Loading...
05/01/2019 CLEARWATER DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING May 1, 2019–5:30 PM–Main Library–Council Chambers Members Present: Paris Morfopoulos Chairman Caitlein Jammo Treasurer Ray Cassano Member Lina Teixeira Member Thomas Wright Member Stu Sjouwerman Member Also Present: Anne Fogarty France Board Administrator Micah Maxwell Interim CRA Director David Allbritton Ex-officio Member/Councilmember Jay Polglaze Ex-officio Member/Councilmember Rosemary D'Amour CRA Public Relations and Programs Manager Absent: Venkat "Vincent" Devineni Vice-Chairman 1. Chairman Morfopoulos called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Approve the Minutes from the April 3, 2019, Meeting Member Wright moved to approve the minutes from the April 3,2019, meeting. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call,the vote was: Ayes: Chairman Morfopoulos, Member Cassano, Member Teixeira, Member Wright, Member Sjouwerman and Member Jammo. Nays: None. Motion carried. 3. Citizens Comments—Items not on the agenda. Christina Carlee, 2556 Royal Pines circle, Clearwater FL 33763, spoke to the Board regarding the City's recent purchase of the North Ward Elementary School property. Ms. Carlee's letter to the City Council requesting preservation of the building is attached to these minutes. Ex-officio Member Polglaze addressed Ms. Carlee's concerns, stating that no plan is in place but the City's hope in making the purchase was not to demolish but to repurpose the building. The Board thanked Ms. Carlee for her attendance. 4. New Business 4.1. Adopt March 2019 Financial Statement for Filing Member Wright moved to adopt the March 2019 Financial Statement for filing. The motion was duly seconded. Upon roll call,the vote was: Ayes: Chairman Morfopoulos, Member Cassano, Member Teixeira, Member Wright, Member Sjouwerman and Member Jammo. Nays: None. Motion carried. 4.2. DDB Work Plan (WP) Review and Discussion– Board Administrator Fogarty France noted that the WP was adopted from the workshop on May 22, 2018;that it was fine-tuned by CRA Director Thompson and approved by the board. Members volunteers to be Champions for each task. She described the Downtown Development Board Meeting—May 1, 2019 WP as a "living, breathing document" and had not heard from all members about their items. She asked the Board how they would like to proceed with future WP item updates from members. After some discussion,the Board chose to have one-on-one meetings with Board Administrator Fogarty France, which she agreed to put into action over the next two weeks. She also stated that she would be working with Treasurer Jammo regarding a preliminary budget for FY 2019-2020. Results of the updates would presented at the next meeting. 4.3. DDB Work Plan Item—Marketing Goal—Strategy 2—Recommendations on Promoting Downtown Clearwater CRA Public Relations and Programs Manager D'Amour presented two reports: (1) Update on Augmented Reality (AR) in Downtown Clearwater. Ms. D'Amour stated that we are partnering with USF to use existing murals and art in downtown to engage the local community and take advantage of the booming AR industry. Discussion followed regarding the actual look of the deliverable, how it would be promoted and the timeline. Ms. D'Amour said that USF will be at the upcoming Arts&Tech Showcase to be held on June 22 to highlight local leaders and could use it as a launching point for this effort. (2) DDB& Promoting Downtown Clearwater. Ms. D'Amour noted that the budget for PR and promotional efforts is$24,400, of which approximately$20,000 would go to the production of 3-4 videos and $4,400 toward paid content advertising on social media. The key would be tracking and measuring the return to plan for next year. Member Sjouwerman proposed a change to the budgeting of 50% production and 50% promotion, or even 25%/75%. Member Teixeira renewed her suggestion that'local influencers' could be put to work for far less than $20,000, lowering the cost of production with a contest, creating an organic campaign, and taking advantage of the young peoples' unique perspective of downtown.There was concern that developers and investors might not be drawn in by that style but Ex-officio Councilmember Polglaze noted the City is working to attract developers, so those goals overlap. There was some agreement that the residents and small businesses downtown would like to attract might respond well to this new approach. Member Sjouwerman proposed crowdsourcing with monetary awards for first, second and third prize. Ms. D'Amour suggested the process could be the same as was used for the murals: A call for artists, a committee for review of submissions and a choice would be made. "Did you know...?" was revisited as a theme for the videos, and the Board agreed categories should be left open to allow creativity to truly work. Ms. D'Amour will develop the scope of the contest at the next meeting, with an aim to launch in June or July for a two-month entry opportunity+and results by the end of the summer. 4.4. CRA Update. Micah Maxwell Interim CRA Director announced that CRA Director Amanda Thompson will return for the June meeting. Jill Silverboard is moving to the county and he will transition to Deputy City Manager dealing with departments of the city and Michael Delk has been named as be interim Assistant City Manager focusing on Imagine Clearwater and with the CRA. 5. Old Business. None. 6. Chairman's Report. Chairman Morfopoulos announced upcoming events. Downtown Development Board Meeting—May 1, 2019 7. Board Members to be Heard. Member Cassano advised that a lot of developers coming into Clearwater and calling regarding residential redevelopment and feels it would lead to more. Member Teixeira said the jazz auction. Initially it was not well-attended but in the end the community rallied and all but two items have been sold for a total of$410. The DCMA annual guided tour for concierges had 29 participants,visiting six venues, and all DCMA member merchants were represented somehow. She thanked Councilmember Cundiff and Polglaze and Anne Fogarty France for their help and attendance.The response and feedback has been wonderful. She is encouraged to see the new shoreline without the Harborview Center. It's a such a visual reminder of progress. Member Teixeira wants to encourage the Council to move forward with doing the same with the old City Hall. She is excited by the USF partnership and feels it's very progressive. Member Wright was encouraged by Interim CRA Director Maxwell's clarification that Michael Delk will be a full-time presence heading up the Imagine Clearwater program. Member Sjouwerman said reviewed the feasibility study and he was surprised to learn that an amphitheater would actually lose money the first five years after opening and restated his concern that it is not compatible with residential space next door. He noted that his company was donating one million dollars to USF for training of tech workers. Member Jammo thanked Ms. Carlee again for sharing her passion regarding North Ward Elementary's preservation and feels the USF partnership is a good doorway to other connections as well as working with them to alert them on the video project. The Ex-officio Councilmembers had excused themselves earlier for prior commitments. Chairman Morfopoulos said thank you and validated Member Teixeira's work downtown with the auction and the concierge tour and encouraged everyone to continue with more of that spirit! 8. The meeting was adjourned at 6:28 p.m. Downtown Development Board Meeting—May 1, 2019