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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutesDOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2016 PRESENT: Megan Lang, Kris Larson, David Sparr, Jim Stapel, Andy Ratchman, Vicky Schroeder, Sandy Prunty, Marlo Ambas and James Evans EXCUSED: Kay Bahr, David Krumplitsch, Chanda Anderson STAFF: Cassie Daniels – BID Manager, Jeffrey Nau - Associate Planner OTHERS: Allen Davis – Director of Community Development, Darryn Burich – Planning Services Manager, Sergeant Matt Kroening – Oshkosh Police Department, Sue van Houwelingen – Leadership Oshkosh/Oshkosh Housing Authority, Rob Kleman – Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce I - CALL TO ORDER Chair Lang called the meeting to order at 8:00am and a quorum was declared present. II – APPROVE MINUTES OF MARCH 15, 2016 MEETING There was no discussion on this item. Kris Larson moved to approve the minutes of the March 15, 2016 meeting as presented. Chanda Anderson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. III – POLICING/TRAFFIC/PARKING/ENFORCEMENT ISSUES Chair Lang asked Sergeant Kroening if he could, after his report, go over cleanup procedures for bodily fluids per a request from James Evans. Sergeant Kroening responded he could. Sergeant Kroening reported there has not been much activity other than the Pub Crawl which took place on April 9th. Due to poor weather, the Pub Crawl did not have a very large crowd. He stated there were 13 citations issued which was in line with the previous two Pub Crawls, compared to 55 citations and 4 arrests in spring of 2012. James Evans told Sergeant Kroening about a fight originating at Oblio’s resulting in a lot of blood being spilled behind his store. Sergeant Kroening responded that normally if the Police are called, they would contact Fire and Rescue to clean up the blood using a 50-50 bleach-water solution. He added if that happens again, call the Police Department non-emergency number and they will arrange to have it cleaned up. Andy Ratchman arrives at 8:07a.m. Ms. Lang asked about the cleanup of vomit and bodily fluids other than blood. Sergeant Kroening responded the City does not clean up anything other than blood and was not aware of any procedures. He suggested using the same 50-50 bleach-water solution used for cleaning blood. Marlo Ambas arrives at 8:09a.m. DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2016 IV – MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT There was no discussion on this item. David Sparr moved to approve the monthly financial report as presented. Kris Larson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. V – APPROVE TRANSFER OF $11,000 FROM RESERVE FUND TO BEAUTIFICATION BID Manager Daniels informed the Board that this transfer was included in 2016’s Operating Plan and is needed to cover projected expenses for beautification services. James Evans asked if this is to cover lawn care. Ms. Lang responded it is. Mr. Evans added that the contractor should pay more attention to weed control in the 400 Block East Parking Lot. Ms. Daniels asked Mr. Nau to send her copies of the landscape plans for the parking lots so she could pass them on to the BID’s contractor. James Evans motioned transfer $11,000 from the Reserve Fund to Beautification-Contracted Services. Jim Stapel seconded the motion which passed unanimously. VI – DISCUSSION OF BID SPECIAL ASSESSMENT FOR 17 E. PARKWAY AVENUE (WAYNE LAGER – OWNER) Chair Lang invited Mr. Lager to express his concerns with his BID assessment. Mr. Lager replied he stated his case at the last meeting and gave the Board a petition to remove his property from the BID. Mr. Evans responded that this time it would be an official part of the record because this item was not on last month’s agenda. Mr. Lager expressed his displeasure with his BID assessment and he wanted his property removed from the district. Ms. Lang asked Mr. Nau to explain what was circulated at last month’s meeting. Mr. Nau stated that Mr. Lager submitted a petition requesting for his property to be removed from the BID and to have the BID assessment removed from his 2015 property tax bill. Mr. Nau continued that the petition was invalid because Wisconsin BID law does not allow individual properties to opt out being in a BID. He explained that WI Statutes state if a property or properties want to leave a BID, the whole BID must be dissolved. A petition with owners’ signatures representing over 50% of the BID’s assessed property value must be submitted to the Common Council in order for the BID to be dissolved. Mr. Nau explained Mr. Lager’s property represents only 0.146%. Ms. Lang asked if the BID was responsible for circulating such a petition. Mr. Nau responded circulating a petition is the responsibility of those wanting to dissolve the BID. Mr. Sparr asked Mr. Lager what the use of his property is. Mr. Lager responded he uses the building to store his cars. Mr. Lager asked if the Board had been unethically influenced to change the assessment policy to implement a maximum assessment. Ms. Lang responded that there was no influence and added that the Board changed the method last year and all BID DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2016 property owners were notified of public meetings to review the proposed changes. Ms. Lang added that her BID assessments went up as well. Mr. Lager said he did not care about her assessment, only his. Mr. Lager questioned how one property’s assessment could go from $21,000 down to $8,000 and asked if someone paid off the BID to lower their assessment and if anything will be done with his assessment. Sergeant Kroening responded that question had already been answered. Ms. Lang told Mr. Lager that his concerns will be taken into consideration at the 2017 budget sessions and thanked him for coming. VII – DOWNTOWN YMCA RENOVATION PRESENTATION Chair Lang introduced Tom Blaze, President/CEO and Amy Albright, Community Relations Director of the Downtown Oshkosh YMCA. Ms. Albright showed renderings and virtual fly- throughs of the proposed YMCA renovation project. Mr. Blaze described the project and key features during the presentation. Mr. Blaze said the project cost is estimated to be $15.0 million to $15.6 million, of which $11.8 million has been raised. Mr. Blaze stated there will be major improvements to the child care center. Ms. Albright added the child care center will have its own entrance and will be more secure. Mr. Sparr asked if they have been working with the City to have the reconstruction of Washington Avenue scheduled sooner. Mr. Blaze responded they have and said the City moved the reconstruction from 2019 to 2018. This is beneficial because the YMCA renovation will take place in 2017 and if the Washington Avenue reconstruction took place at the same time that would cause a lot of construction congestion and confusion. Mr. Blaze continued by explaining some of the new classes, programs and opportunities the new facility will have compared to the 20th Avenue facility. Ms. Albright said that the community phase of the fundraising efforts will kick off in May and commended the support the community has given thus far. Mr. Blaze ended by stating that the renovation will be a great addition to all of the other projects, and events occurring in the downtown over the past several years. VIII – BID MANAGER AND SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Ms. Lang informed the Board that during the BID Manager job description meetings, it was decided that the BID Manager will no longer need to go through the whole Manager’s report each meeting as the report is included in the monthly BID packet. BID Manager Daniels presented a summary of her activities over the past month as outlined in the BID Manager’s report included in the BID packet. Highlights include:  Jones Signs will be repairing the changeable copy sign at their expense. Work should be completed tomorrow. Ms. Lang thanked Ms. Daniels for being diligent with Jones Signs DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2016 because at last month’s meeting, it appeared the BID would have to pay for a portion of the repairs.  Beautification o Currently going over designs for summer banners sponsored by the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau. The banners will make use of photographs which will be unique. o Kiosk information and map has been updated  Recruitment Fund Grants o 579 N. Main Street – will be applying for grant next month o Made contact with new pet store at 581 N. Main Street  Working on Enjoy Local Event scheduled for May 21  Attended State of the City  Looking into the BID partnering with the CVB to help promote the downtown during EAA  BID will sponsor Farmers Market via providing advertising. The BID will have a booth every Saturday IX – BID MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION, YEARLY GOALS AND WORK PRIORITIES (LANG) Ms. Lang referred to the updated job description included in the BID packet. Ms. Lang went over the key changes including generalizing many of her duties and placing more emphasis on yearly goals. She added many of the changes included references to OAEDC which have been changed to the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce and changing the BID Manager’s supervisor to the Chamber’s Senior Vice-President. Ms. Lang stated a key addition is a requirement for the BID Manager to be familiar with various social media outlets. Sandy Prunty motioned for approval of the revised Downtown BID Manager job description as presented. Vicky Schroeder seconded the motion which passed unanimously. BID Manager Daniels went over her goals for 2016. These include:  Selling more adds in the Downtown Directory  Utilizing Twitter more, Start Instagram account  Add more photos and videos to Downtown Website highlighting Downtown  Promote Gift Card Program – currently 54 participants  Prepare a end-of-year survey to get thoughts and reflection of the Downtown Ms. Lang informed the Board that towards the end of the year they should be thinking about 2017 goals and asked the Board to share any thought or ideas with her. X – VIDEOS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA (LANG) Mr. Ambas informed the Board that he is part of a group called Neverfilms and said they would be willing to shoot 30 to 60 second spots to advertise and help promote the downtown. The videos can highlight businesses and could draw more traffic to the downtown. He added the DOWNTOWN OSHKOSH BID BOARD MINUTES April 19, 2016 videos could be inter-linked to the various social media sites. Mr. Larson suggested to Mr. Ambas to prepare a package price that could be discounted to BID properties. Ms. Lang suggested making a committee to discuss this as well as social media as they are interconnected. XI – BIKE SHARING PROGRAM UPDATE Mr. Sparr said he contacted a representative from BCycle and sent information on their products for bike sharing programs. Mr. Sparr added that the cost for a ten bike station with bikes is about $50,000. Mr. Sparr said BCycle is also starting a program geared for smaller communities. More information on this will be available this fall. Mr. Sparr commented on the email sent by Mr. Nau about River Fall’s new program which is rehabilitating old bikes and making them available to the public. He felt this program would not be feasible for a city like Oshkosh. XII - IDENTIFICATION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE MAY 17, 2016 MEETING  Bike Sharing Program  Social Media/Video Production/Advertising  Recruitment Fund Grant for 579 N. Main Street XIII – ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, James Evans moved for the meeting to be adjourned at 9:20a.m. Sandy Prunty seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Jeffrey Nau Associate Planner