IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development Board Meeting held January 11, 2022 at 9:00am in the Arts Council conference room. Those in attendance: Jake Durtschi, Jill Hansen, Kevin Cutler, Brandi Newton, Tasha Taylor, Kasi Nelson, Kevin Josephson & Rain, Greg Crockett, Lisa Farris, Steve Fischbach, Anas Almassrahy. Staff – Catherine Smith, Mala Lyon and Juan Hernandez Minutes of the December 7, 2021 meeting reviewed Greg motioned to accept, Kevin C. seconded; board approved. Financial report – Brandi – The Broadway lot has had construction trucks taking up spaces, so the revenue is down in that lot. Expenses - snow plowing and removal are a priority; costs to clean and restripe the Capital #2 lot; beautification – 4 Seasons does an amazing job taking care of the pots/planters especially on Broadway. Their costs have gone up and they have to pass that increase on to us. Jake suggested that we present a this is our budget what could you do for us rather than asking for a bid. Need to talk with Sheri and ask what can we cut because we can’t pay the overages. Brandi motioned to accept, Tasha seconded and board approved. Catherine – Parking – IE Productions created a flyer explaining the advantages of metered parking. A few businesses are asking that we include some free time up front on the pay to park meters. This has varied from a 20 minute window to 60 minute window. We are looking to gather this feedback. There is a best practice guideline across the industry cautioning cities of offering free time on the pay stations. There is confusion sometimes with the patron to understand even if they are parking for free, they need to utilize the pay station. A variety of the cities have warned that free can be difficult to monitor and roll out in addition to the paid time. If free is done, there must be a very clear communication plan and effort on how the patron uses their free time at the pay station. There were other suggestions to offer the first 30 minutes for a lower amount such as 50 cents. We have a transaction fee every time a card is run on a meter, so we must cover our cost to operate even at a net zero. We need as a board to go out and talk to other Downtowners and continue to gather the feedback and make the informed decisions to move the pay station topic forward with a collective goal. Parking will be a tight and top of mind this summer with the beginning of the new water tower – this is a 2-year project - in the Library parking lot as it is heavily used during the summer. Park Avenue from B Street to Broadway will also be under construction for 12 weeks as they replace the water main. In addition, the new County Elections building on B Street is under construction. This is the former building of DePatco. During the construction on that new election building, the parking lot on the south side which belongs to Nelson Hall Attorney office is blocked off. We have agreed to sell to the county 10 parking spaces for the law office to use until the construction is finished for the law firm that has their parking blocked off. We’ve had our hands full managing the parking changes in that part of town with construction and changes, but things seem to be smoothing out. People that we are contacting to have a permit in the Capital #2 lot which is across the street from the B Street lot are telling us it is too far to walk. This is a total of 20 additional steps from one parking lot to another. Received a complaint about a parking ticket and when we asked where the employer had told them to park, they said they were told by their boss to park on street where it is 2 – hour limits. It’s going to be a slow culture shift to encourage and get employees to stop parking in the 2-hour parking even with the changes we’ve implemented and Block Parking ordinance. 2022 Events: Winterbrew January 22nd St Paddy's Day March 19th - this year at the Broadway Where is the Easter Bunny? April 16th Springbrew April 23rd Autism week April 16 - 23 Idaho Gives May 3rd Taste of Downtown July 23rd Oktoberfest September 24th Ladies Shopping Days Sept 30 & Oct 1 Boo at the Zoo October 27, 28 & 29 Crawl-O-Ween pub crawl October 29th FallBrew November 5th Tree lighting November 25th Shop Small Saturday November 26th Trolley rides Nov 25, 26, Dec 3, 10 & 17 Find Santa's Puppy December 3rd Projects – Labs (Dogs) of Downtown. We received a $5,000 grant from the INL for a mural but then that didn’t happen, so we are looking to use that money this summer to do the dog art statues. We are figuring out the platforms and the ‘leash’ that will attach them to a lamp pole so they won’t be stolen. Welcome arch across Broadway – working on a grant from T-Mobile to cover the costs now that we know where it can be put. Looking for that funding and do the install next year. Public art – we have $10,000 to do one or two murals this summer that will be commissioned works of art. Broadway Plaza light show – we are looking into the costs of doing an on-going light show in the plaza Kasi complimented us on the lights that are strung across the street by Park and A Street Lisa – We still have $20,000 that can be used for projects. Ford’s and I F Magazine expressed interest but have not filled out the applications. Page Insurance is going to do a new bid and the masonry work bid came in way too high. Anas – Imagine I F is finalized, and you can see the final draft online. If there are any action items we want to promote to the city council now is a good time. Adjourned at 10:00am The next board meeting will be held February 1, 2022 Respectfully submitted Jill Hansen – Mala Lyon