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Downtown Development Steering Committee Minutes - 05/26/2017Downtown Development Steering Committee – May 26, 2017 THERE WAS NO QUORUM PRESENT, SO THESE ARE NOTES OF DISCUSSION. THEY ARE NOT APPROVED MINUTES. Introductions Members present were Mayor Santellana, Ripley Tate, Robert Whitely, Danny Ahern, and Dust y Potter. Others: Jim Dockery, Russell Schreiber, Pat Hoffman, Tracy Norr, Jack Murphy, Kinley Hegglund, David Farabee, Darron, Cynthia Laney, Karen, Lyndsay, Delores Culley, Henry Florsheim, John Burrus, Blake, Chad Johnson, Eric Croslin Public: Responsibilities of the Committee: Jim Dockery reviewed the reasons for the creation of the Downtown Development Steering Committee. It is an outcome of the council’s strategic planning and desire for downtown revitalization. There are 11 voting members in this advisory committee. The purposes of this committee ae listed in the establishing resolution (#45 - 2017). The committee is advisory in nature and is supposed to finish its work in 18 months. Meetings Dates/Times/Location Meetings will be held in the City Council Chambers monthly and as-needed. They will be scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on the 1st Monday of each month. Review of the Vision 2020 Plan Jim Dockery reviewed the process in development of the Vision 2020 Master Plan and the Downtown Plan. He reviewed the gateway points and existing linkages for the greater downtown area. The City and 4B Sales Tax Corporation spent about $1.75 million dollars on a wayfinding signage project. Phase II of this project is ongoing. Phase II will include a lot of pedestrian signage. Mr. Dockery said the downtown core is mentioned in the Vision 2020 plan but is undefined. He said this committee needs to define the core area. Mr. Dockery said the streetscapes and urban design guidelines was recommended in the Downtown Master Plan but very little has been done due to costs. He talked about recommendations from the plan. He said downtown park improvement was another element of the plan. The current design is similar to recommendations but does not have the stage area. It would required property acquisition to complete the plan’s design. Mr. Dockery noted many special events and festivals that are held in the downtown area. He also said the 2020 plan suggests identifying zonesand districts within the greater downtown area. The city currently only has the downtown central business zone. He talked about plans that were made several years ago about building a new city hall and police building but that didn’t happen due to financial and economic co nstraints. The city has done outdoor dining and food court amendments for the downtown area. An outdoor display ordinance was also adopted. The plan recommends amended building codes and property maintenance codes. Mr. Dockery reviewed the downtown housing areas. He said a retail strategy for the core downtown area is another recommendation. He talked about the proposed new convention center/hotel. He said a new transit travel center has been done. Transportation, traffic signal, pedestrian usage, and shared use agreements for parking were recommended in the plan. Financing strategies were reviewed. Mr. Dockery said the outstanding needs of the 2020 plan are definition of a core area, construction of streetscapes in a core area, downtown p ark expansion, zoning districts, building code review, property maintenance codes, improved maintenance of aesthetics, pedestrian friendly signalization, and more residential units, more retail marketing, public improvement district, more money, and consulting assistance. He said the committee needs to decide how to accomplish this. Discuss the Need for a Preparation of a New Downtown Master Plan, Modifications to Existing Plans, or Other Consulting Services Henry Florsheim said a new plan might be a better idea since new people are involved. Delores Culley said there is still a lot in the old plan. Jim Dockery said there is still a lot to be done with the old plan. Mr. Florsheim said there are several new ideas that need to be added to the list and then priorities reassessed. Dusty Potter said we could do a lot of things from the old plan but add several ideas. He said consulting services should be down the list. Mr. Florsheim said an amended plan is still a new plan. Danny Ahern said he thinks it might be a little premature to start over. Some ideas might be dated. Consultants could be considered for certain aspects. Mayor Santellana said he would like to extract key points from the 2020 plan and add to it. He said we need to identify the needs and proceed at a quicker pace than we have done in the past. We need to come up with a plan to finance some of these improvements. He said we need to start from a four block area and work outwards. Henry said other ideas are to cover incentives to attract businesses to downtown, a full-time economic developer for downtown, the marketing and branding of the district. Mr. Ahern said he thinks a downtown maintenance code needs to be done first. Mayor Santellana said there is so much to tackle with the downtown area. We need to prioritize what we want to do. He would like subcommittees to take on some of these areas. Ms. Culley said there is a lot of volunteer interest in some of the smaller assignments. Darron Leiker said he does not envision hiring consultants for a new plan, but we will need consultants for some of the design and/or maintenance areas. It must be a focused effort not a shotgun approach. The priorities of the committee need to be listed. Dusty Potter said he would work through his organization for a merchant’s association. Cynthia Laney said the big issue is that they are all one or two people stores and they do not want to commit the time. She said she has a working relationship with downtown businesses and can work on communication with it. Margie Reese said there are state and federal grants that relate to business, but they need partnership with the city. They don’t have the money but have some knowledge. She said there needs to be more activities in the downtown to get people there. A public arts subcommittee and expanding the historic district were suggested. Duane Johnson said visibility is necessary. Business owners won’t be in if they see a plan, but when things are done and they can see it, they will buy in. Marketing and branding were listed as top needs. 5:20 p.m.