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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019 DLI Meeting MinutesDowntown Lansing Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes DLI Conference Room January 10, 2019 Members Present: K. Dorshimer, JV Anderton, S. Schriner, C. Zarkovich, T. Carella, C. Nadar Members Absent: T. Richard, J. Tishler Board Advisors Present: Vanessa Shafer Board Advisors Absent: Brian T. Jackson Staff Present: Mindy Biladeau, Layna Anderson, Charlsie Abel Guests Present: Mayor Schor, B. McGrain, Jimmy Baumgras I. Call to Order K. Dorshimer called the meeting to order at 11:34 a.m. II. Citizen's Comments None III. Approval of Agenda and Minutes Mayor Schor's comments were moved to the next item for the agenda. C. Zarkovich moved to approve the amended agenda of January 10, 2019 and the minutes from December 23, 2018. JV Anderton seconded, motion passed unanimously. A. Conversation with Mayor Schor: The State of the City is on February 6, and one of the topics is creating a vision for the City that includes design of the many neighborhoods and corridors throughout the city. This includes downtown as well. The Mayor wants to talk about visioning for each of these areas with engagement from the public. There are several cities that are doing this very successfully. He wants to bring everyone to the table and collaborate. In order to enhance capacity at DLI, he would like to move Silver Bells to LEPFA. This would allow DLI more time to focus visioning and to work to implement that vision. Board members are open to this possible change, but have some questions. One concern that was expressed is that Silver Bells is volunteer and donor driven and whether or not LEPFA can be successful with that type of event. The Mayor indicated that they have considered this and that they are taking their time this year to work on structure, funding, etc. The Mayor was asked about possible timing for a transition and he indicated that he wanted to speak with the DLI Board first and still needs to speak to LEPFA. to make sure that this. is possible and figure. out the best route to take. If need be, he said it could be delayed a year, but he hopes with starting early enough that DLI could hand off the event for 2019. Mayor Schor said to contact him or B. McGrain with any additional questions or concerns. Board discussion ensued about what the metrics and demographics for Silver Bells and the positive impact is has on downtown businesses. The board thinks M. Biladeau has grown the event exponentially and a subcommittee for the transition is important in order to keep the event up to standards and plan for the future. The Silver Bells Transition Committee: JV Anderton, C. Nadar, and K. Dorshimer are interested in serving on the subcommittee. Motion made to create a Silver Bells Transition Subcommittee made by J.V. Anderton, Second by C. Nadar. Motion passed unanimously. IV. Old Town Commercial Association Update Updates given on a successful holiday season, the Annual Meeting at The Old Town Marquee from 6pm-9pm on Feb. 6, The Chocolate Walk, and Lumberjack Festival scheduled for Feb 23rd. V. Community Policing Update Officer Rodriguez was unable to attend. V. Shafer brought up the meeting with Police regarding holiday season break-ins. VI. Downtown Maintenance Update Lake State reps indicated that we are doing fairly well on salt use for the year so far. VII. Correspondence LEAP Grant Extension Contract: LEAP granted and extension for the public art piece was discussed because of delays from last year. It is ready to go as soon as the weather breaks. VII. Reports President's Report -K. Dorshimer: Projects mentioned last meeting are ongoing and the Mayor will be announcing some more projects at the State of the City. Director's Report -M. Biladeau Pedestrian kiosks: 8 of the 10 are in the ground and look fantastic. Positive feedback has been received so far. The others should be up soon barring unforeseen circumstances. The wrap up breakfast for Silver Bells is next week. A service request will be put in to Michigan Main Street for assistance with a downtown housing study. Staff is working with the Promotions Committee chair in putting together a grant application to support the committee's new summer lunchtime concert series that they would like to host this summer through the Michigan Council for the Arts & Council Affairs. Forks & Corks is on March 26 from 6-9 p.m. at Cooley Law School Stadium. Committee Reports Economic Vitality committee -C Zarkovich Meetings were moved to the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Spm. The business huddle continues to attract more stakeholders each month. The team is growing and all huddles have been sponsored for 2019. Design Committee -M. Biladeau We need to appoint someone. Pedestrian kiosk installation is almost complete with 8/10 installed to date. Working through site issues with other two kiosks. Once these are resolved, they will be installed. Phase three of wayfinding is underway with the retrofit design of the newspaper boxes. Public Spaces Committee -M. Biladeau gave an update. Holiday decorations will come down by Jan. 15. Working with the city to build racks to store the new wreaths and make it easier for B WL to install and remove them. Gearing up for hanging baskets this spring and securing sponsors, Capital City Clean Sweep, Capitol Lawn Movie Nights and some new work plans. Organization Committee- JVAnderton gave an update Around the block, Lansing Connect, work plans and upcoming events were discussed. Promotions Committee -T Carella gave an update Meeting was rescheduled for next week. Holiday TV co-op advertising was very successful with the max. of ten businesses participating. Forks and Corks planning is underway. Financial Report-JVAnderton gave an update JV Anderton gave an overview of the financial report for November 2018. Assessment income is coming in. Silver Bells income continues to come in. S. Schriner moved to approve the financials for November 2018 and place all the reports on file. C. Zarkovich seconded, motion passed unanimously. VIIII. Discussion/Action Items A. Board Officer Nominations K. Dorshimer introduced proposed slate of officers: President -JV Anderton, Treasurer- Jim Tischler, Secretary- Summer Schriner, and Vice President- Christine Zarkovich. The board will vote on this slate at their February 14 meeting. C. Creative Places Grant Application Evaluations: The board reviewed and scored all applications submitted by the deadline. Discussion took place and further questions will be asked of the applicants. Answers to these questions will be provided back to the board by February 14. X. Other Business None XI. Adjourned Adjournment moved by JV Anderton, C. Zarkovich seconded. Motion approved unanimously at 1:04 p.m. Downtown Lansing Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes DLI Conference Room February 26, 2019 Members Present: Karl Dorshimer, Summer Schriner, Christine Zarkovich, Terry Carella, Cara Nadar, JV Anderton and Jim Tischler Members Absent: T. Richard Board Advisors Absent: Vanessa Shafer, Brian T. Jackson Staff Present: Mindy Biladeau, Charlsie Abel I. Call to Order K. Dorshimer called the meeting to order at 1:01 p.m. II. Citizen's Comments None. III. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Agenda for meeting of February 26, 2019 and minutes from January 10, 2019 were amended by J. Tischler in order to reflect that he was not present at the last meeting. C. Zarkovich moved to approved minutes as amended, J.V. Anderton seconded, Motion passed. IV. Report on Transition of Silver Bells to LEPFA M. Biladeau has been preparing and meeting with Scott from LEPFA. DLI staff has put together a comprehensive coordination and transition manual as well as an Electric Light Parade manual. As part of the transition plan, a number of risk factors have been identified that need to be discussed further by the Transition Committee. The most pressing is the loss of revenue to the DLI budget and the immediate impact that it will have on the FY20 budget. The projected loss is between $10-15K annually. In addition, in FY20 there is an anticipated loss of about 9K in PSD assessment revenue due to the pending sale of the Townsend Ramp. This would make the immediate impact of between 19-24K losses in revenue to the annual operating budget. There is an upcoming grant deadline of March 1 for the Ingham County Motel/Hotel funds. This funding source provides dollars to support out of county advertising. This will be a missed opportunity for potential advertising dollars to market Silver Bells to out of county residents. K. Dorshimer suggested that the Silver Bells Transition Committee should meet immediately and deal with the grants and other issues if possible. M. Biladeau will coordinate. V. Old Town Commercial Association Update The Lumberjack Festival was a huge success and they are looking to grow the event next year. VI. Community Policing Update Old Town is dealing with issues with the homeless/substance abusing/mental health population. They working with the city to see if they can get a community police officer to cover this area. Things have been mostly quiet downtown with the exception of an incident yesterday at Strange Matter Coffee Co. The woman was taken into to custody. There has been a slight uptick in drug related incidences between the bus station and downtown party store. VII. Downtown Maintenance Update & Report Representative from Lake State Landscaping & Snow Removal was not available. M. Biladeau reported that snow removal and salting has been going well. VIII. Correspondence City Council sent their yearly letter. Brian T. Jackson is absent. IX. Reports President's Report- Karl Dorshimer Many development projects are in the works, but some have slowed down. This spring Gillespie Group will break ground on the Capital City Market mixed use development. Director's Report- Mindy Biladeau DLI won $1 K through the Michigan Main Street Photo contest in the Promotions category. The winning photo was from the 2018 Silver Bells 5K. All of the new pedestrian wayfinding kiosks have now been installed. The Design Committee has started to work with Corbin Design, Public Service and ACD on the retrofit of the newspaper boxes. These twelve newspaper box stands will be incorporated into the pedestrian wayfinding system and 3-4 of them will house 5G Verizon antennas and equipment. Forks and Corks is coming up on 3/26/19. Tickets are on sale, and VIP is already sold out. Committee Reports: Economic Vitality: C. Zarkovich indicated that two afternoon sessions will be held for the Downtown Business Huddle, May and October from 4-5 p.m. at Jalapenos to accommodate more stakeholders. The committee is working with the Michigan Restaurant and Hospitality Association to host a workshop targeting hospitality businesses on recruiting and retaining good employees. The committee is updating available property information for commercial properties downtown that are available to make sure website and information we have is up to date. Also, updating market study one-page forms. In March, the committee will be touring an available property and meeting with the owner after each committee meeting to building relationships with the full team, share market data and see what type of tenant they are trying to attract to their space. Design: We need to appoint someone to this committee. M. Biladeau mentioned the need for a facade improvement program for downtown. The city currently has an established a successful fagade improvement program for the city, but commercial properties located downtown are not eligible to participate. Instead of reinventing the wheel and spending time to seek funding sources for a separate program for downtown, the committee would like see if the administration would be open to adding downtown to the program. This idea has been discussed with Brian McGrain, Economic Development Director, with the City of Lansing. Brian feels the Mayor would be open to this idea and suggested to the Design Committee to have the DLI Board send a letter of request to the Mayor's office. J. Tischler moved for a letter be written in regards to requesting downtown commercial properties be eligible to participate in the city fagade program to be sent to the Mayor's office. J.V. Anderton seconded. Motion approved. Public Spaces: Tameko was absent. C. Abel gave an update. 79 hanging baskets will return for the season in May to the Washington Square and Michigan Ave. corridors. To date, 38/79 baskets have been sponsored, All 27 bridge planter boxes on Michigan Ave. will be planted for this season now that the MDOT construction on the Michigan Ave. Bridge has been completed. Working on a possible partnership with LEPFA to see if we can get the 26 urns along the river walk planted and maintained properly this season. Capital City Clean Sweep is May 7 and Capitol Lawn Movie nights are Aug. 2 & 9. Organization: JV Anderton gave a brief update. Promotions: T. CareIla gave a brief update on Forks and Corks. Monthly Financials - JV Anderton gave an update: PSD assessment income is much higher than what was projected. M. Biladeau has an inquiry in with the City Treasurer's office to find out what is going on, as something is not right. J.V Anderton moved to approve and place all reports on file, J. Tischler seconded and Motion passed. X. Discussion/Action Items: A. MCACC Assurances Form: Lunchtime Tunes is a new concept put together by the Promotions Committee that relates to the boards Transformation Strategy for targeting the downtown workforce. This is a three part concert series that would take place from 11-1 p.m. on the Capitol Lawn to bring out office workers and encourage them to grab lunch downtown and enjoy some music. J.V. Anderton moved to send it over in order to complete the application, C. Zarkovich seconded and the motion passed. B. Election of Board Officers The nominating committee introduce an officer slate at the January meeting. J. Tischler moved to approve the slate that was introduced at the January meeting, J.V Anderton seconded and the motion passed. C. Creative Places Grant Applications M. Biladeau provided additional information to the board that the board requested of each applicant after the January meeting. Further discussion took place. J. Tischler moved to award OTCA, $22K, S. Schriner seconded. Motion failed. Further discussion took place. C. Zarkovich moved to award OTCA 20K, lK to MICA and lK to the Arts Council of Greater Lansing based on their submitted applications T. Carella seconded. Motion passed. XI. Other Business None. XII. Adjourn J. Tischler moved to adjourn, C. Zarkovich seconded. Meeting adjourned at 1:49 p.m. Motion passed. Downtown Lansing Inc. Rescheduled Board of Directors Meeting DLI Conference Room 401 South Washington Square, Lansing, Michigan March 14, 2019 MINUTES Members Present: JV Anderton, Karl Dorshimer, Cara Nader, James Tischler, Christine Zarkovich Excused: Terry Carella, Summer Schriner, Tameko Richard Board Advisors Present: Vanessa Shafer Excused: Brian T. Jackson Staff Present: Mindy Biladeau I. Call to Order President Anderton called the meeting to order at 11:36 a.m. II. Citizen's Comments None. III. Approval of Agenda & Minutes March 14, 2019 agenda was presented. Motion to approve — K. Dorshimer; Support — C. Zarkovich. Motion carried unanimously. February 26, 2019 Minutes were presented. Motion to approve — C. Zarkovich; Support J. Tischler. Motion carried unanimously. IV. Old Town Commercial Association Update Shafer reported on activity and events. V. Community Policing Update No report. VI. Downtown Maintenance Update & Report Biladeau reported on snow clearance/salt and trash receptacles. VII. Correspondence Letter to Mayor — Facade Program Received and is being considered by city administration. VIII. Reports President - Anderton • Discussion on Board Meeting day/time. Consensus reached to remain as same. Request to provide refresher session to Board by working with MMS due to board turnover, All agreed, • Michigan Main Street — to be discussed later in agenda. • Request from MICA regarding funding allocations — Consensus reached for Director to provide response letter. Director — M. Biladeau • Wayfinding Kiosks — all of the new pedestrian kiosks were installed at the end of Feb. • Waiting to hear back from MMS in regards to possible downtown housing study. Request was submitted. • DLI won $1,000 in the Promotions Category of the MMS Photo Contest for our Silver Bells 5K photo • Community Studies Underway: • Tourism Master Plan: We met with consultants that the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau hired put together a tourism master plan as a stakeholder in regards to tourism and downtown. They are coming back to Lansing this week and requested a walking tour of downtown that we will be leading. • Performing Arts Center: The Lansing Public Media Center hired consultants to conduct a feasibility study for a performing arts center to be located downtown, As a stakeholder, we met with consultants last week to discuss. The Downtown Guides are getting a design makeover that will incorporate downtowns destination branding and utilize the same map as the pedestrian kiosks. This will be a complete overhaul of the piece. Economic Vitality — C. Zarkovich • Business Huddle (March 7) — 37 attendees, excellent program. • New business coming soon — Good Slice Pizza Co, (414 East Michigan Avenue). • Annual business owner survey will be delivered soon to first floor commercial businesses • Continue to update property profiles for available property and implement R2R • Committee is working to build relationships with property owners of available property downtown. The committee meets with a property owner after each meeting and tours the space etc. Design — M. Biladeau • Committee make the recommendation to the board to send a formal letter to the city administration asking them to make commercial properties within downtown's National Registered Historic District eligible to participate in the city fagade improvement program per recommendation of Brian McGrain. Currently, downtown is the only area of the city that is excluded from participating in this program. Board agreed and M. Biladeau will put together a letter for JV Anderton to sign and will send to the Mayor's office. Summer Walking Tour schedule coming soon and also a new Lunching with Lansing History Program targeted to downtown employees Working on last wayfinding phase with retrofit of old newspaper kiosks into pedestrian wayfinding program starting with locations that need to help hide the 5G Verizon antennas. Working with ACD, Corbin Design and the Public Service Department. Tischler offered to be liaison to this committee. Public Spaces — M. Biladeau • Update on Rotary Park activities. • Capitol Lawn Movie Nights are Aug. 2 and Aug. 9 • 39 Hanging Basket Sponsorships have been secured to date. Halfway there. • Gearing up for spring maintenance, flowers and Adopt a Spot season • Wallscape Public Art Installation will resume once weather gets nicer Organization - JV Anderton • Nothing new to report, moving along. Promotions — M. Biladeau • Discussion of upcoming Forks & Corks event on March 26. Monthly Financials — J. Tischler • J. Tischler gave introduction, M. Biladeau assisted with providing details. Assessment revenue mistake has been identified by city administration and will be corrected. Motion to approve all reports — K. Dorshimer; Support — C. Zarkovich. Motion carried unanimously. IX. Discussion/Action Items: • Transition of Silver Bells to LEPFA: M. Biladeau presented Recommendation Summary from the Board Transition Committee and explained details, assisted by K. Dorshimer. Motion to approve —K. Dorshimer; Support — JV Anderton. Motion carried unanimously. • Michigan Main Street Community Service Plan Consensus reached to accept, M. Biladeau will schedule for 11/6/19. X. Other Business C. Zarkovich: o SLBA Euchre Tournament, scheduled for 3/14/19. o Home TV Interview with DLI plug XI. Adjourn Dorshimer moved to adjourn, C. Zarkovich seconded. Meeting adjourned at 1:05 p.m. Motion passed. Respectfully Submitted c& �sckler- James Tischler, Treasurer Signed: James Tischler, Treasurer Downtown Lansing Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes DLI Conference Room April 11, 2019 Members Present: K. Dorshimer, S. Schriner, C. Zarkovich, C. Nader, JV Anderton, J. Tischler Board Advisors Present: Vanessa Shafer of OTCA Board Advisors Absent: Brian T. Jackson Guest: Jimmy Baumgrass Staff Present: M. Biladeau, Charlsie Abel I. Call to Order J.V. Anderton called the meeting to order at 11:45 a.m. II. Citizen's Comments (items not on the agenda) None III. Approval of Agenda & Minutes C. Zarkovich moved for agenda to be approved for meeting of April 11, 2019 with Cara's last name amended to agenda, C. Nader seconded, motion passed. C. Zarkovich moved to accept minutes from March 14, 2019, C. Nader seconded, motion passed. IV. Old Town Commercial Association Update Update given by V. Schafer about Taste and Tour and spring clean up. V. Community Policing Update Officer Rodriguez was unable to attend due to a training. M Biladeau stated that his assignment will end this summer, August, and a new Downtown CPO will get assigned to this area. VI. Downtown Maintenance Update & Report Jimmy Lake State Landscaping & Snow Removal indicated that they are starting mulch and spring cleanup at this time. VII. Correspondence Letter from Terry Carella. She wrote a letter of resignation after 12 years on the board. The board will recognize her at the next annual meeting for her years of service. S, Schriner moved to accept her letter of resignation, C. Nader seconded, motion passed. VIII. Reports • Presidents Report- JV Anderton: M. Biladeau's resignation has meant her trying to prepare the whole board for her transition. Main Street would like to do a board check in on September 19, we will request a time between 11:00 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Director's Report M. Biladeau expressed how grateful she is for the collaboration of all of these years and feels the difference is tangible in the streets of downtown. She is proud that the organization and budget have grown exponentially under her leadership and the board's guidance. 309 people at Forks and Corks and all 38 volunteers were great. The donut wall from Strange Matter was a huge success with Lexus of Lansing. Approximately $8,500.00 was raised Retrofit of the old newspaper kiosks are still moving forward. ACD/5G antennae are coming, However, Corbin Design through an analysis has determine that it is more cost effective to remove the old newspaper kiosks and replace them with new. The design is complete. We are working with ACD to get 4/12 kiosks completed this summer. Design costs are also under discussion. The wallscape, public art piece, will be installed on the elevator shaft as soon as the weather is more cooperative. The project team has been pulled back together to make sure everything is all track for spring install. The new Downtown Guidebooks have been completed and will be back from the printer on Monday, April 15. Distribution will begin. • Committee Reports: Economic Vitality: C. Zarkovich indicated that the team is getting ready to distribute the annual business owner survey. They are focusing now on the former Hallmark property and the former Whipped property for some storefront signage. The last Huddle was very well attended. The next one will be at Jalapeno's on May 7 from 4-5 p.m. Design: J. Tischler deferred to M. Biladeau. Wayfinding, Wallscape, a pocket park and summertime waking and lunch tours are what the committee is working on. The board and committee is still waiting on a response from the Mayor's office in regards to whether or not downtown can be included in the city fayade program. All work plans are done. Public Spaces: M. Biladeau gave the update -the meeting is later today. All things spring including hanging baskets, planter boxes, urns along the Rivertrail, mulch, etc, are on the agenda. Organization: JV Anderton gave the update. There is a strategy to go through new work plan/development training with Michigan Main Street. Promotions: Forks and Corks was a big success. Taste of Downtown is coming up in July. Monthly Financials- J. Tischler gave the update and went over the February 2019 budget. S. Schriner moved to approve the financial report and place all reports on file. K. Dorshimer seconded, motion passed. IX. Discussion/Action Items: A. Update Transition of Silver Bells to LEPFA: Sponsors, parade participants, vendors, etc. have been notified about the coordination change for the 2019 event. Digital files are being organized and transferred over. Electrical meters are being changed, credit card charges, and other things are happening. There are many things to work through going forward. LEPFA has not announced the transfer publicly yet. In addition, DLI received partial funding from the grant application submitted to the Arts Council for Ingham County Hotel/Motel funding. M. Biladeau will contact Debbie with the Arts Council to see if this agreement can be changed to LEPFA or not. B. Staff: J. Tischler moved that we go into closed session, C. Zarkovich seconded, motion passed, and the board went into closed session. X. Other Business None. XI. Adjourn Motion to come out of closed session and adjourn the meeting made by S. Schriner, JV Anderton seconded. Meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m. Minutes by Summer Schriner, Secretary Downtown Lansing Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes DLI Conference Room April 25th, 2019 Members Present: Karl Dorshimer, Summer Schriner, Christine Zarkovich, J.V Anderton, Cara Nader, Christine Zarkovich Members Absent:T. Richard, Board Advisors Present: Board Advisors Absent: Staff Present: Visitors Present: Samantha Harkins, Mayor's Chief of Staff I. Call to Order -J.V Anderson called the meeting to order at 11:35 am. II. Citizen's Comments -None III. Approval of Agenda and Minutes -Tabled to the next meeting IV. Old Town Commercial Association Update -Tabled to the next meeting V. Community Policing Update -Tabled to the next meeting VI. Downtown Maintenance Update -Tabled to the next meeting VII. Correspondence -None VII. Reports -Tabled to the next meeting VIIII. Discussion/Action Items A. New Director Position Posting: K. Dorshimer created a posting for the position. The board unanimously supported the description, as does the Mayor's Office. B. Discussion with The Mayor's Office: S. Harkins arrived and will be connecting J.V. Anderton with HR regarding benefits. She indicated what the Mayor's office is looking for out of a new director is a dynamic and creative individual and for an after 5pm presence created. Because current Downtown tends to shut down at the close of business, the Mayor's office is looking for plans to create a more vibrant and dynamic area that goes on after Spm, and over the weekends. -When we talk about more Downtown traffic after 5pm, we are referring to evenings and weekends. -The board discussed who we are looking to attract. Who is spending money here? Who can activate downtown after 5pm? -J. Tischler indicated he thinks we need to expand the target market for residential. We don't necessarily only want to be appealing to the millennial demographic, we want to bring down empty nesters, and others and offer a wider appeal. -S. Harkins indicated that we need more of a community established here including the stakeholders and people you see everywhere, people with their finger on the pulse, etc. A community invested in living here, having businesses here, and events here will bring things to life in a more permanent way. C. Position Details: 1. Compensation Level/Range: -The board discussed salary ranges and retirement packages. Current salary here is at the top for the State for Main Street Directors. The board is thinking 70K -80K as a range and health care through the city plan as was available to Mindy. 2. Benefits Offered: -J.V. Anderton will be speaking to HR within the city to sort out benefits and retirement potential for us to offer 3. Length of Posting: -1 month with potential to repost. 4. Where to Post: -NMSC, IDA, BDA, BAP, APA, IEDC 5. Recruiting Efforts: Everywhere. We will all reach out within our networks. 6. Initial Screening of Resumes: -J. Tischler and C. Nader offered to do initial screening of resumes. The board discussed hiring out the initial screening. We don't know if that's possible financially. Karl will approach his network and put out an RFP to check on costs. Once someone has sorted the initial resumes, they will forward on to the rest of the board. Then each board member will choose a top 5 to interview and we will go from there. *The balance of the list we will address later. 7. Scheduling of Interviews 8. Interview Process 9. Decision of Candidate 10. Offer to Candidate 11. Contract with Candidate 12. Onboarding of New E.D. 13. Evaluation of New E.D. 14. Other VI. Other Business None XI. Adjourned -C. Zarkovich moved to adjourn at 12:35, J.V. Anderton seconded, motion passed. Downtown Lansing Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes DLI Conference Room September 12th, 2019 Members Present: S. Schriner, J.V Anderton, C. Nader, K. Dorshimer, J. Tishler Members Absent: C. Zarkovich, TJ Bucholz Board Advisors Present: none Board Advisors Absent: Brian Jackson from the 4th Ward, OTCA Staff Present: Cathleen Edgerly Visitors Present: Dillon Ruest of LPD I. Call to Order J.V. Anderton called the meeting to order at 11:3 lam, II. Citizen's Comments None III. Approval of Agenda and Minutes J. Tishler moved to approve the agenda of September 12, 2019 with Cara's name corrected and his amendment. K. Dorshimer seconded. MOTION PASSED. K. Dorshimer moved to approve the minutes of August 2019. S. Schriner seconded. MOTION PASSED. IV. Old Town Commercial Association Update: Octoberfest has been revamped. Also Vanessa is no longer with the OTCA, so Old Town will be looking for a new director in the months to come. V. Community Policing Update Officer Dillon Reust is our new Community Officer and gave an update on Reuter Park. Updates being discussed include a dog park, performance space, etc. Based on conversations with the Mayor's office, there is hope to have things move forward before winter if possible. VI. Downtown Maintenance Update Jimmy says trash is normal. Flower baskets are still doing well, we just have to sort out when to pull the baskets. Traditionally that happens before the end of September. They are doing well now, so Board discussed waiting until the end of the month to remove these. VII. Correspondence None VIII. Reports President's Report-J.V. Anderton: Welcome Cathleen! The Annual Meeting was a little smaller than we hoped for, but the event was a great success. Next week is our Main Street Check -In. J.V. will call in, but will rely on others to run the meeting. Director's Report -C. Edgerly: This was passed on this month. Committee Reports: o Economic Vitality: C. Zarkovich is absent so C. Edgerly gave the update: The committee will resume touring vacant properties in October, as well as featured businesses and some exciting new concepts with Design in order to activate those spaces. Design: J. Tishler: Bob Rose has been working on kiosks and new signage, but not much to report at this time. Public Spaces: That committee meets later this month. Organization: J.V. Anderton: Org is looking for more members. They are updating ways to contribute to DLI via sponsorship, etc. Internal communications and social media are back up and running thanks to Cathleen. The Student Welcome Back Event is moving forward on Saturday Sept. 21st because it was already planned and budgeted. Cathleen is reaching out to potential sponsors. Promotions: C. Edgerly: A lot of talk about Taste of Downtown happened at the meeting. They will be talking to the restaurants to get feedback, and maybe revamp the event. Trick or Treat on the square will be going forward this year and feedback will be sought to decide how to handle next year. Sponsorship is still being sought, and we will evaluate after the event. Financial Report: J. Tishler: The format has changed and will change slightly moving forward in order to make them slightly less detailed and more readable. More like a summary. We're doing fairly well budget wise despite the bad ice last year, etc. Board would still like to see a financial comparison each month showing where we are vs. the budget. J. Tishler moved to support the financials presented in the board packet, K. Dorshimer seconded. MOTION PASSED. IX. Discussion/Action Items A. DLI Staff: In the packet we see 2 different positions that Cathleen put together that change things slightly. She'd like a full-time Programs Director as part of her team, and a Marketing and Design Professional for the second position. The positions as restructured keep us relatively budget neutral. Application dates pushed out to the 27th: K. Dorshimer moved to approve the job description. S. Schriner seconded. MOTION PASSED. B. Forks & Corks: C. Edgerly met with Mindy at LEPFA who are interested in moving the event there. Board discussion took place based on Promotions Team input. The Board I s not in support of transferring the event over and intends to keep it with DLI. C. New Parking Systems Downtown: A new parking system using license plate numbers is being implemented. Similar pay structure, but more pay methods, etc. The new parking systems will be coming probably this fall. Businesses are being updated, and info is being shared so people can be updated and prepared. D. Updated Agreement from MMS: We have an updated agreement from Main Street with the only clear difference being that we won't be so heavily tied to Redevelopment Ready Community Development requirements. J.V. would like a little time to review, discuss, and we will sign soon and send it to the Mayor's office so that we have things to him well in advance of the due date with MMS. E. Other Business: A consent agenda was discussed for future meetings for the agenda, minutes and committee updates. Financials would remain separate. -The Wallscape project is moving along -MMS is having a training in Grand Haven about Place -Based Marketing that the board is welcome to attend. Please let Cathleen know if you are interested ASAP. -Committees have expressed interest in having the holiday ornaments back in the mini - circle following them being hit. Discussion took place but ultimately the majority of the Board would like to see if the City has any ideas regarding alternative public art pieces that could go there, seeing if LEPFA will pick up the cost, as the estimate is $7,000. X. Adjourned: Adjournment moved by J.V. Anderton, S. Schriner seconded. Motion passed unanimously at 12.29am. Downtown Lansing Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes DLI Conference Room October 10th, 2019 Members Present: K. Dorshimer, S. Schriner, C. Zarkovich, TJ Bucholz, JV Anderton, J. Tischler Members Absent: C. Nader Board Advisors Present: Board Advisors Absent: Staff Present: C. Edgerly, S. Dhladhla I. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 11:35. H. Citizen's Comments -None III. Correspondence Old Town has reached out with a formal ask for DLI to be the non-profit on record for a fundraising/fund matching effort through Patronicity. IV. Approvals o K. Dorshimer moved to approve the agenda for 10/10/19, TJ Bucholz seconded, motion passed. o C. Zarkovich moved to approve the minutes from 9/12/19, J. Tischler seconded, motion passed. -Committee Reports: - Organization: The sponsorship brochure has been reworked. -Design: They are working with the city to address fall cutback and rain garden stuff. They are also working on pocket park renderings for near Mallory dentist. Wayfinding kiosks are still being worked on. -Economic Vitality: Biz huddle went very well and there is a meeting today. -Promotions: Promotions meets tomorrow. The meeting date and time changed this week, so Summer is unable to attend. V. Community Policing Update: Officer Reust: Overall things are going better. It's the same issues as usual with the homeless population, but he's working hard to develop a positive report with those folks and working with the City Attorney's office to keep everyone following the law and working together. VI. Downtown Maintenance Update & Report: Lake State indicated that hanging baskets and flower boxes have come down and been replace by mums. VII. Old Town Commercial Association Update: The ED search has been postponed to the beginning of the year. The new Blocktober Party was a great success. Planning for the Lumberjack Festival in February has started. VIII. Reports: o Directors Report, Cathleen Edgerly Design and Public Spaces Committees will be trying to join forces for November since there is so much overlap. They will try to meet together monthly or every two months if they can. Cathleen is working on a Board Training Packet to address responsibilities, duties, etc. o President's Report- J.V. Anderton The new sponsorship brochure is out. Officers are usually chosen in January, but JV's term expires in June. He wants us to have a contingency plan in place in case he is not reappointed, or chooses not seek reappointment. o Monthly Financials -J. Tischler The format for financials has changed per our discussion last meeting. Things have been simplified, and the new format was discussed. J. Tischler indicated he'd like to see a percentage of budget spent in year to date also, but the board agreed that the new format is an improvement. C. Zarkovich suggested next year's budget should include a line item for travel and research with other communities. With the number adjustment, J. Tischler moved to approve the financials. TJ Bucholz seconded, and the motion passed. IX. Discussion/Action Items: A. DLI Staffing: (Cathleen/JV) Siso Dhladhla started on Monday working part time (25 hrs a week), and Cathleen has interviewed several people for the full time position who are all very qualified. There was a bit of discussion about who to hire. TJ made a motion to hire Charlsie Abel, C. Zarkovich seconded. Motion passed. B. Statue for the Traffic Circle (Cathleen) The city would like to know if we have interest in purchasing the temporary statue. Board discussion took place and at this time the Board doesn't feel we have the funding to do that at this time to fund this temporary installation. C. Edgerly with follow-up with the Mayor's office. C. Trick -Or -Treat on the Square (Cathleen) With input from businesses, the event has moved to Capital Square rather than Washington. The hayride route has also changed. QD gave a grant/ sponsorship for lK and half of the cider, which helps with the budget. D. Board Member Vacancy (JV/Cathleen) Just a reminder that there is a vacancy and they are working on filling it. E. Update of Assessments Downtown (Karl) K. Dorshimer and C. Edgerly met with the assessor. There are a few properties in the district that are not being assessed that can be assessed including but not limited to housing. Discussion ensued regarding whether or not we can raise the l OK assessment cap. It appears as though we can based on inflation. F. Old Town Letter (Board) Without a current OTCA staff, Old Town needs a non-profit to run the Patronicity funding through for a band shell in Cesar Chavez Plaza that has been in the works. Board discussion took place and at this time, the board is willing to be a partner and wants more information regarding what that partnership would mean, etc. X. Other Business None, XI. Adjourn -Motion to adjourn made by JV Anderton, C. Zarkovich seconded. Meeting adjourned at 12:50pm. Downtown Lansing Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes DLI Conference Room November 14, 2019 Members Present: K. Dorshimer, S. Schriner, C. Zarkovich, TJ Bucholz via phone, JV Anderton, J. Tischler, C. Nader Members Absent: Board Advisors Present: Board Advisors Absent: Staff Present: C. Edgerly, S. Dhladhla, B. Kuiper I. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 11:38. II. Citizen's Comments -None III. Correspondence Staff has been receiving a lot of correspondence via email, phone calls, etc. regarding the new City parking system. IV. Approvals o K. Dorshimer moved to approve the agenda for 11/04/19, C. Nader seconded, motion passed. o K. Dorshimer moved to approve the minutes from 10/10/19, C. Nader seconded, motion passed. o K. Dorshimer moved to approve the Committee reports, C. Nader seconded, motion passed. V. Community Policing Update: Requests have been made regarding how to de- escalate situations that may occur in the downtown, especially when employees or staff feel unsafe. Officer Reust is happy to help address these concerns and share ways to deescalate a situation that may put you, or your employees, other residents in situations where they aren't feeling safe. Lighting was also brought up, and how the improvements made by BWL have helped downtown feel a little brighter and safer. VI. Downtown Maintenance Update & Report: Lake State has been staying consistently busy and prepping for colder weather. They also were a great help in aiding with downtown decor needs leading up to Silver Bells, with Lake State staff installing the garland and bows downtown. They will be prepping the sidewalks and trash leading up to Silver Bells. VII. Old Town Commercial Association Update: The Lumberjack Festival is coming up in February. The OTCA plans to post a position description for a new Director after the first of the year. VIII. Reports: o Directors Report, Cathleen Edgerly C. Edgerly shared that the LEAP grant report has been submitted for the wall- scape project. Ornaments will be installed next week leading up to Silver Bells thanks to the support of the Gentilozzi Family as well as help from the City and BWL. All Board members are invited to Mo Wings ribbon cutting tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.. The House of Eden Rock, Edmunds, and another Elliott property restaurant are expected to come online Friday, November 22 for Silver Bells. More to come. Details were also shared for upcoming pop-up activities. o President's Report- J.V. Anderton Welcome Beth! It's exciting to have the office fully staffed and to see the energy and new concepts coming out the organization. o Monthly Financials -J. Tischler J. Tischler shared the financials for the past month. Overall, the Board would still like to see what the income and expenses look like compared to the budget, showing a percentage, as well as have titles on the reports — but this is format that is easier to read and we are getting there. No surprises in the report. Motion by J. Tischler, second by C. Zarkovich to place the reports on file. Motion passed. IX. Discussion/Action Items: A. Budget Workshop: (Cathleen/JV) Discussion took place regarding when and where to hold a budget workshop for the Board to discuss the upcoming FY 20-21 budget. Overall Board feels holding the budget conversations at the next Board meeting would be appropriate. J. Tishler will not be in town, but he and Cathleen will work on drafting budget numbers and reviewing beforehand. J. Tishler will also try to be accessible by phone for the Board meeting. Budget workshop will take place December 12th B. Downtown Maintenance Contract (JV) JV shared his comments on the current contract with Lake State. Next year, the organization should probably put the full contract out to bid for transparency purposes and to ensure that the quality of work and pricing are kept. Overall, both the Board and staff are satisfied with the work by Lake State and are asking for approval to extend the contract for one more year January 2019 -December 31 of 2020. C. Grant Opportunities in District B. Past call for grants were reviewed by the Board. In order to make this process more comprehensive and to cut down on the back and forth with applicants, overall the Board would like to see a revised grant posting. C. Nader would like the applicants to provide more detailed information so that the Board and organization feels that they can make a more informed decision at the get -go, therefor alleviating some of the back and forth conversations, which last year delayed the process. We understand that the shortened content was a result of what DLI requested in the past, and not the fault of any applicants. Staff will revise the paperwork and present to the Board via email for feedback in December. D. Website There was a layout of a revised website framework in the Board packet for the Board to review. Overall after years of conversation, both the Organization team and the Board feel it is time to have a website that is more user-friendly, mobile compatible, and that staff has full editing capabilities for. Lots of input was shared regarding cost estimates, other areas to consider, capabilities for volunteer sign- ups, etc. but the framework presented seems easy to follow, pretty straight forward, and would definitely help the user -experience. C. Nader is willing to help review proposals sent -in and provide feedback. C. Zarkovich has some potential web contacts once the RFP is prepared. The Board gave direction to staff to request proposals based on the information presented, for staff and any interested Board members to evaluate, and looks forward to updates at future meetings. X. Other Business C. Edgerly reminded everyone about the ribbon cutting, and let the Board know about a Four Eyes Pulse Poll that the Board is requested to take, to better help shape the programming and business recruitment done by DLI. A Reutter Park planning meeting will also be held December 4th at 6:00 p.m. C. Zarkovich shared that there will be a ribbon cutting for Reusch Strategies at 4:00 p.m. November 21". More details will be sent out. XI. Adjourn -Motion to adjourn at 1:02 pm. by K. Dorshimer, seconded by C. Zarkovich. Motion passed. December 12, 2019 — 11:30 a.m. Conference Room DLI Office 401 S. Washington Square, Ste. 101 Lansing, MI 48933 Our Mission ■mm► ■■m► DOWNTOWN LANSING INC. Downtown Lansing Inc. is dedicated to making Lansing a place where people want to be, by encouraging its businesses, neighborhoods, and stakeholders to build a dynamic culture known for its vibrancy, sustainable growth, and business friendly environment. AGENDA Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 11:31 p.m. Citizen's Comments: None III. Correspondence: Staff shared a letter sent by the Peanut Shop, thanking DLI for their help with parking and the positive interactions they have had with the DLI team during a trying time. IV. Approvals Agenda for December 12 2019 Minutes from November 14, 2019 Committee Reports Motion by C. Zarkovich to approve the Agenda and place all minutes and reports on file. Second by T.J. Bucholz. Motion passed unanimously. V. Community Policing Update: C. Edgerly shared Officer Reust's update that Lansing PD will soon have an officer directly responsible for the CATA CTC. This new officer position will be separate and in addition to Officer Reust serving as the CPO of downtown. VI. Downtown Maintenance Update & Report (Lake State): Jimmy shared that they have been addressing the holiday lights along Michigan Ave. Updates from Silver Bells were shared regarding vendors being allowed to be set-up all Friday night and not tearing down until Saturday, which led to significantly more trash and debris still out on Saturday morning before Brunch with Santa. Cathleen will follow-up with property owners who expressed concern. VII. Reports Director Report — Cathleen Edgerly quickly reminded everyone that tonight is the very first Downtown Traffic JAM! It's very important to show support from the Board as we roll out this new pop-up series to the community. All Board members are strongly encouraged to attend tonight and purchasing a ticket, thank the LSO and our sponsors. Staff has also been busy working with committees on their projects and requested project budgets for the next FY which will be reflected in the budget conversation later on the agenda. Last, but not least, C. Edgerly proudly announced that Lake Trust confirmed their partnership and sponsoring of downtown Lansing's all new Rental Assistance Program designed to fill our vacant spaces with retail, dining, or attraction based business. They will provide $22,950 in funding support. Further updates will be provided at future meetings. President's Report- JV Anderton reminded everyone that we will need to hold officer elections in January. Anyone who is interested in renewing their position, or would like to serve as an officer that hasn't already, should let JV or Cathleen know. Monthly Financials—J. Tischler shared that there wasn't anything overly concerning in the monthly statement of activity or the statement of financial position. Everything appears to be on track, but he would like to see the Rental Assistance Program line added for next month. (Motion required to place reports on file) VIII. FY 2020-2021 Budget Discussion- The Board reviewed all line items of the Draft Budget presented by Treasurer Tischler and C. Edgerly. Some noted items include that the Assessment Transfer Income is expected to come in higher, but we don't have concrete numbers yet. Some sponsorships for events and programs were increased. Grant income is anticipated but not guaranteed, so if that funding doesn't come through, it will definitely affect expense line items as well. Questions were raised regarding Business Huddle line items by C. Zarkovich. After Board discussion, the EV team will discuss at their next meeting and come up with a plan to present to the DLI Board in January on what expense ranges that they are looking at for visiting similar communities, increasing Business Huddle Expenses, etc. The Board would also like a break -down regarding anticipated Professional Development Costs to ensure we are being responsible and preparing adequately. Other items discussed that could affect the budget include the Organization Misc. line item, the website refresh, annual sponsorships, and ticket sales, etc. Staff will make suggested changes and dig in for a bit more information to present an updated budget projected for next month's Board meeting. X. Other Business- S. Schriner had a discussion with the OTCA Board regarding their grant report being turned in. C. Edgerly has also talked with Board leadership and will be following up. Updated language for the District B grants should be presented in January and go out immediately following approval. XI. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn at 12:40 .m. by K. Dorshimer. Second by J.V. Anderton. Motion passed. JV Anderton, President Jim Tischler, Treasurer Karl Dorshimer, Past President TJ Bucholz, Member Christine Zarkovich, Vice President Summer Schriner, Secretary Cara Nader, Member Open Seat Board Advisors: Brian T. Jackson, Fourth Ward Councilmember Please respond your attendance via e-mail to cathleen@downtownlansing.org. If you have any questions please contact the DLI Office at 517-487-3322.