Old Orchard Business District Advisory Commission

Old Orchard Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 LOCATION: City Hall CALLED TO ORDER: 8:03 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:50 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, April 12, 2016 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Joe Fichter, Chair X Angel Venegoni X Claire Winkler X Mary Jane Armstrong X Greg Gunderson X Steve Scheipeter X Holland Saltsman X Robert Weber X Vacancy Kathy Hart, Council Liaison X Mara Perry, City Liaison X Also in attendance: Jim Groetsch – President of the Old Orchard Bethesda Residents’ Association Gordon Ferguson – Old Orchard Bethesda Resident Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the February minutes as was made by Angel Venegoni, seconded by Holland Saltsman, motion was unanimously approved. VISITOR COMMENTS Jim Groetsch and Gordon Ferguson, both residents at Bethesda in Old Orchard are requesting a change be made at the intersection of Big Bend and North Old Orchard to make it easier to turn onto Big Bend coming off of North Old Orchard. Mr. Groetsch shared with the Commission the difficulty of navigating the “blind” turn and wants to make it safer before an accident occurs. If parking could be restricted on either side of North Old Orchard on Big Bend that would make it easier to see the oncoming traffic when trying to turn onto Big Bend. St. Louis County controls Big Bend and they have told WG Public Works they would like input from the business district before removing any on-street Big Bend parking. Restricting parking one parking space on Big Bend on either side of N. Old Orchard seems to be a possible answer. The Commission would like to contact the two businesses directly affected by losing the parking space in front of their business as well as look at any traffic data if it’s available before moving forward on this issue. Mara Perry will contact the two businesses involved and check to see if any traffic data is available. The issue was tabled until next month’s meeting. NEW COMMISSION MEMBER Welcome new Commission member, Bob Weber, Weber’s Front Row. OPEN COMMISSION SLOTS  Webster University is trying to fill the slot vacated by Greg Gunderson.  The new owner of the business location that was formerly The Clover may apply for the other open seat on the Commission. GAZEBO SERIES UPDATE  Joe Schwab of Euclid Records is on the Gazebo Series Committee and has a tentative music line up for the upcoming season. Billy Peek is the headliner this year.  Kräftig Beer is a major sponsor of the series this year thanks to Bob Weber.  The budget has not yet been finalized.  The re-affirmed keeping the OOMBA/Gazebo Series checking account. Claire Winkler can manage the account; it will be on a different bank other than her employer to avoid conflicts of interest. The Gazebo Committee will meet and determine who the new “signer” will be. This should be handled by next month’s meeting. HOLIDAY PLANS  The Old Orchard Holiday Open House will be on Saturday, November 19th.  Angela Foley, WG Farmers’ Market Manager, is available to organize the Holiday Open House and the Commission would like her to take that on. Commission members would like to invite Angela to next month’s meeting and kick the holiday planning in gear.  Santa and his entourage will be asked back.  Santa’s Mailbox is in need of repairs and a facelift. Mara will ask the Parks and Recreation Department if they can take care of this.  The Holiday Tree Lighting will also be on Saturday, November 19th; at the close of the Open House.  Cookie Walk will be on Saturday, December 10th.  Commission members would like the holiday decorations up in time for the Open House on November 19th; banners, tree lights, other decorations. Can this be done by that date? The banners are put up by Public Works; a work order will need to be put in and schedule the work to be done on November 7th and/or 8th. The tree lights would need to be scheduled with both Public Works and the Parks and Recreation Departments. It was suggested we should talk with both departments to get the scheduling worked out now. FARMERS’ MARKET The Market Manager, Angela Foley, would like to increase the exposure and involvement of the Old Orchard businesses and merchants in the Farmers’ Market. They can have a free table once a month at the Market. CITY UPDATE  The gas station at Big Bend & Laclede could be open in three to four weeks.  A new business is will be located at the former Clover location, The Design House. NEXT MONTH Big Bend/N. Old Orchard Parking Update, Gazebo Series Update, and Holiday Planning ADJOURNED Meeting adjourned at 8:50 AM. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on April 12, 2016 at 8:00 AM – City Hall.