IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corp board meeting held at 8:30am Dec. 4, 2018 in the Syringa Networks board room. Those in attendance: Antonio Meza, Brandi Newton, Lisa Farris, Jill Hansen, Shanon Taylor, Cindy Napier, Chip Schawrze, Mark Munoz, Greg Crockett, Kevin Cutler, Jake Durtschi, Kevin Josephson, Dana Briggs, Catherine Smith and Mala Lyon. Minutes from our Nov 6, 2018 board meeting were reviewed – motion by Cindy to be approved; Kevin C. seconded; board approved Financials – We have more income for parking which means a bigger split with Melaleuca for their lot that we manage. Event costs from November are still coming in. Shanon made a motion for the financial report be approved; Greg seconded; board approved Catherine – Directors report – Thank you card from Kelly Sheridan for the flowers we sent her. The mural upset seems to have quieted and we will install a plaque next spring and introduce it with the 1 st Gallery Walk in May. Intersections – Second half of A Street and Capital will be done next March or as soon as the weather permits. Kevin C and Catherine would like to propose that we give the contract to David Lawrence for all the other intersections. He has access to a board supply of trees and has done excellent work so far. Having one contractor to finish all the intersections makes sense as he can order all the pavers and trees at once. We can only bring in trees in the spring and the fall as that is when they are harvested. The pavers had to be ordered and there was a wait on that as well. Jake asked if we would only do one intersection at a time? Yes because we have to work with the city to get water lines capped off and try to disrupt the traffic flow as little as possible. Park and B Street will be first, after finishing A Street and Park, so that will be finished before Alive After 5 starts up in May. Then Capital and B Street will be next and then B Street and Shoup. The corners coming in off Memorial and Broadway will be done last. Jake made a motion to award the contract to David Lawrence; Jill seconded and board approved. Broadway landscaping – Catherine will have a conceptual drawing from the city tomorrow and will share them by email to the board. Lee Radford wants to see the design also as they want to make sure things agreed upon are not cut to save money. We are contributing up to $50,000 to this project from money held by the city in the BID fund. Brandi asked if the RDA has a legal right to have a say now that the money has been awarded? Suggested that they appoint on person from the RDA committee to meet with Catherine so she doesn’t have to keep going back to them and present to their entire committee. This project will get bogged down if too many people are having a say. Catherine feels the RDA and the IFDDC have the same goals to protect the project. This project will go out for bid this spring. We had lots of events this past month. MarCellar’s had their wine sale in The DEC and they had 500 to 600 people come. Estimating that it increases their sales by 20 – 30%. SnakeBite had their annual brunch and had a huge crowd. ‘Find Santa’s Puppy’ event had an estimated 400 people attend. Santa is in the Civitan Plaza every Friday, Saturday and Monday. Bringing more people downtown. The Tree Lighting/Shop Small Saturday and horse drawn trolley rides was well attended. Jake commented that there was some confusing on the marketing as to the timing of the tree lighting. It said 5:30, but when they arrived at 5:30 it was done. We worked with the city and it became complicated with what they wanted and what we do. The band didn’t play Christmas music as requested. The Bank of Idaho was very supportive. They sponsored the free hot chocolate and had color books and crayons for all the kids. Goals for 2019 – we want to market downtown parking in a positive manner, branding it as there is parking available, we just have to help people understand where it is and that they will have to walk to their destination. We want to take the leadership roll in this communication. Greg said we need to look long term on our goals as we will have more downtown residents. We have the need for a small grocery market. Dana said they approached Trader Joe’s to go in where the Broadway is now but it didn’t work for them and they are 3 years out before they will look at another one in Idaho. Broulim’s was also approached and they are not interested. Chip said the ‘Millennial’ generation doesn’t like the big chain stores, they want the small corner markets like you see in Seattle. Greg said we need to also focus on utilizing the new Broadway plaza. Decide what we want it to look like after it is deeded over to the city. Catherine said there will be a meeting on the 10th to discuss the Broadway plaza. There is talk of an ice skating rink using artificial ice, but it will come down to who manages it and can pay for it. Dana said we should host a meeting with others to show off the space and discuss ideas of uses for it. The Farmer’s Market is already talking about using it. Murals for this next year are being discussed by the Art Committee. We plan to do 2 or 3 murals at $2500 each. The signal boxes are all finished with the art vinyl wraps. The last one was wrapped with Fred Ochi’s art work. We need to post with the city the dates of our 2019 board meetings. Catherine will make that list and when a date falls on or the day after a holiday, we will bump it one week. She will make the schedule and email it to the board. Lisa – we have $600 left from 2017 which is enough for one more sign; $55,000 for 2018 – Dave’s Bike Shop is purchasing his building and want to get a grant; The Vouge has also asked about grant money. The 2019 request cycle is just starting. The boundaries for the grant money are Memorial to Yellowstone and Broadway to G Street. Jace Howell has bought several buildings downtown including Ferrell’s which will be relocating to Ammon after the first of the year. Dana – The airport does a re-evaluation every 10 years and will be having an open meeting Dec. 13th at 2:00 at the College of Eastern Idaho. They are looking at federal grants and possible direct flights to Seattle and Dallas. They need community input and support to improve and expand the airport. INL campus expansion and growth still coming. Snake River Landing is planning to announce some new plans. Meeting was adjourned at 9:30am. Our next board meeting will be held Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Respectfully submitted by Kevin Josephson, IFDDC secretary and Mala Lyon