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05-C Main St. Adv Bd. Mtg Min 1-16-07 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAIN STREET ADVISORY BOARD January 16, 2007 City Hall Council Chambers 107 East Kaufman Street 4:00 p.m. A meeting of the members of the Paris Main Street Advisory Board was held Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 4:00 p.m., at City Hall Council Chambers. Casey Rose, Chairman, presided. PRESENT: Jennifer Long (Vice Chairman) ABSENT: Cindy Allcorn Matthew Coyle Lisa House Zach Saffle Walt Brown Karol Lyn Moore (Alt.) Linda Knox Drew Crawford (Alt.) Pike Burkhart (Alt.) Others present included Becky Semple, Director, V&CC. Concession Stand for the ASA Tournament A brief discussion was held among board members pertaining to splitting the costs/profits for the concession stands at the ASA tournament in March. Walt Brown made a motion to split the costs/profits of the concession stand with the V &CC. Zach Saffle seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Committee Reports Organization Committee - No report. Promotion Committee - Nor report. Design Committee - No report. Economic Restructuring Committee - Casey Rose reported that he is still working on a plan to bring local bankers together to discuss a low interest loan program for the Main Street Commercial District. He hopes to hold a meeting before months end. Main Street Manager Report Texas Main Street Site Visit from Architect, Wayne Bell- Wayne Bell is planning a site visit to Paris in the next few months. He will meet with business/property owners who wish to renovate their buildings. He will provide professional services through the Main Street program at no charge to the owner. In the past Texas Main Street has assisted with site inspections, renderings, sign design assistance, parking issues and other client specific services. Main Street Manager will contact local property owners who have asked for assistance and set up meeting times upon Wayne's confirmation of a visit date. Page 1 of 4 Annual Reinvestment Figures - Main Street Manager gave the board some end of the year reinvestment totals for the Main Street Commercial District. These are totals gathered by the Main Street Manager from investors/property owners/employers within the district. Numbers are approximate and it must be taken into account that not all property owners share their information. Private Sector Rehabs 10 projects estimated at $275,000 Private Sector New Construction 2 projects estimated at $1,746,000 Private Sector Buildings Sold 12 @ an estimated $300,000 Public/Private Ventures 1 @ $6,700 No new public projects Total $2,321,000 (just over 2 million) Approximately 12 new businesses and 65 give or take a few, new employees. 10 tenants in the downtown area - some lofts aren't finished so the number will increase still. 8 or 9 currently slated for renovation. Review of 10 Criteria Reporting/Scoring - Beth Golden, reported on the importance of committee meetings, goals and objectives and compliance in order to meet the criteria to be recognized as a National Main Street City. This report is about 25 to 30 pages in length due annually in August. 2006 Goals Review Organization Committee 1/ Goals: To develop a plan of action for actively seeking and writing grants An application for TXDOT streetscape funds was made last year by Main Street Manager, Director of Community Development and the Engineering Dept. We received word from TXDOT that funds would not be appropriated for this program in 2007. Many political leaders, as well as the Texas Historical Commission are trying to appeal. Paris Main Street received an Anice Read grant for $1,500 to help fund the downtown moonlighting project. We also applied for a Market Square grant. It is a very competitive grant, unfortunately we didn't receive funding. Design Committee V Goals: To re-evaluate & address the current design of Market Square - signage, publicity, landscape & visibility are of primary concern A new sign design has been established by the design committee. Some landscaping changes were made at the market. Privets (shrubs) were removed from the front landscape beds of the market, which obstructed the view from the street. Dwarf shrubs and mulch were installed in place of the privets. St. Augustine sod needs to be laid because all of our grass in the center of the facility has died. We did not publicize the market in 2006. Some funding is allotted in the 2006/2007 budget for the Market Square. 2/ Goals: Obtain new Christmas decorations Banners were purchased with funds donated by the local garden clubs. Moonlighting was installed in the 8 trees surrounding the Culbertson Fountain. Both these projects were completed at a cost of around $10,500.00. All of the funds for these two projects came from fundraising efforts and the Anice Read grant. $6,500 came from Sayonara Summer, $800 from local Garden Club, $1,500 from Anice Read and the remainder from Festival of Pumpkins. Funds were not budgeted for Christmas decorations in 2007. Page 2 of4 3/ Goals: To establish way-finding signs for downtown This project is uunderway. A group of individuals (with representatives from Main Street) have been working on gateways and way-finding signage. Gateways were designed and funded. Way-finding signage has not been completed. No funds were budgeted for way-finding in 2007. Promotion Committee 1/ Goals: Website Funds have been established to pay for the website through the 2006/2007 budget. The promotions committee met several times in 2006 to develop concepts for the website; however, specifics have not yet been established. With the completion of the downtown shopping/dining guide we should be able to tie the two together. Some of the promotional funding will assist in paying for the downtown shopping/dining guides as well as a private sponsorship for the brochure. Economic Restructuring Committee 1/ Goals: Survey the district and implement low interest loan pool. A survey of the district is nearing completion. At this time, about 190 properties have been assessed (about V2 of the properties I would like to include) and entered into a database. A color coded map of the district will be completed next. Main Street Manager is working on the survey in between projects. Chairman, Casey Rose is working on the low interest loan program currently. He has already formed a professional letter to banking institutions and set a date to meet with them. 2007 Goal Setting Organization a) Gateways - Implementation b) Wayfinding - Design, Implementation Promotion a) Website - Design, Implementation b) Brown Bag Luncheon - Set a date, coordinate, promote c) Loft Tours - Set a date, coordinate, promote d) Market Square - Promote through events e) Fashion Show - Set a date, coordinate, promote f) Sayonara Summer - Set a date, coordinate, promote g) Festival of Pumpkins - Promote h) Newsletter - Design, promote i) Fire Festival - Conceptualization Design a) Market Square - Design new sign, address landscaping needs b) Christmas Decorations - Installation of Christmas lights on buildings, fund raising, logistics Economic Restructuring a) Survey of the commercial district - Inventory, develop spreadsheet b) Low interest loan program - Coordinate with bankers, print and promote Page 3 of 4 r . c) Statistics of reinvestment figures - Compilation, distribution Events for 2007 (Dates Tentative) Loft Tours - April or December Brown Bag Luncheon - May Market Square - Summer Sayonara Summer - September Festival of Pumpkins - October Holiday in Paris - December Requests for future agenda items 2006/2007 Budget Information Report on the ASA Concession Stand A motion to adjourn was made by Walt Brown and seconded by Karol Lyn Moore. Meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m. Approved this 20th day of February 2007. Casey Rose, Chairman Signature Page 4 of 4