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HomeMy WebLinkAboutKitchener BIA - 2017-07-26 8:30 am – 10:30 am July 26, 2017 City of Kitchener 200 King Street W Conestoga Room BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Minutes Present: Darryl Moore, Erika Holenski, Domini Baldasaro, Chelsea Cybalski, Councillor Frank Etherington, Councillor Sarah Marsh, Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, Linda Jutzi, Cory Bluhm. Regrets: Stewart Barclay, Phong Tran, Ryan Lloyd-Craig, James Mitchell, Paul Walman, Meaghan Hawkins. The meeting began at 8:32, with Darryl Moore as Chair. APPROVAL OF AGENDA/DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS One additional item was added to the agenda: In Camera Moved by Sarah Marsh, seconded by Frank Etherington “That the Board approve the July 26, 2017 meeting agenda.” Carried Unanimously No conflict of interest was declared by any Member of the Board at this time. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There was a request that the minutes focus at a high level moving forward. Moved by Chelsea Cybalski, seconded by Erika Holenski “That the Board approve the June 28, 2017 minutes.” Carried Unanimously Message from the Treasurer: Phong sent a note to be read to the BIA regarding his role. Stewart has stepped down as treasurer and resigned from the board. Phong has been assisting with this and has put his name forward to take on the position. Moved by Sarah Marsh, seconded by Chelsea Cybalski “That the Board instill Phong Tran as Treasurer of the board of the BIA.” Carried Unanimously Approval of the June 2017 Financials: Linda commented that we are now on track to report monthly on financials. Moved by Chelsea Cybalski, seconded by Frank Etherington “That the Board approve the June 2017 Financial Statements.” Carried Unanimously Events Report Event reports have been developed by the marketing committee and Linda’s staff in an effort to promote information in a timely and robust manner. Feedback is provided from the person that evaluated the event. There was a suggestion to remove the name column as these notes become a matter of public record and it may promote transparency. At this meeting Canada Day and Tame the Lane reviews were discussed. Cherry Park festival was also discussed. Although Cherry park falls outside of our Downtown Boundary, the BIA was represented in an effort to spread the DTK Love beyond the boarders of the downtown. Downtown Dollars were also donated as a prize to the silent auction. ACTION: Linda to amend the document to include Recommendations for Improvement so that constructive feedback can be included Berry Vrbanovic joined the meeting (8:41 a.m.) Marketing Committee Update The marketing committee (Meaghan, Chelsea and Paul) met last week. The committee is seeking to grow as more people are needed for event review and for brainstorming marketing events for Spring 2018. Linda has been interviewing potential candidates and feels there are some strong possibilities. The candidates include Kayla Zawisky, previously of the uptown Waterloo BIA, Matt Hortobagi, the Executive producer of Astro Dog and Nicole McCallum, consumer trending specialist of UW. The team agreed that the most important first project would be to develop a marketing campaign, brought to the board in Fall 2017 for Spring 2018 with regards to the reserve fund. Governance Committee Update The governance committee has not been able to meet over the past month due to scheduling conflicts. Erika and Darryl are working to draft a boardroom code of conduct policy to keep people focused when they are in the room. Blues Festival Linda has sent an invite to anyone interested in joining to flip pancakes at the Blues Festival Breakfast. Her staff will be present from 7:30-8:00a. Directors are asked to come at 8:45am to assist. This year’s funds will be designated to the Discovery Team to be able to purchase uniforms. Action: Linda to send an invite to council direct through Elizabeth or Way Cory Bluhm joined the meeting (8:56 a.m.) Approval 2020 Process Cory shared that council has approved the language crafted, subject to one section that they wanted modified to reflect business attraction. The new format is approved by council conditional of this and needs to be approved by the board. The board discussed what involvement the BIA should play with regards to retail development, and heard that one possible option for assisting with this would be the development of a board of experts to assist potential retailers. Further information will be included in the action plan. Moved by Darryl Moore, seconded by Frank Etherington “To approve the 2017 – 2020 Strategic Priority Statement for Downtown Kitchener that will be shared with the City of Kitchener subject to the fine tuning of the retail attraction verbiage.” Carried Unanimously Queen Street Project Queen Street is showing signs of age aesthetically and service infrastructure is also at the time of replacement. Cory shared reports on improved property values on King Street since reconstruction as well as corresponding increase in pedestrian traffic as an example of what could be achieved on Queen. The current perspective of Queen Street is that it is a place to get through but not a place to go to. When a sample audience was asked what things would enhance Queen Street, living and breathing street walls ranked highest, followed by laneway nightlife, then decorative lighting etc. Vogelsang green has been identified as potential anchor for project as City Hall is for King Street. Currently the City budget has only sufficient funds to complete the BASIC version. Cory poses to the board as to whether they are interested/willing to contribute in some way to support the funding of this project. Action: The board will review in consideration with the larger budget. 2018 Budget Discussion The board discussed the second draft of the proposed budget including allocations to graffiti, garbage removal, and a potential levvy increase. Mayor Berry Vrbanovic left the meeting (10:02 a.m.) Sarah Marsh left the meeting but remained on speakerphone (10:05 a.m.) Reserve Funds The board discussed the potential allocation of reserve funds and received compiled feedback of board comments. Other Business Nothing at this time. Linda Jutzi left the meeting (10:31 a.m.) In-Camera Moved by Darryl Moore, seconded by Erika Holenski “That the Board enter in-camera session” Carried Unanimously Moved by Darryl Moore, seconded Frank Etherington “That the Board leave in-camera session” Carried Unanimously ADJOURNMENT Moved by Chelsea Cybalski, seconded by Sarah Marsh “That the meeting adjourn.” (10:36 a.m.) Carried Unanimously