IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corp. board meeting was held July 2, 2019 in the Syringa Networks Board Room (460 Park Ave) at 8:30am Attendance: Antonio Meza, Kevin Cutler, Greg Crockett, Jake Durtschi, Shanon Taylor, Mark Munoz, Kevin Josephson, Chip Schwarze, Derek Christiansen, Cindy Napier, Dana Briggs - Staff: Catherine Smith, Mala Lyon, Whitney Johnson & Ed O’Rayeh; visitor: Jim Pletcher Minutes for June 4, 2019 were reviewed – Jake motioned they be approved; Chip seconded, and board approved Shanon – financial report: recommended the financial report be revised to show ‘work in progress’ accounting rather than ‘fixed assets’. Also the city BID payment of $25,500 came yesterday and it not included in the income as the financial report shows through end of June. Fund raising shows some of the money collected by credit card for the payment of hanging flower basket sponsorship payments. These funds will be moved to the Foundation account. Catherine will work with the CPA and then send out a revised report to the board. Jake proposed that the board wait for the revised report; Shanon seconded and board agreed. Jake asked if we are good on our budget for the construction projects and Catherine said we are. We still have $100,000 left to spend on the corner project. The parking technology is also on budget. The cameras that will mount on our vehicle came yesterday. We will be going to look at UTV’s tomorrow to see which one will meet our needs. Catherine presented the first draft of the 2019/2020 budget. It shows the projected on-street parking income including the $50,000 support funding that we are hoping to get from the city makes for a wash in profit and loss. The parking will be managed to sustain itself, but we need the $50,000 in support for the first 5 years to break even and maintain our fiscal stability. We are taking a very conservative approach to the parking income and expenses assuming the costs will be high and the income low until we see how it is all going to go. We have done a ton of research and feel we have connected with the best company to do the parking technology. There will be a .07 per transaction processing fee, $254 monthly fee for the monitoring technology and the LPR (license plate reader) scanner is $55 per month, also a cost for WiFi for the 5 parking meters that will be installed. Ed mentioned that we get most of our income in the evening in the parking lots. The potential for income is very good. Greg asked about the parking lots in the Rail Road right away – will we monitor them? There is a couple of box trailers parked there year-round and some cars park there and never move for weeks at a time. We will have to see as we start on street monitoring. Other budget items: increases in dues for Rotary, PIPTA (Pacific Intermountain Parking Transportation Association), going to look at becoming involved in the MainStreet program again. Insurance will be increased as we will have a parking vehicle to insure. Payroll – need to keep separate parking employees – looking at hiring 2 more part-time parking ambassadors. We will be keeping Krisi on as the event manager. She has been a very valuable person to make our events so successful. Public Art – hoping to do 3 more murals again next year and we will look for grants to cover the costs. The Chamber of Commerce is going to work with us to promote the Oktoberfest and St. Paddy’s Day on Park with the Travel Council, to make them weekend come and stay events. Maintenance – We have 102 flower pots to care for year-round – budgeting $65 per pot. We have had to pay Dave Lawrence to water the newly planted trees. Looking at keeping him on to fertilize and prune the trees in the future. We need to do re-surfacing of the B Street. Telephone and internet cost will go up because of the parking technology. Travel expenses – looking to send Ed to Boise to work with their parking people for a couple of days. There are some other conferences that Catherine would like to attend. Retirement match proposal – simple IRA with 3% matching max. Employee puts in 3% of salary and IFDDC puts in 3% matching. Goals: new kiosk sign on greenbelt/river walk – looking at Community Grant funds from the city; Broadway over the street entrance sign; social media especially with parking and events; create a metric for evaluating events; continue parking technology; public arts murals – have lots of places that want murals – the back of the Colonial Theater, back of the ARTitorium, the south wall of Treasure’s and the alley wall of BlackRock. Broadway over the street entrance sign design shown – it will have LED lights. Catherine will talk to ITD and see what their requirements are. We could add Christmas lights and banners for events. Greg said we need to ask why we want to have a sign and the placement is very important. The idea is to create a sense of arrival. Chip asked if it would be easy to climb creating a danger. Catherine will get direction for ITD and also identify funding sources. The construction on Broadway goal was to have the sidewalks walkable by July 4th. The rectangle flower pots are being delivered today. They will be placed with the sprinkler lines and Parks and Rec have the flowers and will plant them this year. The corner projects are on schedule to be finished by the end of July. I.F. Power wants to move forward with some sort of public art project on their back wall on the east side of the river. It’s been discussed that an artist could design a concept and then turn it over to a contractor to complete and I. F. Power will manage the installation. They are willing to pay for this project and the Public Art Committee will work them to make it happen. Looking at wrapping more traffic cabinets on Cliff Street and wrap some of the electric cabinets that are downtown. These are the green cabinets found in parking lots. Murals update – the mural on SnakeBite is finished but we will be talking to the artist to have her remove her website and contact info; the mural on the Villa is finished and the Willow Tree Gallery mural is under way. Dana – this is budget season for the city with public meetings. Since we are requesting funding from the city it is a good idea to come to the meetings and show support of your project. The city does a lot to support the 4th of July events. Encourage your friends and family to be patient and enjoy the holiday. Meeting was adjourned at 9:35am. Our next board meeting will be held August 6, 2019 Respectfully submitted by Kevin Josephson, IFDDC secretary and Mala Lyon