DOWNTOWN MANAGEMENT BOARD Quality Services for a Quality Community MEMBERS Luke Allen Hackney, Chair AGENDA Michael Krueger, Vice Chair James Croom, Treasurer Chanelle Crouch July 10, 2018 – 2:00 p.m. Jeffrey Kusler Mayor Mark Meadows Court/City Council Conference Room Thomas Muth Ray Walsh 101 Linden Street, First Floor Vacancy Staff Liaison 1) Welcome and Roll Call Amy Schlusler-Schmitt (517) 319-6931 McKenna Dixon (517) 319-6923 2) Public Comment 3) Approval of Minutes City of East Lansing DEPARTMENT OF A) June 5, 2018 (attachment) PLANNING, BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT 410 Abbot Road 4) Approval of Agenda East Lansing, MI 48823 (517) 319-6930 www.cityofeastlansing.com 5) Election of Officers i. Chair ii. Vice Chair iii. Treasurer 6) Financial Reports A) May 2018 Financial Report (attachment) B) FY 19 Budget (attachment) 7) New Business A) Approval of Professional Services Agreement between City of East Lansing and DMB (attachment) B) Taste and Shop Downtown East Lansing Event (attachment) i. Event Activities & Approval of Budget C) Consideration of Right of Way Approval for Businesses for Welcome Back Week (attachment) D) Purchase of 10X10 Event Tent (attached) 8) Old Business A) Purchase of Tote Bags (attachment) 9) Special Assessment A) Special Assessment Roll No. 74 Approved by City Council (attachment) 10) Committee Reports A) Marketing Committee City of East Lansing Downtown Management Board Agenda – (7/10/2018) – Page 1 of 2 i. Summer Coupon Page (attachment) B) Business Relations i. Synopsis of June 19, 2018 meeting (attachment) C) Downtown Maintenance Committee D) Parking Update 11) Development Projects Update A) Center City DMB Advertising Support Budget (attachment) 12) DDA Liaison Report 13) Staff Reports A) August Meeting Date 14) Written Communications A) Thank You Note For Sponsorship of Ramadan Dinner (Handout) 15) Adjourn Next Meeting Date: TBD City of East Lansing Downtown Management Board Agenda – (7/10/2018) – Page 2 of 2 DOWNTOWN MANAGEMENT BOARD Quality Services for a Quality Community MEMBERS Luke Allen Hackney, Chair MEETING MINUTES Michael Krueger, Vice Chair James Croom, Treasurer Chanelle Crouch June 5, 2018 - 2:00 p.m. Jeffrey Kusler Mayor Mark Meadows Court/City Council Conference Room Thomas Muth Ray Walsh 101 Linden Street, First Floor Vacancy Staff Liaison Present: Luke Allen Hackney, Jeffrey Kusler, Ray Walsh, Michael Amy Schlusler-Schmitt (517) 319-6931 Krueger, Thomas Muth, Mayor Mark Meadows McKenna Dixon (517) 319-6923 Absent: Chanelle Crouch, James Croom City of East Lansing Staff Members Present: Amy Schlusler-Schmitt, Terri Soliday DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT 410 Abbot Road East Lansing, MI 48823 1) Welcome and Roll Call (517) 319-6930 www.cityofeastlansing.com Chair Hackney opened the meeting at 2:04 p.m. At the taking of the roll, Croom, Crouch, and Mayor Meadows were absent. 2) Public Comment None. 3) Approval of Minutes A) May 1, 2018 Muth moved to approve the minutes of the May 1, 2018 regular board meeting as written; Walsh seconded the motion. Vote: All yeas, motion carried unanimously. 4) Approval of Agenda Schlusler mentioned that Sharrow would be discussing the Valet Parking Survey during his Parking update. Kusler asked that we add the Income Tax Proposal under Item 7D) and moved to approve the Agenda as amended; Walsh seconded the motion. Vote: All yeas, motion carried unanimously. 5) Farewell to Terri Soliday Schlusler announced that Terri is retiring and that she has worked with her over nine years. The board congratulated her and wished her well. City of East Lansing Downtown Management Board Minutes – (06/05/2018) – Page 1 of 6 6) Financial Reports A) Response to Question Regarding Special Assessment Schlusler said Jill Feldpausch, the Finance Director, explained in an e-mail why the amount of the special assessment fluctuates at times. She said a property owner is charged an annual installment; if someone pays in full when they move out, or property is sold or transferred, the yearly amount fluctuates. She said over the past five years, the DMB received the entire amount, which is $217,772.60, or $43,554.52 per year. B) April 2018 Financial Report Schlusler reviewed the revenues and monthly and pending expenditures, and noted that they raised $1,850 for the Downtown Business Cocktail Soireé, and only had about $200 in expenses. She said the DMB has paid $2,000 for the Art Festival sponsorship. 7) New Business A) 2018 Ramadan Dinner & Request for Business Outreach Regarding Sponsorship Opportunities Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, and Emily Gordon, Assistant to City Council, discussed possible outreach to downtown business owners regarding the 2018 Mayors’ Ramadan Unity Dinner, which is being put on by both mayors this year and is being held at the Lansing Center on June 29. Seide said they realize since this event is not held in East Lansing, the DMB may not be able to contribute. Kusler questioned if this could be considered an advertising opportunity and moved to offer a Silver sponsorship in the amount of $500, contingent upon the City Attorney’s approval, with the eight reserved seating tickets being offered first-come, first-serve to the downtown merchants. Muth seconded the motion. Vote: All yeas. Motion carried unanimously. Krueger moved to send out an e-mail on the sponsorship opportunity to the DMB merchants; Kusler seconded the motion. Vote: All yeas. Motion carried unanimously. B) Draft Professional Services Agreement between City of East Lansing and DMB Schlusler said when the board discussed the renewal of the Special Assessment, the City Attorney determined it would be best for the City to enter into an agreement with the DMB for her staff time. She asked board members to review it within the next four weeks, and they would vote on it at their July 10th meeting. Hackney suggested bringing it up at the subcommittees. Kusler suggested having dual authorization by the officers; i.e. the DMB Chair and the Treasurer. Schlusler will forward the agreement to Croom to look at since he is an attorney. C) Discussion Regarding Future Board Meeting Times Schlusler said these meetings are generally an hour and a half. The board had discussed moving the meetings up, but decided to continue holding them at 2 p.m., and if someone had to leave early, to move up the business items. City of East Lansing Downtown Management Board Minutes – (06/05/2018) – Page 2 of 6 D) City Income Tax Kusler said he wanted to hear input that board members received from downtown merchants on the income tax proposal. Mayor Meadows arrived at 2:29 p.m. Mayor Meadows said Lansing will be losing $800,000 in revenues if East Lansing’s income tax passes. He said he has heard some negative comments about the City’s pension obligations, but the City cannot change those, and the City has a revenue problem. He said if the income tax passes, after five years the pension obligation goes down and we will see a deduction in the annual payment to MERS. This will leave more money in the General Fund for projects. He emphasized there will be a 5 mill property tax deduction if the income tax passes, and the savings by the property owners may be passed onto the landlords. 8) Old Business A) Administrative Use Policy for Downtown Social Media Accounts Schlusler said this was presented to the board and reviewed by the Marketing Committee last month, which recommended approval of this procedure. It was the intent of the board to take the $7,500 currently allocated to Media Advantage and focus it more on events. Board members have volunteered to take over posting on social media. The Marketing Committee will discuss this further. Krueger moved to approve the Administrative Use Policy for Downtown Social Media Accounts; Muth seconded the motion. Vote: All yeas. Motion carried unanimously. B) Be A Tourist in Your Own Town Schlusler thanked Jeff Kusler for helping her set up for Be A Tourist. She said it was a successful event with over 250 attendees. She said the caricaturists were popular, and they also had face painting and a jazz band. She also purchased cookies from Mitten Raised Bakery. Hackney suggested encouraging more downtown businesses to stamp the passports next year. C) Follow-Up to Downtown Business Cocktail Soireé Schlusler-Schmitt said about 52 people attended, and there was a good mix of people. She said initially they budgeted $2,100 for the event. The venue cost less than expected, and they are receiving $1,850 in sponsorships; as a result the DMB is only spending $172 on the event. Muth said at the Soireé he received suggestions from merchants on events for the downtown. Since there is no Folk Festival in August, some suggested having a barbecue festival in August. Schlusler will have Heather Surface check to see if MSU still has something small planned for that weekend. Mayor Meadows said the seniors were thinking of holding a garage sale in the Division Street ramp. Walsh mentioned that he attended the Joint Meeting of Boards & Commissions and Neighborhood Presidents and spoke as a DMB Marketing Committee member. City of East Lansing Downtown Management Board Minutes – (06/05/2018) – Page 3 of 6 D) AOP Coupon Page Delivered Schlusler advised that the coupon page was delivered to AOP the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. She said this opportunity was made available to all downtown businesses. 9) DMB Special Assessment A) Resolution Approved by City Council Schlusler said we held our first public hearing before City Council, and there was no opposition. She shared that they received one correspondence from a business that did not feel their basement should be assessed because it was used as storage, so there is a difference of about $205 in the annual assessment.