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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutesDOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2011 PRESENT: David Hetzel, Sandy Prunty, Michael Russell, Todd Cummings Jim Stapel, Melody Wollangk, Jeff Jahnke EXCUSED: David Sparr, Megan Lang, Kurt Koeppler STAFF: Maureen Lasky, Jeffrey Nau OTHERS: Lisa Voss — Oshkosh Public Library, Rob Kleman — OAEDC, Matt Kroening — Oshkosh Police Department I - CALL TO ORDER With Chair Sparr and Vice Chair Lang excused, the Board unanimously approved Todd Cummings to serve as temporary chair for the meeting. Todd Cummings called the meeting to order and a quorum was declared present. II - MINUTES OF MARCH 15, 2011 MEETING There was no discussion on this item. Sandy Prunty moved for approval of the March 15 2011 minutes as presented. Jim Stapel seconded the motion which passed unanimously. III — POLICING /TRAFFIC /PARKING ISSUES Sergeant Kroening reported that things have been quiet. He apologized for the mix -up for the posting of the no parking signs for the delivery of the flower pots along N. Main Street. Ms. Lasky responded that it was not a problem and the planters were placed without major issue. Sergeant Kroening gave a status of the two downtown Tonys. Tony Ellis has been incarcerated and will be imprisoned for three months for fraud charges. Tony Sandeville has been increasingly causing problems. He added that he is on a low tolerance list and if he causes any problems, call the Oshkosh Police Department and he will be cited. Additionally, he said a letter will be going out to downtown businesses addressing how to deal with this type of problem. Todd Cummings informed Sergeant Kroening of a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, non - functional and unregistered, occupying a permit stall in the 400 block east parking lot that has been there for a while. Sergeant Kroening said it would be taken care of BID Manager Lasky inquired about the Pub Crawl the previous weekend. Sergeant Kroening responded there was a slight increase in arrests, but overall, it was a clean event. IV — MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT There was no discussion on this item. Mike Russell motioned for approval of the monthly financial report as presented. Jim Stapel seconded the motion which passed unanimously. DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2011 V - BID MANAGER AND SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS • BID Marketing Consortium - The Oshkosh Half Marathon was last Saturday along with the Poker Run Friday afternoon. Attendance was good but down slightly than previous years due to the bad weather. - Destination Downtown will be Saturday, May 21. Events include a style show, brunch and wine tasting. So far 80 tickets have been sold with hopes of up to 100 or more. - Second Quarter advertising in the Oshkosh Northwestern and The Scene. • Beautification - Final flower pots were placed along N. Main Street and throughout the BID yesterday (April 17 Some pots may need to be moved if they cause visual problems. - Trash receptacles will be shipped next Monday. Ms. Lasky will be meeting with the City next Monday for final placement of the other elements including bike racks, benches and trash receptacles. - Summer Banners — the final design has been approved. - Ground Effects contract is being updated. The BID is still waiting for cost estimates for the increased work for the additional flower pots. - Flowers have been ordered for the flower pots. • RFG - BID Manager Lasky has been working with two potential clients and there may be possibly a third for a RFG grant. • UW Extension - The BID has sponsored four seminars which are free for businesses to attend. Three businesses attended the first seminar focusing on a shop local campaign. The next is scheduled for June 9 with Public- Private Partnerships in the Downtown as the topic. VI — BRANDING MARKET RESEARCH UPDATE Ms. Lasky reported that she will be emailing the timeline from Blue Door Consulting. The survey resulted in over 1,700 participants — a great turnout. Blue Door will not be conducting a mall- intercept survey due to the great turnout from the questionnaire survey. Blue Door will present the results of the survey to the BID Board the week of May 9th VII — FREE RENT INCUBATOR PROGRAM Mike Russell spoke with Beth Nichols who oversees a business district in downtown Milwaukee to see how their program works. Their program promotes "Pop -Up" store, where a new business would have to be open from November through January and would receive free rent. Insurance, utilities, fixtures, etc. would be the responsibility of the business. Their BID District would subsidize a portion of the rent back to the landlord. The goal of course being that this would encourage businesses to locate to the downtown. This would differ from the RFG program in that a new business would only be committed for four months whereas RFG grants are only forgiven after two years. Sandy Prunty added that this is an opportunity for established businesses to expand to another market. Jim Stapel inquired if the tenant was required to advertise; this would not only benefit them but also the rest of the downtown. Rob Kleman added how this type of program and similar 2 DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2011 programs has worked throughout the state. Mr. Kleman added that this would be a project OAEDC would be willing to assist the BID with. VIII — WEDNESDAY FARMERS MARKET UPDATE Ms. Lasky informed the BID that she mailed previous year's participants a letter regarding the status of the Wednesday market and options to keep the market going. She did receive some phone calls, but to date, there has been no outside interest in managing the market. IX — APPROVE CHANGE TO BYLAWS AND APPENDIX E OF OPERATING PLAN TO ADD ALTERNATE MEMBERS Mr. Nau explained the background for this item. Mr. Stapel question how the voting would work for the alternate members. Mr. Nau stated that if the Board was short any members, the alternate(s) would be allowed to act on items requiring action. Jeff Jahnke motioned for approval of the amended Bylaws and Appendix "E" of the 2011 Operating Plan. Jim Stapel seconded the motion which passed unanimously. X — IDENTIFICATION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR MAY 17, 2011 MEETING • Free Rent Incubator Program XI - ADJOURNMENT With there being no further business, Jeff Jahnke moved the meeting be adjourned. Sandy Prunty seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Jeffrey Nau Associate Planner 3