IF Downtown Development Corporation (IFDDC)

Idaho Falls Downtown Development board meeting was held April 2, 2024, at 9:00am in the Willard Arts Center. Those in attendance: Kevin Cutler, Tasha Taylor, Jill Hansen, Greg Crockett, Brandi Newton, Cindy Napier, Jesse & Tara Mendoza, Sid Page, Jake Durtschi, Chip Langerak, Lisa Farris – city Grant Manager; staff: Mala Lyon and Juan Hernandez; visitor: Jim Pletscher Minutes from March 5, 2024- Jill motion to approve, seconded by Cindy – approved by the board. Financial report – Brandi –received the full agreed upon amount from the city for the parking contract –separate from the BID funds; events are doing very well; Snow removal costs lowest amounts we have ever had. Greg motion to approve, seconded by Tasha – approved by the board. Report – Mala – received bids from Pro Seal for the parking lots – to seal cracks, seal asphalt and re-paint the B lot about $12,000; A Lot seal cracks, seal asphalt and re-paint about $15,000. Brandi motioned do both lots and budget $30,000; Greg seconded and board approved. Citations –IPS added a statement that “fees are subject to change” that will print when the citation is printed Curb & Gutter –ours application is submitted for the Capital North parking lot area New printer donated – the Arts Council donated a printer - hired Scion Computer to get it connected Solar light by meters - if the battery runs completely out it will have to be charged by plugging it in to charge The LDS Service Missionaries want to do a service project for the downtown. We would like to enlist their help in cleaning up the alleys and parking lots. Greg motion to approve this activity, seconded by Chip – approved by the board. Yellowstone sign has 2 openings and we are working with the Centre Theatre to do an advertising swap and have them advertise for us during their pre-movie ad time. Lisa said we can use Façade Grant funds up to $500. Courtney’s report by Mala – Thank you to Greg for helping us get aprons to use at all our events (it is wonderful to have pockets!) and he is also sponsoring t-shirts that will be gifts to our volunteers. It is very helpful for people to be able to quickly see who is working at an event because they are wearing an apron. Greg said that we all need to thank Courtney for her excellent work on advertising these events and making them happen so successfully. St Paddy’s Day on Park – the total was $22,426; expenses were $14,215.98; our profit is $8,210.02 If ice is still a problem the Arts Council has a freezer and will work with us. Find the Easter Bunny – we printed 400 maps and had 46 leftover. We had the map handout, the photo op with the Easter Bunny and the prizes all in the Civitan Plaza. Lots of positive comments. Upcoming events: Awesomeness of Autism fundraiser – 12 businesses have signed up, starts April 15th and ends the 27th. We will be selling some swag SpringBrew. SpringBrew – April 27th – We need volunteers; we are switching the lay out a little to try and help the lines. More signage; maybe have 2 token tents on the north and the south side? put instructions in the promo ads; Idaho Gives – we are signed up to participate. ‘Dogs Dig Downtown’ – May 18th SummerBrew June 22nd - same day as Pride Day Festival and they have asked if we would like to be a sponsor. Upcoming Projects & Updates: The new brochures are printed! Free Little Art Gallery will be moved from the Museum of Idaho to the south west corner of Shoup and A Street. We are working with Good News Concrete to create a fun design on the sidewalk. Downtown Residents – we want to reach out to the people that live downtown by sending them a postcard with info on how to connect with downtown and possibly volunteer. Option #1: 764 addresses for $400.63 Option #2: 1606 addresses for $826.02 Brandi motioned that we do the larger mailing; Greg seconded and board approved. Lisa – we have $36,000 in façade grant funds; $500 went to Holiday House for a sign; $1,500 to Lyn’s for a new awning. We are using the funds for safety lights at the intersections of Memorial and B Street and D Street so pedestrians can cross into the downtown safely. Kevin – we have hired a new Executive Director Bryan Chaffin; he grew up in Idaho Falls and is very excited to work with the downtown. Jim Pletscher – he has been working on cleaning up areas of the downtown specifically the gutters, garbage bins, graffiti and Puggslane. He requests that we connect with the downtown property owners and business owners to ask that they take responsibility for cleaning up their sidewalk and gutters and if they are connected with an alley that also needs to be kept clean. If one business does it then hopefully others will see that and decide to clean things up too. The parking lot at the old Wells Fargo is totally full every day with employees. Customers used to park there to make a quick run into Great Harvest, but now the street is totally full and customers are not stopping. We need to encourage downtown workers to be mindful of not taking up customer space. Meeting was adjourned 10:20am Our next board meeting will be held May 7, 2024. Respectfully submitted - Jill Hansen, secretary, and Mala Lyon