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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-18-21 Full Agenda TO: Downtown Oshkosh Business Improvement District Board FROM: Megan Lang, Chair DATE: May 11, 2021 Due to the current COVID-19 emergency the City of Oshkosh is currently holding all meetings remotely. Individuals wishing to provide comment on individual agenda items may appear remotely through the following sign-up link https://tinyurl.com/2rusqrby or Join by phone+1-510-338-9438 USA Toll – Access Code 126 493 4306, Meeting Password wxPtjrt5X79 (99785785 from phones and video systems) or may submit written comments. Written public comments may be sent via mail addressed to the Planning Services Office, placed in the City Hall drop box or sent by email to the Planning Services Office prior to the BID Board Meeting at: planning@ci.oshkosh.wi.us ; written comments will be distributed to the BID Board and made part of the public record of the meeting. PLEASE BE ADVISED that the Downtown Oshkosh Business Improvement District Board will hold a remote regular meeting at 8:00 AM, Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 to consider the following agenda: AGENDA I. Call to Order II. Approve Minutes of the April 20, 2021 Meeting III. Policing/Traffic/Parking/Enforcement Issues IV. Approve May, 2021 Monthly Financial Report V. Meeting Format VI. Seagull Update as of 5/5/21  100 Block – 10 nests, 28 eggs/ 200 Block- 60 nests, 160 eggs/ 300 Block-6 nests, 17 eggs/ 400 Block- None/ 500 Block- 1 nest, 3 eggs VII. BID Assessments VIII. Traffic Calming Signage IX. Years of Contribution Award X. BID Manager and BID Committee Reports  Events  MemberCO  Beautification  Marketing & Communications XI. Other Business (Must address items not listed on the BID Board meeting agenda) XII. Identification of Agenda Items for the June 15, 2021 Meeting XIII. Adjournment IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND THIS MEETING, PLEASE CALL THE PLANNING SERVICES DIVISION AT 236-5059. Downtown Oshkosh BID Board Minutes April 20, 2021 Present: Marlo Ambas, James Evans, David Krumplitsch, Sandra Prunty, James Stapel, Jill Anderson, Chanda Anderson, Kris Larson, Autumn Urban, David Krumplitsch, Barb Nelson, Aaron Armstrong, Megan Lang Excused: Andy Ratchman, Carrie Olson, Derek Mulloy Staff: Jessica Meidl – BID Manager, Kelly Nieforth – Economic Development Services Manager, Jeff Nau – Associate Planner Others: Amy Albright – Executive Director, Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau, Michael Cooney – Oshkosh Farmers Market, Rob Kleman – Senior Vice President, Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce I. Call to Order Chairperson Lang called the meeting to order at 8:00a.m. A quorum was declared present. II. Approve Minutes of the March 16, 2021 Meeting Mr. Evans motioned to approve the minutes of the March 16, 2021 meeting as presented. Mr. Larson seconded the motion which passed unanimously. III. Policing/Traffic/Parking/Enforcement Issues Chairperson Lang stated that Officer Petit was unable to attend the meeting. IV. Approve April 2021 Monthly Financial Report Mr. Larson motioned to approve financial report. Dr. Anderson seconded the motion which passed unanimously. V. Seagull Update Ms. Prunty stated that they are on target to start in May. The BID has a contract with the USDA for the project. Instead of paying $10,000 to $20,000 for an independent contractor, the USDA only charges for their time. The contract for last year was around $3,000 and they are expecting an amount close to that this year. They are licensed to eradicate and exterminate the nest, chicks, and eggs in a humane manner if they are found. This is year two of a three year project and there are not as many as last year. Ms. Meidl stated that they removed 31 birds last year and destroyed 182 nests on buildings downtown. Ms. Anderson stated that she has definitely seen a decrease from last year. She asked if City Center did their own thing. Ms. Prunty replied that City Center, 4 Imprint, and 404 do their own thing. Ms. Anderson stated that they are coming back in full force, but understands it is year two of a three year project. VI. BID Assessments Chairperson Lang and Mr. Nau provided background information on the assessments issue. Mr. Larson asked for more details on the transaction as far as the value goes because it ought to affect the basis of the assessment. The item was postponed until the May 18, 2021 meeting. VII. Wine Walk Event Discussion Ms. Meidl stated that they decided to forgo the May Wine Walk because the board isn’t even meeting in person right now. They will continue with the fall one because they have the permitting for twice per year. Chairperson Lang asked if the fall one is in September. Ms. Meidl replied that it is usually the second weekend in September. Ms. Nelson stated that Fon du Lac is doing their Wine Walk on June 18th. Their criteria doesn’t have anything about social distancing or COVID precautions. Chairperson Lang replied that she would love to have one, but the board isn’t even meeting in person at this point. It might be a good idea to do something mid-summer. There is nothing that says they can’t do one in July and it might be a year to do something different since everyone is anxious to get back out. Ms. Nelson replied that Fon du Lac has 68 people and 349 interested. She hasn’t seen anyone commenting negatively about it. Mr. Evans stated that he wondered if it would be worth it to approach legislators to relax the two times per year issue to help make up for the losses they’ve suffered over the last year. Ms. Anderson replied that she thinks that is a good idea and asked if Mr. Evans could do the research to see who they should reach out to. Mr. Larson replied that he can start on that and he will report back to Ms. Nieforth. VIII. Farmer’s Market Ms. Meidl stated that she had a meeting to discuss the Wednesday night market. At the last BID meeting they had discussed the market going into the 500 block on the street and potentially shutting the street down. They will likely will try to start in the parking lot of the Gibson Social Club and reassess if needed. They are hoping for it to have an artisan or craft feel different from the Saturday market. They still need to connect with the Gibson Social Club on it. Ms. Anderson stated that she talked with Michelle because it is so similar to Oshkosh into the Night. Her understanding is that it has been tabled for now. There is no way she can do Oshkosh into the Night if the Farmer’s Market does this because they are too similar. Ms. Meidl replied that she does not see why they couldn’t collaborate. Michelle is trying to get things ready for the summer market right now, so this isn’t at the top of her list. Mr. Cooney replied that they are focusing on the summer market. There are a number of things pending and their board meeting is next week. They have great interest in having different vendors at the market. They will know more details after they work them out. IX. BID Manager and BID Committee Reports  Events  MemberCO  Beautification  Marketing & Communications Ms. Meidl provided a marketing and advertising update. She has been posting on social media five times per week, she scheduled monthly Oshkosh Herald ads, and is writing blogs once or twice per month or contracting them out. They just did a wedding venue blog which had good feedback on social media. She’s been monthly advertising for First Fridays and Lunch Box promos. She is still doing the two newsletters for downtown business owners and community, changing the message on the square, and all print advertising for events. She is working on the visitors guide with Amy at the CVB. She shared a draft with the BID and will have an updated version with photos at the next meeting. She talked with Chairperson Lang about working on the directory again and maybe not having a date on it. Rather than updated it annually, it would only need to be updated only when there are a lot of changes. Her goal is to have that complete by EAA, but there are a lot of changes for this update. Ms. Meidl provided an update for events. There are monthly First Fridays each month which have gone over pretty well. The last one was a little slower because it was Good Friday. The Star Wars event and scavenger hunt are coming up. All businesses can participate. Saturdays are the Spring Sidewalk Sale. Around 30 people participated in the Lunch Box event. She would have liked to see more people participate, but she thinks there will be more participation moving forward. Ms. Meidl provided an update for recruitment and retention. She has set up monthly meetings with Mr. Kleman at the Chamber to discuss Economic Development related items in the downtown area. He agreed to give them a spot in their newsletter to list available properties. She also has monthly meetings with Trisha and the GO-EDC team to discuss downtown clients and how BID can help them. She has bi-weekly meetings with the Oshkosh Community Partner update. She has met with Salon Aura and a couple other businesses to get them setup on the gift card program. Ms. Meidl provided a beautification update. They have a lot of great ideas, but need funding to execute them. She shared a presentation that was put together for potential sponsors. The top of the priority list is downtown murals. They have a targeted location for the first one and approval from the property owner as well as a couple artists in mind. They are looking at applying for grants because it’s around $10,000-$15,000 per mural depending on the size. Last holiday season they fundraised $20,000 for lights in the square. The lights only go half way up the trees and they want to complete the lights on the Market Street side. They have the lights to do so, it’s just a matter of contracting that work. Their goal for 2022 is to get electrical to the Main Street trees and have those wrapped. Their seasonal banners will be up next year and are renewed every three years. She is working on finding sponsors and creating new designs with the committee. The next project is to wrap utility boxes. Art City Wraps can easily do something like this, but it’s a matter of finding an artist. They are also working on seating for Opera House Square for live events. Nearby restaurants can also utilize the seating. She found solar tables that are surprisingly affordable and have the capability to charge devices for around $5,500 each. Mr. Ambas replied that he like the utility box idea and it is good to have the partnership with Art City Wraps. It wouldn’t be too difficult to do that and support local artists. The mural project would be really cool if they could utilize the side of his building and get approvals from the City. Ms. Anderson stated that she liked the round table and thinks Ms. Meidl is doing a great job. Chairperson Lang stated that they are accepting donations. If anyone has a connection for murals or utility boxes or funding and would like to setup a meeting with Ms. Meidl, that would be great. The projects cannot move forward without funding. City Staff has worked with them to get the projects moving forward, but funding is the next step at this point and it will be a group effort. Ms. Meidl has a formal document she can send to any interested donors. For the utility boxes, a lot of them have individual sponsors for each piece. It doesn’t have to be a sponsorship for the entire project. Ms. Anderson asked what the main priority is. Ms. Meidl replied that they are good to move forward with lights in the square. From the beautification committee, what she’s hearing is that the mural projects are priority. Neighboring communities have them and were able to fundraise for them. Ms. Nieforth asked if they were making progress with the utility boxes. Ms. Meidl replied that she thinks so because they have the examples from neighboring communities. Ms. Nieforth replied that they need to know which utility boxes BID is interested in. Scooter is open to it, but they need to be City owned. They can’t be owned by WPS or other private utility companies. Chairperson Lang asked if there is a reason the WPS ones are off limits. Ms. Nieforth replied that she talked with another community that tried to work with WPS and it did not work. She is not sure where the WPS ones are located, but BID could certainly talk with WPS to see if they would be interested. Chairperson Lang replied that the utility boxes would be a good value to get some mileage out of a sponsorship because they will be up for years and there will be some buzz when they do it. The ones in the square are in pretty prominent spots. Her personal goal is to get the trees lit to the top, get the utility boxes done, have one mural up by the end of the 2021, and have the banner project complete so that they can have new banners in January. Mr. Stapel stated that it might pay to ask WPS about the boxes, because WPS might be interested if it means they wouldn’t need to come out to take care of graffiti on the boxes. Ms. Nelson asked if the boxes needed to be done all at once. Ms. Nieforth replied that from a City standpoint, it would be better to do one or two as a trial to see how it goes. This is also how other communities have done it. Chairperson Lang replied that she would rather do them all at once because it’s the best way to make an impact. It’s the price of a banner change out. She thinks there is a way to accomplish this to make a splash from a marketing standpoint. Mr. Stapel stated that some of them could be historic downtown photos, so they wouldn’t need to pay for an artist. Chairperson Lang replied that she has seen boxes with historic photos and they look great. She doesn’t know if all of them should be photos, but some of them could be. Dr. Anderson replied that she would be willing to sponsor the first box. Ms. Meidl replied that she could do this like how she does with banners sponsorships and that she would be in touch with Dr. Anderson. Ms. Albright stated that if this was done all at once, it could be done as a tourism thing and they could apply for up to half of the cost through them. It could be used on several projects, not just the utility boxes. They need to make the case that it is tourism, but some of these are definitely tourism related. Ms. Nelson asked if the logo would go on the box or if they are providing the funding only. Ms. Meidl replied that she would need to check with City staff to see what the rules are. Logos cannot be on murals, but she is not sure about the boxes. It would be ideal to have the logo on there if possible. Mr. Nau stated that these should be treated like the banners with a smaller logo for the sponsor. Ms. Anderson stated that she thinks there is enough interest at this point to get this done and get approval from Scooter. The issue last time was overheating the boxes. Ms. Nieforth replied that she talked with other communities to resolve any issues with Scooter. The main thing at this point is identifying the location for the boxes as well as what is going on them. The City will probably want to have some sort of say in the design, so they need to discuss what that process will be. Chairperson Lang stated that the Chamber is no longer doing Live at Lunch. BID needs to decide if they are going to do their own event to replace it. They could be overlapping with one night of the Menominee Park thing. They need to have a plan for securing musicians. Mr. Larson stated that the Menominee Park event is beer gardens and music on Wednesday nights. There will be one in August and September. Ms. Meidl stated that Planet Perk will be doing their Perk Picnic at the Beach series again, so they do not want to compete with them either. Chairperson Lang asked if anyone felt strongly that they should be creating a new event to replace Live at Lunch. Mr. Evans stated that their plates are full at the moment. Dr. Anderson stated that it might not be ideal for this summer, but she would like to revisit it next summer. Ms. Prunty asked when their Jazz in the Square event is happening. Chairperson Lang replied that it is in August. Mr. Kleman stated that Waterfest is currently taking a lot of their staff time and it will kick off June 17th. There could be a night time event to replace Live at Lunch which would have better attendance. They noticed attendance dropping for the noon time concert series in the last year or two. Ms. Anderson stated that they used to have a line out the door for lunch, and now they maybe have ten. They barely need two staff at the noon hour. The Lunchbox closed for lunch. Without all of those businesses on premise yet, there’s really not anything down there. There is very little lunch. Mr. Ambas stated that they are open for lunch now, but they are running on minimal staff as well. Chairperson Lang stated that they will forgo any lunch concert series for the summer. She thinks that makes sense and they understand why the Chamber is discontinuing the Live at Lunch event and directing their energy toward Waterfest. Maybe something to think about is continuing the Lunch Box promotion on Wednesdays throughout the summer to encourage people to eat out for lunch. Ms. Meidl stated that they can do a punch card thing where they can go anywhere downtown. She doesn’t know why there isn’t more traffic because they receive the free $5 gift card for participating. Chairperson Lang replied that she thinks people will get used to it the more they do it. As far as the Wednesday evening concerts for September, they can work on those dates. She thinks the community is large enough to support two events happening on the same night. ‘ X. Other Business (Must address items not listed on the BID Board meeting agenda) Ms. Meidl stated that she knows businesses are struggling with finding people to work. The Farmers Market is doing a job fair at the Saturday market and if anyone has any now hiring flyers to include, she is putting those together for Saturday. Ms. Anderson stated that she doesn’t know if anyone realizes how bad it is, but restaurants are getting nailed with bad reviews because of short staffing. Ms. Meidl replied that she knows that Ms. Albright is working on that on the support local page. Ms. Prunty asked if there was any possibility of re-routing big trucks through Main Street. Ms. Nieforth replied that it would be a hard one. Part of Main Street is a designated truck route and US Highway 45 comes through. If it is something this group is interested in, they can get Public Works and Transportation staff together to discuss. The trucks going up and down Main are probably going to a business. In the future there may not be as much traffic, but it’s something they can look at. Ms. Prunty replied that she was just trying to gauge how difficult it would be. Chairperson Lang replied that it might be time to get the little center sign out again and put them in the crosswalks to encourage more pedestrian-friendly behavior. This comes up every year and they have offered to buy the sign. They are happy to do whatever they can to get it back from the police department. Ms. Nieforth replied that she would reach out about the sign. XI. Identification of Agenda Items for the May 18, 2021 Meeting No new items were identified for the May 18, 2021 meeting. The Wine Walk item will be included in the BID Manager Update moving forward. XII. Adjournment With there being no further business, Ms. Prunty moved for the meeting to be adjourned at 9:07am. Dr. Anderson seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Kelly Nieforth Economic Development Division Economic Development Services Manager IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND THIS MEETING, PLEASE CALL THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION AT 236- 5055. Description Expenditure Leadership Oshkosh Convention and Visitor's Bureau CVB Contract April 6,721.45$ Reimbursements: Website Maintenance/Office Supplies Canva - Credit Card Reimbursement 12.95$ Target - Credit Card Reimbursement 14.68$ Mail Chimp - Credit Card Reimbursement 30.99$ Verizon Phone Charges 1,084.59$ Reimbursements: Recruitment/Retention/Video Grants Recruitment/Retention Grant Program Brickhouse Properties LLC 1,000.00$ Reimbursements: Video Grant Program Events Waterfest Live at Lunch unWINEd-Wine Walk Farmers Market Reimbursements: Holiday Parade Reimbursements: Gallery Walk Advertising Jim Koepnick Photography LLC 410.00$ Facebook - Credit Card Reimbursement 80.00$ Houck Transit Advertising 4/27/21-5/27/21 400.00$ Philanthropy Marketing - Wedding venue blog 120.00$ Jennifer L. Kalchik Blog Posts 62.50$ Reimbursements:CVB Houck Bus Advertisement (285.00)$ CVB Star Wars Light Saber Sponsorship (175.00)$ Gift Card Program Marketing Consortium Membership Donations American Black Belt Academy (35.00)$ Oshkosh Saturday Farmers Market (35.00)$ Add'l Activities/Marketg Materials Holiday Chalk Walk Donation: Beautification Contracted Services Holiday Reimbursements: Planter and Bumpout Maintenance Lakefly Sponsorship Seagull Mitigation Project USDA 2,713.00$ Parking Parking Study Implementation Reimbursements: Storage Unit D&K Rentals - May Rent 110.00$ Reserves / Capital Improvements Reimbursements: Total 12,230.16$ 2021 Business Improvement District April 14, 2021 through May 11, 2021 2021 Assessment 140,610.00 2020 Carry over 76,412.21 2020 Encumberance 1,000.00 TOTAL AVAILABLE 218,022.21 Funds Allocated 217,022.21 Balance Available 1,000.00 2021 Encumbered Allocation Expenditures Receipt Transferred Balance Balance Leadership Oshkosh Convention and Visitor's Bureau 70,000.00$ 19,019.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50,981.00 Website Maintenance/Office Supplies 4,000.00$ 2,368.51 0.00 0.00 0.00 1,631.49 Recruitment/Retention Grant Program -$ 1,000.00 0.00 10,000.00 1,000.00 8,000.00 Events Waterfest 2,000.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,000.00 Live at Lunch 500.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 unWINEd-Wine Walk 750.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 750.00 Holiday Parade 750.00$ 711.00 175.00 0.00 0.00 214.00 Farmers Market 5,000.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 5,000.00 Other Events 2,500.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,500.00 Advertising -$ 3,905.33 925.00 15,000.00 0.00 12,019.67 Gift Card Program 1,000.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1,000.00 Marketing Consortium Membership Donations -$ 0.00 390.00 0.00 0.00 390.00 Additional Activities & Marketing Materials 850.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 850.00 Holiday 2,000.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,000.00 Chalk Walk 150.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 150.00 Beautification Contracted Services 25,000.00$ 7,100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 17,900.00 Holiday 8,500.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 8,500.00 Planter and Bumpout Maintenance 13,950.00$ 0.00 0.00 3,050.00 0.00 17,000.00 Seagull Mitigation Project 3,000.00$ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3,000.00 Parking -$ 0.00 0.00 15,000.00 0.00 15,000.00 Storage Unit 660.00$ 495.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 165.00 Reserves / Capital Improvements 76,412.21$ 0.00 0.00 (43,050.00)0.00 33,362.21 TOTAL OPERATING BUDGET 217,022.21$ 34,598.84$ 1,490.00$ -$ 1,000.00$ 182,913.37 Postings through May 11, 2021 Downtown Oshkosh Business Improvement District - 2021 Operating Plan BID Manager Report May 2021 Priorities for the Month: • Post on social media 5+ times per week • Continue email template to be sent out on a monthly basis to property/business owners • Change message on interchangeable sign • Continuous website updates • Participate in weekly Community Partner Update with Oshkosh community leaders every Wednesday • Attend monthly Chamber EDAC meetings and give monthly BID update • Meet with Rob Kleman from the Chamber and Tricia Rathermal from GOEDC once per month for downtown opportunity update • Reconcile gift card account every Friday • Develop and send the monthly newsletter (I send these as I feel they are needed) • Monthly downtown opportunity ad in Chamber newsletter • Create monthly Oshkosh Herald and Houck bus ads • Monthly ads and interview with Bob Burnell • Put on First Friday event every First Friday of each month • Contract 1-2 blogs per month with blogger • Recent blogs: Weddings in Downtown Oshkosh, Mother’s Day, Haunted spots in DTO, Where to find art downtown Committee Reports: MemberCO o Put together the monthly agenda o Sent out prior minutes and agenda o Attended monthly meeting Beautification/Retention Grant/Mural Grant o Beautification o Opera House Square seating – Solar picnic tables/café tables o Mural Project Applying for multiple mural grants o Finish light installation in Opera House Square o 2022 banner design and sponsorships o Electrical box wraps: Status update (Kelly) o Assisting City Arts & Beautification with additional mini murals o Flowers will be planted 5/21 or 5/28 weekend depending on weather o Retention Grant o No pending applications o Recruitment Grant o No pending applications o Mural Grant o No pending applications Marketing & Communications • No update • Next meeting will be scheduled for June Events • Working on events application with Sandy • Next meeting will be scheduled for June Other Highlights/Projects • Held April 24th Sidewalk Sale • Star Wars event recap o Over 100 surveys were completed at the end of the event o 66% found the event through social media. 23% through word of mouth, 10% OTHER (most of these were from seeing the event happening downtown), 1% newspaper/radio • Wednesday Night Market (Oshkosh Farmers Market) • Launch of Downtown Summer (June First Friday, first Downtown Farmers Market, etc.) • Designed downtown section in CVB Visitors Guide: https://bit.ly/3xYZlEd • Update downtown directory and/or create insert for 2020 directories • Update kiosk in Opera House Square • Create new newsletter templates • Instagift downtown gift card program – is this a good option for us? • Finalize setup on Teams app with Walter for each committee • Lunch Bucks – every Friday June-September? • June First Friday – Jazz in the Square that evening if it is approved • OCVB rebranding and destination assessment committee beginning in June • Main Street Communities application for Fall membership with Kelly and Jeff • Leadership Oshkosh: Trivia Event (May 20th), Graduation (May 27th)