Business Improvement District

Business Improvement District January 12, 2017 Board Present: Andrew Ferrin, Garry Hackett, Max Grebe, Travis Neil, Jason Madill Board Absent: Sheila Rice Guests Present: Brad Livingston, Austin Walker, Patrick Sullivan Staff Present: Joan Redeen I. Call to order: Andy called the meeting to order at 9:03am. II. Guests: No guests wished to address the board. III. Downtown Great Falls Association: Kellie is at Leadership Great Falls. DGFA has taken over the responsibility of the City Christmas tree; Joan noted that she’d like the BID to be involved with supporting DGFA financially in that endeavor. Their target for fundraising is $10-$12K. Joan reported that Team Trolley has not held a meeting in a long while; DGFA is discussing the possibility of selling the trolley, Joan has encouraged DGFA to hold a trolley meeting to advise all investors of the possibilities. It was noted that the BID is the largest investor in the trolley. Joan added that DGFA is proceeding forward as if all is normal; they are scheduling familiarization tours in May. This summer the trolley tours will begin and end at the O’Haire Motor Inn. Jason requested financials on the trolley; Joan will request and send to the board. Joan is going to be providing the BID board with a listing of all DGFA board members and vice versa. IV. BID Board: Joan reminded the board that Kris Harrison resigned and her term expires 6/30/17. Alison Fried has applied to serve the remainder of that term. Garry motioned to recommend having Alison Fried appointed to the BID board. Max seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Sheila Rice has volunteered to take on the role of Treasurer. Garry motioned to appoint Sheila as the Treasurer. Max seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Joan noted that new signature cards will be needed with appointment of a new board member and with Sheila as treasurer; board policy has been that all members of the BID board, except the treasurer, are signers on the bank accounts. V. Approval of minutes from 12-8-16 meeting: Travis motioned to approve the meeting minutes from the 12/8/16 meeting as presented. Max seconded. Motion passed unanimously. VI. Financials: Monthly Financials: The Board received the November & December financials via e-mail. There being no further discussion on the financials, Max motioned to approve the 11/30/16 & 12/31/16 financial statements which include the Balance Sheet, P&L, and the P&L/Budget comparison, as presented. Travis seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Joan reported that the City should be sending the December tax distribution about 1/18, it will be approximately $80K. Joan inquired with the board if they would consider moving the bank accounts to US Bank; with Kris Harrison’s resignation we can move our accounts there if we wish. Discussion followed and the board was open to the suggestion of moving the BID’s business around to the banks within the BID as previously we were with First Interstate and have been with Stockman for several years. Joan provided the board with an updated Budget vs. Actual; she reminded them if there are any budget amendments needed, they will be made at the June board meeting. VII. Grant Programs: Joan provided the board with copies of the updated grant schedule. Grant Programs – Criteria – Joan provided the board with the grant criteria for the Business Incentive Grant via email. The proposed change is worded as follows: “…located within the Business Improvement District as an incentive for a first time location of a business downtown within the boundaries of the Business Improvement District.” Travis motioned to approve the Business Incentive Grant criteria, as presented. Max seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Grant Applications: Bold Reserve: Joan reported that a Business Incentive Grant application was received from Bold Reserve. The Board received the application via email. Garry motioned to approve the Business Incentive Grant for Bold Reserve for $425. Max seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 511 Central: Joan reported that the 511 Central building has submitted for a façade grant. The Board received the application via email. Max motioned to approved a façade grant for $2,492 for 511 Central Ave. Jason seconded. Garry abstained. Motion passed. White Belly Properties: Joan reported that an interior grant application was received for the Thisted building owned by White Belly Properties located at 320 Central Ave; Edward Jones is moving into the space. Max motioned to approve an interior grant for $10,000 for White Belly Properties. Jason seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Joan reported that the Business Incentive Grant for STOP, previously scheduled to move into 511 Central Ave, has been cancelled; Garry has noted that they will not be moving into the building. Grants were funded as follows: Business Incentive for Pierce Family Insurance; Developer grant for 511 Central Ave; and Interior grant for First Call Resolution. Dunn Brown: A letter has been received requesting an extension to April, 2017. The grant schedule has been updated to reflect this extension. Discussion followed on the status of the grants with the Rocky Mountain building; the board requested that the present owners attend the BID board meeting in May to provide an update on the status of this project. The Board was instructed on how to read the grant schedule and compare it to the balance sheet. The BID has budgeted $129K for this fiscal year and has only approved $16K so far. Total grants payable, at this time, are $193K. Travis inquired about the new business opening on 5th Street N in the Montana building, Fire Artisan Pizza. The Board noted that they would consider an interior grant application from them for any work that would be completed after the grant application is received by the BID; Travis will send the owners to Joan to discuss our grant programs. Discussion on Speaking Socially and their building and the potential there; Joan noted that they have come to the office and received grant applications. Discussion followed on 2019 BID Renewal and how that might look in relation to grants, approvals and funding. VIII. Old Business: Beautification: Banner Policy: Joan reported that since the policy hasn’t been approved and no new banners have been created the holiday banners are coming down and the purple banners are being put up. She reported that she did some digging into banner brackets; the brackets that the board requested be explored are the exact same banner brackets that used to be used until a few years ago. The high school welding shop could fabricate the poles at $36/per pole and then we’d need Cat Graphics to install for us; Cat Graphics can get the brackets at $276 per pole (installed). Discussion followed on putting holes in the banners to allow the wind to pass through. A meeting will be held with Cat Graphics to discuss and to get a full inventory of what we already have – the old brackets, the new hurricane brackets, etc. Travis will attend the meeting with Cat Graphics. Holiday Décor: Joan reported that the décor is coming down; the lights will stay on the trees. Locations to store the décor are being explored as our storage facility is full due to our move. Maria sent a thank you card to the board; all present saw the card. The Board expressed compliments about the décor and how good it looked this year. Placemaking: Max reported that he is working on the design for the pedlet; he believes he will be able to wrap up this phase quickly. Sound System: Andy reported that the sound system is running but we continue to have issues; the cold seems to be sucking the life out of the batteries. Yarnbombing: Our artist who yarn bombed last summer has done it again for the holiday season; the board approved the same stipend for the artist as the last time to help fund the artists yarn. Davidson employees love that we are doing this art project. Trees: Joan reported that she attended a meeting at the City yesterday about the downtown trees. They have done a complete inventory of every tree and noted its condition and the condition of the tree grates (or lack thereof). Joan added that years ago someone threatened to sue the City due to tree grates; so the City policy became remove the tree grates. Now someone has stepped into a hole where there was no grate and the City has requested that tree grates be installed. The inventory will be provided to the BID and will be put to use this spring in our project of digging out some dirt from the trees that need it and re-installing tree grates. It was noted that the City reminded the BID that the property owners are responsible for their sidewalk, their trees and therefore the tree grates as well. In 2009, there were 330 trees but we have increased our tree inventory since that time – we are probably at about 350 and will know an accurate number once the City sends the tree inventory information. Snow Removal: Jason inquired about the BID’s policy on snow removal. Joan reported what the policy is; the entire BID is to be done when there are 2 inches of snow on the ground. Garry reported that he has seen entire blocks be skipped; Jason noted that it doesn’t appear that the side streets are being done off of 1st Ave N. Joan will reiterate what the snow policy is, once again. BID Office: Joan reported that there are several options for a downtown office: stay in the current building, with expansion here; explore the option of the old Montana Power building; and the Rocky Mountain building. An exploratory committee is being set up to explore the options. Discussion followed on the federal grant on the Johnson building and whether or not the BID is clear to sell their ownership of the 3rd floor, if they should wish to do so. Discussion followed on what funding sources would be used to fund a construction project. Downtown Partnership: Joan reported that the DDP meets on Thursday, 1/26. Downtown Safety Alliance: Joan reported that the next Business Watch is set for 3/14/17. The topic will be Combating Addiction & Crime; the Chamber is the sponsor. The Downtown Safety Alliance continues to meet; the current thinking is that the transient population has increased in recent months. Patrick reported that the Poverello Center in Missoula had to set up limits once they were established; it is likely the rescue mission will have to be establishing some limits after a time. Johnson Hotel: Joan reported that one tenant wishes to install a mailbox on their outside wall; the board has approved it noting if they move they must either leave the mailbox in place or repair the damage. She added that there will be one vacancy in the incubator as of 1/31. Joan added that she’ll be in the incubator tomorrow morning if anyone wishes to tour the space. Parking Commission: Joan reported that, due to a lack of a quorum, the Parking Commission has not met since September. Personnel: Joan reported that we have a new employee doing trash removal for us. Work Plan 2016-2017: Nothing new to report on the work plan. IX. New Business: Joan reported that the Heritage Area Planning group would like to come to the BID and do a brief presentation on what they are doing in their work to establish a National Heritage Area. They are working on seeking fundraising for the feasibility study that is required and they are very close to accomplishing their goal. Joan explained what an NHA is and what it could mean for Great Falls and the surrounding area. It is likely they’ll be present at the March board meeting. Garry said thanks for the grant funding that he has received; he now has an employee half-time so our grant funding has allowed for the creation of a half-time position downtown. X. Public Comment: No public comment at this time. XI. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:32am. Andy Ferrin, Chair Joan Redeen, Staff

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