Downtown Odessa

DOWNTOWN ODESSA, INC Minutes for January 11, 2022 Council Chambers Board Members present: John Herriage, William Vaughan, Sondra Eoff, Cruz Castillo, Mark Matta, and Lonnie Lawrence Absent: Shawn Rodriguez, Denise Swanner, and Alma Gomez Others present: Randi Pineda, Alexa Moulakis, Audrie Lujan, Monique Wimberly, and Casey Hallmark Board Treasurer John Herriage lead the meeting. The meeting started a 12:00 p.m. Downtown Odessa, Inc: 1. Approval of Minutes – December 14, 2021 – Motion was made by Board Member Eoff and seconded by Board Member Castillo to approve. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Herriage, Vaughan, Castillo, Eoff, Lawrence, and Matta Nay: None 2. Review of December 2021 Financials – Board Member Herriage asked if the board had had a chance to review the December financials and asked that if so, he could receive a motion and a second to approve them. Motion was made by Board Member Eoff and seconded by Board Member Castillo to approve. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Herriage, Vaughan, Castillo, Eoff, Lawrence, and Matta Nay: None 3. New Business: a. Election of 2022 Vice Chair and Treasurer – Board Member Herriage volunteered for an appointment to Vice Chair for 2022 and Board Member Eoff volunteered for an appointment to Treasurer for 2022. Both were approved by the following vote: Aye: Herriage, Vaughan, Castillo, Eoff, Lawrence, and Matta Nay: None b. Addition of ED Casey Hallmark to SouthWest Bank Account – ED Hallmark stated that she would like to be added to the bank account as a signor. Board Member Herriage asked if ED Hallmark wanted to keep Event Coordinator Alexa Moulakis on the account or if there needed to be a motion to remove her. ED Hallmark stated that she would prefer to keep Event Coordinator Moulakis on the account, but that DOI staff would not ever be the 2 signatures on a check for transparency purposes; ED Hallmark mandated that even if Event Coordinator Moulakis remains on the  account, all checks would still be signed by at least 1 board member. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Herriage, Vaughan, Castillo, Eoff, Lawrence, and Matta Nay: None 4. Event Update: a. Recap of Winter Events i. Winterfest Market – Dec 18th – Event Coordinator Moulakis stated that weather was very cold that day, but that turnout was still good for the market and that vendors were surveyed and responded positively saying that they had made good sales. ii. Teddy Bear Tea – Dec. 18th – EC Moulakis stated that about 75 people were in attendance, 40 at the 10 AM session and 35 at the 12pm session. Board Member Herriage at this time asked EC Moulakis to go through some of the financials as they had been approved earlier but not presented. Board Member Eoff asked that for the February meeting on, she as treasurer would like to see a year to date report broken down by class/event each month. iii. New Years’ Eve – Dec 31st – EC Moulakis reported that attendance was down from 2019 but that trend extended to all New Year’s Eve events she was able to get in contact with in the region, presumably due to COVID. Board Member Castillo asked about 2021 prices compared to 2019 prices and EC Moulakis reported that all tickets went up approximately $25 across the board. Board Member Matta asked if the event had broken even and EC Moulakis responded that it had not, but that other proceeds raised during Winterfest would cover any loss from New Year’s Eve. Board Member Castillo asked if EC Moulakis thought there were any other factors that she believed played into the low attendance and she stated that she believed cutting the entertainment budget and not having a larger name act influenced ticket sales, in addition to the lingering effect of COVID. iv. Letters To Santa – EC Moulakis stated that over 80 letters had been received and responded to as part of the Letters to Santa event. b. State of Downtown – EC Moulakis stated that this event was proceeding and that it would take place on February 24th at 11:30am at the Copper Rose Building. EC Moulakis passed out forms with a QR code to direct board members to the nomination form for the State of Downtown Odessa awards. EC Moulakis explained the importance of the board submitting nominations and stated the deadline was January 19th at 4pm. Board Member Castillo asked for a calendar invite to be sent out with that deadline to all board members as a reminder. c. Tap into Downtown – EC Moulakis stated for an event like this to make an appropriate amount of profit, they would need to have 3,000-5,000 attendees and in the current social health climate, that did not seem realistic. EC Moulakis stated that this event would be on hold for at least 1 more year to allow comfort with large  public gatherings to return and to allow businesses within the event footprint to complete construction and open, such as The House and Icon Tavern. 5. Director’s Report: a. Grants Update: i. Documents Submitted for Reimbursement– La Catrina & Co. (infrastructure) – Check for reimbursement will be mailed by the city on Friday ii. Compiling documents for reimbursement – Ambler Law (façade and infrastructure) – No movement on this grant and EC Moulakis informed the board that there were talks within the city’s legal department to institute a timeline for submitting reimbursement documents iii. Under construction – PediCardio of West Texas (façade and infrastructure) – The owners are making small design changes, but abatement is complete iv. Under construction– ICON Tavern (façade and infrastructure) – EC Moulakis reported that there were a few delays, but the project was still on track to be completed within the 1 year time frame. Board Member Herriage stated that the owners should be submitting all building permit applications to the city by the end of the week. v. Under construction– The House (infrastructure) – EC Moulakis stated that this project is just receiving it’s final touches and should have all documents in for reimbursement by the board’s next meeting, if not the March board meeting at the latest. vi. Awaiting paperwork – Par II companies (façade) vii. Awaiting paperwork – Clover House (façade and infrastructure) – EC Moulakis clarified that this is the green building on Texas Ave., not the Clover House organization applying for a grant. viii. Awaiting paperwork – Forever Young Spa (façade and infrastructure) ix. Potential future applicants 1. Jose Benavidez – EC Moulakis stated that Mr. Benavidez owns 3 properties on the northern border of the downtown footprint and had come in for a consultation for grants on all 3 properties. Board Member Herriage questioned whether properties north of 8th Street were eligible for grants and EC Moulakis responded that they were, they were just reimbursed at a lower value due to being located in tier 4 as opposed to properties that are located in a higher tier level. 2. Paradigm Physical Therapy – EC Moulakis stated that there had not been movement on this grant for some time and that is why it had moved from the awaiting paperwork classification to the potential future applicant classification. Board Member Matta asked by the grants were now taking so long and EC Moulakis responded that it was due to the new and more strenuous requirements that ODC had put in place when they recently updated the ordinance that governs the downtown grant programs. As conversation proceeded, Assistant City Attorney Monique Wimberly came up to remind the board of the  importance of staying on topic and that if they wanted to continuing speaking on grant policies that next month, such an item should be placed on the agenda. 3. Dr. Pill 4. Dr. Kurra b. New Initiatives – ED Hallmark stated that it is the beginning of her 2nd week in this position and that she wanted to have a chance to meet with all board members and learn about what is important to them. Board Member Lawrence stated he wanted an update on retail scouting and sidewalks. Board Member Matta stated he’d like her to look into how to speed up the grant application process. Board Member Castillo stated he’d like an agenda item placed on next month’s agenda so he could give an update on the OC community center project. Board Member Herriage stated that he would like to see letters go out to all buildings not currently in compliance with minimum building standards to let them know that there are grants available to assist them in getting their properties up to code.