IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development Board Meeting held August 2, 2022, at 9:00am in the Arts Council conference room. Those in attendance: Kevin Cutler, Cindy Napier, Jill Hansen, Tasha Taylor, Chip Langerak, Brandi Newton, Kasi Nelson, Antonio Mesa, Kevin Josephson, Lisa Farris, Councilman Jim Francis, Brad Crammer, Katelyn Long. Staff – Catherine Smith, Juan Hernandez, and Mala Lyon Minutes of the July 12, 2022, meeting reviewed; Chip motioned to accept, Cindy seconded; Board approved. Financial report – Brandi – biggest expense is the watering of the flowers; We have a single contract with Dave Lawrence this year instead of teenagers and Dave Lawrence so we are hoping the final costs will be lower – but the costs are treading up with everything rising. We are watering the flowers with a contract of $20,000 with the city that IFDDC manage it all. The city budgeted $85,000 for the same work. We need to coordinate with the city to be hired at a cost closer to what it costs to do the work. We did cut back our expenses by not doing spring flowers on Broadway. The goal is to have all the pots and baskets set up on an auto watering system at Shoup and A Street. Councilman Jim Francis said we should bring this to the city council and show that we are doing our part and subsidizing the costs. Brandi motioned to accept; Tasha seconded; Board approved. Directors Report – Catherine – We have ordered and will install two ‘Little Art Galleries’ which are similar to the mini free libraries but instead of books you can borrow there will be small pieces of art that people can take and enjoy. One will be placed by the Art Museum and one by the Museum of Idaho. It will have its own social media page and local artists will be encouraged to participate. Six of The Dogs of Downtown statues have been ordered – we are waiting on shipping. Artist will pick them up to decorate and Idaho Steel will attach the bases. They will be moved inside during the winter months and stored at the Art Museum. A new mural to highlight people’s pets will be placed on the alley wall of BlackRock. Each pet portrait will be 12” x 12” and people will have to pay $250 to have their pet’s portrait painted on the wall. We will work with Snake River Animal Shelter. Of that $50 will go to Snake River Animal Shelter, $150 to the artist and $50 to us to maintain the mural. There will be a 3- year contract with the pet owner’s sponsor and then a new portrait will be installed. If this goes well, we hope to expand it onto the Melaleuca wall to the west. Page Insurance also wants to have a mural installed on their building in the same alley. They are wiling to pay to have it done and would just like our support and input – Catherine has applied for a grant through Mountain View Charity to help support the contribution from Page Insurance. Events – We are working on setting up a meeting with the board of the Farmer’s Market and having a hard time finding a time everyone can meet. They need some organizational support. We do not want the Market to move away from the downtown as they are very successful there and it benefits our downtown. Shop the Sidewalk summer sales – June was very successful as it was the same day as SummerBrew, but we had fewer participate in July. Got complaints that it didn’t boost sales. We are offering $100 in Downtown Gift Certificates for people that come downtown that day and fill out a shopping postcard. Some merchants choose not to participate. We will be doing Ladies Shopping Days in Sept. Road Closures for Events – We have been given permission to hold Oktoberfest Sept 17th on Park Avenue in the street if we have a security guard at the door of every bar to control the problem of drinks going in and out of the bars and have a security vehicle at each end of the block with a security person in the vehicle at all times. The police still want us to have bollards or something to block every entrance into the events. Councilman Jim Francis said he had a meeting with the police Chief, and he agreed to let us use the barricades they have but we would have to figure out how to move them and install them and return them each time. Kevin C. said we all appreciate safety, but it needs to be feasible. He has attended soccer tournaments with 1,000’s of people and there is no security required. Nothing is failsafe and if they require a certain standard for security it needs to be for everyone not just certain groups. Brandi said the goal is to keep working on what are the options. How can we make it work? Help us find a way. Being able to have vehicles parked at the end of the blocks is a great step forward. Chip pointed out that road closures are under the jurisdiction of the IFPD and a large group in a park doesn’t fall under their immediate concerns. The removeable bollards could be used, but where do we store them and who would be in charge of placing them out and removing them each time? International Festival – INL has offered to sponsor this event, but they need an organization to give them a scope and statement of the work and manage the money for the committee. IFDDC has the interest and desire to do this. Hoping it will be a yearly event that people will look forward to. We would also like to do a Winter Farmer’s Market every Saturday from our Shop Small Saturday to the Saturday before Christmas on the greenbelt. We have found a ‘fake’ ice skating rink that can be rented and placed in the Broadway Plaza. Brandi said the Museum of Idaho has nativities stored and would love to display them. Chip said we can bring back the nostalgic feel with lots of lights along the river – hire a contractor to put the lights up. Brad Cramer – Report from City of Idaho Falls – housing is still a big concern – there are 1,000 apartments being built and 3,000 more being looked at Catherine – we are still working on getting the lights across the street back up on Park Ave. Kevin met with the Economic Director from Great Falls MT. He had done a tour of Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls. He said they are working on lighting in their alleys for safety and attractiveness. Chip said he is looking at getting a light and cameras in the alley by his mural. More businesses are getting security cameras. It was suggested that we find out who has cameras. If we know who has them, we can look at having them strategically placed to get views everywhere. It is very expensive to link all the cameras together and hire someone to monitor them. Catherine said Jayce Howell suggested we investigate having a ‘clean & green team’ like Boise where this group does all the sidewalk snow removal, security, parking where they let employees know where open parking is thru an app and help move people from place to place. Not sure we can ask property owners to up their BID to cover those costs. We looked into placing lights across Puggslane but were stopped by I F Power and sanitation. Jill suggested that the lights be put on the sides of the buildings rather than strung across. Jill said the Rib & Chop House for safety has the policy that they all leave together at night as a team. The City Council is looking into requiring security at each bar as there has been more problems at them lately. Lisa Farris – CDBG Report – we have $59,000 for 2022 funding. Encourage people to apply for the façade grants. Page Insurance is doing restoration work on the bricks. Willowtree has not applied for an awning and sign as suggested by the Board with the denial of their façade grant. Brandi motioned to move the budget review of the 2022-2023 budget to our next meeting; Antonio seconded. It will be emailed out for review. Meeting adjourned at 10:09am The next board meeting will be held September 13th, 2022 (one week later than normal due to Labor Day) Respectfully submitted - Jill Hansen, secretary and Mala Lyon