Old Webster Business District Advisory Commission

Old Webster Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 LOCATION: City Hall & Zoom CALLED TO ORDER: 8:05 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 9:15 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, February 22, 2022 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Ron Clipp, Chair X Joe Rath X Tim Delanty X Micki Hansel X Gary Schoenberger X Margaret Stevens X Bill Newhouse X Stacie Swederska X Vacancy David Franklin, Council Liaison X Eric Peterson, City Liaison X Also, in attendance: Officer Ahmar Rasool – WGPD Traffic Unit Sarah Smith – Webster Groves High School Parents’ Club Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the November minutes was made by Joe Rath, seconded Bill Newhouse, and unanimously approved. VISITOR COMMENTS Sarah Smith of the Webster Groves High School Parents’ Club has submitted a special activities permit for May 21, 2022. They are planning a vehicle-only parade to celebrate the graduating senior class whose route will travel thru the District at approximately 10:00 AM. It will last approximately a half an hour and will have a police escort. Commission Members did not have any objections to the request. OLD BUSINESS • Rooftop Lighting Update – Streib Electric was to have contacted Mark Hinkle to schedule the installation of Olive + Oak; installation has not yet taken place. A date needs to be secured to replace lights not working on the east portion of the former Acme Printing location. 1 of 8 • Holiday Lighting in Additional Trees – A work order has been issued to take the garland down and put up the lights in the trees in front of 52 West Lockwood and 23 North Gore; that should take place next week. Commission Members would like to keep the lights up and on year-round and add additional trees going forward. • 2nd Floor Holiday Window Candles – All window candles have been distributed. The candles appear to be less bright this year and many windows were missing a candle as last year’s candles may have been lost or forgotten. New candles and a distribution and retrieval plan will be needed for next year. Bill Newhouse is willing to work on such a plan. • District Holiday Decorations for 2022 – A cohesive plan for improving upon the District’s holiday decorations is needed to coordinate all the piece parts and work in conjunction with what the Parks Department is planning. • District Kiosk –Stacie Swederska has received pricing information from Werremeyer Creative (see Appendix A). Additional price quotes for additional types of kiosk need to be pursued. If a digital kiosk is the choice, a request will need to be made to City Council requesting an exemption due to sign ordinances. • Budget Discussion – Commission Members continued the budget discussion reviewing revenue sources, expenses, and trends (see Appendixes B-D). Updated budget figures will be provided at next month’s meeting. Various items/needs were discussed, some of which included: o cost estimates for holiday decoration needs: additional garland to add to more to lampposts, new 2nd-floor window candles, lights for additional trees o digital kiosk estimates o continued and/or increasing event support: ▪ raise Jazz Fest support to $7,500 from $5,000 ▪ add an additional $1,500 on top of previously approved $2,000 for Walktober Fest for a total of $3,500 ▪ continue Holiday Open House support of $5,000 o estimates to replace benches at the Lockwood entrance to the parking deck in the area known as the “concrete park” o ownership (District vs. City) and repair of steps by the Lockwood “concrete park” o ensuring “transfer out” funded activities are identified and occurring NEW BUSINESS On-Street Parking – The two-hour time limit for on-street parking was relaxed when the pandemic hit to allow more/easier curb-side pickup traffic. The ordinance was not changed, but the 2-hour signs were taken down. As the needs have changed and curb- side only activity has lessened, business owners are finding parking spots are not being used for quick ups, but for all-day parking. Officer Rasool is aware and has spoken to several repeat individuals taking advantage and parking all day on the street. As those individuals are business owners and employees, he encourages them to use the employee parking lots, unfortunately many do not appear to be deterred by receiving a parking ticket. There is discussion whether it is time for the two-hour limit signs to go back up and to start enforcing the two-hour limit again. Officer Rasool will speak with his supervision to determine how to proceed. A reminder to business owners and employees about the two-hour time limit for on-street parking will be distributed. 2 of 8 CITY UPDATE • A coffee shop and a lawyer will be in the new building under construction next to Regions Bank. • Prop U for an online use tax, will be on the April ballot. The rate is exactly the same as the current sales tax rate. An educational campaign will kick off next month. • Balance Act Software with possible ARP funding projects loaded is available on the City’s website. Ideas and comments can be added. There is a section focused on businesses. NEXT MEETING • Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 8:00 AM 3 of 8 APPENDIX A 4 of 8 5 of 8 APPENDIX B 6 of 8 APPENDIX C 7 of 8 APPENDIX D 8 of 8