Old Orchard Business District Advisory Commission

Old Orchard Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 LOCATION: City Hall CALLED TO ORDER: 8: 05AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:53 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, July 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 Bud Bellomo, Council Liaison X Mara Perry, City Liaison X Also in attendance: Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the April minutes as was made by Steve Zielinski, seconded by Robert Weber, motion was unanimously approved. STREETSCAPE UPDATE – North Side of Big Bend from Murdoch to Dale. Mara showed a map of the changes discussed but did not supply a copy; it was her only copy. • The project has moved into the engineering “nitty gritty details.” The engineers are documenting where all the various utilities are. • Utility poles – If we take out all of the existing telephone poles we end up with a lot of big utility boxes with few choices of where to put them and at a high cost. So, a compromise of taking out four or five of the telephone poles, move some things to clean up what’s left and then intersperse the new stylized lamp posts with the remaining old telephone poles to try to get as clean of a look as possible. • Sidewalks in Right of Way – To keep the cost down, markings will be made in the concrete to mirror the look of the existing expensive styled sidewalks in the western part of the District instead of duplicating those stylized sidewalks. They will leave out the medallion in the center but keep the diamond shape in the center. o All ADA and curb repair will be taken care of. o After the project is completed, maintenance of the sidewalks and curbs will go to Webster Groves via an agreement with St. Louis County. o Work on private property adjacent to the sidewalks can be done at the same time to match with property owner agreement. • Lampposts – Will match the style of the existing ones in the western part of the District. • South Side of Big Bend; Next Phase – The south side of Big Bend from Murdoch to Dale will be more difficult and expensive because of a massive trunk line that will need to be  moved behind the buildings. We’ve given the utility company a heads-up now that the south side of Big Bend will the next. GAZEBO SERIES UPDATE • First night went well with about 400 people attending. The park was packed. The event brings folks into the District. • Kim Massey was the musical talent and the movie was the 1940 classic, "His Girl Friday," starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. • Civil Alchemy had special “Gazebo” offerings of wine, cheese and snacks; they sold about $1,000 worth. • Weber’s Front Row took orders from and deliver back to patrons at the Park during the event. • Sponsorships to fund the concert were solid this year. • District businesses can make PR type announcements at the event without being a sponsor of the event. CVC NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNER MEMBERSHIP • CVC = St. Louis Convention & Visitor Center, a.k.a. Explore St. Louis. • Annual renewal for businesses to renew or sign up for a Neighborhood Partner Membership of $150 is due in July. • Webster Groves has again signed up again as the “parent” neighborhood membership. • Webster Groves needs at least ten businesses to renew or sign up to keep the “Neighborhood” designation and online and print exposure in the various CVC platforms that comes with it. • We want to be neighborhood destination for visitors. • Old Orchard only had a few businesses participate last year: The Novel Neighbor, Civil Alchemy, Cyrano’s, and Roadhouse. We would like to have more shopping or dining businesses in Old Orchard participate. BDC UPDATE Discussion continues on clarifying the who and the what of the Objectives the proposed BDC strategic planning proposal. Mara Perry presented a PowerPoint presentation listing many of the Who and the What for the Objective A and part of Objective B. Discussion of the remaining parts of B will continue at the next BDC meeting. Mara will send a copy of the PowerPoint presentation to the Commission Members. CITY UPDATE • The proposed project for the former Gerber Chapel location for 53 apartments has been withdrawn by the developer and a new proposal has come in. It will be on the July 1 Planning Commission agenda. This will be for less units and more parking; 26 condos, 3 to 5K of commercial space, 57 parking spaces. • Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop at Summit and Marshall is open. • Tuxedo Park STL Bed & Breakfast Inn is taking reservations for Father’s Day. • Ziggy’s Gelato is moving into the former SanSai space in Old Webster; they will have a walk-up window. Firenza Pizza will also be moving into the same space. • Potentially, there’s a letter of intent for the former Stratton’s Café location in Old Orchard. • A bookstore will open in the former Delve MIY location in Old Webster. • Work on the updates to the commercial use language continues, such as airbnbs for dogs, group homes, charging stations for electric cars, simplifying the process. • The Ridge House Apartments (form YMCA location) is moving forward. Lawsuit is still pending; nothing to report at this time. • The empty space formerly housing Provalo Deli in Old Webster continues to be a stubborn vacancy. Any new tenants that happen to be eateries need to be non-cook as there is no outside ventilation for this location. The property owner and their property manager don’t seem to be interested in leasing the space as they are difficult to get a hold of. • The new owners of the former Auto Beauty location in Old Webster have closed on the property; they also have a different brewer they will be working with. NEXT MEETING Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 8:00 AM – City Hall. ADJOURNED Meeting adjourned at 8:53 AM