PBIA Advisory Board

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia WA 98501 PBIA Advisory Board Contact: Brian Wilson 360.570.3798 Thursday, April 9, 2015 6:00 PM Council Chambers 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Corso called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 10 - Chair Mary Corso, Boardmember Sarah Adams, Boardmember Ken Adney, Boardmember Alana Carr, Boardmember Janis Dean, Boardmember Bobbi Kerr, Boardmember David Rauh, Boardmember Phil Rollins, Boardmember Jeffrey Trinin, and Boardmember Sunday Williams Excused: 5 - Vice Chair Connie Phegley, Boardmember Nancy Grace Campbell, Boardmember Sheila Irish, Boardmember Jeannine Kempees, and Boardmember Jess Nicoletti 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 15-0380 Approval of March 12, 2015 PBIA Board Meeting Minutes Boardmember Adney moved, seconded by Boardmember Trinin, to amend the minutes to include the group work plans. The minutes were approved unanimously as amended. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS The Liquor Control Board approved a ban list that will go into effect on May 7. It will be enforced by the Liquor Control Board, will be the most comprehensive ban list in the state, and has been met with 100% compliance so far. A litter survey data collection process will be run internally through City staff. The State Theatre is in the design process to improve pedestrian safety and the atmosphere of the outdoor areas around the building. City of Olympia Page 1 PBIA Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 9, 2015 There will be an opportunity to prioritize the Action Plan as a follow-up to the Comprehensive Plan at the Olympia Center on April 18. A Business After Hours event and a mixer are on the Chambers Calendar. Anna Schlecht will be taking over some of Brian Wilson's responsibilities with the PBIA and Downtown Strategy. An Economic Development Coordinator will be hired and when they are in place, it will be clearer who will be filling in for the Downtown Liaison's responsibilities and in what distribution. The City will remain focused on how to support downtown and its ability to reach all demographics. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 15-0379 Downtown Strategic Plan Senior Planner Amy Buckler introduced the Downtown Strategy. The Comprehensive Plan was recently adopted, which established a vision for downtown. The City is ready for next steps, which will determine how the plan will be implemented. There will be a kickoff in the fall and a strategy will be developed over the following year, allowing time to communicate with the public and discuss ideas and options. The consideration will be concerning the five to six years after that, looking at what can be done that will have the greatest strategic impact for downtown. Through the Downtown Strategy, the City can communicate what goals are and what they are trying to do. Next steps include scoping the process, hosting an open house on April 29, hiring a consultant team to help with implementation, public workshops, analysis, and drafting. This project is not starting from scratch, with previous projects providing framework and examples that can be followed to success. Clarity about the kind of development desired will help to create a more predictable path and invite private investment. A stakeholder group will be formed as an advisory board to help guide staff. Input on what a successful advisory committee looks like will be collected, as well as determining what the scope of work is. There is a budget for a consultant into 2016 at $250,000 total. The overall public process will deal with work items, but the 12 to 15 people on the advisory committee will help frame this and create a cohesive strategy through discussion and input. A current option for member selection includes waiting until the Downtown Strategy has launched and then selecting from those who express the most enthusiasm and commitment to the project instead of selecting members before launch. The goal is to invite those who spend the most time engaged with the downtown area, who would bring knowledge and energy to the table. The report was received. 7. AMBASSADOR UPDATE Downtown Ambassador Rob Richards presented on the state of the Downtown Welcome Center. The grand opening will be held on April 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with the facility remodel being completed beforehand. The flooring, ceiling, signage, furniture, counter, lighting, and informational mural have all been supported City of Olympia Page 2 PBIA Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 9, 2015 or assisted with. Fundraisers have helped to raise $3,000, with two additional fundraisers lined up. Althought there is currently a funding gap between costs and money raised, upcoming fundraisers are expected to fill this. The Center will be open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during its first month and ideally work up to being open seven days a week over time. The Downtown Ambassadors will be working out of the same space, but the Welcome Center itself will be volunteer-run. The Olympia Downtown Association (ODA) has contributed staff time and promotion. The Visitor and Convention Bureau has contributed $2,000, not including various donated contributions, such as electronics, training, and furniture. While the immediate goals are the provision of an excellent Welcome Center for Olympia, in the longer-term, there is an interest in improving the area to the point of being priced out of the space being used. Boardmember Adams moved, seconded by Boardmember Rauh, to put $2,000 of PBIA money towards the Welcome Center. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 8 - Chair Corso, Boardmember Adams, Boardmember Carr, Boardmember Kerr, Boardmember Rauh, Boardmember Rollins, Boardmember Trinin and Boardmember Williams Nay: 2 - Boardmember Adney and Boardmember Dean Excused: 5 - Vice Chair Phegley, Boardmember Campbell, Boardmember Irish, Boardmember Kempees and Boardmember Nicoletti 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS Boardmember Dean reported the Marketing Committee is considering what they can contribute to the Downtown Welcome Center. Current ideas include providing copies of the downtown walking map to be distributed at the center. It is a high priority to reach out to high schools, which may include advertising in high school newspapers. Ads have been in creation and will be up for review soon. Bag-stuffers to give to customers at downtown businesses are also an option to increase awareness about the Downtown Welcome Center and additional graphics could be made to be used in broader situations and reach more people. Boardmember Adams reported the Clean and Safe Committee is painting the butterfly containers, which should be completed and installed by Arts Walk. Time was spent communicating with Public Works to discuss garbage can placement downtown. Many areas are unbalanced or unorganized in number of garbage cans and other things, such as benches and bus stops. A revision of garbage can placement was well-received, which would likely include a block-by-block analysis of what's going on and what it can handle. Latches will be placed on cans so they can be closed. Agreements may be made with businesses to designate responsibility to maintain benches outside with branding on them, that would also promote the business. This may change to include garbage cans as well. Another likely implementation would involve installation of trash compactors behind Capitol Theatre and behind Brotherhood that would be a pay-per-use system available to businesses. Street and City of Olympia Page 3 PBIA Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 9, 2015 alley closures are also topics for consideration, particularly in determining the process and how to make it more accessible to the public. A comprehensive list of who to call, when, and for what specific issues has been requested to be presented at the next meeting. The Artesian Leadership Committee had its second meeting last week. There was a lack of structure and focus, but there were a lot of aspirations and ideas. The Design Committee may be able to put $5,000 towards seating for the Artesian Well Park. 9. OTHER TOPICS At the meeting to discuss the public spaces human waste situation, there was no group who stepped forward to take on the issue. Data will be gathered to find problem areas and look for options. Current options include a more central facility, a mobile bathroom unit, additional alleyway lighting, and use of extremely hydrophobic paints in problem areas. Information will be brought back to the Public Restroom Group and the goal will be to support them in determining what the best way forward would be. The County has roughly $40,000 to put forward, but requires a proposal. Potential options in the short-term may include opening an existing restroom for additional hours, but would require additional maintenance and monitoring. The City is working with business owners on installing murals on high-visibility/highly-tagged walls. An RFP will be released soon with the goal of all associated murals being completed by the end of the summer. De-escalation training will be offered on two occassions by the PBIA, but finalizations need to be made on where and when. New-business welcome packets are in-progress, but a new letter needs to be drafted and a new strategy to get out to the businesses will need to be formed. Additional issues include difficulty in addressing new businesses due to lack of information and communication from new owners, but is an opportunity for partnership. The goal for the completed packet is to be finalized at the next Leadership Committee meeting. It has been put to the Leadership Team to discuss what meeting they would like to have and how to do it, potentially following examples set by ODA. Girl's Night Out is May 15, with time still to send in documentation to have business information and coupons included in the gift bags. Friday, April 17 is the deadline for business registration. The gift bags may include further information about appropriate conduct and the spirit of the event, due to complaints about previous years. Suggestions were made that the 4th and Columbia leased parking lot be changed to a metered lot to accommodate the additional traffic that will be introduced upon completion of the structure across the street. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4 PBIA Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 9, 2015 City of Olympia Page 5