IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development Board Meeting held February 7, 2023, at 9:00am in the Arts Council conference room. Those in attendance: Jake Durtschi, Cindy Napier, Tasha Taylor, Greg Crockett, Antonio Meza, Kevin Cutler, Shanon Taylor, Chip Langerak, Caitlyn Long – Community Development Services, Jim Francis – City Councilman; staff - Catherine Smith, Juan Hernandez, Courtney Hernandez and Mala Lyon Minutes of the January 10, 2023, meeting reviewed; Tasha motioned to accept, Cindy seconded; Board approved. Financial report – Catherine – We have $2,000 in the Parking Infrastructure account that will be used to make improvements and will hopefully grow over time as needed; The $15,000 in our accounts receivable includes the Feb. parking permit invoices that just went out; Rib & Chop House has been invoiced for their $2,500 sponsorship for the ice rink and we are waiting for their payment; parking income – we over sell the A Street lot, but have to leave open spaces for the snow piles in the other lots during the winter; The Broadway lot has lots of turn over and people pay to park; On-Street citations that are not paid within 90 days are sent to collections. We have the authority to tow vehicles and towed one last week that owed over $1,200 in citation fines. Snow removal is over budget – we have had to spend $5,000 on just ice melt this year; we have had much higher expenses on ice melt this year due to the freezing temps and rain. We manage the Yellowstone sidewalks and work hard to keep them clean and in the South Broadway lot behind the businesses on Broadway. Greg motioned to accept Shanon seconded; Board approved. Catherine – The ice skating rink has been removed from the Broadway Plaza and is stored in the parking garage storage room. A big Thank You to Jake and his team for removing it this morning. We will have to look at having it in a different location next year, as the plaza area proved to have too many problems. We are hoping moving to Memorial Drive will work well and locating it on one of the parking cement pads. We will work with the sponsors to make sure they have signage. It will be a very visible spot there too. Greg suggested some picnic tables by it next year. Parks and Rec was very helpful in bringing in the Santa hut. We learned a lot this year and hope to make some good improvements for our next holiday season! We are collecting bids for snow plowing for next year. The lot behind the buildings on Broadway does not see much sunshine to soften and melt the snow and ice. The ice really builds up and has been challenging. In addition, there are lots of walking paths that are challenging to clear. Greg said this parking lot was landscaped in 1972. There are trees that have pushed the sidewalks up with their roots, which is a tripping hazard. It needs to be fixed up. Kevin said it was pruned last year. Parks and Recreation did a big clean up of the landscaping late last summer in 2022. A volunteer signup sheet was passed around asking for help at WinterBrew and St. Paddy’s Day events. Summer Construction – the 2-year water tower project will be starting soon. The Library lot will be closed during construction. The Library’s plan is to move parking to the Broadway south lot behind the Broadway businesses. There will be a section marked out for Library parking. The Library plans to use golf carts will be used to transport people from outlying parking lots. Park Avenue between Park and Cliff will be shut down at times. The intersection of Broadway and the Yellowstone Highway will be redone and will take 3 to 4 months this summer. The sidewalk by Denning’s is pretty broken up and it is up to the property owner to make those repairs. Most likely with the intersection construction, a large area of curb and gutter will be poured fresh and new. The intersection will not be widened. The same footprint will be reconstructed. The city may eventually take over Broadway and it will not be a state route/road but that could be 7-10 years down the road. Chip recommended that the crosswalks be painted with more than just two lines so it is very visible that it is a cross walk. This needs to be a pedestrian friendly space and cars are the ‘guests’ not the priority. Councilman Jim Francis said Kerry is working on the “Complete Streets” program so that streets can be best used for all including pedestrians, bike riders and vehicles. Signs saying yield to pedestrians signs are important as we have many tourists come that are not familiar with our roads, especially our one way streets. Catherine – I.F. Power has security lights available for $20 a month and they will install them for free. We had 2 installed in the alley behind the Colonial Theater and Ford’s Bar. The USDA has a pollinator grant and we are looking to see if we qualify as we plant to many flowers downtown. The flowers then support bees. Yellowstone Teton Territory awarded IFDDC $15,000 to help promote our events this year and we are working on another grant which will include help with administrative costs. Businesses can request grant money too directly through YTT. The grant deadline is January 30 of every year. Parking – Will be doing a new presentation to the city council with a map over lay of where pay to park meters will be installed and electric vehicle power stations. I.F. Power is open to installing the charging stations and managing them. Councilman Jim Francis – The city is looking at removing the stop lights at Yellowstone Highway and Cliff Street and installing a hawk light. Public outreach will be requested for feedback and Catherine will make sure that information is available to participate. A small nuclear reactor project that will produce 5% of the needed electricity for Idaho Falls is being discussed. It will be more expensive as costs of a project such as this have doubled since 2018. Meeting adjourned at 10:00am The next board meeting will be held March 7, 2023 Respectfully submitted - Jill Hansen, secretary and Mala Lyon