Downtown Development Authority

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Monday, September 13, 2021 Council Assembly Room 6:30 PM 70 S. Clayton St, GA 30046 Call to Order Vice Chairman Jones called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm after recognizing a quorum. PRESENT Board Member Victoria Jones Board Member Bruce Johnson Board Member Joanie Perry Ward Board Member Katrina Fellows Board Member Jeremy Higginbotham ABSENT Board Member Lee Merritt Approval of Agenda Motion to approve the agenda made by Board Member Fellows, Seconded by Board Member Perry Ward. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes 1. Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes for August 9, 2021 Motion to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes for August 9, 2021 made by Board Member Perry Ward, Seconded by Board Member Johnson.  Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham 2. Approval of Executive Session Minutes for August 9, 2021 Motion to approve the Executive Session Minutes for August 9, 2021 made by Board Member Fellows, Seconded by Board Member Johnson. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham Downtown Development Business 3. Approval of September 2021 Treasurer’s Report Board Member Fellow (Treasurer) reviewed the September 2021 Treasurer's Report with the Board. Motion to approve the September 2021 Treasurer's Report made by Board Member Higginbotham, Seconded by Board Member Perry Ward. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham 4. Calendar Changes Motion to move the October DDA Meeting from October 11th to October 4th made by Board Member Fellows, Seconded by Board Member Johnson. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham Motion to move the December DDA Meeting from December 13th to December 6th made by Board Member Fellows, Seconded by Board Member Johnson. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham 5. Report from Georgia Cities Foundation Vice Chairman Jones and Barry Mock gave the Board an update on the recent Downtown Development Conference hosted by the Georgia Cities Foundation.  6. Film Event at 400 Collins Industrial Jasmine Billings presented a proposal to the Board to allow a film company approval to film on DDA property located at 400 Collins Industrial Way near Georgia Gwinnett College. The film company is working with Gwinnett County regarding the county property that will also be affected. The film company is wanting to film for about three days. The plan is to film a crash scene on the property. They will be placing a miniature billboard on the property. The crash scene will have a car crashing into the miniature billboard. These larger film companies have a very in-depth process and they will have various safety elements well taken care of including the presence of the Gwinnett County Fire Department. Motion to approve the DDA property located at 400 Collins Industrial Way to be used for filming and for Chairman Merritt and Jasmine Billings to be the point persons to negotiate on the DDA's behalf with the film company made by Board Member Johnson, Seconded by Board Member Higginbotham. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham Mainstreet Business Mainstreet Business update was given by Jasmine Billings, Community Development Manager. Lawrenceville is a classic Mainstreet community. Jasmine mentioned she truly enjoyed the Downtown Development Conference, but she will share her more detailed update at another meeting. There is a Neighborhood Market this upcoming weekend. There will be a Bruno Mars tribute band on Friday night, 30 cultural vendors all weekend, and a parade on Friday. Movie on the Lawn "League of Their Own" next weekend - Gwinnett Stripers will be in attendance as will other softball and baseball teams from the area. The Events team are still using health and safety guidelines and they are still encouraging masks. Hand sanitizer stations will be placed in various areas around the event. We have some new businesses coming to Downtown. New pizza place, Uncle Jacks Tavern at South Lawn, the Ice Cafe (new ice cream shop), Reyna's Expresso & Sweets will open soon, and Pearls Tea (bubble tea) at South Lawn. Other Business Barry Mock updated the Board on a meeting that he and Chairman Merritt had with Chuck Warbington, City Manager. The goal of the meeting was to assist Chairman Merritt with some of the many DDA items she has been managing over the last few years and to pass some of these to others to assist her. A couple of items where assistance is needed is for monitoring the strategically sold properties that have buy back clauses. These buy back clauses are so if the buyer does not build or produce what we wanted them to do there is a mechanism we can use to begin the process of buying the property back. We are needing to follow up with these properties. Please let us know if you are able to assist. Vice Chairman Jones mentioned about that the Board could divide and conquer on these properties. 51 South Clayton Street (Sweet Octopus) - closed on April 15, 2021 Born Street Duplex - closed on December 24, 2020 225 North Perry (Sound Associates) - closed on January 30, 2020 Citizen Comments No Citizen Comments Executive Session - Real Estate Motion to move into Executive Session made by Board Member Fellows, Seconded by Board Member Perry Ward. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham Motion to exit Executive Session made by Board Member Fellows, Seconded by Board Member Perry Ward. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham Report of items discussed in Executive Session: 3 real estate items discussed; 3 votes taken. Final Adjournment Motion to adjourn made by Board Member Higginbotham, Seconded by Board Member Fellows. Voting Yea: Board Member Jones, Board Member Johnson, Board Member Perry Ward, Board Member Fellows, Board Member Higginbotham Minutes Signature ___________________ Victoria Jones, Vice Chairman ___________________ Barry Mock, Secretary