HomeMy WebLinkAboutKitchener BIA - 2011-10-18
October 18th, 2011
9:00 am - 11:00 am
Location:
BIA Office
29 King St East
Downtown Kitchener BIA
Kitchener, ON
Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes
In attendance:
John Vickery, Le-anne Pilecki, Michael VonTeichman, Margarida
Anao, Kevin Ballantyne, Colin Leis, CoK – Frank Etherington, Cory Bluhm,
WRPS – Adrian Darmon, Darryl Moore, Adrian Conrad, Darryl Moore,
Mark Graham, Christine Michaud
BIA Staff:
Mark Garner
Regrets:
CoK - Mayor Carl Zehr, Liz Howie
Absent:
Dan Glenn-Graham
Guests:
Steve Bienkowski Chief Operating Officer Kitchener Rangers, Keith
Baulk Director of Enterprise Division City of Kitchener
Agenda: Welcome – Chair, Margarida Anao
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Call to order at 9:00 am - are there any conflicts of interest to be declared
– none declared
Agenda: __ ______________________ _ Introductions – Margarida Anao
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Welcome to Board and Guests and introductions from Board to guests.
Agenda Item: _ __ Approval of Agenda
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There were no issues identified with the agenda.
Motion: To approve the agenda as submitted.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
Motion/Moved by: Mark Graham and seconded by: Kevin Ballantyne
All in favour unanimous, motion passed.
Agenda Item: Presentation from Keith Baulk, City of Kitchener and Steve
Bienkowski, Kitchener Rangers
Presentation given on the proposed changes coming to the Kitchener Auditorium
Keith Baulk:
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3 level concourse to be added
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Loft style suites to be added (similar to ACC platinum seats)
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Looking to add 1000 seats
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Includes new concessions and washrooms
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Adding to change room space for players
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They want to have one of the best stadiums in the OHL
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There will be very little physical impact to the building
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Funding to be done over 15 year period
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Public consultation meetings currently taking place
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They are looking at parking concerns at the Aud
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Possible shuttle service to be proposed – will service downtown parking
garages
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New arena is not financially feasible
Steve Bienkowski:
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Several different options were looked at for renovations
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Looked at new versus renovating
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Best decision was to renovate
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Reviewed several charts of that it will look like
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Want to maintain the integrity of the building
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Kitchener Rangers have a website showing the renovations to be done
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November 14 Rangers will know if it is a done deal with council
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Sept 26 was when the original presentation
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Nov 7 is when staff come back to council
Agenda Item: _ ______ Downtown Strategic Plan – Cory Bluhm
A slide presentation was given by Cory on the Downtown Marketing Strategy.
A recent session was held with Downtown Members and what they would like
to see Downtown.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
5 Main Core Areas of Focus from the session held with members Downtown
will be:
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1. Make Kitchener the best place to start a business
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2. Attract the worlds best talent to Kitchener
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3. Create a really cool Downtown
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4. Promote the success that’s happening a King and Victoria
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5. Foster growing clusters i.e. digital media
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Have to make sure people “want” to move to Kitchener i.e. make sure
Kitchener is the place they want to stay
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Final strategy goes to council November 7, 2011.
Agenda Item: ______ Approval of Past Minutes – Margarida Anao
The Board of Directors reviewed the minutes from the previous meeting
(September 2011)
Motion/Moved by: to approve the minutes as presented Mark Graham and
Seconded by: Colin Leis, all in favour unanimous, motion passed.
Agenda Item: Financials – Kevin Ballantyne
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September 2011 Statements
The board of directors review in detail the September financial statements as
presented by the board treasurer. Noted by Kevin we need to start thinking about
our Budget for 2012.
Motion: To approve the September 2011 Financials as submitted.
Motion/Moved by: Kevin Ballantyne and Seconded by: Adrian Conrad,
All in favour, motion passed
Agenda Item: _ _______________ WRPS Update – Supt. Adrian Darmon
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Oktoberfest was a good success this year, arrests were down
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There have been a few robberies downtown and Victoria Park
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Another incident at Lucky recently
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Discussed about having a pamphlet to distribute to members on when you
should call police and other informative suggestions for members. Still in
prototype stage.
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Call rates are down overall in the Downtown Core
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
Agenda Item: _____ __ _______ Executive Director Update – Mark Garner
The following is a brief update on some of the projects being worked since the
last Downtown BIA Board of Directors meeting.
DIRG (Downtown Interdepartmental Resource Group)
Garbage and cleanliness of the Downtown core – ongoing.
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LOT 9 (Ontario and Halls Lane) we continue to monitor and address
issues as they come up. The Molok installation is moving forward in this
parking lot once Halls Lane construction is complete, (2) two for garbage
and (1) one for cardboard. DNA printing (member) on Charles Street has
voiced concerns with the installation of the containers since they will be in
close proximity to their building. The City and BIA have been working to
address the issue with the owner directly.
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Our Partner APP, BIA and City of Kitchener attended a cleaning
demonstration with Dr. Gum out of Montreal on some cleaning equipment
which removes gum, graffiti, grease, tape residue from posters on poles
etc. Demonstration was on King Street and we found the equipment very
efficient for removal of various items on the list. We will be looking at a
price for multiple units as part of the clean team for the core.
Arena / Kitchener AUD committee
Keith Baulk from the CoK and Steve Bienkowski from Rangers management
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team will present at BIA Board meeting (October 18, 2011) the expansion
project and plans going forward. Board will discuss after the presentation.
Operational items
Strategic Plan –Downtown Kitchener Strategic plan has been presented to DAC
(Downtown Advisory Committee) seeking their input. The presentation and public
consultation plans will continue to roll out over the next couple of months and will
fall in line with the timeline presented to the BIA board of directors. Additional
reviews and discussion will be conducted at future BIA board meetings as the
final plan is pulled together.
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Committees – First meeting was conducted on Thursday October 29 for the
Marketing and Events committee in the BIA offices. Reviewed at a high level, the
events executed so far this year, the remaining events and marketing yet to
execute in the last months of 2011, Reviewed events in 2012, specifically talked
about the opportunity in partnership with the City of Kitchener, BIA, CMG
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
entertainment and KFun/KOOL FM being partners for a Canada event bringing
live entertainment and fireworks to King Street.
Website – Development is ongoing and we are moving forward with our timeline
for implementation in November 2011.
Retail Recruiting
– Erin attended and spoke at the International Downtown
rdth
Association’s conference to be held in Charlotte NC September 23 to 26. Erin
had also attended numerous sessions during the conference re: Urban
Innovations, Light Rail, What retailers want, Retail Recruitment from the Retailers
Perspective, Nuts and Bolts of Retail Recruitment, Calculating ROI on your
events, The Future of place making in Economic Growth.
The attended session will be added to the BIA library and lessons learned will be
applied to the BIA Operation.
MJB Consulting: Ongoing assistance with our outreach program and prospect
list. MJB is also providing guidance on navigating the upcoming ISCS
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conference (OCT 19-21). This session is part of the educational aspects of the
Retail Recruiter role and attraction programs. We will be leveraging our
brochures at the show and engaging with the Brokers and business
opportunities.
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VACANCY RATE 14.9% up from 12.4% as a couple of additional places came
online into the downtown offering. (old BIA office, Caribbean Grocery store)
Majority of the current vacancy is in the east end of the downtown. Also the board
should be aware of pending demolition of both 24 and 26 King Street east. We
will be working with those members to see about opening their business again in
the downtown.
Current VACANCIES: 25
Events and Marketing
Employee Appreciation Day – September 21, 2011
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Executed the 3 Annual Downtown Employee Appreciation Day,
partnered with United Way and their Day of Caring and Manulife to
create added vitality
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15 restaurants participated in the day offering food samples, take
home menus and business cards to build awareness around their
establishments.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
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Multiple retail stores offered addition discounts on the day with the
downtown card as well as a percentage of sales going to United
Way.
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Over 700 downtown employees (80% being from Manulife) signed
up for the Downtown Card.
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After review of the event Manulife is now interested in partnering
with the BIA exclusively to create an even bigger and better event.
Oktoberfest – October 7-15, 2011
Downtown Experience
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Events include: Opening Ceremonies, Grillefest, GTA Midways,
Strongman Competition, Kiddie Keg Tapping, Members Social,
Rock and Rumble, Oktoberfest Car Show and Kiwanis Club free
pancake breakfast
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Additional programming for Oktoberfest was of significant success
to vitality in Downtown and Retail business noticed increase
Members Night
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Saw a huge increase in tickets from last year’s event, we changed
the programming format for this year and was well received by the
membership.
Upcoming Events
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Launch of Downtown Dollars – November 19
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Sugar Plum Gala – November 19
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Food and Drink Show - November 24-26
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New Year’s Eve December 31st
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New Moon Festival (previously known as Chinese New Year) –
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January 23
On the Radar
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LRT
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Events (Employee Appreciation, KOI, Kitchener ON) in September
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Arena (Kitchener AUD)
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City Centre
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Retail Attraction
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited
Agenda Item: ____________________ New Business – Margarida Anao
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IBI Group of Consultants won a design award we are a finalist for our
Downtown design.
Agenda Item: ____ Board Meeting Review/Action Items – Margarida Anao
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No action Items from today’s Board meeting, no issues identified.
Agenda Item _____ Adjournment – Margarida Anao
Motion/Moved by; Mark Graham, Seconded; Le-anne Pilecki, all in favour.
Motion Passed.
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Next Meeting – November 15 2011, New BIA office 29 King Street East,
Unit B at 9:00am to 11:00am.
The information contained in this document is intended for internal use by the Board of Directors and
`Management of the Downtown Kitchener BIA and may contain confidential and/or privileged material,
any duplication, distribution, re-transmission or dissemination without the written consent of the
Downtown Kitchener BIA is prohibited