Old Orchard Business District Advisory Commission

Old Orchard Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 LOCATION: City Hall CALLED TO ORDER: 8:04 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:37 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Joe Fichter, Chair X Angel Venegoni X Claire Winkler X Mary Jane Armstrong X Holland Saltsman X Robert Weber X John Barr X Steve Zielinski X Vacancy Frank Janoski, Council Liaison X Mara Perry, City Liaison X Also in attendance: Ellie Wharton – General Manager, KWRH-LP “63119” Radio 92.9 FM 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 Ellie Wharton – General Manager, KWRH-LP 63119 Radio 92.9 FM; a new non-profit community radio station broadcasting to the 63119 municipalities and reaching beyond. Commission Members wanted to discuss a District snippet program with Ms. Wharton. The program would use a combination of a District message along with an individuals message; each two-minute snippet has a 30-second beginning, 60-second middle, and 30-second end section. In addition, some snippets would contain a District-only message, such as one that talks about the Gazebo Series. Businesses could also eventually do snippets strictly on their own; piggy back at first and/or eventually stand alone. It was decided to use funds from the 2018 budget would be used for snippets in April, May, and June. This first batch will be offered to District businesses on a first-come, first-serve basis for free to see how the program goes and then in the future will be funded partially by the District and by the participating businesses. Each business should do at least three snippets; the first month will start out with 60 snippets overall. Ms. Wharton can reach out to the businesses and explain the program and the process for producing the snippets; Mara Perry will send a list of District businesses to her. Ms. Wharton will send Mara audio examples of snippets to share with Commission Members. Businesses can record their snippets in their own voice or have the radio station produce them. Commission Members will discuss what the program will look like after the first month at April meeting. The 2019 budget has allocated $720 for the program. Ms. Wharton will need direction and content from the Commission on the District’s content. BUDGET DISCUSSION Commission Members reviewed an updated and corrected 2019 budget for the Old Orchard Business District (see Appendix A). • Category #810 Disposal – increased to $1,440 • Category #824 Electricity – increased to $175 • Category #827 Water – reduced to $225 • Category #830 Advertising – increased to $19,000 • Category #850 Lighting (Parking Lot) – down to $1,800 • Category #851 Area Maintenance – up to $15,350 (includes an addition of $250 for repairs) • Category 971 Operating Transfer Out – corrected to $73,549 (about an increase of $1,300) MOTION: Angel Venegoni made a motion to approve the $73,549 budget for fiscal year 2019. Mary Jane Armstrong seconded the motion, motion unanimously approved. ROOFTOP 50/50 LIGHTING PROGRAM Funds for the District’s portion of the Rooftop 50/50 Match Program should come out of the reserves. At the April Commission meeting, Mara Perry will provide information on processes for the program and Commission Members will need to identify who will run the program. GAZEBO SERIES UPDATE • The Gazebo Series will run every Friday for six weeks starting with June 8th, 2018. • Sound and lighting is run by Dale and he as also taken over Joe Schwab’s duties as Joe has now totally stepped back from his role in the event since his business moved out of the District several years ago. • Dale is in the process of identifying the bands to perform. They are trying to get a good draw for the first week to set the tone of the series. • Free movies to the public will again be part of the event; however, less funds will be spent on movie royalties so that more funds can be spent on acquiring top bands. They will look to use movies that are out in the public domain and are therefore free to show. • 63119 Radio Station could record and broadcast the event live. • Sponsors for the event will again be pursued. • The position of MC for each week is open. CITY UPDATE • The Frisco Barroom hopes to be open in May. Initially open for happy hour and dinner, then ultimately be open seven days a week for both lunch and dinner. • Changes to the sign code relating to the second story of commercial buildings in business districts is approved. • Updates to commercial-use language in the code has gone thru two meetings thus far and is expected to go thru at least two more. • A rezoning request for the former Gerber Chapel location is expected to be received and put on the April agenda of the Plan Commission. • A second request to amend a conditional use permit for a home daycare center on Kirkham has been received; different than the first request since her business license wasn’t approved. • The new landscape equipment company on Watson is now open. • Permits have been issued to start construction to renovate the existing building at Marshall & Summit for a new coffee shop/plant nursery business; Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop. The location has been zoned commercial since the 1930’s. • There are a great many residential homes under construction; they have been put on a map which Mara will bring to the April meeting. • Webster Groves Animal Hospital has purchased the building at 7906 Big Bend (across from Lice Busters). It will be used for wellness visits, i.e. vaccinations, not for emergencies. They are going thru the approval processes with the City. NEXT MEETING ADJOURNED Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:00 AM – City Hall. Meeting adjourned at 8:37 AM APPENDIX A