Old Webster Business District Advisory Commission

Old Webster Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, March 22, 2022 LOCATION: City Hall & Zoom CALLED TO ORDER: 8:03 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:37 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, April 26, 2022 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Ron Clipp, Chair X Joe Rath X Tim Delanty X Micki Hansel X Margaret Stevens X Bill Newhouse X Stacie Swederska X Vacancy Vacancy David Franklin, Council Liaison X Eric Peterson, City Liaison X Also, in attendance: Officer Ahmar Rasool – Webster Groves Police Department Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support APPROVAL OF MINUTES Joe Rath made a motion to approve the March minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Tim Delanty and unanimously approved. BUDGET Commission Members reviewed the budget document previously approved in February (See Appendix A). Confirmed such items as: • Holiday Garland – New garland for the lampposts will be ordered now for the 2022 holiday season. Existing garland will be offered to the Old Orchard Business District. • Holiday Bows – Current bows will be used for the 2022 holiday season and new bows will be ordered for the 2023 holiday season from the fiscal ‘23 budget. • Benches – The Parks Department has looked at the benches in the District and all are in need of some repair; they can put together a triage list. If metal style benches are half the cost of the current style of benches they could be considered as replacement benches. • Advertising – Additional funds supporting the Jazz & Blues Festival and Summer Night Street Dance have been added. 1 of 3 OLD BUSINESS • Rooftop Lighting Update – We are still waiting on Streib Electric to provide cost estimates for the work to be done at Olive + Oak as well as completing repair work in other areas of the District. In addition, there is work waiting to be done in the Old Orchard Business District as well. Tom Streib, the owner of Streib Electric is not responding to calls. Pursuing a new vendor is on the table. • Holiday Lighting in Trees – The lights in the trees in front of 52 West Lockwood and 23 North Gore will go up this week. There are enough strands to add lighting to a third additional tree if identified. • Access to Electricity – Costs to add electric access to the lampposts in the District needs to be acquired. • Digital Kiosk – Staff is getting quotes from three vendors for digital kiosks. A digital kiosk would require an exemption to the City’s sign ordinance. • District Plantings Areas – The Parks Department has applied for grants to fund the naturalization of the planting space in front of Straub’s and the concrete strip near Dewey’s Pizza. • On-Street Parking – City staff will send out an email to District businesses regarding the various aspects and proper use of on-street parking going forward for such things as curb-side pickup, etc. • Commission Vacancies – The Commission has two vacancies, soon to be three vacancies. Members have approached some business owners and are encouraged to reach out to others. The link to apply will be emailed to Members for their use. BDC UPDATE • The Business Survey opened three weeks ago; a reminder email will be sent out. It closes on April 5th. The survey is exhaustive with 60 questions; all questions do not have to be answered in order to submit. CITY UPDATE • A Mayor/City Council candidate forum will take place on March 24 hosted by the League of Women Voters and held on the Webster University campus and live streamed as well. • The new building next to Regions Bank is slated to be completed in June. NEXT MEETING • Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at 8:00 AM 2 of 3 APPENDIX A 3 of 3