed; City Council approved that we take $85,500 for 2018-19 from the BID. That will allow us to hire a parking specialist to help monitor the lots freeing up Mala to help with more things in the office, like the website. This new person will work 10 to 15 hours per week at $10 an hour working varying hours and some Saturdays. We are projecting to earn $41,798 from events next year. New item in budget is the $5,000 for public art. That should pay for 2 new murals. Oktoberfest is a new event held on the 300 block of Park Avenue. Fallbrew will be in the Civitan Plaza. We hope to have a beer garden for Taste of Downtown next summer. Plan is to hold these events even if the weather look bad. People come even if it’s cold. Jake asked if there could be a contingency in place with the permits in case of bad weather, so the event could be moved? Catherine will check on that. As it is now the permits are for the one location and you can’t move it. Shanon pointed out that a $1,200 stipend to help pay for personal insurance for employees is in the new budget and money to help pay for Catherine’s cell phone as it is used a lot for business. We may also need a simple cell phone for the Parking Specialist person. Chip made the motion that the proposed budget be approved; Greg seconded and board approved. Projects – RDA money will close out the end of this year so we have proposed several projects to them. New street scape for Broadway from Aladdin’s Floral to the Yellowstone Highway. The Broadway Project will have all new sidewalk, curb and gutter which will make the rest of Broadway look even worse. We have asked for $500,000 for that project. $300,000 to complete all the other intersections of removed old planters and replace with new sidewalk and pavers and trees. $100,000 for parking technology for both on and off street parking. $10,000 for beautification of the Broadway project. We will present these projects again in September to the RDA. They like to invest in “brick & mortar” that will bring more taxes into the city, but we hope to show them that these improvements will draw people to come downtown with their business. We have about $120,000 currently being held by the city in our BID fund. We propose that we offer to pay $50,000 of the cost to re-do Broadway street scape to show the RDA we really want to have this project. Greg said it has taken a long time to build that money, but it is money that is to be used. It was 1972 when that street scape was installed on Broadway. He made a motion that we use $50,000 on this project; Kevin Josephson seconded and the board approved. Kevin Cutler – report on the Capital and A Street corner project – the demo of the corner was done very quickly; pavers were on back order; waiting on specific trees to be ready to harvest then the type of tree was changed by the city; Looking for ones that will develop a large canopy; Hope to have it finished by Sept 12th. Tony said we need to make sure these projects are completed in a timely manner so the tax payer can see results. Jake asked if the trees were going to be an issue at every corner we do? Will it be the same trees? You don’t want to plant the same trees in every spot so that if a disease came in it won’t kill off all your trees. There will be 2 different kinds at each intersection. Greg pointed out that 4 Seasons Landscaping has done a wonderful job, maybe they can get the trees we want and use them in the future on other corners. Get competitive bids with a deadline to complete the job. The trees we are getting are larger than average, so you will need someone with the right equipment to be able to plant the trees. The trees will be shipped in from out of state and as we want larger trees they are harder to find. Catherine said the city is taking out the planters at B Street and Yellowstone today. New sidewalk and curb and gutter will be installed. Flower pots will be placed instead of planters. 3 Traffic cabinets are done with the vinyl art wraps and look amazing. We are having a great response from artists for the mural in the alley on the Channel Blend building. Deadline is Friday and it should be finished by October. We are looking for volunteers for Oktoberfest, Boo at the Zoo and Fallbrew. Chip said he would be interested in giving advertising money for these events to draw people in from outside the city to help fill the hotels. Bear Prairie from Idaho Falls Power presented the idea of putting all the electrical utilities that are now in the alleys underground. Underground utilities has been done for the Broadway Project and will be done for the Bonneville hotel. Costs for a building owner to switch the incoming utilities from the roof area to the ground area can be pricey. They could opt to run a line up their wall. They would like to do a whole alley at a time, but could do a block at a time. It would cost $668,000 to do all of the downtown area. Costs are not clearly defined of what each property owner would be responsible for - estimating $2,500 per meter. This project would also include fiber optics lines. If this project does not happen they will continue to just repair the existing transformers and other equipment. It is a lot of clutter in the alleys with all the wires. There would be on the ground transformers that are about the size of the dumpster bins installed in the alleys. He suggested we look at doing a Lighting Improvement District (LID) and tax the property owners for this improvement. They recommend that any building being renovated, like the old Park Avenue Antique building do the prep work for underground utilities now rather than later. First step is to talk with property owners and see how they feel about this project. Meeting was adjourned at 9:35am. Our next meeting will be held Oct. 2, 2018. Respectfully submitted by Kevin Josephson, IFDDC secretary and Mala Lyon