WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.480 We have determined that a quorum has been met. 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:11.520 The Downtown Denton Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone No. 1 Board of the City 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 00:00:17.400 --> 00:00:20.680 26th day of May 2021. 00:00:20.680 --> 00:00:23.560 Our first order of business is 1A. 00:00:23.560 --> 00:00:28.880 Consider approval and/or corrections of the meeting minutes from the March 24, 2021 Downtown 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:33.120 Denton TIF Reinvestment Zone No. 1 Board of the City of Denton, Texas. 00:00:33.120 --> 00:00:38.920 Are there any corrections to the minutes as distributed? 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:41.320 Do we have a motion? 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:50.040 I'll motion to approve the minutes. 00:00:50.040 --> 00:00:54.400 Do we have a second? 00:00:54.400 --> 00:00:55.400 Paul seconds? 00:00:55.400 --> 00:00:56.400 I do. 00:00:56.400 --> 00:01:01.200 It is moved and seconded that we approve the minutes as distributed. 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 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:08.040 with a form of yes or no. 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:12.800 Don't forget to unmute yourself. 00:01:12.800 --> 00:01:15.040 Ben already knows he's not going to. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:19.040 We'll start with Ben. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:21.040 Ben Easley, aye. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:22.040 Paul? 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.000 Paul Meltzer, aye. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:26.840 Kass? 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:28.840 Aye. 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:33.920 And Melissa is an aye. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:39.240 The motion passes by a unanimous vote of four. 00:01:39.240 --> 00:01:43.200 The next order of business is receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:47.520 regarding the programs and activities of the Denton Main Street Association. 00:01:47.520 --> 00:01:53.040 We're so excited to see Christine and John here from Denton Main Street. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.760 I'll turn that over to Christine. 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 00:02:03.320 --> 00:02:06.680 to remind the board why Christine and John are here. 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:12.040 So if you remember at your last board meeting, we were talking about possible changes to 00:02:12.040 --> 00:02:13.800 the downtown reinvestment grant. 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 00:02:17.440 --> 00:02:24.040 last year about the downtown, not just the downtown reinvestment grant, but the TURS 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 00:02:28.720 --> 00:02:30.560 prioritize. 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 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 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 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:49.640 can play, what kind of projects that, from their perspective. 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 00:02:54.880 --> 00:03:01.880 Christine and we talked about the study and kind of what's been going on. 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, 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:09.400 but also they have some direct feedback for the board, you know, after talking about it 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 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:14.680 downtown businesses. 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 00:03:20.260 --> 00:03:21.260 partners. 00:03:21.260 --> 00:03:27.240 John is the Denton Main Street Association president and Christine is the executive director. 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 00:03:31.920 --> 00:03:33.240 the support of Main Street. 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 00:03:39.720 --> 00:03:41.320 the COVID storm as well. 00:03:41.320 --> 00:03:44.960 Thank you for having us. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:45.960 Yes, thank you. 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. 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. 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. 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:11.960 But again, thank you for the opportunity. 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:16.480 And there we go. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:17.480 Okay. 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:18.480 All right. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:30.040 So we're ready for that first slide, Christina. 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:32.240 On the next one, Christina. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:33.240 Sorry. 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:34.240 Okay, great. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:39.040 So many of you know who the Denton Main Street Association is. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:43.000 We're often referred to as that group that does Twilight Toons and the car show. 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 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:49.720 development department. 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:52.560 So we're happy to be here today and talk about that. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:59.120 We are officially the Denton Central Business District, Incorporated, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:04.280 In 1990, we started doing business as the Denton Main Street Association when we became 00:05:04.280 --> 00:05:06.600 an urban Texas Main Street city. 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 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:20.320 the late Bill Thomas that formed together to go and represent downtown businesses, to 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 00:05:26.880 --> 00:05:28.160 it as a destination. 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 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:34.680 going. 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:38.000 This year, we are in our 31st years of Main Street City. 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 00:05:42.640 --> 00:05:43.640 program. 00:05:43.640 --> 00:05:45.880 So happy to report that. 00:05:45.880 --> 00:05:52.760 And today, we have a membership of 15 active board members with ex officios from economic 00:05:52.760 --> 00:05:56.960 development staff, Discover Denton and the Greater Denton Arts Council. 00:05:56.960 --> 00:06:03.360 Our organization has anywhere from 135 to 150 members at any given time, which is made 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:05.880 up of businesses and community members. 00:06:05.880 --> 00:06:08.720 Anyone can be a member of our association. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:13.180 We are an association of businesses, but of course, community members can get involved 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.320 and volunteer as well. 00:06:15.320 --> 00:06:21.280 We are partnering with the city of Denton on managing the Main Street program, and that 00:06:21.280 --> 00:06:28.280 is in order to promote and preserve downtown as a destination and keep locals and visitors 00:06:28.280 --> 00:06:31.700 coming here and participating in events and activities. 00:06:31.700 --> 00:06:38.140 So we are largely in charge of promoting downtown year round through our social media marketing 00:06:38.140 --> 00:06:39.840 events and promotions. 00:06:39.840 --> 00:06:44.560 We actually do 10 annual events and promotions throughout the year. 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, 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:54.800 Fossil Fest during Holiday Lighting, and we do several other smaller retail and restaurant 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.440 based promotions and activities to attract people to downtown. 00:06:58.440 --> 00:07:04.120 These are all funded through donations and sponsorships through the 501(c)(6) and through 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:06.120 our business memberships. 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:11.720 The Denton Main Street Foundation of C3 was formed three years ago to fund and support 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:16.520 the Denton Arts Walk of Fame and arts revitalization in downtown Denton. 00:07:16.520 --> 00:07:21.240 So DMSA helps coordinate two to three events per year to fundraise for the Denton Main 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:23.000 Street Foundation. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.080 Next slide, please. 00:07:26.080 --> 00:07:32.720 The Main Street model is a four point approach that involves economic vitality, design, organization, 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:34.560 and promotion. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:39.160 This approach is done through creating multiple partnerships and working collaboratively with 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:44.980 local governments, nonprofits, and organizations to build a strong downtown district. 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:50.640 We work to preserve and promote the historic downtown and create a vibrant cultural district 00:07:50.640 --> 00:07:55.920 with shopping, dining, museums, entertainment, arts, as well as places to live and work that 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:00.620 are attractive to a diverse group of citizens and visitors. 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:05.360 We also utilize economic development tools and incentives to promote business and growth 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.560 in downtown and development. 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:13.080 And we also work with various committees and organizations of volunteers to plan and organize 00:08:13.080 --> 00:08:17.220 these initiatives and activities annually. 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:20.840 Next slide. 00:08:20.840 --> 00:08:25.260 Jessica talked about the pandemic last year and how it impacted downtown and you guys 00:08:25.260 --> 00:08:26.560 wanted to reach out to us. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:31.760 So as you can imagine, the COVID-19 impacted downtown businesses quite a bit. 00:08:31.760 --> 00:08:37.420 We had 14 businesses in the downtown area close brick and mortar stores permanently 00:08:37.420 --> 00:08:41.940 because of the pandemic and a few businesses reopened with new concepts online or a food 00:08:41.940 --> 00:08:44.120 truck model. 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:50.360 Downtown Denton saw nine businesses open in 2020, so that's a positive. 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:54.640 We had several businesses immediately pivot to online sales and delivery and Main Street 00:08:54.640 --> 00:09:01.120 hosted online sessions to inform downtown businesses on how to shift their business online as well 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:06.560 as information sessions with calls with bankers and small business development professionals 00:09:06.560 --> 00:09:11.520 and of course our city officials for support and updates. 00:09:11.520 --> 00:09:16.240 Businesses changed hours of operations after reopening after the first and second shutdowns 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:21.860 to adjust the customer demand including some seating adjustments to add outdoor options. 00:09:21.860 --> 00:09:26.480 And the Denton Main Street Association immediately responded at the beginning of the pandemic 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:32.560 and shutdowns by creating a page on our website to support local which included listings that 00:09:32.560 --> 00:09:37.200 businesses could submit on their own with their altered hours and their operations and 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.800 any COVID-19 updates and information. 00:09:39.800 --> 00:09:45.040 We also had grant and funding opportunity information for small businesses and links 00:09:45.040 --> 00:09:49.280 to access back to the City of Denton Economic Development website. 00:09:49.280 --> 00:09:53.240 It was actually one of our highest visited pages in 2020. 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:57.560 And the Denton Main Street Association paid for a social media campaign that was about 00:09:57.560 --> 00:10:03.480 11 to 12 months long to support local and build awareness for downtown businesses. 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 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 00:10:15.760 --> 00:10:18.920 to a campaign to bring awareness. 00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:19.920 Next slide. 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 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:28.840 informational type of stuff for you guys. 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 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:36.160 to address you guys. 00:10:36.160 --> 00:10:42.080 Denton Main Street and downtown business priorities specifically the economic vitality is critical 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.160 to the Main Street program. 00:10:44.160 --> 00:10:49.320 The priorities for the Denton Main Street Board and downtown businesses are first we 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:52.420 want to focus on lighting and walkability improvements. 00:10:52.420 --> 00:10:55.240 We believe that they're vital to the growth of downtown. 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:58.760 In our meeting with Jessica and Christina we talked about how we believe that's very 00:10:58.760 --> 00:11:04.440 foundational to the growth to past growth and future growth. 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:09.200 The second priority would be to complete the streets program that includes the new streets 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 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:15.200 square. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:20.600 So it's not just the sidewalks and lighting but it's finishing the project. 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:25.760 The other three new streets Cedarstone we want to work on the other three. 00:11:25.760 --> 00:11:31.200 And then the third priority we believe that there should be an update to the downtown 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:36.480 reinvestment grant program that provides incentives for improving the façades of structures that 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.520 are in desperate need of them. 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 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 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 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. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:09.600 We want to bullet point the fourth bullet point says the we recommend that TURS funds 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:14.480 be used for the expansion of sidewalk lighting and facade improvements and increase the downtown 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.480 reinvestment grant cap to 50,000. 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 00:12:23.040 --> 00:12:28.920 dollar grant excuse me a hundred thousand dollar project that can be met with 50,000 00:12:28.920 --> 00:12:32.080 because there's a fifty thousand dollar matching from the investors. 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. 00:12:38.760 --> 00:12:42.820 Examples of those projects would be that our need of assistance would be the Fine Arts 00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:48.120 Theater the City Hall West there's undeveloped and empty lots downtown and other properties 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:56.680 that are in poor condition and they need restoration rehabilitation improvements and so I guess 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 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 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 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:16.920 downtown tourist funds should not be used for the for example the PEC for drainage and 00:13:16.920 --> 00:13:25.160 flood improvements we believe that the the TURS fund should be that are really useful 00:13:25.160 --> 00:13:29.480 to the development of downtown businesses and so people can come downtown you know that's 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 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 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 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 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:58.920 investigate other funding mechanisms to create $1,500 micro grants with a minimum of like 00:13:58.920 --> 00:14:03.760 I said earlier a 50% match from the applicant business and have a much shorter approval 00:14:03.760 --> 00:14:09.000 timeline the grants would allow for smaller projects such as facade improvements and signs 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 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 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 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 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 00:14:37.680 --> 00:14:42.280 and collaborative partnerships to support small businesses and their development the 00:14:42.280 --> 00:14:46.820 applicants would be required to have a business plan and identify long-term goals for growth 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 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:59.400 their footprint business model a grant could include funds for fixtures a supplement for 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 00:15:05.640 --> 00:15:10.480 year business plan presented with the application you know as people move into different buildings 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 00:15:18.280 --> 00:15:23.800 funds can be used to offset the rent increases and maybe payments to the actual building 00:15:23.800 --> 00:15:34.600 owner in lieu of increasing rent there are some programs that are out there that offer 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:40.400 some kind of rent subsidies that would be to help a new business especially as they 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 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 00:15:51.560 --> 00:15:56.840 other ways and programs that are out there that we we are learning about especially through 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 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 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 00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:24.160 buxton that they presented on some recovery for for retail and and restaurant recovery 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 00:16:28.800 --> 00:16:34.920 reemphasizes the main street association stance on the new streets and improvements of lighting 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 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:47.880 the people to downtown and it's the things that make the difference and people downtown 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 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 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 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 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 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:22.480 want to attract some people to your business or example for this downtown we can spend 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:18:01.120 --> 00:18:09.680 and we're happy to answer any questions 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 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 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 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 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 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:09.480 there have been some corridors off the square that have had some improved lighting but there 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:15.720 are still some pretty dark back streets and as we in sidewalks especially austin street 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:21.680 and i think even you know walnut street and even pecan those walk those sidewalks are 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 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:32.440 to downtown and even our businesses who are closing up at night about those concerns and 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 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 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 00:19:48.320 --> 00:19:54.240 about how downtown really expands from the square proper into exterior remote parking 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 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 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 00:20:11.280 --> 00:20:16.080 we kind of believe that's foundational well i think that segues into the second thing 00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:28.040 with the muse doesn't it uh finishing the the new streets yes yes those improvements 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 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 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 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 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 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:05.800 certainly hundreds of thousands of dollars to do one uh because there's so much goes 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:22:07.340 --> 00:22:12.400 commitment to infrastructure whether that's just through the general fund or we look at 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 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:26.360 you know we handle the drainage those properties affected just agreeing to a essentially a 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 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 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:42.440 continued to commit annually not do one street and applaud themselves and then wait 10 years 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:23:18.780 --> 00:23:24.840 is some kind of funding mechanism for for that that type of project that really adds 00:23:24.840 --> 00:23:28.920 to downtown because right now it subtracts a lot from downtown because it's just such 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 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 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 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 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:04.320 believe how much their downtown you know to me appeared to have gotten so much better 00:24:04.320 --> 00:24:11.040 some you know pocket parks and sidewalks and lighting and street trees everything looked 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 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 00:24:22.520 --> 00:24:26.720 that funds is our performing arts center we just made a commitment through our general 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:37.360 funding to continue to improve the infrastructure in downtown so jimmy do you feel like your 00:24:37.360 --> 00:24:44.480 question is answered well obviously there's no funds for the muse project well i guess 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 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 00:25:07.040 --> 00:25:14.640 remaining new streets have just been in the unfunded status alex do you know alex and 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:25:53.880 --> 00:26:00.960 when uh they came to us with the tours possibility possible projects presentation our board saw 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:06.800 presentation that stated the new streets could be done for seven million was that is that 00:26:06.800 --> 00:26:13.280 correct around seven million yes at the time the estimate that we had was somewhere around 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 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:27.160 it was approximately seven million but until it's designed and developed and all of that 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 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 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 00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:53.480 like how do you want to impact people tax wise uh that creates a revenue projection 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 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 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:11.360 else you could argue that probably the last kind of uh optional decision uh maybe was 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 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 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:31.960 improving the environment downtown so you're not kind of having a forced march of unhoused 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:28:55.080 --> 00:29:03.880 is that a possibility is is the grant writing uh do we have grant writing abilities 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 00:29:14.760 --> 00:29:19.640 those venues that were shuttered and the restaurant relief act follows under that the restaurant 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 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:34.600 better um there are opportunities for communities to get some funding as well through arca and 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 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 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 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 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 00:30:07.400 --> 00:30:13.720 presentation yesterday with sort of staff's recommendations as it relates to the new street 00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:18.760 specifically and you know those are projects that could be funded through a variety of mechanisms 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 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 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 00:30:40.120 --> 00:30:46.360 um the economic development administration to see they have some public infrastructure grants we 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 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 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:09.480 um and sort of if the area has a depressed economic situation unfortunately that's a 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:15.800 really hard case to make in downtown um when you kind of have a thriving downtown 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 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 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 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:44.440 i think that's a new grant it's specifically designed for uh music venues 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:55.720 rationale that it would offer you know potentially double the storefront facings 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:33:39.560 --> 00:33:45.800 help beautify some of the back streets and help those sidewalks become more walkable if someone 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:38:42.040 --> 00:38:48.120 just utilizing the buildings on the new streets it's utilizing them to transfer between different 00:38:48.120 --> 00:38:54.920 areas yeah i think the building development is secondary that might come and probably will come 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:40:17.160 --> 00:40:23.400 the lawyer office that faces oak street has been renovated uh but there's really nothing 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:41:33.800 --> 00:41:40.680 lighting and sidewalks sidewalks on austin street sidewalks parcon street somehow figure out walnut 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:46:06.040 --> 00:46:12.840 four phases three and four project partially uh from the turds but we were looking into 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:47:28.040 --> 00:47:35.400 priorities which were kind of pack three and four partially um maybe some uh public private 00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:40.760 partnerships and some sidewalks and walkability i think were the three that were prioritized by 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:48:35.080 --> 00:48:40.840 continue cash funding projects that delays something like the new streets if it was to 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 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 00:48:50.280 --> 00:48:57.240 financial challenges and things um not just projects but how we kind of pro forma those 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 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 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 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 00:49:23.960 --> 00:49:30.120 bond against our future revenues it's just every every big infrastructure project that gets done 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 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 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 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 00:49:56.360 --> 00:50:05.960 impacts of projects as well paul you had some additional questions yeah we're not completely 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 00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:21.960 your very creative thoughts on micro grants and down time reinvestment grants my uh concern 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:51:15.720 --> 00:51:21.320 happen it wouldn't have happened otherwise and something uh productive that wouldn't have 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 00:51:30.360 --> 00:51:39.400 our presentation we talked about qualifying businesses um that have a business plan that have 00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:45.880 matching funds and so there's some qualifications that a business that that there are investors 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:53:04.200 --> 00:53:11.880 reason they use taxpayer money you know well especially right now i think businesses uh because 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 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 00:53:25.320 --> 00:53:32.360 addition to our downtown mix of properties and businesses that is an investment in our downtown 00:53:32.360 --> 00:53:37.240 because many of these improvements these businesses are making stay with that business building 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:55:48.200 --> 00:55:54.200 go ahead yeah well he's okay you okay chair what is the question 00:55:54.200 --> 00:56:05.880 okay uh so it's a paragraph question uh you commented that what these downtown businesses 00:56:05.880 --> 00:56:12.360 really need is a critical mass density uh i'm sorry alex blinked off um 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:58:01.960 --> 00:58:07.480 manager believes to be the the use of the tourist fund for that capital improvement project 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:59:05.720 --> 00:59:11.640 the tours because the tours was designed and developed for downtown development improvement 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 00:59:19.240 --> 00:59:24.040 the walkability and the grants and so forth are very important thank you 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 01:00:51.720 --> 01:00:59.400 as far as our active uh status for our reinvestment grant at 104 west mckinney 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 01:02:24.600 --> 01:02:30.840 to discuss please raise your hand and i'll call on you then 01:02:30.840 --> 01:02:42.120 uh are we are we going to further discuss suggestions made by main street later 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 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 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 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 01:03:20.280 --> 01:03:28.360 uh approve or deny increasing the investment cap and making a recommendation from 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 01:05:27.960 --> 01:05:37.400 ben was requesting and is there anything else that any concluding items regime there no other 01:05:37.400 --> 01:05:45.560 business the regular meeting is adjourned at 11 1 11 p.m today thank you