Downtown Development Authority

Downtown Development Authority Meeting Friday, May 15, 2025 Meeting Minutes 12:01 PM: Call to Order. Roll Call Present: Prime, Fred; Shermeyer, Pam; Kantor, Bruce; Huey, Danielle; Green, Alex; Greene, Mike; Colson, Austin. Absent: Felton, Patricia; Jones, Charlotte; Sugg, Dan. 12:02 PM: Motion to approve the Agenda is made by Bruce Kantor and seconded by Pam Shermeyer and is approved unanimously. Motion to approve the meeting minutes is made by Pam Shermeyer, supported by Bruce Kantor and is approved unanimously. 12:03 PM: Consent Agenda Motion to approve consent agenda by Bruce Kantor, seconded by Mike Greene and approved unanimously. No questions or comments made on the consent agenda. 12:03 PM: Public Comment No public comments. 12:03 PM: Old Business Monthly Board Meeting Time discussion that was tabled in April is brought back to the forefront. DDA Intern Kennedy presents the results of a survey that was conducted over the past month by the DDA regarding preferred times for meetings if the board wishes to change meeting times. Seven responses were received and reported on, and in the responses there is no consensus as to a unanimous time or day that works for everyone. The survey was conducted utilizing Microsoft Forms and had six questions: Is the third week of the month still a good week, and one question for each day of the week with several two-hour time slots.  Questions did allow for multiple answers and could be amended as respondents figured out their schedules. Time slots were as follows: Earlier than 8 am Morning (8 am - 10 am) Late Morning (10 am - 12 pm) Early Afternoon (12 pm - 2 pm) Mid-Afternoon (2 pm - 4 pm) Late Afternoon (4 pm - 6 pm) Later than 6 pm The Board is advised that they do not need to vote on a change of times today if they do not feel as though they are ready to do so. For most days, there appeared to be heavy preferences to most times after noon and into the evening. The survey results presentation can be found here. According to the data, there is no consensus. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday had the most availability and had more responses in favor of those days. Afternoons seemed to be the most widely available/favored across the board regardless of day. The DDA is open to conducting a second survey featuring specific times in a ranked-choice voting system where the options will be the choices from Survey 1 with the most responses to them. Pam Shermeyer inquires if there is a way to alternate meeting dates and times, but is advised that uniformity helps residents and board members. If they don’t have to remember changing dates and times, then they are less likely to miss meetings and events. 12:13 PM: New Business LVMF Performance Agreement for Boddum Line. DDA Director Colson updates the Board that we did have a musical act fall through in their wait for contract approval since the March meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum. The LVMF selected a replacement- the Boddum Line band featuring Southfield locals. Their contract is for $1,000, with a $500 deposit to secure them. Director Colson also updates the board on sponsorships: the LVMF has acquired $12,545 in sponsorship money outside of the DDA’s contribution. With the DDA contribution it is $22,545, meaning the music festival is  closing in on its goal of $28,000. The LVMF is also operating under budget on musical talent costs. Pam Shermeyer makes motion to approve the contract for Boddum Line, with Mike Greene seconding. Motion approved unanimously. DDA Colson and Mayor Garrett reveal details of some exciting events being planned for the upcoming summer as part of the Move with the Mayor nationwide initiative, that focuses on attempting to get the community organized and engaged in physical activity. The first event is the Walk the DDA event, that will take walkers up and down Southfield Road along the DDA District, allowing for residents to explore the businesses that they may miss in their day-to-day travels and meet their local business owners. Interestingly, there is already a 5K path routed throughout the city from nearly a decade prior, which is something that may be done later in the year. The biggest concern being traffic control. However, Mayor Garrett preferred the Walk the DDA plan, featuring steaks in the ground that walkers can identify how far they have walked. It can also be broken down by quadrants, meaning walkers will take a northern path for one week and a southern path the next week. There were also discussions about doing a city-wide wiffle ball game, featuring the city’s various boards and commissions facing off against each other for fun and bragging rights. Danielle Huey brings up using Food Truck Fridays as a backdrop for the wiffle ball game. The wiffle ball game would take place in late July-early August while the Walk the DDA would be later in June in the midmorning to prevent overheating by Southfield Road. 12:26 PM: DDA Director Report DDA Director Colson updates the Board on upcoming Tri-City events: Business Resource Training being hosted by Oak Park on May 28th; a morning Business Mixer in late July by Southfield. The Lathrup Village Music Festival on September 13th, and there will be the Resources to Boost Holiday Sales in September that will give businesses enough time to adapt the lessons from that event to their own holiday sales. The City also recently hosted Succession planning training by Horizon Advisors. Oakland Thrive is hosting a three-day training course at Lathrup Community Center. Tracey Williams is present to facilitate a presentation regarding an educational workshop in June, the first three Tuesdays of the month from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, Robin Kenny of Kenny Media- a Lathrup Village resident- who will be providing instruction on podcasting. The goal is that by the end of the three-week lesson, attendees will be able to produce their own podcasts. The Planning Commission approved the site plan proposal for the Lathrup High School next door to City Hall, turning it into an adaptive reuse that will be residential featuring 128 (amendment: 145) apartment units. The HAWK signals are up and are soon to be running to allow for a more walkable downtown. The multi-year Alleyways project is underway and, depending on availability of resources, it may be completed in Fiscal Year ’26 (FY26). The Finance Team wishes to streamline reporting processes and merge the DDA accounts with the City’s Flagstar Account. Administrator Mike Greene clarifies how the finance accounts work, and that the DDA will still have their own budgetary line, the reporting will be the same, but the City account has a higher yield to it so it would have greater interest rates. The Board agrees with this decision. The DDA officially hosted the first Shave-a-Thon benefiting the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for Cancer Research and raised over $1,500 in support of the initiative. DDA Intern Tom Kennedy was shaved by Donna Wallace of Wallace Financial, who was our highest bidder, and the event was provided shaving oversight by Valerie Bryant of Always Hair 4 U! salon. The event was such a success that plans are being made for next year’s fundraiser. DDA Director Colson also shouts out Papa’s Pizza for sponsoring lunch. DDA Director Colson also highlights Valerie Bryant hosting an event at city hall over mother’s day weekend that provided wigs for women currently experiencing chemo treatments that distributed 300 wigs. The Tree Committee in April held an event that planted a new tree in Municipal Park, celebrated Lathrup Village claiming its Tree City USA designation and provided insight as to how one can properly care for freshly planted trees. They will also be hosting an event in June that they are calling for volunteers to assist with, where the Tree Committee will be planting some 50 trees throughout the city over the weekend of June 7 th. DDA Director Colson also follows up with Bruce over a grant opportunity he discovered for the Music Festival. The city was awarded $5,000 from  the county to be put towards the Music Festival. Additionally, Michigan First donated $1,500 towards the festival as a sponsor as well. The DDA is confident it will meet the $28,000 budget before the event takes place. Bigby Coffee on Southfield Road and 11 Mile will have a booth at the event and will be providing coffee so that the bar can experiment with a coffee-flavored cocktail. Papa’s Pizza will return to the event and Rita’s Ice has committed to the LVMF as a booth as well. DDA Director Colson asks for local businesses to provide products like gift certificates to give away at the DDA Booth to support our local businesses and provide free publicity for them. Danielle Huey asks if contracts can be updated to have talents and acts promote the event on their social media. The DDA approved the purchase of flower pot soil around Municipal Park and City Hall. DDA Director Colson and Intern Kennedy moved 1,600 pounds of soil and Pam Shermeyer swapped out the soil (in 9.5 hours). The pots are not prepared for new plants when they arrive in approx. one week. The DDA also reasserts that its doors are always open, as are all lines of communication and that we are eager to speak with anyone who has any questions or concerns they want addressed. 12:55 PM: Adjournment Pam Shermeyer makes a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bruce Kantor seconds. Motion passes unanimously. Meeting adjourned.