Old Webster Business District Advisory Commission

Old Webster Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, August 23, 2022 LOCATION: City Hall & Zoom CALLED TO ORDER: 8:01 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:59 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, September 27, 2022 NAME PRESENT ABSENT Ron Clipp, Chair X Joe Rath X Tim Delanty X Margaret Stevens X Bill Newhouse X Stacie Swederska X Dan Warner X Karen Drexler X David Smith X Emerson Smith, Council Liaison X Eric Peterson, City Liaison X Also, in attendance: Officer Ahmar Rasool – WGPD Traffic Unit Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support Approval of Minutes – A motion to approve the June minutes was made by David Smith, seconded by Dan Warner, and was unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS • Rooftop Lighting – The Connon Building at 34 North Gore and the Red LaMore building at 79 North Gore are scheduled for quote dates. A quote for the building Parkmoor Drive In is a part of at 220 West Lockwood is needed. Older light bulbs are not at bright as the new bulbs and need replacing; do we replace individual bulbs or the strands themselves. • On-Street Parking – An ordinance will go to City Council for a 15-minute parking spot in restaurant zones. If other businesses also want a 15-minute parking spot, they will need to bring their request to the District’s Commission to pursue. City staff has had conversations with current businesses marking off multiple on-street parking spaces for their use and informed them of this change which takes place on September 1st. • District Benches – No quotes at this time. Salvaging parts of existing benches for repairs will take place post-holiday season. There is a possible opportunity to “purchase” some of the extra metal benches from the recent Parks Department order. • District Kiosk – No quotes at this time. 1 of 3 • Jazz & Blues Festival Update – Festival organizing is going well; 90% of the infrastructure is in place and sufficient sponsorship funding is secured. Solicitation for volunteers is ongoing. There will be an additional musical performance on Friday night held in the sanctuary of Webster Groves Presbyterian Church as a special addition to the Festival in recognition of its 20th year. Carolbeth True and Friends perform jazz and blues music of Missouri; 7:30 to 9:00 PM. • Walktober Fest –This is the third year for the event. Last year the District sponsored the event; $3,563. Costs have increase at least 30% this year, so an estimated budget for this year would be $5,750. Commission Member Stacie Swederska recommended for next year to pursue individual participation sponsorships to fund the 2023 event. MOTION: Joe Rath made a motion to approve a total of $5,000 for the Walktober Fest, Karen Drexler seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved. NEW BUSINESS • Old Webster Brochure – Printing and paper costs have increased resulting in increased cost to produce the annual brochure which is widely distributed in the Webster-Kirkwood Times and more. MOTION: Tim Delanty made a motion for $1,000 to help defray the cost increase of the Old Webster brochure, Dan Warner seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved. • Webster-Kirkwood Times Holiday Ad Package – Three full pages in the Webster- Kirkwood Times; December 2nd, December 9th, and December 16th issues. One ½ page in the November 18th issue of Webster-Kirkwood Times Gift & Recipe Guide with individual highlights. Individual participating businesses choose three of the four dates. The cost per participant is $290 (same as last year) and there is a maximum of 18 advertisers. Old Webster Business District’s portion is $2,500 (same as last year) for the four-issue dates. The District’s portion is already included in the budget. Commission Members continue their support this promotional piece. • Over-The-Street Banners – Strong winds destroyed banners last year and new ones are needed for Walktober Fest and Holiday Open House. Historically, the District directly pays for the banners. MOTION: Stacie Swederska made a motion to provide three new over-the-street banners, Joe Rath seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved. • Sidewalk Construction – Commission Member Dan Warner brought up an issue. Utility companies and their contractors abuse the sidewalks in the District when doing their construction projects. The manner they conduct their work lacks respect for the property, is not timely in its completion, is not cleaned up afterwards, or restored to its original condition. Mr. Warner would like to pursue what the City can do to require the utility companies to improve all aspects of their quality of work. Business Development Commission (BDC) Update Based on information from the Business Survey and Business Roundtable, the BDC identified business staffing as a high priority need and made their first recommendation to City Council for use of part of the Business Development Fund to establish a Webster Groves Job Board; “Work in Webster.” A job board that would be free to use by both 2 of 3 those looking for work and for those licensed Webster Groves employers looking to hire staff. The job board is up and running on the City’s website; https://www.webstergrovesmo.gov/673/Work-in-Webster-Groves. The next step is to develop a marketing strategy to get the word out. • QR Code Window Cling Idea – Commission Member Stacie Swederska put forth an idea for the BDC to pursue; a window cling with a QR code that links to a map of businesses in Webster Groves. City/Council Update • June business license report of new and closed businesses is available on the City’s website. City Staff is ensuring the business licenses and its database are up-to- date. • North Old Webster – The City has received questions about what action it is taking to improve the appearance of the area. Historically, the area has been industrial and is taxed at a lower rate than the rest of Old Webster. The City plans to clean up the rights of way that is owned by City. The south side of Pacific Avenue is owned by Union Pacific Railroad and historically they do not maintain the area well, i.e. mowing. In addition to City rights of way, property owners need to be encouraged to visually maintain their pieces as well. Visual improvements are a start. Webster University has sold its warehouse in North Old Webster. • City Council is in the process of interviewing 30 applicants for the new City Charter Review Commission. • The City Council sub-committee continues their review of the Board/Commission process. • The Council will soon continue their strategic planning process. MEETINGS • Next Meeting is Tuesday, September 27, 2022, at 8:00 AM • November meeting moved to the 29th to avoid Thanksgiving week. 3 of 3