08/14/2018 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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with approximately 150 people attending. Downtown stores were open and serving ice cream and sodas. The ice cream was provided by each individual business. F. Economic Vitality — Chair Kevin Ashmore reported that a committee meeting will be scheduled in the near future with Mike Kennedy of HWH and other members to be added. The Chair explained that the purpose of the Economic Vitality Committee is to bring more businesses to downtown and to encourage other businesses to locate/relocate in the downtown space. Jane Helberg mentioned that she recently hoped to purchase a building downtown but had to locate away from downtown because of the need for 18 parking spaces when her entire staff attends a meeting. Updates on the status of nominations for various awards: • Glee Emmite: Best Downtown Partner — Peoples Bank, submitted in July for the President's Award (Texas Downtown Association) • Kevin Ashmore: South Main Iron — Best Commercial Interior The business is owned by Ryan and Chris Whitaker and sells "previously enjoyed motorcycles." This business proves that downtown can be a popular and profitable location. They created a "destination business" targeting a radius of a 3 -hour drive. The work on the nomination for the President's Award (Texas Downtown Association) is still in progress. • Laurie Redus: Texas Treasure Award — Texas Furniture (Nominee must be in business 50+ years.) The work on the nomination is still in progress with no deadline on submission. The business was previously owned by Frank Weaver and now owned by the Anthony family. Information is being gathered about both owners and locations. The nomination will be submitted in the next few weeks to the Texas Historical Commission. 6. Main Street Manager's Report — Cheri Bedford • Many ideas were brought back from the conference in Des Moines, Iowa. Discussions have taken place on ways to reach out to residential and business owners downtown. Owners need to know that Paris is part of the National Historical Register for both residential and the downtown district. This makes the properties eligible for lots of things such as 17, 21 and 27 Clarksville Street owned by Janet Green. With the upper facade being removed in July, Cheri Bedford is working with an officer from the Texas Historical Commission National Register to have the buildings added as "contributing buildings" to the downtown. This designation means it will become eligible for federal and state tax incentives. • Marie Oehlerking-Read from the Texas Main Street design staff visited with Cheri Bedford and Janet Green to discuss ideas for the new store front at 17 and 21 Clarksville Street. The goal is for the new lower store front to be restored to a more historical look. Marie Oehlerking-Read also visited with Chris Dux at the location he is currently renovating. • Moffit Financial is in the final phase of the renovation on the west side of the plaza. • The vacant property registry went into effect July 23, 2018. There are 40 properties identified for the registry. Six have registered as of now with a deadline of October 23, 2018. The registry includes the following: emergency contact(s), building information, plans for building and building caretakers. Each building must have a correct 911 address, and the owners must provide liability insurance. A fee will be charged for vacant buildings because it devalues the rest of downtown. The fees will go into a grant to improve the downtown district. • Henry Printing is being gutted by HWH with a prospect for new tenants. • Cheri Bedford is working with the city's engineering department since the Pumpkin Festival will be moved to Bywaters Park and adjacent streets due to road construction downtown. The layout for the festival has to be designed to fit the park. • Hatch Chile Fest will be at Market Square September 1, 2018. They will roast 2,400 pounds of chiles downtown. Games and a hamburger stand will be part of the mini -festival. Volunteers will be needed. • The roof has been finished at 127 Lamar Avenue. The Main Street Committee will present the BIG check to Lucy Funk, owner, in the near future. • The Toole Design Firm is in Paris this week. The public meeting will be Thursday, August 14, 2018 in the upstairs meeting room. Everyone is encouraged to attend and bring friends to view the plans for the downtown. • Market Square Affair will be September 15, 2018. Tickets are available on line for this family -style dinner event with all local foods being served. There are 100 tickets available. Volunteers are needed to set-up the event and serve the dinner. Proceeds will be used for placing heaters in the public restrooms at Splash Park so that they can be operational during the winter months. • Cheri Bedford will be submitting the 10 Criteria Report in October 2018. All Main Street committees must have a meeting with the minutes submitted to Cheri Bedford prior to the dcadline in October. • Glee Emmite requested that the Main Street Work Program be placed on the agenda for the September 11, 2018 meeting. • John Brazile reported that South Main Cafe has plans to remodel the inside and outside of the building plus add landscaping. They want to be part of the Paris downtown revitalization initiative.