Downtown Odessa

DOWNTOWN ODESSA, INC Minutes for October 12, 2021 Council Chambers Board Members present: John Herriage, William Vaughan, Alma Gomez, Lonnie Lawrence, Sondra Eoff and Cruz Castillo Absent: Denise Swanner, Mark Matta and Shawn Rodriguez Others present: Randi Pineda, Alexa Moulakis and Craig Stoker Invocation: Sondra Eoff gave the invocation. Board Chairman William Vaughan lead the meeting. The meeting started a 12:00 p.m. Downtown Odessa, Inc: 1. Approval of minutes – September 14, 2021 – Motion was made by Board member Lawrence and seconded by Board member Herriage to approve. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Herriage, Vaughan, Gomez, Lawrence, Eoff and Castillo Nay: None 2. Review of September 2021 Financials – Board member Herriage went over the financials. Motion was made by Board member Eoff and seconded by Board member Lawrence to approve. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Herriage, Vaughan, Gomez, Lawrence, Eoff and Castillo Nay: None 3. New Business: a. Appointment of representative to Downtown Grant Review Board – Per Alexa one of the changes ODC made to the Façade and infrastructure Grant Program was to get representation back into the program. We need to appoint one member back into the downtown review board to fill our spot. The board voted on appointing William Vaughan as the DOI representative. b. Discussion of potential Downtown Odessa Stakeholders’ Subcommittee or Forum – Mr. Craig Stoker introduced himself as the chair of the Tirz board which also serves downtown, they share boundaries, ideas, and goals. He said they facilitated an update to the masterplan for downtown that was held last month. They received an update from Kimley Horn who they employed to facilitate the Master Plan. Report should be ready by the end of this month. But during that process he said that several of the DOI board came and took part and he really appreciated that. He said that something that he identified that was missing is an opportunity for all of us that has a stake in downtown to get together and discuss kinda what they are doing. He said  that in their meeting Alexa has been providing them with what DOI board is doing but he does not think any one from Tirz has ever come to DOI to talk about what they are doing. Up to now there has been nothing, first year Tirz did not have any money and the second year was Covid. Something that he thought would be helpful to everyone would be to start a stakeholder meeting with some representation from each board, he said that the Tirz board is made up of the City, Odessa College and Medical Center Hospital. He wants some representation from each of these entities too meet at least quarterly. They are doing a little research on subcommittees that they can create for their projects as well. He believes if we get together and have a conversation we will be in a better place. Mr. Stoker wants DOI to be part of the process with the Master Plan. He wants everyone who is working to get downtown moving involved so that they do not duplicate services. He also said he would like to have a launch event where they are able to present to the stakeholders which will be DOI, Chamber, City, County and businesses. They discussed having something like that at the Ector, just to say hey we are back and ready to move forward. Board member Lawrence and Castillo agreed to be on the forum. Mr. Stoker shared some of the projects that Tirz has been discussing. 4. Event Update: a. Falloween Scavenger Hunt and Trunk-o-treat i. Hunt: Oct 22-30 – this will end earlier in the day on the 30th ii. Trunk-o-Treat: Oct 30th from 4-8pm and movie at 8pm this will also be when the prizes for the scavenger hunt will be given. b. Winter Events i. Parade of Lights – Dec. 4th 1. Registration Open – 15 to 20 people have already registered 2. DOI Float – Decided that DOI will not participate ii. Winterfest Market – Dec. 4th and 18th iii. Teddy Bear Tea – Dec. 18th – still looking for a sponsor for the Teddy bears, tables will be private instead of mixed so there will be 2 settings one from 10:00am - 11:30am and the other 12:00pm - 1:30pm each setting will have 50 people iv. New Years’ Eve – Dec. 31st - event will start with a comedy show, after the show they will be released to go back to the dance floor type area where the DJ will kick off they will also have all types of hors d’oeuvres. c. Future Outside/Partner Events i. Memorial Car Show – West Texas Ford Truck Mafia 2nd weekend in June 2022 5. Director’s Report: a. Grants Update: i. Compiling documents for reimbursement – Ambler Law (façade and infrastructure) no movement ii. Under construction – PediCardio of West Texas (façade and infrastructure) iii. Under construction– ICON Tavern (façade and infrastructure)  iv. Under construction– The House (infrastructure) v. Under construction– La Catrina & Co. (infrastructure) – 301 W. 2nd, Will open soon. This is an upscale Western Boutique. vi. Resubmitted documents under review – Gifts R Us (façade) vii. Awaiting paperwork – Paradigm Physical Therapy (façade) viii. Awaiting paperwork – Par II companies (façade) ix. Awaiting paperwork – Clover House (façade and infrastructure) x. Awaiting paperwork – Forever Young Spa (façade and infrastructure) xi. Potential future applicants 1. Dr. Pill 2. Dr. Kurra 6. Downtown Odessa Inc. Staffing Update: a. Executive Director – Per Randi Pineda the position was offered to Sheena Green. As of now they are going through the process, paperwork is being checked, checking references and background check is being done. b. Executive Assistant – Per Alexa position was opened, we’ve had one interview last week and will have another one on Thursday.