1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,480 We have determined that a quorum has been met. 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,520 The Downtown Denton Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone No. 1 Board of the City 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:17,400 of Denton, Texas will now convene in a regular meeting at 12.06 p.m. this Wednesday, the 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,680 26th day of May 2021. 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,560 Our first order of business is 1A. 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:28,880 Consider approval and/or corrections of the meeting minutes from the March 24, 2021 Downtown 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:33,120 Denton TIF Reinvestment Zone No. 1 Board of the City of Denton, Texas. 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:38,920 Are there any corrections to the minutes as distributed? 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,320 Do we have a motion? 10 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:50,040 I'll motion to approve the minutes. 11 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,400 Do we have a second? 12 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:55,400 Paul seconds? 13 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:56,400 I do. 14 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:01,200 It is moved and seconded that we approve the minutes as distributed. 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:06,240 I will call your name and once called, state your name and your motion of adoption or opposition 16 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,040 with a form of yes or no. 17 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:12,800 Don't forget to unmute yourself. 18 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,040 Ben already knows he's not going to. 19 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,040 We'll start with Ben. 20 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,040 Ben Easley, aye. 21 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:22,040 Paul? 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,000 Paul Meltzer, aye. 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:26,840 Kass? 24 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:28,840 Aye. 25 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,920 And Melissa is an aye. 26 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:39,240 The motion passes by a unanimous vote of four. 27 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,200 The next order of business is receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction 28 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,520 regarding the programs and activities of the Denton Main Street Association. 29 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:53,040 We're so excited to see Christine and John here from Denton Main Street. 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,760 I'll turn that over to Christine. 31 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:03,320 Yeah, I just before we get started and turn it over to Christine and John, I just want 32 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,680 to remind the board why Christine and John are here. 33 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:12,040 So if you remember at your last board meeting, we were talking about possible changes to 34 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:13,800 the downtown reinvestment grant. 35 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,440 And then if you think back over the long term, we've had a lot of conversations over the 36 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:24,040 last year about the downtown, not just the downtown reinvestment grant, but the TURS 37 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,720 as a whole and what the funds could be used for and what types of projects we'd want to 38 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:30,560 prioritize. 39 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:35,640 And so the direction we got from the board at your March meeting was, well, let's ask 40 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:40,440 Denton Main Street what's going on, how they've, you know, how businesses have been dealing 41 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:46,320 with the pandemic, how they have, you know, how they see the TURS, kind of what role it 42 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,640 can play, what kind of projects that, from their perspective. 43 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:54,880 And so with those kind of ideas in mind, John and Christine kind of sat down with me and 44 00:02:54,880 --> 00:03:01,880 Christine and we talked about the study and kind of what's been going on. 45 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,360 So they're going to give you a little bit of an update generally about Main Street, 46 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,400 but also they have some direct feedback for the board, you know, after talking about it 47 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,680 with the Main Street members regarding the role of the TURS and how it can best support 48 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:14,680 downtown businesses. 49 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:20,260 So with that, I'm happy to introduce John and Christine, who are two of our fabulous 50 00:03:20,260 --> 00:03:21,260 partners. 51 00:03:21,260 --> 00:03:27,240 John is the Denton Main Street Association president and Christine is the executive director. 52 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,920 And I can speak personally and say Jessica wouldn't have made it this past year without 53 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:33,240 the support of Main Street. 54 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:39,720 So very happy that they're here to talk about everything that they've done and kind of weathering 55 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:41,320 the COVID storm as well. 56 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,960 Thank you for having us. 57 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:45,960 Yes, thank you. 58 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:52,480 The opportunity to come to y'all and talk about Main Street and what we do as an association. 59 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:58,520 So I think Christina Davis has our presentation that she's going to put up for us. 60 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:04,280 And so John and I are going to tag team this year, and we'll take questions at the end. 61 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:11,960 But again, thank you for the opportunity. 62 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,480 And there we go. 63 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:17,480 Okay. 64 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:18,480 All right. 65 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:30,040 So we're ready for that first slide, Christina. 66 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,240 On the next one, Christina. 67 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:33,240 Sorry. 68 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:34,240 Okay, great. 69 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,040 So many of you know who the Denton Main Street Association is. 70 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,000 We're often referred to as that group that does Twilight Toons and the car show. 71 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:48,720 But there's a whole lot more to us in terms of how we work and work with the economic 72 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:49,720 development department. 73 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,560 So we're happy to be here today and talk about that. 74 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:59,120 We are officially the Denton Central Business District, Incorporated, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit. 75 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:04,280 In 1990, we started doing business as the Denton Main Street Association when we became 76 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:06,600 an urban Texas Main Street city. 77 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:12,920 But we actually had an association of businesses that formed in the mid-1960s headed up by 78 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:20,320 the late Bill Thomas that formed together to go and represent downtown businesses, to 79 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:26,880 be a partner with the city and work on making downtown a destination and continuing to keep 80 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:28,160 it as a destination. 81 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:33,600 So it's been around for a very long time, and we're very proud to keep that tradition 82 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:34,680 going. 83 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,000 This year, we are in our 31st years of Main Street City. 84 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,640 We are part of the national and state program, and we are an accredited national Main Street 85 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:43,640 program. 86 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,880 So happy to report that. 87 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:52,760 And today, we have a membership of 15 active board members with ex officios from economic 88 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,960 development staff, Discover Denton and the Greater Denton Arts Council. 89 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:03,360 Our organization has anywhere from 135 to 150 members at any given time, which is made 90 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,880 up of businesses and community members. 91 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,720 Anyone can be a member of our association. 92 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:13,180 We are an association of businesses, but of course, community members can get involved 93 00:06:13,180 --> 00:06:15,320 and volunteer as well. 94 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:21,280 We are partnering with the city of Denton on managing the Main Street program, and that 95 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:28,280 is in order to promote and preserve downtown as a destination and keep locals and visitors 96 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,700 coming here and participating in events and activities. 97 00:06:31,700 --> 00:06:38,140 So we are largely in charge of promoting downtown year round through our social media marketing 98 00:06:38,140 --> 00:06:39,840 events and promotions. 99 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:44,560 We actually do 10 annual events and promotions throughout the year. 100 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:49,560 Most of what you know is our larger ones are Twilight Tunes, the Arts and Autos, Extravaganza, 101 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:54,800 Fossil Fest during Holiday Lighting, and we do several other smaller retail and restaurant 102 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,440 based promotions and activities to attract people to downtown. 103 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:04,120 These are all funded through donations and sponsorships through the 501(c)(6) and through 104 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,120 our business memberships. 105 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:11,720 The Denton Main Street Foundation of C3 was formed three years ago to fund and support 106 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,520 the Denton Arts Walk of Fame and arts revitalization in downtown Denton. 107 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:21,240 So DMSA helps coordinate two to three events per year to fundraise for the Denton Main 108 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,000 Street Foundation. 109 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,080 Next slide, please. 110 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:32,720 The Main Street model is a four point approach that involves economic vitality, design, organization, 111 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:34,560 and promotion. 112 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,160 This approach is done through creating multiple partnerships and working collaboratively with 113 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:44,980 local governments, nonprofits, and organizations to build a strong downtown district. 114 00:07:44,980 --> 00:07:50,640 We work to preserve and promote the historic downtown and create a vibrant cultural district 115 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:55,920 with shopping, dining, museums, entertainment, arts, as well as places to live and work that 116 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,620 are attractive to a diverse group of citizens and visitors. 117 00:08:00,620 --> 00:08:05,360 We also utilize economic development tools and incentives to promote business and growth 118 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,560 in downtown and development. 119 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:13,080 And we also work with various committees and organizations of volunteers to plan and organize 120 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,220 these initiatives and activities annually. 121 00:08:17,220 --> 00:08:20,840 Next slide. 122 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,260 Jessica talked about the pandemic last year and how it impacted downtown and you guys 123 00:08:25,260 --> 00:08:26,560 wanted to reach out to us. 124 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:31,760 So as you can imagine, the COVID-19 impacted downtown businesses quite a bit. 125 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:37,420 We had 14 businesses in the downtown area close brick and mortar stores permanently 126 00:08:37,420 --> 00:08:41,940 because of the pandemic and a few businesses reopened with new concepts online or a food 127 00:08:41,940 --> 00:08:44,120 truck model. 128 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:50,360 Downtown Denton saw nine businesses open in 2020, so that's a positive. 129 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,640 We had several businesses immediately pivot to online sales and delivery and Main Street 130 00:08:54,640 --> 00:09:01,120 hosted online sessions to inform downtown businesses on how to shift their business online as well 131 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:06,560 as information sessions with calls with bankers and small business development professionals 132 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:11,520 and of course our city officials for support and updates. 133 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,240 Businesses changed hours of operations after reopening after the first and second shutdowns 134 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:21,860 to adjust the customer demand including some seating adjustments to add outdoor options. 135 00:09:21,860 --> 00:09:26,480 And the Denton Main Street Association immediately responded at the beginning of the pandemic 136 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:32,560 and shutdowns by creating a page on our website to support local which included listings that 137 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:37,200 businesses could submit on their own with their altered hours and their operations and 138 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,800 any COVID-19 updates and information. 139 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:45,040 We also had grant and funding opportunity information for small businesses and links 140 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:49,280 to access back to the City of Denton Economic Development website. 141 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,240 It was actually one of our highest visited pages in 2020. 142 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,560 And the Denton Main Street Association paid for a social media campaign that was about 143 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:03,480 11 to 12 months long to support local and build awareness for downtown businesses. 144 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:10,200 And we believe that that was one of the larger reasons that much of our activity in downtown 145 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:15,760 through the pandemic we saw a lot of local support and that was again due to our dedication 146 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,920 to a campaign to bring awareness. 147 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:19,920 Next slide. 148 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:25,720 So that's a little bit about what Denton Main Street does for downtown just kind of information 149 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,840 informational type of stuff for you guys. 150 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,460 But to the reason why you invited us and once again we want to thank you for allowing us 151 00:10:33,460 --> 00:10:36,160 to address you guys. 152 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:42,080 Denton Main Street and downtown business priorities specifically the economic vitality is critical 153 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,160 to the Main Street program. 154 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,320 The priorities for the Denton Main Street Board and downtown businesses are first we 155 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,420 want to focus on lighting and walkability improvements. 156 00:10:52,420 --> 00:10:55,240 We believe that they're vital to the growth of downtown. 157 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,760 In our meeting with Jessica and Christina we talked about how we believe that's very 158 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:04,440 foundational to the growth to past growth and future growth. 159 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:09,200 The second priority would be to complete the streets program that includes the new streets 160 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:13,360 and as we all know those are the streets that are right behind the buildings that face the 161 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,200 square. 162 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:20,600 So it's not just the sidewalks and lighting but it's finishing the project. 163 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:25,760 The other three new streets Cedarstone we want to work on the other three. 164 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:31,200 And then the third priority we believe that there should be an update to the downtown 165 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:36,480 reinvestment grant program that provides incentives for improving the façades of structures that 166 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:40,520 are in desperate need of them. 167 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:45,160 You know instead of a flat fund request we believe the fund should kind of be transitioned 168 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:50,720 to a matching fund that way we can protect the fund we can protect the fund from a project 169 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:57,320 where the total cost is maybe 35,000 and but 25,000 comes from the fund we believe it should 170 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:04,240 be a matching where we can let make these funds really make an impact on facade improvements. 171 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:09,600 We want to bullet point the fourth bullet point says the we recommend that TURS funds 172 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:14,480 be used for the expansion of sidewalk lighting and facade improvements and increase the downtown 173 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,480 reinvestment grant cap to 50,000. 174 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:23,040 So we can if we use the matching model recommendation for you guys there can be a hundred thousand 175 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:28,920 dollar grant excuse me a hundred thousand dollar project that can be met with 50,000 176 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,080 because there's a fifty thousand dollar matching from the investors. 177 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:38,760 So we believe that we could probably get a lot of a lot of different things moving downtown. 178 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,820 Examples of those projects would be that our need of assistance would be the Fine Arts 179 00:12:42,820 --> 00:12:48,120 Theater the City Hall West there's undeveloped and empty lots downtown and other properties 180 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:56,680 that are in poor condition and they need restoration rehabilitation improvements and so I guess 181 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:03,320 the next slide is the yes we also believe that the TURS fund should not be used for 182 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:08,480 the PEC for the previous slide yes let's go back to that one I want to underline that 183 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,720 if you don't mind Christina the bottom one we we've really firmly believe that the the 184 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,920 downtown tourist funds should not be used for the for example the PEC for drainage and 185 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:25,160 flood improvements we believe that the the TURS fund should be that are really useful 186 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:29,480 to the development of downtown businesses and so people can come downtown you know that's 187 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:35,320 a probably a cap best described as a capital project and so as it relates to the lighting 188 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:41,160 and sidewalks perhaps the TURS funds can be used but that's how we really should downtown 189 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:45,960 businesses and Main Street kind of see what the TURS funds should be used for and then 190 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:52,960 now we can go to that second slide the next slide we kind of talked and so we want to 191 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:58,920 investigate other funding mechanisms to create $1,500 micro grants with a minimum of like 192 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,760 I said earlier a 50% match from the applicant business and have a much shorter approval 193 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:09,000 timeline the grants would allow for smaller projects such as facade improvements and signs 194 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:14,440 and new and existing businesses and these could be just a paint job grants that we can 195 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:20,260 just you know for lack of a better word lipstick on a pig but there's a lot of the facades 196 00:14:20,260 --> 00:14:25,640 that's all they need is a paint job but you'd be surprised how much capital it takes to 197 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:30,440 to do everything that needs to be done to a building to open up for businesses so micro 198 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:37,680 grants and then develop a matching fund program for up to $5,000 to assist with physical expansion 199 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:42,280 and collaborative partnerships to support small businesses and their development the 200 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:46,820 applicants would be required to have a business plan and identify long-term goals for growth 201 00:14:46,820 --> 00:14:54,480 to be considered for example a business wishes to move into a larger larger space and expand 202 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:59,400 their footprint business model a grant could include funds for fixtures a supplement for 203 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:05,640 rent increase for up to six to 12 months which can be determined in a with a three to five 204 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:10,480 year business plan presented with the application you know as people move into different buildings 205 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:18,280 and they make improvements to buildings that they don't own perhaps they're the the tourist 206 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:23,800 funds can be used to offset the rent increases and maybe payments to the actual building 207 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:34,600 owner in lieu of increasing rent there are some programs that are out there that offer 208 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:40,400 some kind of rent subsidies that would be to help a new business especially as they 209 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:45,960 get going start out with some of that rent assistance because as you all know it takes 210 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:51,560 a while to build up a business and some of these rents are pretty steep so there are 211 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:56,840 other ways and programs that are out there that we we are learning about especially through 212 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:03,400 our main street network that we believe that if we were to you know investigate some of 213 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:09,880 these options that those could be possibilities if if we were to to look further into other 214 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:17,920 options so the other thing i just want to add is yesterday i was in a webinar that with 215 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:24,160 buxton that they presented on some recovery for for retail and and restaurant recovery 216 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,800 and i think one thing one point that was made that i would just reemphasize and kind of 217 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:34,920 reemphasizes the main street association stance on the new streets and improvements of lighting 218 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:41,720 and sidewalks is sometimes it's the small things that we can do that really will attract 219 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:47,880 the people to downtown and it's the things that make the difference and people downtown 220 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:54,240 is what we really really need for these businesses to continue to succeed and to recover because 221 00:16:54,240 --> 00:17:02,560 it does take density and and some saturation of people and in the market in terms of consumers 222 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:08,280 so that is something that i just want to leave you all with as a thought and i don't have 223 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:12,040 anything else to add unless john does you know and i'll just piggyback on your final 224 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:17,720 thought you know in business we can we can spend a lot of money if your business or you 225 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:22,480 want to attract some people to your business or example for this downtown we can spend 226 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:27,880 a lot of money to try to get people to come downtown and be real successful or i could 227 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:31,320 spend a lot of money to get finally coming to my business because i'm in dire need of 228 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:36,560 people big ad campaign is real successful but if i'm not ready for them if i don't 229 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:41,520 provide a good meal or if the downtown is it doesn't meet their expectation of what 230 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:47,720 it should be as relates to simple things like sidewalks and lighting we may never get an 231 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:52,560 opportunity to get them back downtown again so it's important that we kind of be fundamental 232 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,280 in our decision making we believe we believe for you guys to make those types of decisions 233 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:01,120 i just want to say thank you again for the opportunity for us to present to you guys 234 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:09,680 and we're happy to answer any questions 235 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:22,000 we open it up for discussion q and a don't forget to unmute yourself does anybody have 236 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:31,080 any questions we just gave you so much information you have no questions trying to go last year 237 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:48,360 alex do you have any questions or comments i have plenty to say i do not yes jimmy okay 238 00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:55,280 can you hear me now yes sir just starting with the first what do you what do you what 239 00:18:55,280 --> 00:19:03,640 is your thought with the lighting and walkability what can you expound on that any at all yes 240 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:09,480 there have been some corridors off the square that have had some improved lighting but there 241 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:15,720 are still some pretty dark back streets and as we in sidewalks especially austin street 242 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:21,680 and i think even you know walnut street and even pecan those walk those sidewalks are 243 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:27,440 not as walkable and the lighting is not as bright so we hear a lot of comments from visitors 244 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:32,440 to downtown and even our businesses who are closing up at night about those concerns and 245 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,120 as relates to parking too jimmy when you think about it you know there's we all we all know 246 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:42,600 that parking is difficult on the square and it takes and with the news of pedestrian walking 247 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:48,320 lighting stoplights it takes a while to get it on the square so we need to start thinking 248 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:54,240 about how downtown really expands from the square proper into exterior remote parking 249 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:59,160 lots and so whether it be a you know southeast northeast southwest or southeast we need to 250 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:05,120 make sure that walkability with lighting and sidewalks is is there as as we try to build 251 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:11,280 from the we try to build a skyscraper as it relates to an awesome downtown and it's 252 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:16,080 we kind of believe that's foundational well i think that segues into the second thing 253 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:28,040 with the muse doesn't it uh finishing the the new streets yes yes those improvements 254 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:33,080 would help greatly i'm very new on this board so i don't know where where that stopped or 255 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:42,920 why it stopped uh for years is it does anybody have any info on that why that project just 256 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,920 you got they yeah they did cedar and then didn't do anything else i don't i don't have 257 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:53,640 an answer for you i don't think muse was not initially related to terz anyway so i don't 258 00:20:53,640 --> 00:21:01,200 oh originally no and i know uh you know doing muse streets is a multi-million dollar it's 259 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,800 certainly hundreds of thousands of dollars to do one uh because there's so much goes 260 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:13,480 into it but um but once again i think it's kind of foundational uh to uh to improve downtown 261 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:23,920 if i may not much of an answer but uh it wasn't funded so you could say you know what something 262 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:29,600 else was but uh yeah the short answer is it wasn't funded and wasn't any interest in raising 263 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:40,480 taxes to increase revenues uh but you know uh this is another source of funding i will 264 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:47,640 i'll just make a comment i start to feel like a broken record so i apologize but that just 265 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:53,020 ultimately the terz is never going to at least the way it's currently set up being in a position 266 00:21:53,020 --> 00:21:59,040 to fund the kind of improvements for infrastructure that we need in downtown there has to be a 267 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:07,340 fundamental shift in the city council's feeling that we've got to make a you know sustainable 268 00:22:07,340 --> 00:22:12,400 commitment to infrastructure whether that's just through the general fund or we look at 269 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:21,000 other mechanisms such as a you know a a pid in itself um could also be a way in which 270 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:26,360 you know we handle the drainage those properties affected just agreeing to a essentially a 271 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:31,840 secondary tax or something like that i personally would get on board with it i'm not sure everybody 272 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:37,200 would but to me that's just what has to happen there's just so many places i visit that have 273 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:42,440 continued to commit annually not do one street and applaud themselves and then wait 10 years 274 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:48,040 to do another it's just like a an ongoing commitment to improving the you know the urban 275 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:56,460 fabric beyond the square so yeah and it was one of the slides that we talked about how 276 00:22:56,460 --> 00:23:03,040 you kind of need to reimagine um projects and you bring up you kind of need to reimagine 277 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:07,680 funding for different types of different types of projects i mean you know i know you're 278 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:13,320 connected with the fine arts theater and its project status uh but um you know if there's 279 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:18,780 a it's right next door to cartwrights but at the same time you know if we can if there 280 00:23:18,780 --> 00:23:24,840 is some kind of funding mechanism for for that that type of project that really adds 281 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,920 to downtown because right now it subtracts a lot from downtown because it's just such 282 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:34,440 a big part of one of the sides and so um more so than something like city hall west or something 283 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:40,880 like that but to reimagine downtown yeah i'm new i'm new to these types of boards too and 284 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:49,040 i'm still learning but um yeah i'll say this that this is not a plug for the fine arts 285 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:57,480 you know but when i visited downtown lewisville uh it's probably been three years ago i couldn't 286 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:04,320 believe how much their downtown you know to me appeared to have gotten so much better 287 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:11,040 some you know pocket parks and sidewalks and lighting and street trees everything looked 288 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:16,040 really great and i complimented the city manager and i said did y'all do this you know it looks 289 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:22,520 great down here did y'all have a tiff district or tours so we do but the only thing that 290 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,720 that funds is our performing arts center we just made a commitment through our general 291 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:37,360 funding to continue to improve the infrastructure in downtown so jimmy do you feel like your 292 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:44,480 question is answered well obviously there's no funds for the muse project well i guess 293 00:24:44,480 --> 00:25:01,280 they they moved those funds to do the the east hickory all the way to the train station 294 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:07,040 i don't actually know the accounting history of it as long as i've been here the three 295 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:14,640 remaining new streets have just been in the unfunded status alex do you know alex and 296 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,920 melissa you've probably been more involved that might be right i mean it's just hard 297 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:24,320 to say because i've yeah it's gone so long but again i'm trying not to sound negative 298 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,960 but it's a pretty common theme to spend a lot of time talking about things that that 299 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:34,720 we spend so much time talking that the costs get get to a point where they they they get 300 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:40,620 so much higher that we can't fund you know such as the the drainage project you know 301 00:25:40,620 --> 00:25:48,600 so just got jimmy and jessica if you don't mind if i remember properly from and please 302 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:53,880 correct me if i'm wrong on this uh memory of the presentation last summer when they 303 00:25:53,880 --> 00:26:00,960 when uh they came to us with the tours possibility possible projects presentation our board saw 304 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:06,800 presentation that stated the new streets could be done for seven million was that is that 305 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:13,280 correct around seven million yes at the time the estimate that we had was somewhere around 306 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:21,480 seven million but there was never a decision related to the the level at there's variations 307 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:27,160 it was approximately seven million but until it's designed and developed and all of that 308 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:34,800 we don't have the exact number there has to be kind of i would say the dynamics uh are 309 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:39,360 that i don't think anybody's against it right it's like alex was saying something to talk 310 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:47,880 about but then do you do it then uh you kind of start from uh tax rate you know and where 311 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:53,480 like how do you want to impact people tax wise uh that creates a revenue projection 312 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:58,840 then you go okay let's prioritize when at what point does the money run out so it's 313 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,920 not like someone said there is money for this let's take it from that to put it somewhere 314 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:11,360 else you could argue that probably the last kind of uh optional decision uh maybe was 315 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:21,080 investing in the uh facility on 288 that'll be uh co-locating uh shelter services and 316 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:26,360 and my senior king now i'd argue that's a downtown development project you know i think 317 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:31,960 improving the environment downtown so you're not kind of having a forced march of unhoused 318 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:37,800 people through the square twice a day you know uh it's probably good for all concerned including 319 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:42,680 including the businesses so it's like all right got that done what's next i think i 320 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:48,040 think uh i don't think there's anybody who's against doing the muses how much do we want 321 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:54,280 to tax people and how much what's what's higher on the list uh but you know i i agree with 322 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,440 all the sentiments expressed about it i do have some questions about it i don't know if i should 323 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,600 if you're looking for other questions before i finally i do want to remind everyone before 324 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:07,960 we go too further the point of and we are not posted to discuss these projects in depth it 325 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:14,920 is specifically to talk about kind of main street and their recommendations and so let's try and 326 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:21,720 keep the conversation focused on that before matt gets mad at me if i can you know ask a few 327 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:28,760 questions about what has been presented uh first of all can we go back to jimmy since jimmy had the 328 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:37,000 floor by all means with his q and a sure uh well that sounded like we were trying to cut that off 329 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:42,680 that conversation off on the muse uh if you want to continue on that is there other funding like at 330 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:47,160 the state level or grants from the state i know they're giving out some grants for some 331 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:55,080 live music venues now that was i just heard that this morning on uh specter news this morning 332 00:28:55,080 --> 00:29:03,880 is that a possibility is is the grant writing uh do we have grant writing abilities 333 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:14,760 if you're referring to the american rescue act uh the arca there are some funds available for 334 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:19,640 those venues that were shuttered and the restaurant relief act follows under that the restaurant 335 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:27,000 relief fund also falls under that so there i'm not sure and jessica could probably answer this 336 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:34,600 better um there are opportunities for communities to get some funding as well through arca and 337 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:40,760 there's it's still rolling out but i do know some of our venues uh that were shuttered have applied 338 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,640 some of our restaurants have applied for funding um so those are individual grants that they have 339 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:53,480 to apply for but as far as community uh cities getting funding there is some funding available 340 00:29:53,480 --> 00:30:00,360 but i'm not sure what den's qualification should be yeah the muse streets would not be eligible under 341 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:07,400 that the federal funding that's coming through the american rescue plan act city council received a 342 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:13,720 presentation yesterday with sort of staff's recommendations as it relates to the new street 343 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:18,760 specifically and you know those are projects that could be funded through a variety of mechanisms 344 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:25,720 the ters is not the only option um but it would be as the same as any street project it's either a 345 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:34,120 you know a geo-funded or a ceo-funded uh project as part of the city's capital plan um or you know 346 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:40,120 the ters could provide funding for them but they're i'm not aware of any grants we always look at 347 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:46,360 um the economic development administration to see they have some public infrastructure grants we 348 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:53,640 always see um look at those whether we would be eligible or not really depends on the limitations 349 00:30:53,640 --> 00:31:03,160 of that particular grant in time usually they're tied to um income levels based on census tracts 350 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:09,480 um and sort of if the area has a depressed economic situation unfortunately that's a 351 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:15,800 really hard case to make in downtown um when you kind of have a thriving downtown 352 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:22,600 so we do have to look at those challenges that we have seeking those grants but we we always look 353 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:28,760 um at every option we have we know how important that project is to downtown so we we are 354 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:38,680 constantly looking okay that uh i just threw that out as an example from the state and i 355 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:44,440 i think that's a new grant it's specifically designed for uh music venues 356 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:56,440 or smaller venues for uh seating under 3 000 are you referring to that as something maybe for the 357 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:03,880 fine arts theater jimmy is that that they could i just threw that out as an example of a grant that 358 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:10,680 possibly there are grants other types of grants i'm i don't to i'm new at this so i don't really 359 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:18,680 understand you know all of those mechanisms i used to be a grant writer but that was a hundred years 360 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:27,080 ago it's hard work jimmy did you have any other questions for main street with regard to their 361 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:36,600 presentation uh no thank you paul i think you had some questions uh yeah and actually uh i'm 362 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:44,360 going to amend a comment i made um because one of my questions was uh was about the new streets uh 363 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:50,200 you know i've spoken forcefully i thought in favor of doing that in part on the 364 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:55,720 rationale that it would offer you know potentially double the storefront facings 365 00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:02,200 onto the new streets and i and i said that nobody is against it but i recall our current mayor 366 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:07,720 council member at the time uh questioning that premise but whether that was really true at all 367 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:13,240 that it would provide additional kind of storefront facings so i'd be very interested to hear 368 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:20,280 your perspective on that what what would the new streets what would the benefit be if we do the new 369 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:26,280 streets and would that be one of them or is that just not reality well i think it would depend on 370 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:31,320 the building design um of course some of those that back up to the new streets have little 371 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:39,560 staircases down to to walnut and so having that so it is a back door exit but it would certainly 372 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:45,800 help beautify some of the back streets and help those sidewalks become more walkable if someone 373 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:52,840 were to park back there or if it could be converted to use for an event or promotion uh you know block 374 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:58,920 off the street which walnut street has done before um and make it a sort of a plaza for a day or 375 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:07,480 something but also in terms of the the aesthetics and just the usability after covid what we did see 376 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:15,880 in in a lot of downtowns across america is walk up to go windows and pick up windows those could be 377 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:22,440 opportunities on the back side of a business for them to have a to go pick up window for you know 378 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:27,480 just permanent business operation it doesn't have to be just a covid adjustment now we're finding that 379 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:33,720 if we were to have opportunities for people to grab food to go they're still using that 380 00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:40,520 food to go opportunity um even beyond you know a year after covid or after the first hit of covid 381 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:47,720 so i would say from a design standpoint there's a lot of opportunities for businesses to have a 382 00:34:47,720 --> 00:34:52,680 little bit of a backside operation that's interesting on the uh the model of back go 383 00:34:53,480 --> 00:35:01,160 oh yes yeah and and to your point uh you know the remaining three new streets are they're unique 384 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:08,520 and each one uh kind of mccon and austin are a little similar walnut street is in its current 385 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:16,840 state is is an alley um and to your point about it being a place where perhaps from storefronts 386 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:22,920 uh you know i you know i don't even think about that when i think about the the the 387 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:31,320 potential of new streets uh i'm kind of i'm really not cedar street's right behind cart rides and so 388 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:36,920 i'm used to that having sidewalks and people people walk up and down cedar street constantly 389 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:44,600 both sides walking up from the parking lot from from down to mckinney up to hickory uh or or behind 390 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:51,400 the old debt coup building and walking down the street uh people walk down cedar street all day 391 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:59,080 long and so i kind of see it as as that's a success cedar street is a success you know it runs along 392 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:04,200 a you know the campus theater it also runs behind the fine arts theater and so i think it was a 393 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:10,200 great great choice i wasn't even downtown at the time and that decision was made but i think that's 394 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:18,520 the example that when when you do you beautify one of these streets people walk up and down it 395 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:23,960 i mean who walks up and down the con street who walks uh maybe maybe austin street more often 396 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:28,280 because it's kind of cabinet it goes to east side you know everyone wants to go to see john down 397 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:34,600 there so i get it but uh but uh cedar street is the example for for new streets of what it can mean 398 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:42,680 to downtown that's a helpful uh vision and i go to east side occasionally if i'm not going to bearded 399 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:53,000 mug ah bae and i apologize sir also has do you have any other questions paul that's right i'll 400 00:36:53,000 --> 00:37:02,440 come back go ahead looks like ben has a question um not so much a question just uh to add a little 401 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:11,800 bit of information is that all right is that all right yeah i want to confirm i'm not stepping out 402 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:23,080 of a stepping out of our rules um the presentation go for it all right um it's last year in our 403 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:32,360 recommendations for some grants to fund um one of the requesters was over on walnut right that they 404 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:44,600 were opening up um uh jim uh yes what's that the movement lab yeah yes uh and yeah that was it um 405 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:50,600 and i think about what what john is saying that he's seeing people using that street all the time 406 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:56,920 simply because the sidewalks are beautiful it feels safe it's well lit uh and this this board 407 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:03,880 just uh suggested that we should fund a business that's on a dark what john just referred to is 408 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:15,880 pretty much an alley um so if we want people to move beyond the square um to not not go to 409 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:23,560 somewhere on 380 or 288 because there's no parking on the square after only circling the square 410 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:29,480 itself a couple of times we need to open up that that outer area if we add lighting if we add 411 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:35,400 sidewalks that's going to expand people moving through a down walnut street just like he's saying 412 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:42,040 that's going to encourage people to park just off the square uh that was my only addition it's not 413 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:48,120 just utilizing the buildings on the new streets it's utilizing them to transfer between different 414 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:54,920 areas yeah i think the building development is secondary that might come and probably will come 415 00:38:54,920 --> 00:39:03,480 but i think the primary thing is is uh if the old uh field of dreams if you build it they will come 416 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:11,400 john what do you think that the building stuff will come second as a secondary after new streets 417 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:19,240 well when you it's kind of limited uh when you think about it austin street there's there's some 418 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:26,040 businesses already there um kind of visualizing there seems to be a lot or a space that could 419 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:33,640 something can be built there we have um the old mini mall on austin street the back obviously the 420 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:40,280 back side of it perhaps when when that is done when you know if we were to do redo austin street 421 00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:47,000 no telling what can be put in that space uh someone can reimagine or something can something happen 422 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,440 and that's that's a that's probably the biggest i saw on the square is an empty lot uh but as 423 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:57,720 scary as that lot is an awesome street doesn't seem to be a place where gosh i want to put a 424 00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:04,680 business here um but once again i you know i think back to cedar street melissa that people walk up 425 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:10,760 and down the street you know there are no new businesses uh save for that one little hairdresser 426 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:17,160 place right next to the fine arts theater that really faced cedar street uh you know the corner 427 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:23,400 the lawyer office that faces oak street has been renovated uh but there's really nothing 428 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:30,680 else going on on cedar street uh back there but uh but people walk up and down it uh all day long 429 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:36,600 and it's and driving up and down it as they they move from oak to hickory and uh avoiding the square 430 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:44,920 you know i'd love to have uh hickory and and uh excuse me elmond locus not even be considered to 431 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:51,640 to move from north to south from south and north you know i i'd love to have uh alternate routes 432 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:58,600 for cars to move not on the square um i just think that's that's perfect you know i just don't 433 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:07,240 understand why we can't have a downtown uh the the ring outside this central square is is incomplete 434 00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:12,840 uh some of it's two ways some of it's one way um just kind of confusing for people like i said if 435 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:18,120 we want to bring people downtown if we're going to spend a lot of money uh economically to to get 436 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:23,160 people to visit us downtown you know i think we we need to come down we need to make sure downtown's 437 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:28,840 ready you know to alex's point you know he went to louisville and he's like wow and so we need to 438 00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:33,800 make sure that we're wowing people and uh you know the lighting getting back to our number one the 439 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:40,680 lighting and sidewalks sidewalks on austin street sidewalks parcon street somehow figure out walnut 440 00:41:40,680 --> 00:41:46,520 street like we need to do that we need we need to make people say wow not just on the square which 441 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:52,680 is awesome but uh we need to take it to the next level uh we know the square is awesome and if you're 442 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:59,560 on the square people know it is but there's a whole level the depth of of people that can come 443 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:04,120 downtown we're only scratching the surface and so we need to start thinking outside the box and 444 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:09,240 outside the square proper the new streets and then we go to the next block and then the next block 445 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:15,160 and so um we're on the cusp we just need to make some decisions to get her done and to add to that 446 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:21,320 on the walkability side of things when there is lighting and smoother sidewalks in it and the 447 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:27,320 visual for a person psychologically to walk down a sidewalk and it not to change much they're more 448 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:33,080 likely to park further away and use that sidewalk access to get to where they're going so we see 449 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:37,400 that with cedar street with that parking lot once it got improved once the lighting's been improved 450 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:42,680 on cedar there by howling mutton broson thorn you see a lot more people using that parking lot at 451 00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:48,440 night now and walking but before many women reported to us they were not feeling safe walking in 452 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:54,680 through dark corridors to get to the square and so we need just to make sure that that uh that 453 00:42:54,680 --> 00:43:00,840 there's not a a blank space in the middle of a really nice parking lot to get to a really nice 454 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:07,000 square you're walking through a really dark alley feeling um corridor so that's important again for 455 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:11,560 the new streets because there is a lot of parking off the square but you have to walk through one of 456 00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:16,360 those streets to get to it and to your point alex as we as we try to do all these projects 457 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,920 obviously the tourist fund is is is not there's not enough money to do all the things that need 458 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:26,520 to be done downtown and so the and maybe these types of discussions or what kind of causes the 459 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:31,640 groundswell to go up here to uh present the city council look we we're gonna need to do something 460 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:37,160 we're gonna just we're gonna need to be innovative we're gonna look we need to think outside the box 461 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:42,600 i know that's an old cliche but uh it seems like you're a little bit of frustration you talked 462 00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:48,360 about how you just kind of saying the same thing again uh and you're not a broken record those these 463 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:55,160 are the types of decisions that uh the people who live play and work downtown are in debt as a whole 464 00:43:55,160 --> 00:44:02,760 uh demand almost uh we we need uh take it to the next level and i'm maybe speaking out of turn i'm 465 00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:09,480 just and i don't know yeah i don't know what what the purpose of we're so grateful to be to be in 466 00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:15,400 front of you guys but um uh this has been a great discussion you're preaching to the choir here and 467 00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:23,080 i'll yes i have to say anymore but you know it's uh again it's i think the turds has had a had an 468 00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:30,280 identity crisis since day one so i'm not sure what i'm not sure what your what direction we're 469 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:37,400 supposed to give main street but you know just from a perspective of you know your role i think 470 00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:44,600 it only helps if you guys are you know continuing to to bring to light the issues that the downtown 471 00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:52,440 faces and i personally think that we have have stalled out in our in our progress for you know 472 00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:57,720 a little while now at least from the from the public side i'm i've been extremely frustrated 473 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:04,680 to be honest with you know as i stare out at elm street that just i guess is getting redone 474 00:45:05,720 --> 00:45:12,280 that we could not have coordinated better sidewalk designs through that you know so just another just 475 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:21,240 another jessica as we round that last part of the discussion out can you remind us what the um what 476 00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:27,240 council asked for with regard to sort of all the projects that would be considered under the turds 477 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:36,520 consultants review and when that sort of review because it was if if i remember correctly it was 478 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:42,840 sort of like a return on your investment sort of request from council to see where money might be 479 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:50,680 spent that would be best yes and i apologize my laptop died that i had everything pulled up on 480 00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:57,640 and but we kind of walked away from the i think it was february city council meeting with direction 481 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:06,040 from city council to keep looking at a few things there was a direction to fund um part of the pec 482 00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:12,840 four phases three and four project partially uh from the turds but we were looking into 483 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:20,680 roi specific to redevelopment and that and we also got some direction on kind of what their 484 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:26,360 priorities were and how they thought turds funds should be used so we were working to put together 485 00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:33,960 a kind of pro forma a menu of options um related to the various projects that we talked about as 486 00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:42,280 part of that study um one of the pieces of that was getting the updated value 2021 uh values from 487 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:49,000 d cad so those have now been kind of or they're working through those we have the 2020 values 488 00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:53,720 there was a delay in getting those because of their change in software now we've got the 2021 489 00:46:53,720 --> 00:47:00,200 value uh preliminary value so we're working through getting all of the data we need um we had a data 490 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:07,000 challenge as d cad was shifting over to their new software that we hope is working now it's had some 491 00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:13,480 hiccups but it seems to be working now um but that's kind of our data point data points that 492 00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:20,920 we needed um and with that again we're kind of working through projections revenue growth um of 493 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:28,040 the turds itself um and then kind of putting together based on council's kind of stated 494 00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:35,400 priorities which were kind of pack three and four partially um maybe some uh public private 495 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:40,760 partnerships and some sidewalks and walkability i think were the three that were prioritized by 496 00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:47,320 city council i can't remember that could i i apologize but i did have it open and it died um 497 00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:52,040 and so we were going to kind of put together here are some projects we know of in the area that could 498 00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:57,560 be invested in with the turds fund but our goal to to alex's point was kind of to get off center 499 00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:03,560 right was to kind of say here are the priorities and we were gonna we're working through kind of 500 00:48:03,560 --> 00:48:10,440 what those menu of options are to bring back and make those recommendations and so we're not 501 00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:17,960 continuing to have those discussions our goal is to kind of do the pro forma and plan out the turds 502 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:23,800 and so that moving forward um we we've got projects in the hopper and we're ready to move on them and 503 00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:30,040 now the turds is designed to cash fund projects um which is a bit of a challenge right because we 504 00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:35,080 don't have that much money in the bank we have revenue potential and so if council were to 505 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:40,840 continue cash funding projects that delays something like the new streets if it was to 506 00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:45,000 be fully funded from the turds well the turds doesn't have enough cash in the bank right now 507 00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:50,280 so we'd have to issue debt um and then the turds would pay back over time so there's a couple 508 00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:57,240 financial challenges and things um not just projects but how we kind of pro forma those 509 00:48:57,240 --> 00:49:02,360 projects out and how they're funded so we're working through all of that uh that was a very 510 00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:06,760 long complicated answer but we're working through all of that it is and there's only one thing i'd 511 00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:15,880 like to maybe this is alex likes to state on that could we as a as a board discuss and make 512 00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:23,960 recommendations that we change our policy to allow for for the use of of obligation you know basically 513 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:30,120 bond against our future revenues it's just every every big infrastructure project that gets done 514 00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:36,680 gets done generally that way why on earth would we think we should do it another way we don't have 515 00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:42,520 a policy against it alex it would be a possibility it's just the way that this turds was designed was 516 00:49:42,520 --> 00:49:49,320 kind of a cash funded project but there's nothing that would limit it from from borrowing against 517 00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:56,360 itself that's why partially we brought on the consultant right yes yes so we did look at debt 518 00:49:56,360 --> 00:50:05,960 impacts of projects as well paul you had some additional questions yeah we're not completely 519 00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:13,880 tired of the topic a couple of other areas to explore with our guests um i'm very interested in 520 00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:21,960 your very creative thoughts on micro grants and down time reinvestment grants my uh concern 521 00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:28,040 is you know those the temporary investment grants are super popular i'm i'm like them because i want 522 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:35,800 to help encourage uh you know businesses to to start and to grow in that area by uh growing 523 00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:42,680 discomfort is uh over having been on this board for several years now uh is that i don't get the 524 00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:52,200 sense that we're leading to new decisions being made like it seems like you know whenever we give 525 00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:56,920 a grant it's like yeah they kind of would have done it anyway but you know it's a source of revenue 526 00:50:56,920 --> 00:51:03,560 like all for it and then if i argue this point the pushback is always well if it was marginal 527 00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:09,240 you know we wouldn't want to fund that because they'll probably go out so you know i'm kind of 528 00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:15,720 left wondering like what is the best way to deploy funds like that so it would really help something 529 00:51:15,720 --> 00:51:21,320 happen it wouldn't have happened otherwise and something uh productive that wouldn't have 530 00:51:21,320 --> 00:51:30,360 happened otherwise any thoughts on that well it's a great question uh and i think you know in my in 531 00:51:30,360 --> 00:51:39,400 our presentation we talked about qualifying businesses um that have a business plan that have 532 00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:45,880 matching funds and so there's some qualifications that a business that that there are investors 533 00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:54,200 there they have skin in the game um that allow projects to get done uh that allow them to perhaps 534 00:51:54,200 --> 00:52:00,520 move into a larger space or move into a space and then having to do a lot of improvements and you 535 00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:07,480 know maybe it's a underdeveloped property that's owned by somebody else and uh you know they they 536 00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:15,320 spend a lot of money to go into it but uh but the rent is becoming prohibitive so um so the business 537 00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:21,640 having a business plan with the application i think is important that uh that it's a it's a 538 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:29,080 bona fide applicant that's that has a plan uh and that there's matching funds that uh that 539 00:52:29,080 --> 00:52:35,800 the terse grant would implement that requirement that we have up to 50 000 to get the 50 000 you're 540 00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:40,440 going to need to have an investment of 50 000 in this particular project that you're applying for 541 00:52:40,440 --> 00:52:45,880 also and so um i don't know if that answers the question of paul yeah how does that get into the 542 00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:52,600 part where like you know but for the how does this make you feel confident that we're creating new 543 00:52:52,600 --> 00:52:59,320 activity like if they have all that behind them and they've kind of done it anyway like what gives 544 00:52:59,320 --> 00:53:04,200 you confidence that this will create additional activity because for me that's the that's the 545 00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:11,880 reason they use taxpayer money you know well especially right now i think businesses uh because 546 00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:19,000 of covid their cash flow is very challenged and so if we are going to help businesses recover and 547 00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:25,320 if they want to expand or grow or maybe they have a new business model that would really be a great 548 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:32,360 addition to our downtown mix of properties and businesses that is an investment in our downtown 549 00:53:32,360 --> 00:53:37,240 because many of these improvements these businesses are making stay with that business building 550 00:53:37,240 --> 00:53:44,280 through a new business owner if that unless they extremely change the the use of building but it is 551 00:53:44,280 --> 00:53:49,880 something that adds value and that would be the goal of the grant would be projects that add value 552 00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:56,760 that add some diversity that adds some but also maybe help some some more diverse audience of 553 00:53:56,760 --> 00:54:01,720 businesses as well who might not look to come downtown otherwise because they just simply don't 554 00:54:01,720 --> 00:54:07,320 have the money and to open a business to the process and opening a business is really the 555 00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:14,760 that's an important part obviously but it's it's uh it's not as important as staying open uh and 556 00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:20,680 the cash flow is is imperative so any dollars that could be saved in the pre-opening stage 557 00:54:20,680 --> 00:54:25,560 of a project you know if you're going to put a restaurant in or something like that 558 00:54:25,560 --> 00:54:32,040 you know it takes an army of people to once you're open to conduct business and so any kind of 559 00:54:32,040 --> 00:54:36,760 savings that could be had it could be helped out just as christine talked about where it's adding 560 00:54:36,760 --> 00:54:43,960 value to downtown by this new business that that money saved is going to allow them to stay open 561 00:54:43,960 --> 00:54:48,600 hopefully you know and and once again i go back to the qualifying business plan make sure you know 562 00:54:48,600 --> 00:54:54,200 this is something that the turds fund at the end of the day you're investing in this project and so 563 00:54:54,200 --> 00:54:59,400 i think the the turds should have it pretty you know they should be they should ask for a business 564 00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:04,280 plan and you know what are the qualifications of this guy this guy who wants to open up a restaurant 565 00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:09,320 downtown you know just what does this do is he just a cook on the outside was he an accountant 566 00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:12,760 in his former life and all of a sudden he wants to open a restaurant and those types of decisions 567 00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:19,880 actually found a couple of uh your your thoughts there really appealing uh in addition to the you 568 00:55:19,880 --> 00:55:27,880 know being qualified and so on but the idea of both supporting uh lasting additions that will 569 00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:34,600 you know kind of stay with it whether they make it or not but on the other end uh the idea of like 570 00:55:34,600 --> 00:55:40,360 subsidizing those early months before they were established is they have a chance to get a foothold 571 00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:47,320 i think that's kind of interesting too if uh lisa are you okay with me going into one more area 572 00:55:48,200 --> 00:55:54,200 go ahead yeah well he's okay you okay chair what is the question 573 00:55:54,200 --> 00:56:05,880 okay uh so it's a paragraph question uh you commented that what these downtown businesses 574 00:56:05,880 --> 00:56:12,360 really need is a critical mass density uh i'm sorry alex blinked off um 575 00:56:14,040 --> 00:56:19,480 so i think you'd be interested in this you know you need some density and why would you be against 576 00:56:19,480 --> 00:56:28,600 um sort of adding to the buildable downtown you know to create some live work play people that 577 00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:34,440 would be you know kind of built in audience for existing downtown businesses i was sort of surprised 578 00:56:34,440 --> 00:56:40,840 that there was like an absolute we're not interested in that and paul is talking specifically with the 579 00:56:42,120 --> 00:56:46,360 not wanting to fund the pec four yeah right because that's how you get to that okay 580 00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:57,640 well i i just you know that's that is a multi-million dollar project uh that's as i 581 00:56:57,640 --> 00:57:04,840 and and i'm i'm speaking a little bit of ignorance but um that is a state highway um and and i know 582 00:57:04,840 --> 00:57:10,920 the plans are to turn it over to the city and stuff like that but um that more so than amuse 583 00:57:10,920 --> 00:57:19,480 streets i think that is a project that uh is not what the tourist is designed to do um that's an 584 00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:27,800 opinion um and you know as important that is is so we can lift uh all that property south of downtown 585 00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:35,640 uh full disclosure i owns the property south of downtown and so um but and i want it done as fast 586 00:57:35,640 --> 00:57:42,440 as uh you do alex uh that's you know as as a funding mechanism that's not what tours should 587 00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:48,360 be about uh give especially given the fact that it was limited funding um we're waiting for 588 00:57:48,360 --> 00:57:55,400 profitability to come in and hopefully we can add significantly to the the tours amount um but uh i 589 00:57:55,400 --> 00:58:01,960 guess uh sharp point to your to your question is that's really not what i believe what that 590 00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:07,480 manager believes to be the the use of the tourist fund for that capital improvement project 591 00:58:07,480 --> 00:58:18,520 and the discussion around that um was that in order for us we we obviously want our downtown 592 00:58:18,520 --> 00:58:22,680 to grow beyond the square when we look at east hickory and we look at other projects and we see 593 00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:29,480 the success but we still have these eyesores so to speak of these back streets that no matter what 594 00:58:29,480 --> 00:58:34,840 you put down on south elm when you don't have the walkability and the lighting and all these things 595 00:58:34,840 --> 00:58:40,760 fixed in your core it's still a distraction to get them to the core get them from the core to the 596 00:58:40,760 --> 00:58:46,120 south and the north um we've heard this for years from our businesses beyond to the south and the 597 00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:53,560 north but at the same time we have this core that's still not quite ready i mean i think you need to 598 00:58:53,560 --> 00:59:02,120 do all that but yeah but if there's funding for something in the south elm area for that drainage 599 00:59:02,120 --> 00:59:05,720 that's where the board felt like that funding should come from a different source and not for 600 00:59:05,720 --> 00:59:11,640 the tours because the tours was designed and developed for downtown development improvement 601 00:59:11,640 --> 00:59:19,240 which again that is improvement but when it comes to business activity they feel that lighting and 602 00:59:19,240 --> 00:59:24,040 the walkability and the grants and so forth are very important thank you 603 00:59:24,040 --> 00:59:33,720 is that your final question paul all right thank you if there's no other questions we'll go on to 604 00:59:33,720 --> 00:59:41,240 item 1c no hands raised okay the next order of business is 1c receive staff activity report 605 00:59:41,240 --> 00:59:49,880 i would like to recognize christina davis hello um just real quick i'll go through this since 606 00:59:49,880 --> 00:59:56,840 we're already after one o'clock um the brownlow house is finally open and and holding weddings 607 00:59:56,840 --> 01:00:05,000 lamuse vintage has moved to its new location and is now open at 121 north elm in the former 608 01:00:06,040 --> 01:00:14,520 circus 77 location at 225 west oak we now have salvage secondhand shop um and some massage has 609 01:00:14,520 --> 01:00:22,520 also moved into a new location and the mug which is a coffee truck has now expanded and has a kiosk 610 01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:31,560 inside of chestnut tree um coming soon we do have uh totally joe's and i'm sorry i totally butchered 611 01:00:31,560 --> 01:00:37,160 his name books and uh indulgences and they're actually having their opening this weekend they're 612 01:00:37,160 --> 01:00:42,760 going to do a soft opening and then the gentleman of verona christine actually met with them 613 01:00:42,760 --> 01:00:48,840 about a week or so ago and they hope to be open in late june so we'll see how that goes for them i 614 01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:51,720 think it's going to be a little bit further out than that but we'll cross our fingers 615 01:00:51,720 --> 01:00:59,400 as far as our active uh status for our reinvestment grant at 104 west mckinney 616 01:01:00,120 --> 01:01:07,000 i still show that they have their next inspection is going to be june 25th and we hope to see that 617 01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:12,200 that gets them everything that in compliance and they're ready to move on to the next phase which 618 01:01:12,200 --> 01:01:19,080 was originally going to be some kind of asian type food and now it's going to be a burger joint so 619 01:01:19,080 --> 01:01:25,480 we'll see if they're still moving along with the current plan other than that the next bit of 620 01:01:25,480 --> 01:01:33,800 information we have is our next meeting for july 28th and on that i will say that after june 14th 621 01:01:33,800 --> 01:01:40,200 this board will be one that converts back to in-person meetings so your july 28th meeting will 622 01:01:40,200 --> 01:01:49,320 be in person so i do look forward to seeing everyone's smiling face in person we will have 623 01:01:49,320 --> 01:01:54,040 options we'll send out additional information you should have received an email from rosa rios our 624 01:01:54,040 --> 01:02:01,160 city secretary about um anyone who meets still uh desires to participate remotely um it'll be a 625 01:02:01,160 --> 01:02:08,760 a new situation that we'll we'll be doing but otherwise we'll be planning to meet in person 626 01:02:08,760 --> 01:02:16,200 on july 28th there any further discussion related to the staff activity report or meeting in person 627 01:02:18,040 --> 01:02:24,600 okay final order of business is item two which is concluding items is there any other business 628 01:02:24,600 --> 01:02:30,840 to discuss please raise your hand and i'll call on you then 629 01:02:30,840 --> 01:02:42,120 uh are we are we going to further discuss suggestions made by main street later 630 01:02:42,120 --> 01:02:49,880 like i was thinking like the recap or the the cap on the reinvestment grants or making the the full 631 01:02:49,880 --> 01:02:57,640 uh full suggestion to the city on how we'd like the the money to be used said in a later meeting 632 01:02:57,640 --> 01:03:06,440 you could make that ask of us if you wanted us to to bring something back um to look at that absolutely 633 01:03:12,520 --> 01:03:20,280 would you like to ask yeah yeah could should we ask that that be put on an agenda for us to 634 01:03:20,280 --> 01:03:28,360 uh approve or deny increasing the investment cap and making a recommendation from 635 01:03:28,360 --> 01:03:36,280 or do we need to hear any more about um making a recommendation off of the options 636 01:03:36,840 --> 01:03:43,560 the consultants gave us like making an official recommendation to the council yes so we will we 637 01:03:43,560 --> 01:03:49,320 can put something on the next agenda to talk about changes to the to the grant um in the amount i 638 01:03:49,320 --> 01:03:55,720 don't know where we'll be on the overall recommendations related to the kind of totality 639 01:03:55,720 --> 01:04:01,240 of the ters there's a lot of work that we're putting into this um hundreds of hours of my own 640 01:04:01,240 --> 01:04:07,000 time has already gone into it and we'll continue to go into it um and dan's too um if you see dan 641 01:04:07,000 --> 01:04:13,720 smiling um on screen as well so there's a ton of work um that's going into that um 642 01:04:13,720 --> 01:04:19,560 piece but i will keep you updated if we get to a place where we're ready to come back 643 01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:24,040 in july we certainly would we're not we're not delaying for any reason other than it's 644 01:04:24,040 --> 01:04:32,040 just a lot of work jessica is there a possibility of maybe having me as the chair meet with main 645 01:04:32,040 --> 01:04:42,040 street to maybe get a better idea of you know one off not through a meeting or before the next 646 01:04:42,040 --> 01:04:48,120 meeting to i mean i think i was with paul like i was surprised to hear their discord with the 647 01:04:48,680 --> 01:04:59,160 idea of ters funding um the peck four projects or any pet projects and it doesn't sound like 648 01:04:59,160 --> 01:05:05,080 they've been very well informed on on that so i was just wondering if there could be a 649 01:05:05,080 --> 01:05:10,040 meeting related to that that's not in this meeting i don't want to sit in this meeting to tell them 650 01:05:11,320 --> 01:05:18,440 things if that makes sense not an issue we we we meet with them regularly okay so 651 01:05:18,440 --> 01:05:27,960 all right any other so we've agreed that uh that would be added to the next agenda based on what 652 01:05:27,960 --> 01:05:37,400 ben was requesting and is there anything else that any concluding items regime there no other 653 01:05:37,400 --> 01:05:45,560 business the regular meeting is adjourned at 11 1 11 p.m today thank you