Old Orchard Business District Advisory Commission

Old Orchard Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 LOCATION: City Hall CALLED TO ORDER: 8:20AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:55 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, January 8, 2019 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: Detective Fred Bell – Community Engagement Officer, Webster Groves Police Department Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the October minutes as was made by Holland Saltsman, seconded by Holland Saltsman, motion was unanimously approved. STREETSCAPE UPDATE The Streetscape Project is on schedule; currently working with Ameren their piece of the project. ROOFTOP LIGHTING UPDATE Stribe Electric is installing the lights weather permitting; Frisco Barroom’s are complete and on. Work is focusing on those properties where owner signatures have been secured. The project will continue in the spring. EVENTS Trick or Treat Feedback – This was a joint Old Orchard/Old Webster event held on Saturday, October 27th. Old Webster had 28 businesses participate and Old Orchard has 14 participate. In addition, the pop-up vendors at Civil Alchemy’s Fall Festival held in Old Orchard on the same day, had treats at the ready for trick or treaters. The weather was perfect for outdoor activities and the Old Orchard District was bustling with patrons. Feedback comments from both businesses and patrons were shared with Commission Members (see Appendix A). Civil Alchemy’s Fall Festival Feedback – The event took place on Saturday, October 27th and had approximately 1,000 patrons attend. The Balkan Treat Box food truck ran out of food. All the pop-up vendors said they had a great day. It was a very successful event that brought in new folks to the area. Civil Alchemy organized the event and plans to hold it again next year. Holiday Festival Update – The Holiday Festival will take place on Small Business Saturday on November 24th in Gazebo Park with Santa and his mailbox and lighting the Holiday Tree at dusk. The event will be promoted via Facebook. Small Business Saturday Update – The Explore Webster Groves Facebook page will run a coloring contest again this year as part of promoting the day. Small Business Saturday is on November 24th. Cookie Walk Update – The Cookie Walk is a joint Old Orchard/Old Webster event held on Sunday, December 9th from 11AM to 2PM. Patrons will purchase tickets this year which gives them access to all cookie samples of participating businesses and a $5 Webster Groves gift certificate. Ticket sales will be sold on the day of the event in both districts; in Old Orchard they will be sold at Naked Boot & Shoe. The event is being promoted on Facebook and has a great deal of engagement (see Appendix B). BDC UPDATE The BDC has put together a holiday promotion package that includes multiple types of media; print, radio, television, billboard, and social media. CITY UPDATE • The former Gerber Chapel location project has been approved by City Council. • Rolling Ridge needs to supply additional information on their project before it has another hearing at the Plan Commission. • CUP’s for the project at the former Auto Beauty location have been approved and the needed demo permit has been secured. • Construction continues at the new Firenza Pizza and Balkan Treat Box locations. • The design for the former YMCA location has been approved by the ARB. The neighbor’s lawsuit continues. • Work on group home text amendments is in process. • Work on all commercial noise regulations to mirror those currently in place for the Old Webster commercial business district is in process. • CUP for used car lot on Watson Road has been approved. • Work on repairing the WG Presbyterian Church parking lot on Moody for which a portion will be used for Old Webster employee parking is underway. • Layla restaurant will be moving into the former Milagro location in Old Webster. NEXT MEETING Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 8:00 AM – City Hall. ADJOURNED Meeting adjourned at 8:55 AM  APPENDIX A 2018 Trick or Treat Feedback 14 Old Orchard Participating Businesses 1 Hwy 61 Roadhouse S. Old Orchard Ave 2 Circa Properties E. Lockwood Ave 3 Boulevard Hair Co. Big Bend Blvd 4 Weber's Front Row Big Bend Blvd 5 Naked Boot and Shoe Big Bend Blvd 6 Civil Alchemy Big Bend Blvd 7 Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream Big Bend Blvd 8 The Frisco Barroom Big Bend Blvd 9 American Cleaners Big Bend Blvd 10 Gas Mart Big Bend Blvd 11 Webster Groves Subaru Big Bend Blvd 12 Colonial Village Pharmacy Big Bend Blvd 13 Sky Stone Conservatory of the Arts Big Bend Blvd 14 The Novel Neighbor Big Bend Blvd Comments: “Thank you for including us! I don't think we get as much activity as people closer to the center of things, but we definitely enjoyed the kids!” ~ Andrea Scarpino, The Novel Neighbor “The trick or treating event was pretty awesome we enjoyed it…we definitely will participate in the upcoming years for events like this.” ~ Jamil, Gas Mart “…A few [adults] mentioned that they've attended the event in Old Webster before and were happy to see that Old Orchard was hosting "in a bigger way" this year. Overall, it was a success from our perspective! The adorable posters and social media event really helped draw in the crowd, too!” ~ Angie MacBryde, The Joel Svoboda Team/Circa Properties “We had a great afternoon with the kids trick or treating in Webster.” ~ Webster Groves Subaru via Facebook “Today’s Trick-or-Treating in Webster Groves event was a real Thriller😉! Thanks to our community of friends and clients for stopping in. Have a safe Halloween.” ~ The Joel Svoboda Team via Facebook “What a FUN Day in Webster Groves! We LOVE this town!!!” ~ Paisley Boutique via Facebook “Thank you everyone for bringing your little ones by for Trick-Or-Treating today! The Pink Ladies and I loved seeing all their costumes and hearing their jokes 👻” ~ KIND Soap Company via Facebook “Our kids had a blast Trick-or-treating through Webster last night! Thanks to all the businesses that participated.” ~ Trick or Treating Patron “Thank you for having us.” ~ Trick or Treating Patron “Thank you for a wonderful time!” ~ Trick or Treating Patron “Charlie the Dragon was a big hit!” ~ Trick or Treating Patron “We had a blast!!!” ~ Trick or Treating Patron Feedback received from: 1. The Frisco Barroom, John Barr 4. The Novel Neighbor, Andrea Scarpino 2. Gas Mart, Jamil 5. Circa Properties, Angie MacBryde 3. Civil Alchemy, Ian VanDam 6. WG Subaru, Facebook The Frisco Barroom • Had 40 trick or treaters at The Frisco • Some employees were in costume • In the restaurant only • Nothing special for the parents • Did not provide coupons • Would participate again next year • Did not post the event to Facebook • Did not take any photos • Did promote the event on other social media platforms. • Did no promote the event in e-newsletters or website Gas Mart • Passed out Cheeto chips bags and Kool-Aid pouches. • Both employees were in costume. • “We couldn't stand on the street considering we had to conduct business inside but when we saw kids we walked outside with our masks on if no one was in our business.” • Would participate next year and other events of this type. Civil Alchemy • Civil Alchemy gave out candy in store and so did the vendors at their Fall Festival • Did not dress in costume • Nothing special for the parents • Did not provide coupons • Would participate again next year • Did post the event to their Facebook page • Did not take any photos • Promoted the event on Instagram and in the store • Promoted the event in e-newsletters/website The Novel Neighbor • Passed out about 30 treats; bags of pretzels decorated as if they were different types of candy from the Harry Potter books. • The two employees working the event dressed up. • We were in our store only • Nothing special for the parents • Also had stickers available for the kids. • Would participate again next year • Did post the event to Facebook and Instagram • Did not take photos during the event, but we posted photos to social media prior to the event. • Also promoted the event on Instagram • Did not promote the event in e-newsletters or on their website Circa Properties • Had about 25-30 adults and children • “Overall, it was a success from our perspective!” • Took pictures and posted them on Facebook WG Subaru • Had a pop-up canopy on the front lawn of Commerce Bank • Took pictures and posted them on Facebook  APPENDIX B Cookie Walk Facebook Event a/o 11-13-18