BRONZEVILLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

200 E. Wells Street City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Meeting Minutes BRONZEVILLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE RALPH HOLLMON, CHAIR Rhonda Manuel, Vice-Chair Jayme Montgomery Baker, Radolph Matthews, and Fidel Verdin Staff Assistant, Chris Lee, 286-2232, Fax: 286-3456, clee@milwaukee.gov Legislative Liaison, Jeffrey Osterman, 286-2262, joster@milwaukee.gov Tuesday, March 4, 2014 2:00 PM Room 301-B, Third Floor, City Hall 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 2:08 p.m. 2. Roll Call. Present 4 - Manuel, Hollmon, Montgomery Baker and Verdin Excused 1 - Matthews Individuals also present: Mark Doremus, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Urban Milwaukee Paul Bachowski, Haylard Park resident and property owner Georgia Pabst, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Ald. Milele Coggs, 6th Aldermanic District 3. Review and Approval of the Previous Minutes of April 24, 2013. The minutes of April 24, 2013 were approved with no objections. 4. Update on the Bronzeville Charette and Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District. Ms. Manuel said that there will be a final presentation and community briefing on March 10, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. at the Urban League of Milwaukee presenting the results and discussions that took place from the Bronzeville Charette. Mr. Deshea Agee was to give more details regarding the charette to the committee, but he was not able to appear before the committee today. The charette was an opportunity that involved a focus group of developers, lenders, investors, and community stakeholders who looked at a number of sites and discussed various development options for those sites in the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District. Ms. Montgomery Baker said that staff should post a notice of quorum for this charette briefing on behalf of the advisory committee. City of Milwaukee Page 1 BRONZEVILLE ADVISORY Meeting Minutes March 4, 2014 COMMITTEE Ald. Coggs gave comments. The presentation will be a Bronzeville update meeting focused on the results of the charette and its recommendations. Charettes have helped spark developments in other cities, and she is hopeful that the charette in Bronzeville will spark redevelopment in the district. Some members of the committee were involved in the charette process. She is hopeful that committee members can attend the update meeting to gain awareness of the community’s thoughts, feedback, and direction regarding the district. Mr. Hollmon said that he and Ms. Montgomery Baker participated in the charette. From the charette, there were several teams of architects who met with small groups to talk about different parcels and gain input about possible uses of those parcels. The group that he had participated in looked at the uses and refurbishing of the old Garfield Avenue elementary school. 5. Discussion on the Models and Activities of Other Entertainment and Cultural Districts in Other Cities. Ms. Manuel said that a spreadsheet with information on a number of cities that have cultural and entertainment districts is in the process of being put together. Once finished, comparisons will be made and best practices from these cities will be taken for the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District. The focus has been on the Fillmore District in San Francisco and districts in Baltimore, which seem to have similar goals to those of the Bronzeville district. Mr. Hollmon said that Chicago has a cultural and entertainment district and members may perhaps want to go there to take a look. He added that due diligence, review of all options, and community input are important. 6. Discussion on the Mission and Activities of the Bronzeville Advisory Committee. Mr. Hollmon said that from the first committee meeting of February 29, 2012, Ald. Coggs had given comments regarding the advisory committee. The committee was intended to allow some input from community residents, artists, and stakeholders on the redevelopment and potential uses of available parcels in the Bronzeville area. The committee would primarily be tasked with reviewing parcels of real estate being put up for Requests for Proposal (RFP) in the Bronzeville district. The committee would be another set of eyes, allow for fair bidding opportunities, and advise the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee (RACM). RACM would make final decisions. As time progressed, there could be future legislation to expand the scope of the advisory committee. Current legislation does not prevent or require the committee to have community meetings. Community meetings are an option and would be meaningful in obtaining initial community input. Mr. Hollmon asked members if there should be any changes, expansion, or alterations to the mission of the advisory committee? Ms. Montgomery Baker said that the scope of the advisory committee can be expanded to help raise the profile of the district, bring development there, and assist with making parcels available to developers. Mr. Verdin said that openness to the public is the key and the committee needs to creatively figure out how to do more outreach to involve more residents and the community. City of Milwaukee Page 2 BRONZEVILLE ADVISORY Meeting Minutes March 4, 2014 COMMITTEE Mr. Hollmon said that the suggestions made my members will be discussed with Ald. Coggs, who has expressed some of her own thoughts and ideas. After discussion with the alderwoman and with her input, the matter should be revisited at the next meeting. Mr. Hollmon added that another group called Friends of Bronzeville has been formed and designed to help further redevelopment in Bronzeville. Similar groups have been created in other cultural and entertainment districts and have been instrumental in obtaining community input and funding. Ms. Montgomery Baker is involved with this group. Ald. Coggs said that Friends of Bronzeville is an outside entity and should come before the advisory committee at a future meeting to share the work that it has been doing. The group’s first project was cosponsoring Bronzeville Week last August. This group could play an integral role in redeveloping the area. Ald. Coggs added that Bronzeville Week was a City supported eight day long series of events throughout the Bronzeville area. It highlighted the physical spaces of the district as well as its local talents. Activities included trolley tours, business workshops, gallery nights, poetry nights, movie nights, historical discussions, healthy food, free health check ups, and other activities. A small group of people, including several committee members, were involved. Several hundred people took part in the event. The entire event was tremendously successful and is planned to occur again in the summer. Other artists in other communities have expressed interest and are doing their own activities as a result of Bronzeville Week. The goal of Bronzeville Week was just to spark people’s thoughts on Bronzeville’s arts and entertainment. Part of the reason for Bronzeville Week was that redevelopment had not progressed as expected. Mr. Hollmon said that Bronzeville Week has certainly raised the profile of Bronzeville. He added that activities and planning has occurred in Bronzeville despite the fact that overall redevelopment of the area has not taken place as quickly as many had expected. Mr. Verdin asked if there could be some type of communication given to members to inform them of Bronzeville activities and developments, especially if there are gaps in committee meetings? Ald. Coggs replied that she can work with the Department of City Development to send out monthly briefings to members to inform them of current and new activities taking place in the area. She added that she is working on getting additional membership to the advisory committee from the new Common Council President to help with the committee’s quorum. Ms. Montgomery Baker said that Friends of Bronzeville is meeting and planning to host events in the summer, including Bronzeville Week. The advisory committee should support and engage this group in any way it can. Mr. Bachowski appeared before the committee and shared some matters that he thought the committee should consider in reviewing or adding to its responsibilities. The suggestions included the review of permitted uses, special uses, changes in zoning, the Bronzeville plan, public financing, façade renovations, and extended hours within the district. Mr. Hollmon said that although many needs and areas can be reviewed, the advisory committee should be careful in not being duplicative or infringing on matters that are already within the responsibilities of other city departments. City of Milwaukee Page 3 BRONZEVILLE ADVISORY Meeting Minutes March 4, 2014 COMMITTEE 7. Items for the Next Meeting Agenda. Agenda items for the next meeting should include inviting Friends of Bronzeville to give a brief presentation of its activities and revisiting the mission of Bronzeville Advisory Committee. 8. Set Next Meeting Date and Time. Mr. Hollmon said that there has been some difficulty with having monthly meetings and getting a quorum. He questioned the frequency, time of day, and day of the week for meetings going forward? After deliberations, members stated that the meetings going forward should occur quarterly on Wednesdays in the afternoon, preferably 2 p.m, due to the unavailability of some of the members for other times and days of the week. The next meeting should be set 90 days from today’s meeting with the flexibility that a meeting could be set earlier within 30 or 60 days should any RFP in Bronzeville require review by the committee. Ms. Manuel is to notify the committee of any RFPs requiring committee review. Ald. Coggs said that the briefing on the Bronzeville Charette should spark interest in redevelopment and she is hopeful that it would result in an RFP within the next 30 or 60 days. 9. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 2:54 p.m. Chris Lee, Staff Assistant City of Milwaukee Page 4