DULUTH DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING City Hall Community Room November 18, 2014 MINUTES 6:30 p.m. to 8:58 p.m. Present: Absent: Staff: Council: Rob Ponder DDA Chairman Pam Smith - DDA Member Maxine Garner DDA Secretary (left at 8 p.m.) Greg Lindquist Treasurer Krista Ganley DDA Member Bill Weaver - DDA Member Ron Osterloh DDA Vice Chairman None City Manager James Riker Community Development Director Nick Colonna (arrived at 7:34 p.m.) Economic Development Manager Chris McGahee Downtown Coordinator Janice Yarbrough Finance Manager Ken Sakmar Economic Development Specialist Will Corbin None DDA Chairman Rob Ponder called the November 18, 2014 DDA meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Approval of Minutes: Chairman Rob Ponder requested approval of the DDA minutes from the meeting of October 21. Greg Lindquist made a motion to accept the October 21, 2014 minutes as submitted; Maxine Garner seconded the motion. All voted in favor. FINANCE REPORT Ken reported that the City transferred $110,000 to the DDA account today for the EOP Contract obligation. He mentioned $7,882.45 additional funds in the DDA account. Ken asked Ron to meet with him to sign for account signature. BUSINESS AND EVENTS REPORT Chris reported that Ken Hardeman sold his building and David Cossette was in the process of selling his building, if not already sold, to Vantage Realtors. Chris reported that Espresso Theory coffee shop s building renovation is well underway and Mike Burel (building owner) has allowed plumbing, electrical, and grease trap capabilities. He added that Stephen Chambliss and his partner anticipate opening on or by the annual tree lighting December 6. Chris reported that Larry Hall has signed a renter for his building. Chris added that Larry will be coming before DDA for tenant approval. 1 P a g e
Chris reported that Dairy Queen is looking at becoming a chill & grill. He added that Proctor Square is cleaned up and the hedgerow is gone. Chris reported that December will be busy for DDA. CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT James reported that the side of the Corley building has been painted and scraped for a fresh new look. Chris had for presentation an Active Project Board approved by Council. He explained that there are around 698 residential units planned in the projects. Rob asked Chris to email him the presentation. RED CLAY MUSIC FOUNDRY REPORT OLD BUSINESS Eddie reported that in October 1,804 tickets were sold. Eddie added that there have been 490 shows total to date. He added that eighty-eight students are enrolled in the music school. Eddie announced a new endeavor to hold workshops for churches which would include open mic nights for their talented singers. He added that an open mic shootout would yield a grand prize for the winning church of all the ticket sales dollars for them to put to their best use. Eddie reported that he is working with a company to host all his social media network sites on one website. Eddie reported that the music school is going well and while not soundproof, it works well enough and does not disturb upstairs. DOWNTOWN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT/INFILL LOT UPDATE James reported that Wieland Housing Development has been delayed due to the Planning Commission s tabling of this request since an environmental review was not submitted. He added that we are tentatively looking at December 1 date and then for a council meeting date of December 8 for the requests. James reported that that Wieland Housing Development is considering using the old Masonic Lodge (Methodist Church) as a clubhouse. Rob reported that he did sign two IGA s as voted on at last DDA meeting. Malcom Horvath was present at this November 18 meeting and presented a list of questions he submitted for review. The six topics to address related to the site: 1. Define the site challenges to include utilities and adjoining property owner access. 2. Define the elevation. 3. Define the usages per each elevation. 4. Define the relationships between neighboring properties and connections. 5. Define the financing options. 6. Propose a development deal. City requirements: The City desires Main Street retail and roof top dining or bar options and desires two. 2 P a g e
WAREHOUSE DEMOLITION UPDATE Chris reported that the concrete is down at Dreamland site and we are working towards an IGA for the December meeting. He explained that the demolition is not quite complete, but the major debris is gone. He added that there was a meeting today for more design concepts, and Council will meet on that report for the next steps forward. Chris added that with the newly proposed concept, storefronts on the block will open to the plaza. NEW BUSINESS EXPRESSO THEORY SIGN POSSIBILITY Chris added that Expresso Theory owners will soon be requesting a sign permit from the CPDC and DDA. He added that there could be a called CPDC meeting in December or January. The new sign ordinance may allow the type sign they will be presenting for approval. OTHER DDA SITE VISITS Chris will contact other DDA s for site visits. DDA members recommended we have a signup sheet so no more than three members attend one visit and coincide with January and February meetings. BOUNDARY COMMITTEE DISCUSSION Chris explained that the DDA would like to explore options for extending the DDA boundaries. Rob recommended we plan a work session in February at the City Hall Community Room for this thorough discussion. He asked Chris to set up this meeting and present map ideas of current boundaries, a medium increase, and a large, inclusive recommended boundary map. Maxine asked that in the meantime, everyone please go ahead and email around all their ideas. Chris will send out guidelines for determining which properties can be in the expanded boundaries as properties do not have to be contiguous. WILL CORBIN INTRODUCTION Will is currently the city's Economic Development Specialist. Will Corbin brings a variety of professional experience in economic and community development to the City of Duluth, ranging from strategic industry research and analysis to marketing and business recruitment, retention and expansion. Will worked in Miami as Research Manager at The Beacon Council Prior to joining the City of Duluth, as well as in Atlanta as a Project Associate at Market Street Services economic development consulting firm. Prior to this, Will completed internships at the DeKalb County Office of Economic Development as well as the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Department, where played an integral role in developing Partnership Gwinnett, the County s award-winning initiative for economic growth and prosperity. Born and raised in the Greater New Haven, Connecticut area, Will holds a Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in Management and International Policy from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a co-major in Journalism from Emory University. He also spent a semester abroad at Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK, where he studied International Policy Analysis and Comparative Public Administration. 3 P a g e
STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION FOLLOW UP/DDA PLAN SCHEDULE 7:33 p.m. - Chris explained that this part of the DDA Meeting is opened up for DDA discussion on being more proactive, an agenda change to allow open discussion about other matters. He referred to the strategic planning session goals to adopt a doc listing their goals, what they want to accomplish, a budget, and a plan for DDA activities. He recommended five-year goals for moving forward. Chris explained that while the City of Duluth DDA is primarily a financial mechanism, there is opportunity for being proactive with planned goals. Maxine asked that the idea of free lending library for books be revisited. Ron asked that we look at closing the gap between DDA ideas, recommendations and feedback from staff/council; for example the status of the hotel project recommended by DDA. He asked for better tracking and communication in response to DDA time and effort. Rob explained that the hotel project is still feasible with a location and economic feasibility. James added that the City is committed to work with Gwinnett County library location across from Duluth City Hall; the County is committed to a 20,000 sq. ft., one-story library with 150 parking spaces there. Rob added that the brick architecture would be compatible. Maxine stated she would like to serve on the library committee. James recommended we also look to see if Fall Festival would like to sponsor a room in the library. Ron added that we had talked about extending the alley along the railroad; James confirmed this is in the plan. James recommended that at least one DDA member serves on the citizen s budget committee where ideas help facilitate resources for economic development and potential DDA ideas. Chris announced that the City is creating a DDA website to inform of DDA s purpose, vision, history, goals and to open communication. Bill Weaver offered that the DDA Plan for Actions is to create scope, purpose, vision of the DDA. He added that we need a strategic vision for the DDA. We need to define the mission, the scope, and the vision of where we want to go with this membership. Ron added that he sees our scope as a conduit or facilitator. Chris added that Georgia Law defines what a DDA is allowed to do within their limits. Rob added that the DDA mandate is of a real estate entity so to speak. Bill added that this is an opportunity to clearly define our scope; with the limited amount of time the members have to offer and make clear DDA responsibilities. Bill suggests we combine this discussion with the February session to structure goals. Bill added that we need to target areas where we can be more impactful. Krista stated that her strongest feeling is that DDA look into collective advertising and promoting the downtown businesses. Bill added that since there is no budget for this, we must look at creative funding. He added that if this is merely a financial mechanism for the City, the meetings could be a lot shorter. James explained that the DDA is a conduit, but lately with all the newest happenings, offering creativity and great ideas now apply. He added that the Council is now open for DDA to explore new scope and vision. He added that DDA members are ambassadors. Bill wants to be more than a conduit; he would like to involve some marketing, event development, funding from Council for funding other activities. He would like to discuss how to facilitate this at the February meeting. Rob suggested two to three members take own projects with their individual expertise for example Krista would take on marketing and promoting. Chris added that there is currently a marketing study underway with City marketing. Bill recommended a DDA member be involved in that project. Bill asked for a clear scope of how DDA will work with Economic Development. 4 P a g e
Nick added that there are two types of marketing being discussed here; one being business marketing and the other being properties/infrastructure marketing. Bill asked why it is that the City can promote food trucks and not downtown food purveyors. Bill also recommended that there be a host to social media links for everyone to push to their own contacts. Chris explained that DDA can be that portal. Rob added that if the DDA creates a plan, they can present to Council for support and funding as the DDA is appointed by the Council. James explained that these presented plans must have identifiable tasks. Chris commented that the GCVB has grant opportunities for cities without hotels. OTHER BUSINESS/DISCUSSION/PUBLIC COMMENT NONE ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Bill Weaver made a motion to adjourn the regular session of the DDA Pam Smith seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The meeting was closed at 8:58 p.m. Chairman, Rob Ponder Secretary, Maxine Garner December 16, 2014 December 16, 2014 JY 5 P a g e