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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutesDOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES February 17, 2015 1 PRESENT: David Sparr, Megan Lang, Sandy Prunty, Andy Ratchman, Kris Larson, Kay Bahr, Chanda Anderson, Marlo Ambas, James Evans EXCUSED: Jim Stapel, Vicky Schroeder, David Krumplitsch STAFF: Cassie Daniels – BID Manager, Jeffrey Nau – Associate Planner OTHERS: Sergeant Matt Kroening – Oshkosh Police Department, David Buck – Principal Planner, Chet Wesenberg – Chet Wesenberg Architect, LLC I - CALL TO ORDER Chair Sparr called the meeting to order at 8:03am and a quorum was declared present. II – APPROVE MINUTES OF JANUARY 20, 2015 MEETING There was no discussion on this item. Kris Larson moved to approve the minutes of the January 2015 meeting as presented. Chanda Anderson seconded the motion which passed unanimously. III – POLICING/TRAFFIC/PARKING/ENFORCEMENT ISSUES Sergeant Kroening informed the Board that there was not a single major crime in the downtown area this past month. Sergeant Kroening reported that there have been two changes concerning the Day By Day warming shelter. First that Angie McCarthy has stepped down as director from the warming shelter and second, Mainview Apartments has become the overflow shelter for when the Day By Day Shelter reaches its capacity of 25 people. Ms. Prunty asked how many times the capacity has been reached. Sergeant Kroening responded he believed three or four times this winter. Chair Sparr asked when the burglary suspect arrested last month was going to trial. Sergeant Kroening responded it has gone to the motions hearing but was unsure when it was going to trial but would report back next month with more information. Ms. Anderson inquired about the vehicle parked on the riverwalk last month. Sergeant Kroening responded they are having a difficult time putting a case together to prosecute the owner of the vehicle since the act did not take place on a public street or public sidewalk. He added he should have more information at next month’s meeting. IV – TAX CREDITS FOR HISTORIC BUILDING REHABILITATION Principal Planner David Buck introduced architect Chet Wesenberg and distributed information on the three historic tax credit programs. Mr. Buck informed the Board the two main programs include the Federal Historic Preservation Program which gives up to 20% tax credit for eligible projects and the Wisconsin Historic Tax Credit Program which gives up to another 20% in tax credit for a total of up to 40% in tax credits. He added that to qualify, the structure must be on the national register as a contributing historic building located in a national historic district or deemed historic by the National Parks Service or Wisconsin Historical Society. Mr. Buck explained what types of renovations and projects are eligible and went over the procedures to apply for DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES February 17, 2015 2 the tax credits. Mr. Buck briefly described the third program for homeowners which would not apply to properties in the BID. He stressed that a lot of preplanning must be done because the proposed renovations must be approved by the state and/or National Parks Service before work begins. Mr. Buck added there are minimum out of pocket monetary commitments required and any credits given must be paid back on a pro-rata basis if the building is altered or modified in a way not consistent with the historic nature of the building within five years the credits are given. Mr. Buck introduced Chet Wesenberg, who is overseeing the rehabilitation of the Dealerfire building, 531 N. Main Street. Mr. Wesenberg explained the project was approved for State and Federal tax credits. He added the value of the renovations is over $1 million resulting in over $400,000 in tax credits. Mr. Wesenberg explained that the approval is a three-part process; 1 – Determining if the building is significant, salvageable, contributing or (not necessary but helpful) located in a historic district. 2 – Submit plans for the proposed renovations to ensure they meet the eligibility requirements then photo document every detail of the building 3 – Once work is complete, re-photo document the whole building using the same vantage points from the original photos to ensure no deviation occurred from the original plans or submittal. Mr. Wesenberg stated the application process is time consuming, typically taking two months or longer for approval, depending on the backlog of applicants and complexity of the project. He added the work is well worth the effort considering the cost savings it can generate. Mr. Sparr asked if federal wage rates must be used for labor expenses. Mr. Wesenberg responded they do not. Mr. Buck informed the Board if they or anyone they know are interested in any of the programs to contact him for more information. V – APPROVE RECRUITMENT FUND GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,000 FOR BALANCE OSHKOSH, 223 N. MAIN STREET BID Manager Daniels distributed minutes from the February 3rd Recruitment Fund Grant Committee and provided additional background information on the $5,000.00 Retention Fund Grant request for Balance Oshkosh which will be opening soon at 223 N. Main Street. The business offers health and fitness classes as well as clothing sales. Ms. Daniels added that the owners are committed to the location by signing a five-year lease and currently doing extensive renovations to the interior. Ms. Daniels noted that the RFG Committee expressed excitement for the new business and scored high on their scoring system, validating their recommendation for the $5,000 grant. Chair Sparr asked Ms. Daniels how much money will be left in the Recruitment/Retention Fund Grant account after this is approved. Ms. Daniels responded there will be $12,000 left for the remainder of the year. Ms. Anderson stated she knows the applicants and has great confidence they will be successful due to their experience with their other business (Good Girl Piercing). Mr. Sparr asked if Good Girl Piercing was going to stay open. Ms. Anderson responded that she was not aware if they were going to close it. Kris Larson motioned for approval for the 5,000.00 Recruitment Fund Grant for Balance Oshkosh. Chanda Anderson seconded the motion which passed unanimously. DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES February 17, 2015 3 VI - MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT There was no discussion on this item. Kris Larson motioned for approval of the monthly financial report as presented. Megan Lang seconded the motion which passed unanimously. VII – BID MANAGER AND SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Ms. Daniels presented a summary of her activities over the past month as outlined in her report included in the BID packet. Highlights include: • The 2015 Downtown Directory will be going to print this Friday. • Working on Gift Card Program, will be discussed in detail later. • Beautification o Working with Jones Signs for design of the changeable copy sign for Opera House Square. o Starting work on new banner program, the current contract expires at the end of this year. o Faulty holiday wreaths have been picked up and are getting repaired. • Recruitment Fund Grants o Had Recruitment Fund Grant meeting for the $5,000.00 grant for Oshkosh Balance. o Made contact with two interested clients for 2015. • Participating with a Historic Tourism Group including representatives from the CVB, Library, Landmarks Commission and City to help promote historic tourism. • Attending BID assessment meetings. • Updating email and membership lists. • Exploring the creation of a Taste of Oshkosh event which will hopefully begin in 2016. Mr. Larson stated that he has been working on holding a similar type event and told Ms. Daniels he would get in contact with her. VIII – DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH GIFT CARD PROGRAM UPDATE Sean Brownstein of Card Concepts introduced himself and provided background information on their business and services provided. He empathized with the current issues with Cornerstone and has ideas to resurrect the gift card program. Ms. Daniels went over the history and problems with the gift card program including hardware issues, slow processing and lack of adequate training from Cornerstone. Ms. Daniels also expressed concerns with the lack of visibility and marketing of the current program. Some businesses did well, but many did not. She added that she has explored other options such as OCM cards, but would not like to see the creation of a new gift certificate program which may compete with the Chamber’s gift certificate program and is also time-consuming to administer. Mr. Sparr asked if anyone processed a Titan Card from the University. Mr. Evans responded he did a few years ago and recalled having no issues processing it. DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES February 17, 2015 4 Mr. Brownstein stated that he felt the BID has a good program in place and was unfortunate that Cornerstone dropped the ball. He promised that Card Solutions would provide much better support and do a better job marketing the program. Ms. Lang questioned if the existing card can still be used, what kind of startup costs would businesses be looking at, what kind of training would be provided and what kind of monthly costs would there be. Mr. Brownstein responded the current cards can still be used; there would be a re-boarding fee of $95 for each business. He added that the final monthly fees have not been calculated but would be favorable compared to Cornerstone. As far as training, Mr. Brownstein stated his company would visit each business to ensure they are up and running and they offer on-site support as they are local. Lastly, Mr. Brownstein stated they would work with each business to market the program. Mr. Sparr asked how they would help market the program. Mr. Brownstein responded that they would treat it like a grass-roots program, provide signage and make the program visible. He also added that they would advocate getting more cards in customers’ hands. Mr. Sparr asked Ms. Anderson her experience with the current program. Ms. Anderson responded that her employees would often panic due to issues with the card reader, time delays or forgetting how to process them which resulted in angry customers. Mr. Larson echoed Ms. Anderson’s experiences. Mr. Ambas stated it is very time-consuming processing the gift cards. Ms. Anderson stated the only way she would participate is if it is easy to use as a regular credit card transaction. Mr. Sparr asked who are some of Card Solutions other customers. Mr. Brownstein responded that they have many stand-alone customers; this would be their first large-scale program. Ms. Lang asked if they had any customers in Downtown Oshkosh. Mr. Brownstein responded they have approximately 25 customers downtown and approximately 50 throughout Oshkosh. Ms. Lang asked if businesses would still have two machines. Mr. Brownstein replied that if they are current customers for credit card processing, they would only need one. If they are not, they may need two. Ms. Daniels added that they may also process the transactions via the internet. Ms. Daniels stated she will continue working with Card Solutions and report back next month with an update. IX – BID ASSESSMENT POLICY REVIEW UPDATE Chair Sparr reported that the committee has been meeting regularly and have another meeting tomorrow. Mr. Evans added he felt they are close to bringing a proposal to the Board, possibly next month. Mr. Sparr stated that he was surprised at how much City Center/4 Imprint has gone up in property value resulting in very large increases to their assessments over the years. He added they are paying what can be viewed as a disproportionate share of the BID budget; what they are wrestling with is any decreases to their assessments will have to be made up by the rest of the BID. Mr. Sparr added that the committee has looked at several options including assessing based on straight assessed value with minimum and maximum assessments, using square footage, assessing per business tenant, etc. Mr. Sparr stated that they will report back next month, hopefully with a proposal to present to the Board. X – IDENTIFICATION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE MARCH 17, 2015 MEETING - BID Assessment evaluation update - Gift Card Program Update DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES February 17, 2015 5 XI – ADJOURNMENT With there being no further business, Sandy Prunty moved for the meeting to be adjourned at 9:21am. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Jeffrey Nau Associate Planner