Old Webster Business District Advisory Commission

Old Webster Special Business District Advisory Commission MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MEETING DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 LOCATION: City Hall & Zoom CALLED TO ORDER: 8:15 AM MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:51 AM NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, May 28, 2024 NAME PRESENT ABSENT David Smith, Chair X Ron Clipp, Vice Chair X Dan Warner X Frank Romano X Karen Drexler X Tim Delanty X Stacie Swederska X Emerson Smith, Council Liaison X Eric Peterson, City Liaison X Also, in attendance: Joe Rath – Former Old Webster Commission Member Officer Ahmar Rasool – Webster Groves Police Department Fran Sudekum – Administrative Support Approval of Minutes A motion to approve the March minutes was made by Dan Warner, seconded by Tim Delanty, and unanimously approved. Visitor Comments – Dave Buck, Webster Groves citizen, sent an idea to Ron Clipp for businesses to hold an evening charity event in December to benefit a needy Webster Groves family. Commission Members are asked to ponder the idea and share their thoughts. District Revenue Research into a potential surcharge on the business license to address services businesses not currently contributing to the District due to their exemptions continues. A list of impacted businesses has been put together to determine the revenue impact. Rooftop Lighting Nothing to report. Decorative Parking Signs Reusing the existing metal decorative parking signs if the objective; the existing design will need to be removed before the new design can be applied, costs to do so will be pursued. Purchasing new metal discs is prohibitive. There are 34 signs. District Pedestrian Signs Currently, there are five blank signs on Gore and two on Allen that can be re-used for events. They were previously used by businesses that are no longer in the District. The remaining signs are still in use by businesses still in the District. 1 of 2 Old Webster Summer Night Street Dance The band, stage, and sound system are all booked. Frank Romano’s restaurant is one of the on- street food vendors and is working on acquiring restaurants. Commission Report to City Council Dave Smith will present the Commission’s annual report to City Council on May 15. Eric Peterson will fill out particulars of the report and email to Members. Business Licenses Business licenses are due at the end of June. Some businesses have received their related letter, but not all. An additional one will be sent out this week. BDC Update • Bludot will have QR codes linked to an interactive map, i.e., one linked to the Old Webster Business District. What geographic areas will have QR codes is being determined. Mr. Peterson showed an example of what the Bludot map and a business’s entry will look like. • Community Improvement Districts (CID) Sub-Committee work continues. • Researching use of the STLMade Love Local campaign. • Included a request for a city-wide marketing package in their budget request to City Council. City Update • A Meet & Greet for the community to meet the four finalists for the Police Chief position will be at City Hall this evening, April 23. • All City ballot initiatives passed; bond issue and charter amendments. Next Meeting – May 28 at 8:15 AM Adjournment – Meeting adjourned at 8:51 AM 2 of 2