Main Street Advisory Board

The Regular Meeting of the San Marcos Main Street Advisory Board October 21, 2015 Main Street Program Office – 317 N. LBJ Dr. 5:30 P.M. Meeting Minutes Members in Attendance: Molly Ann Garcia, Chair; Debbie Harvey, Vice Chair; Gaylord Bose; Roxie McInnis; Ralph Meyer; Cindy Meyer; Jean Baggett Staff Members present: Samantha Armbruster, Manager; Maggie Gillespie, Coordinator Additional Guests: 2 1. Call to Order 5:33 by Molly Ann Garcia 2. Roll Call 3. Citizen Comment Period 4. Consider Approval of Minutes of September 2015 Meeting, motion to approved by Jean Baggett and seconded by Ralph Meyer, all in favor, motion caries 5. Standing Reports:  Engineering: o Construction has begun on October 18th, University Dr. between LBJ and Guadalupe to put in the additional storm water inlets, the intersections will be open and LBJ will also be open.  Parking Manager/Patrol Report: o Increase in activity on Tuesday nights over the past 6 month to a year due to special promotions at the Vault and the Marc; have added two additional officers as a pilot program. Looking at changing schedule to accommodate increase in patronage and to prevent issues with an increase in presence. o Uber has exploded in San Marcos and may be taking Aloha traffic, and having issues with drivers parking in streets to wait for patrons. Aloha is violating ordinance by making patrons walk to the stand rather than picking up patrons at the requested location. Recommend City Ordinance to allow Uber drivers to park in the Taxi Cab spots to pick up patrons. o Aggravated robbery outside of Ozona Bank during bar closing, at least 3 males were apprehended in connection with the crime. o Downtown Patrol applications are currently being submitted for the downtown unit. If there is more than one applicant, there is a recommendation for Samantha Armbruster to sit in on the hiring committee.  CVB: o No update. 6. Chairman’s Discussions:  Thank everyone who was present at the Downtown Awards; had a great response from attendees. 1   We are doing a Trick or Treat in downtown for the first time this year. We have a huge buzz in the community as a result with an expected attendance of 1000. o Recommendation for the board to purchase candy in the amount of $250 maximum to assist stores with candy during the Trick or Treat event on October 31, 2015. Motion made by Cindy Meyer; seconded by Jean Baggett; all approve, motion carris.  Discussion to purchase a table at the Chamber Gala this year; the Chamber has worked with Main Street a lot this year and it would be beneficial to get out in the community. o Recommendation to purchase a table at the San Marcos Chamber Gala at the Dapper Sponsor $750 level for the advisory board. Motion made by Cindy Meyer and seconded by Jean Baggett; all approve, motion carries.  There will be no fee this year for the advisory board’s biscuit booth at the Sights and Sounds event in December. 7. Committee Reports: Promotion a. Develop Love Downtown brand and consistent messaging i. Love Downtown T-Shirts purchased for volunteers and for purchase ii. Love Downtown Ornaments being purchased for Fall Shop Small campaign b. Develop incentives and outreach for TXST and SMCISD students, faculty and staff c. Promote stay current with all digital presence i. Skoop events mobile app being developed to promote downtown events and engage participants ii. Blog entry written by intern about downtown coffee shops for National Coffee Day http://lovesmtx.blogspot.com/ d. Visioning, Marketing, Advocacy, Fundraising for Farmer's Market i. Pedestrian oriented sign being developed to promote downtown events at the Farmer’s Market e. Report on success to public Establish marketing campaign for local residents i. Downtown Awards will feature info on downtown successes (event held at courthouse 10/16/15) f. Continue to host innovative events i. Upcoming Events: 1. Downtown Awards – Oct 16th * 6-8pm * Courthouse lawn 2. Downtown Trick or Treating – Oct 31st * 12-3pm 3. Wine and Wassail Walk – Nov 13th * 5:30-8:30pm a. Over 200 tickets are sold so far this year; we had only sold a little over 100 at this time last year. b. Partnering with Chamber to increase quality of wine. 15 Official stops, with an additional 6 serving as promoted stops for a total of 21 stops. Promoted stops will not receive a stipend. 4. Small Business Saturday – November 28 a. Small Business Social to help with promote for Small Business Saturday 5. Heart of the Holidays a. Wine and Wassail Walk kicks off event 2  b. CVB created an ad to place in advertisements ii. Event ideas for Mardi Gras being developed 1. Discussion of events during the weekend to possibly include a brew pub crawl and parade. g. Increase marketing for tourism i. Ads being developed to promote holiday calendar and events downtown h. Promote Main Street Sponsorships Organization a. Small Business Trainings a. Calendar and subjects being confirmed to begin January 11, 2016 b. Showcase Downtown Awards and Small Business Saturday Social as premiere Business Acknowledgement Program/Event a. Event scheduled 10-16-15 will acknowledge businesses, volunteers and partners c. Improvement shout-outs (Downtown business of the month, Love Downtown award) d. Develop partnerships with CSR and Texas State University to help meet Main Street's Mission and Work Plans a. Partnership confirmed with Texas State University’s Honors Business class to help implement data collection project b. Partnership confirmed with Texas State University’s PR Campaigns class to work on 4 downtown related campaigns e. Bid for conferences and nominate downtown for awards a. Bid to host 2017 TDA Conference submitted f. Create annual mailer to educate and engage stakeholders a. Slated to be mailed mid-November g. Planters will be purchased to create a parklet outside of the Main Street office. Design a. Keep updated and involved in Transportation Initiatives (Rail, delivery trucks, multi-modal, ride share, bike friendly) a. Bike Friendly Meet-up on Oct 15th 5-7pm. b. Introduced young professionals to downtown and Main Street; included peddler and bike ride b. Identify, Educate and Implement Parking Strategies to benefit visitors and business owners (employee parking, metered parking, paid parking, permit parking, towing) a. Parking Meters on the agenda for Oct 14th City Council Workshop b. Talked about one-way/two-way conversion and paid parking but no consensus was reached. c. Continue Placemaking efforts a. Parklet and Sidewalk ordinance passed on 2nd reading Sept 1st. Outreach planned for downtown b. Demonstration sidewalk café created for in front of Main Street office d. Refine Sign and Awning Grant Program a. KnD’s Sign application. Funds being requested is $1307.97 3  i. Motion to approve the funds requested in the amount of $1307.97 for KnD’s sign application as presented. Ralph Meyer motioned; Debbie Harvey seconded; all approve, motion passes with no contingency. b. Sign being developed for Main Street office e. Pedestrian Wayfinding f. Establish partnerships for better planter and sidewalk maintenance and maintenance contract for cleanup a. Texas State Horticulture class hosting planting day Oct 30th downtown g. Recommend additional street and safety amenities: planters, over the road lighting, lighting in trees, flags, benches, trash cans, etc, h. Homelessness: outreach and education; case studies with other cities regarding homelessness i. Sprinkling and Water tight initiatives j. Outreach & input regarding switch to two-way a. One-Way/Two-Way conversion on the agenda for Oct 14th City Council workshop k. Construction Updates and Outreach a. Construction on University Dr between LBJ Dr. and Guadalupe to begin Oct 19th and last ~30 days to install additional storm water inlets Economic Vitality a. Use Data collection for business recruitment and stakeholder engagement a. Partnership confirmed with Texas State University’s Honors Business class to help implement data collection project b. Pilot program through Texas Historic Commission to parallel downtown inventory b. Support and Collaborate art initiatives: Central Arts District, mural art program, wrapping utility boxes a. Arts tour of downtown. Department of Geography created an online interactive map of all of the art spots in downtown and potential art spots for downtown; along with a story map. The next step is to provide text to the Department of Geography. c. Support co-working downtown d. Empty lot brainstorming e. Mobile app development to feature tours and tourist destination f. Feature downtown residential opportunities 8. City Council Report 9. Expenditure Report and Program report from Main Street. a. Interns and Work Plan Updates 10. Adjournment at 7:04 Motion made by Jean Baggett; seconded by Roxie McInnis; all approve, motion passes. The City of San Marcos does not discriminate on the basis of disability in the admission or access to its services, programs, or activities. Individuals who require auxiliary aids and services for this meeting should contact the City of San Marcos ADA Coordinator at 512-393-8000 (voice) or call Texas Relay Service (TRS) by dialing 7-1-1. Requests can also be faxed to 512-393- 8074 or sent by e-mail to ADArequest@sanmarcostx.gov 4