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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-10-2019 Minutes _ _ _ o An 01 BIA Committee of Rate Payers Meeting January 10, 2019 — 1:00 PM 'WASH ING IN Auburn City Hall Council Chambers MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 1:01 pm by Chairman DiQuattro. Roll Call: Committee Members present: Chairman Giovanni DiQuattro; Vice Chair William Cowart; Committee Members Kelly Gordon, Darren Jones Committee Members absent: Bob Klontz, Ronnie Roberts, Ruth Neil-Stover, Megan White City staff present: Doug Lein, Economic Development Manager; Holly Ferry, Committee Secretary ADA Board Members present: Brittiany Karlson, Secretary; Kristina Driessen, II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Committee Member Gordon moved and Vice Chair Cowart second to approve the November 8, 2018 minutes. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4-0 III. FINANCIAL REPORT Economic Development Manager Doug Lein gave the financial report. There was a large distribution of funds to the ADA. The collections on all the BIA fees for 2019 have been very good, and there are collections being made on all the non-exempts that were not paying previously. An audited number of the year-end balance and the fees that have been collected will be available at the February meeting. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Disbursement of BIA Funds This topic was discussed during the Financial Report. B. Marketing and Branding Manager Lein reported that there was an extensive amount of digital marketing and advertising, particularly for the holidays, in the downtown area.The analytics on the Buy Local website have shown that the average length of time spent is over two minutes per stay. Retail Coach's 2018 leakage study will hopefully be ready to share at the February meeting and will show what kind of impact was made on sales tax collections. Economic Development is working on a media calendar for digital ad placements for the year. C. BIA Newsletter A copy of the January newsletter was provided. There was no discussion. D. Update on Priority Projects Presented to City Council 1. Additional Security Lighting Manager Lein reported that there is a contract with PSE. Senior Economic Development Officer Josh Arndt has been working with the program manager. Chairman DiQuattro reminded the Committee that Officer Arndt was working to get a light up that would shine down on the B Street plaza, and if the Committee liked it, then more could be purchased. 2. Christmas decorations There was some discussion about the positive feedback received about the rope lighting in the downtown area and also about whether it could be left up year-round. 3. Banners There was no discussion on this topic. E. Update on 2018 Façade Grant Program Economic Development Manager Lein reported that he thought around $65,000 of the funds were used.The $100,000 Grant was reapproved by the City Council for 2019 and 2020. A project manager will be contracted to administer and work with business owners on the grants, budget and design. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Election of 2019 Chair and Vice Chair Economic Development Manager Lein gave the opportunity for the Committee to nominate members for the positions of Chair and Vice Chair for 2019. Member Jones moved to approve Giovannie DiQuattro to serve as BIA Committee of Rate Payers 2019 Chair. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4-0 Chairman DiQuattro called for nominations for Vice Chair. A motion was made to nominate Bill Cowart to the position of Vice Chair. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4-0 B. Vacant Rate Payer Committee Member Discussion Economic Development Manager Lein informed the Committee that John Rottle has put in his application to serve on the Committee, which would fill the last vacancy for a regular seat. He then asked how actively the Committee would like to pursue additional alternate seats. The Committee agreed that they would like to ask around and see if there was interest in serving as an alternate. Manager Lein explained how the application process works on the City website. C. Traffic Cabinet Wraps There was discussion about which boxes have already been wrapped and those that will be. D. Advisory Board Training Secretary Ferry will send the link for the training video to the Committee. The Committee was reminded to not "reply all" to any emails that are sent out to the entire Committee, but instead,just reply to the sender to avoid any quorum issues. E. 2019 Priority Projects Chairman DiQuattro reminded the Committee that 2019 projects would focus on funding ADA activities, adding more security lighting and wrapping LED lighting around the poles farther down Main Street and on the side streets. There was also discussion about adding lighting standards that are consistent with the ones that are currently on Main Street, which would go all the way down to M Street and along the side streets in the BIA. Chairman DiQuattro suggested that, if additional rope lighting is something the Committee decides it wants to do,they could go to the City Council and request that they have the City engineers install plug-ins to accommodate that lighting, and then the Committee would purchase the additional lights. There was discussion about the poor condition of the sidewalks in the BIA area. Manager Lein commented that, when the plan was drawn up and the budget and study were done, it was determined it would cost $38 million to pour new sidewalks and install new lighting throughout the downtown area. The Committee agreed that they would like the Director of Public Works to attend the next meeting to brief the Committee on issues in the BIA. After some discussion about the garbage created by two car washes, Manager Lein said he would report it to Code Enforcement and suggested that a Code Enforcement officer attend a future meeting. F. AUBURN DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION UPDATE ADA Treasurer Kristina Driessen reported that Labor Works, who provided employees for the skating rink, charged them inappropriately, and they are dealing with that.There has been good feedback from the community regarding the skating rink. They are breaking even when considering paying the labor and the expenses, aside from the tent and the rink itself. The tent will be able to be reused. There were lessons learned from the process. There were difficulties in dealing with both Labor Works and the skating company. The ADA board decided the rink will only be open Thursdays through Sundays, and they will shut everything down on January 21. There was also discussion about whether or not they were considering the purchase of the skating rink that the City of Snoqualmie is selling. Manager Lein suggested there could be an advertising partnership for the skating rink next year between the ADA, Tourism and the City. There was also discussion about where the rink could be located next year, and concern was raised about any parking that would be taken away due to the location of it. A 2019 budget will be provided at the February BIA meeting. There will be an event planner hired to help with this year's events, which may include street fairs, a girls' night out wine walk, and quarterly pub crawls. The ADA will be doing the concessions at the Auburn Adventure Film Festival. They are looking at doing a car show and are looking to hire an event planner that specializes in doing car shows. They will have the beer and wine festival again. There has been talk with Auburn High School about construction of the Santa House. Where to store the tent and the Santa House has not been determined. Manager Lein recommended the ADA call the Parks Director to discuss storage and use of the tent. There was a short discussion on speakers and music in the downtown area. G. TOURISM BOARD UPDATE Tourism Coordinator Lorraine Chachere informed the Committee that she was approached by an organization called Auburn Across America. A couple will be trekking in an Auburn vehicle to the 20 different Auburns across the United States. Coordinator Chachere would like to have further discussions with the Committee about this as the event draws closer. Coordinator Chachere informed the Committee about what was happening with the Auburn Adventure Film Festival. Posters and flyers for the event were distributed to the Committee, and Coordinator Chachere requested that the members of the Committee would put up the posters and display the flyers in their buildings. She explained that film festivals are about creating community through the films, interaction with the audience, and adventure events. It's something that people can look forward to. She asked that the Committee would come and see a film. H. ADJOURNMENT Prior to adjournment, Manager Lein announced that the Chamber of Commerce is opening a position on their Board for a representative of the BIA. There being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting adjourned at 2:12 pm. APPROVED this 14th day of February, 2019. Giovanni DiQuattro, Chair Holly Ferry, Committee Secr ary