Old Webster Business District Advisory Commission

Old Webster Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 LOCATION: City Hall CALLED TO ORDER: 8:06 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 9:21 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Ron Clipp, Chair X Amanda Payne, Vice Chair X Chris Hite X Joe Rath X Keli Richards X Stacie Swederska. X Morry Cole X Mark Hinkle X Tim Delanty X Gerry Welch, Council Liaison X Mara Perry, City Liaison X Also in attendance: Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the November minutes was made by Joe Rath, seconded by Amanda Payne, unanimously approved. NEW COMMISSION MEMBER A new member has been appointed to the commission – Tim Delanty, Zoey’s Attic. SPECIAL ACTIVITIES PERMIT REVIEW - Webster on Wheels Webster on Wheels, a cycling event, is slated for May 1, 2016 from 3 to 4 PM occurring on the streets around Bristol Elementary. This event is targeting elementary and middle school children and their families. This will be the second race occurring in the District on May 1; the first one (Cinco K Mayo) is a foot race held in the morning. The event organizer, Dave Buck, has met with Mara Perry and the Police Department to work out the event safety and route. The event will benefit the Webster Groves School District Foundation. No streets will be closed during the event except potentially Gray Avenue at Bristol at the beginning of the event; some streets may have restricted parking. Commission members had no concerns with this special activities permit. BUDGET REVIEW  Mara Perry handed out three budget documents for review; current figures, a start for next year’s figures, and some potential new options from the Parks Department for landscaping. She will bring updated information to the February meeting. She would like to know of potential items that Commission members would like to add to the budget for consideration. Mara reviewed the various budget categories and what they covered. She pointed out the street LED piece is finished and won’t need to be in next year’s budget. Also, budgeted advertising dollars have not all been used.  The Parks Department handout listed some options for baskets and beds to consider; Mara can get cost numbers for the February meeting if Commission members are interested. o Stacie Swederska requested the Parks Department figures broken down by season.  o Keli Richards would like to know what ideas the Parks Department may have to augment the landscaping; a wish list perhaps. o The Parks Department also handles snow removal as well. o It was determined to extend Scott Davis, Director of Parks & Recreation an invitation to the February meeting and to bring with him what they have in mind for next year, their holiday plans, and all associated costs.  BDC Dollars - Commission members would like a breakdown of how the BDC spends the dollars the District budgets to them to be able to compare dollars spent on the holidays vs. the rest of the year.  The 50/50 Rooftop Lights Project will start up in the spring when it gets warm; money could be put towards that to finish the project.  Chris Hite put forth that the Commission should look at spending some of the advertising dollars on Facebook and Twitter. o Current Status of Old Webster social media was shared with Commission Members: There is an Old Webster Facebook page administered by the Old Webster Trade Association (OWTA). It is mostly used for events and has not run any campaigns. Any original posts that are made automatically send out an associated tweet; no Twitter campaigns have been run either. Expanding the use of the Old Webster Facebook page and Twitter account would require funding.  Mara has received an advertising request from BOTT Communications, a Christian Radio Station. She will bring it to the next meeting.  The February Commission meeting will be totally devoted to discussing and finalizing the budget. DISTRICT SIDEWALK SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATE Members of the sub-committee put forth some sidewalk information and ideas to consider. There are many options to take in when discussing the maintenance and repair of the sidewalks in the District. The Commission needs to determine what direction to take with the project; perhaps putting together photos of possibilities would be a good start. Keli Richards suggested not only looking at repairs, but taking a larger view and think about what potential items could be addressed while the sidewalks are ripped up, such as addressing buried electrical uses and viability of tree roots, etc. The sub- committee will do some research on the possibilities and look at the big picture. Amanda Payne offered to use the information Farnsworth has on sidewalks to add to the research. Since next month will be focused on the budget, it was determined to continue the Sidewalk discussion in March. DISTRICT ROOFTOP LIGHTING UPDATE  The next section of rooftops will be from the W-K Times building to The Block when the weather gets warm enough. Now that Olive +Oak’s construction is finished; that building can be done as well. Need to identify remaining ones left on the south side of the tracks and then move to the north side of the tracks. One building on Gore remains turned off at night due to a tenant issue; Mara will contact the building owner, Dan Warner, to pursue resolving the issue.  According to the roofer on Dr. Kurt Weisenfels’ building, screws were put into the flashing to secure the rooftop lights instead of glue; if so it will cause leakage. The roofer says it will cost $400 to fix. Tim Delanty, a former commercial roofer, offered to take a look at it to verify the roofer is correct. A motion was made by Joe Rath and seconded by Ron Clipp to make repairs if needed with a cap of $400. CITY UPDATE  Olive + Oak opens this weekend.  The Old Webster location of Massage Envy has moved to Rock Hill.  Auto Beauty has until June to move out of its Old Webster location.  LA Luxury Activewear on Allen Avenue in Old Webster is now open.  Gas Station Updates: Big Bend & Murdoch – Very close to opening; two items left to complete; Big Bend & Laclede – Construction work is moving very fast; Big Bend & Elm – now open.  A Jimmy John’s will open in Yorkshire Plaza this summer.  Plans are in and under review for the new interdisciplinary sciences building on the Webster University campus; looking for a March start. The associated new parking garage is coming soon.  Phase II of Great Circle’s construction projects are at ARB.  The WG Planning and Development Department has a new Planner and a new Building Inspector. NEW BUSINESS  The annual Paint Webster event put on by the WG Arts Foundation is in May. The District and/or businesses in the District could piggy back onto the event from a marketing perspective. Keli Richards put forth the Paint Webster event could be a good piggy back opportunity for both retail and restaurants; perhaps an “Art on the Town” type version where artists participating in the event are welcomed into District businesses.  The Old Webster Trade Association will once again put on the Summer Night Street Dance on June 18th  The Jazz & Blues Festival is scheduled for September 17th.  Stacie Swederska suggested having an informational tent with the “brochure holder” put together in such a way that it was easy to access and use for events; always have it in the same location during events.  Morry Cole brought up a landscaping opportunity at the northwest corner of Lockwood and Elm at the AT&T location. Perhaps we could get in touch with the owners to discuss the potential of improving the landscaping. Chris Hite has some contact numbers he will get to Mara so she can contact AT&T to open the discussion.  Gerry Welch asked Commission members to email her any ideas they’d like to bring to the BDC PR Sub-Committee; it meets next week to discuss 2016 plans.  Chair Ron Clipp asked all Commission members to make note of the 2016 meeting dates and plan accordingly so we don’t have to cancel a meeting due to a lack of quorum. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS  The February meeting will be focused on the budget  Sidewalk Sub-committee updates were moved to the March meeting; along with grant option information and possible costs from Paul Verheyen. ADJOURNED Meeting adjourned at 9:21 AM. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 8:00 AM – City Hall.