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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.13.25 DLI Board Meeting MinutesD OWNTOWN LANSING SEPTEMBER 2025 BOARD MEETING 215 S. WASHINGTON SQUARE STE. 100 DLI Board Meeting November 13, 2025 | 11:30 am 215 S. Washington Square Ste. 100, Lansing, MI 48933 Members Present: J. Estill, J. Hinze, J. Durham, J. Pugh, K. Tomac, K. Klein, A. Rusek, J. Flores Members Absent: Nikki Thompson-Frazier Board Advisors Present: Samantha Benson, James Lennon Board Advisors Absent: Peter Spadafore Staff Present: C. Edgerly, J. Markham, K. Litwin, M. Gonzales Guests Present: None Minutes 1. Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 11:35 a.m. by J. Estill 2. Citizen’s Comments (items not on the agenda): None 3. Correspondence: None 4. Consent Agenda Approvals • November 13, 2025 • Minutes from October 2025 Meeting • Committee Reports • Monthly Financials – J. Durham Motion by A. Rusek to approve consent agenda. Second by K. Tomac 5. Old Town Updates: S. Benson reported on Old Town updates: Stakeholder meetings being held and Vision plan impending with expanded services for PSD District B expansion. Business Updates: New space for Sweet Jewelry; Seams opened and celebrated grand opening; The other side of Good Truckin’ officially opened as well. Spin Bike shop closing their Old Town shop. Thrift Witch moving to new space. 6. Lake State Updates: None 7. Internal Reports: • Director’s Report: : Edgerly reported that Trick or Treat on the Square was successful and goals were met with participation of businesses. 3,400 was the estimate of those participating. Regarding a proposed data center for downtown, more information is needed and there may be more questions on the data center. Community meetings are continuing to take place. Grant funding from LEAP update: LEAP staff directed DLI that they will need to consider splitting funding with Retail Strategies supporting smaller and larger scale businesses with online tools. The strategies would cover not just Middle Village or downtown, but entire region. Board had questions regarding the impact on our already established budget – C. Edgerly responded that the budget impact would be a loss of $37,500 with LEAP’s decision. D OWNTOWN LANSING SEPTEMBER 2025 BOARD MEETING 215 S. WASHINGTON SQUARE STE. 100 Current Big Red Ball update includes sponsorship funding has been exceeding set goals. Fund development company has been effective in this area. Ticket sales: halfway there. Board members are asked to please help promote the event and encourage your networks to attend and purchase tickets. Edgerly will send out tools to invite networks. Promotions meeting: Tony Byers willing to take over the annual Brrr Crawl in February. Board asked to provide assistance with that if possible. Great way in winter to get people out and support local restaurants and nightlife locations. • President’s Report: The Board will hold elections in January for Executive Committee. Nominations and slate of officers to be done in January – send nominations to Edgerly. Estill reminded board to donate wine for the fundraiser. Fund development retreat kick-off: Contract has been effective. December will kick off more fundraising – date to be set for meeting with all board. 8. Action/Discussion Items: - Welcome New Board Member: Kris Klein officially to the board. - Nikki Thompson Frazier resignation: N. Thompson-Frazier has updated her business model and come 2026 will no longer have a location downtown. As a business representative who will no longer be downtown, she is resigning her seat on the Board. Motion to accept by A. Rusek. Second by J. Durham. Motion regrettably passed unanimously. - OTCA Agreement: Memorandum has been circulated. Edgerly reported that multiple meetings were held and discussion held regarding how Memorandum of Understanding is to protect both sides in cooperation with each other. Original memo was for 20 years and DLI proposed it for 5 years (as initial term) because of PSD assessment terms. Terms were proposed as drafted in memo. Formal action needed: Asking for recommendation of first term 7 year with an option to renew for additional 5 years. Motion to approve the MOU as provided to the board with updated amendments as discussed today by A. Rusek. - Budget Kick-Off, Projects and priorities: Edgerly and J. Durham reported on their proposed projects and events (included in board packet). Projects are moved forward at committee levels after discussions and approval. In January a line-by-line item will be discussed. Will go to council in approximately May before budget is adopted. Lake State counts for 90% of assessment revenue. Work plans were provided for a bulk of projects to show what is going into each one. Goal for projects would be budget neutral. Durham suggested that in new year to have a sub-committee spotlight to offer some conversation amongst both board/committees. Discussion held regarding how can board help outside of just board meeting. D OWNTOWN LANSING SEPTEMBER 2025 BOARD MEETING 215 S. WASHINGTON SQUARE STE. 100 -Strategic Action Plan Goal #3 Discussion/Objection: Cultivate Active and Welcoming Public Spaces by c reating and promoting 5-7 inclusive events and downtown experiences annually. Strategy 1: Create partnerships with community stakeholders to ensure a robust schedule of events in our district. Discussion held regarding what are we doing now and what do we need to see for 2026? Partnered with Hispanic Fest. Helped with road closure, etc. or partner/sponsor. Discussions held regarding new spots to do events, etc. especially with CSO. Durham mentioned alleys (Artery Alley) being successful in past. Smith Group doing a dumpster study recommendation for Ann Arbor – can we do something with that for best practice? Rusek mentioned alleys in downtown Detroit and other discussion of what exists in other cities. 517 Day was brought up as a collaboration and a good marketing plan. Question posed of does Downtown retail see a spike in visitors if events are held at Adado. Mario to use Placer AI to determine. M. Gonzales also discussed some ideas of how to get downtown businesses to participate in these events. 9. New Items: None 10. Motion to Adjourn: A. Rusek motioned to adjourn at 12:52 p.m. 2nd by J. Durham. Motion approved unanimously.