Old Webster Business District Advisory Commission

Old Webster Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 LOCATION: City Hall CALLED TO ORDER: 8:09 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 9:25 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, February 27, 2018 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Ron Clipp, Chair X Chris Hite X Joe Rath X Stacie Swederska X Morry Cole X Mark Hinkle X Tim Delanty X Micki Hansel X Scott Kemper X Matt Armstrong, Council Liaison X Mara Perry, City Liaison X Also in attendance: Pam Bliss – Business Development Commission Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support APPROVAL OF MINUTES November minutes held over to next meeting for approval. VISITOR COMMENTS Pam Bliss, Member of the Business Development Commission and a candidate for Webster Groves City Council, shared a little of her background and why she decided to run for City Council. BUDGET DISCUSSION Commission Members reviewed budget history and projections for the Old Webster Business District (see Appendix A). Members discussed the various expense categories, what they included, what their possible changes might be, and what is needed for the 2019 fiscal year which runs July 1, 2018 thru June 30, 2019. Impacts to potential revenue were also discussed. Since the funding source is property taxes and business licenses, those that are delinquent in paying either negatively impact the revenue available to the District. In addition, properties whose assessed value goes down result in less property taxes to the District. Discussion included: • Moody Parking Lot – Getting additional employee parking is a high priority as the existing employee lot on Gore is at capacity. Leasing spots from Webster Groves Presbyterian Church in their Moody parking lot is under discussion; funding will need to be included in the budget if needed. • 50/50 Rooftop Lighting Program – Members want to continue funding the program and get it completed. • District-Supported Events – Members want to continue supporting the Summer Night Street Dance, Jazz & Blue Festival, and Holiday Open House. • Streetscape – Possible additions to the streetscape: lamp post summer banners, lamp post holiday bows, and a perennial bed near Dewey’s. Members want to hold off on the bows and the perennial bed. A decision on summer banners was not made. • District Kiosk – Members want to hold off on the kiosk. • Business Development Commission (BDC) Promotional Activity & Social Media – It is expected the BDC will solicit continued and/or increased financial support of their city-wide promotional efforts. A review of the current pooled funding was discussed. Members were very interested in what is currently being done with social media and who is doing the work. Members were encouraged to attend the January BDC meeting to learn more. Figures for the funding items discussed will be gathered as well as actual expenses from past years for continued budget discussion and decisions at the February meeting. ROOFTOP LIGHTING PROGRAM To continue the Rooftop Lighting Program, a Commission Member will need to take on the coordination with the property owners. Mara will provide a map and a list of what is ready for the next install and what needs to be done to move forward to complete the remainder of the properties. She can continue to order the materials, pay the bills, and work with Stribe Electric. DISTRICT PARKING • Long Term – Addressing parking for customers and employees is a high priority for Commission Members. Budget decisions will be made with an eye to funding possible parking items. They would like to engage City Council for help from the City’s budget to do a match for parking. • Short Term – Mara is still working with the Police Department on the 15-minute parking spots. TIME Commission Members discussed the difficulty of attending multiple meetings in a month and recognized that their time is valuable and spread among many aspects of their lives. There will always be those that will actively contribute to making their community better and those that will let others do it for them. CITY UPDATE • A small code amendment was made to the sign code to allow blade signs on two-story buildings in the commercial business districts. • The for the Ridge House Apartments project in the former YMCA location was approved. • The Clover and the Bee is close to open. • The new nail salon in Old Webster is opening. • The landscaping company on Watson is nearly finished with their construction, • A dentist will be going in next to Jersey Mike’s on Watson. • The new Frisco Bar Room in the former Natural Way location is moving along. • The new Naked Boot and Shoe in the former Puddin Head Books location in Old Orchard is open. • Two different mixed-use ideas for the former Gerber Chapel location are out there and hopefully one will submit a proposal soon. • Updating commercial use language in the City’s code. ADJOURNED Meeting adjourned at 9:25 AM. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held at City Hall on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 from 8:00 AM. APPENDIX A