Old Orchard Business District Advisory Commission

Old Orchard Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 2016 LOCATION: City Hall CALLED TO ORDER: 8:04 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:54 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, September 13, 2016 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Joe Fichter, Chair X Angel Venegoni X Claire Winkler X Mary Jane Armstrong X Steve Scheipeter X Holland Saltsman X Robert Weber X John Barr X Vacancy Frank Janoski, Council Liaison X Mara Perry, City Liaison X Also in attendance: Mayor Gerry Welch Council Member Bud Bellomo APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the July minutes as was made by Angel Venegoni, seconded by Mary Jane Armstrong, motion was unanimously approved. VISITOR COMMENTS  Bill Kunz, Highway 61 Roadhouse came to discuss his 7th Annual Freeze Que. The date this coming year will be January 28-29, 2017. The event had 40 teams last year which included the #1 Ribs and the #1 Chicken teams in the U.S. This is the second largest BBQ event in the St. Louis Metro area. Wildwood usually has around 100 teams. He anticipates having up to 60 teams for his event in 2017. Kunz was requesting that support or involvement come from businesses in the business district for the event.  Last year he has tried to block off Old Orchard but the timing was close to the event and support was not there from a few businesses that would have been impacted.  This October will be the 10th anniversary of Highway 61 Roadhouse.  Options could be for tents for other supporting businesses. He could expand to include tents in Gazebo Park. The date is the weekend before the Super Bowl. Wings sauce recipes from all participants are a part of the fundraising portion of the event. Money has been raised in the past for Carney’s Kids.  The event gets an extended liquor license for outdoor sales; music depending on the weather including a stage from St. Louis County. The main focus of the event is from noon to four pm on Sunday but the event runs the entire weekend.  Questions were discussed about the access plan that was approved by the police department last year and options for using Frisco.  Motion to support the Freeze Que event as was made by Angel Venegoni, seconded by Robert Weber, motion was unanimously approved. GAZEBO SERIES UPDATE  Complaints did come in towards the end of the series regarding one of the movies and its references to drugs. Information was going to be passed onto the committee in one of their event meetings to follow up the season.  The last concert drew in a lot of people. OLD BUSINESS  Old Orchard Apple Sculptures - Samples colors for the apples to be repainted are being reviewed by the Arts Commission. No more money will have to be requested from Old Orchard to repaint them. CITY UPDATE  Mara asked Holland Saltsman to update about two of her events. o Where’s Waldo “Scavenger Hunt” – about 20-30 kids completed the check in by the end of the month. Many businesses got involved in Old Webster and Old Orchard. This event could be held again o Midnight release of Harry Potter book – approximately 250 people attended  Business Development Commission Update – the BDC discussed ways to pull the three business districts together. Getting support for citywide events is important. The three Chairs of the Business Districts were invited to the last BDC meeting. Holiday events would include the tree lighting. Discussion included how to bring the individual district events into a larger citywide planning. Old Orchard has in the past stayed away from being on the same weekend as the Old Webster Open House event. Tree lighting could also be a restaurant evening as Old Orchard has a lot of restaurants.  It was asked whether recycle bins could be placed near the outdoor sidewalk trash cans. Mara will look into the issue with the Sustainability Commission as they have been researching recycling options. SEPTEMBER MEETING Grant Consultant – Streetscape Phase II ADJOURNED Meeting adjourned at 8:54 AM. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on September 13, 2016 at 8:00 AM – City Hall.