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CLEARWATER DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING
April 4, 2018 - 5:30 PM - City Hall - Council Chambers
Members Present- Paris Morfopoulos Chairman
Stu Sjouwerman Member
C241ein Jammu Member
Lina Teixeira Member
Ray Cassano Member
Venkat "Vincent" Devinen! Member
Also Present: Amanda Thompson CRA Director
Anne Fogarty France Board Administrator
Absent: Thomas Wright Member
David Allbritton Ex-officio Councilmember
Hoyt Hamilton Ex-officio Councilmember
1. Chairman Morfopoulos called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. asking the board
members to introduce themselves.
2. Citizens Comments--Items not on the agenda—No comments.
3. Approve the Minutes from the March 7, 2018, Meeting
Member Cassano moved to approve the minutes from the March 7, 2018 meeting.
The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was:
Ayes: Member Morfopoullos, Member Sjouwerman, Member Jammo, Member
Teixeira, Member Cassano, and Member Devineni.
Nays: None.
Motion carried.
4. Adopt February 2018 Financial Statement for Filing
Ms. Fogarty France advised that corrected financials were at placed member's seats.
After sending the agenda packed she noticed that an item was incorrectly coded. Blast
Friday invoices in December and February for$7,500 each were added to Downtown
Clearwater Merchants Association (Line 40) vs. Festival Series (Line 35) where they
belong. This did not change the bottom line amount for the financials. She advised that
they will be coded correctly in the future.
Member Cassano moved to adopt the February 2018 Financial Statement for filing.
The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was:
Downtown Development Board Meeting—April 4.2018 1
Ayes: Member Morfopoulos, Member Sjouwerman, Member Jammo, Member
Teixeira, Member Cassano, and Member Devineni,
Nays. None.
Motion carried.
5. Downtown Clearwater Merchants Association (DCMA) Request to Amend FY 2017-18
DDB Funding Request Application — Lina Teixeira, DCMA President advised that sidewalk
sales were very challenging due to weather last year and they did not want to conflict with
the Saturday market. Merchants would like to do an Art Crawl. The artists would be
curated and utilize the art as a marketing tool for the business. Reallocating some of the
funding for social media would help with target marketing for the event.
Member Jammo moved to amend the FY 2017-18 DDB Funding Request Application
for Art Crawls instead of Sidewalk Sales. The motion was duly seconded and upon
roll call, the vote was:
Ayes: Member Morfopoulos, Member Sjouwerman, Member Jammo, Member
Cassano, and Member Devineni.
Nays: None.
Abstention: Member Teixeira,
Motion carried.
6. Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Updates—Amanda Thompson, CRA Director,
gave the following updates;
Ms. Thompson updated the board on the two ex-officio members for the DDB.
Councilmembers. David Allbritton and Hoyt Hamilton, not in attendance due to scheduling
conflict with the City Council Meeting will be attending future meetings.
The CRA will be voting on amending the current Fagade Grant Program on April 16, The
program will provide $4,000 of design assistance. All fa tides on Cleveland and Gulf to
Bay Boulevard are eligible to apply. The program is a dollar for dollar match of 10% up to
50% match per storefront. A letter of support from the board would be appreciated. Ms.
Thompson and Ms. Fogarty France will draft the letter/application to the CRA,
A Downtown Parking Study is going to start in June. A parking needs assessment and
inventory will need to be done as well.
A question was raised about the status of current incentives and any existing applications
from when previous director left. Ms. Thompson advised that the Anchor Tenant Grant is
still available and that a session regarding new incentives is planned for Collaborative
Labs this summer, She added that no properties had been identified by those submitting
applications.
Downlown Development Board Vleeting—,Agri[4,2018 2
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7. Approve Funding for DDB Planning Session—Amanda Thompson, CRA Director stated
that the board received information about Collaborative Labs. She will work with them on
a proposal for the work session. The plan is to determine goals that the DDB would want
to work on in the next five years.
Members felt four hours would be more than enough time to have a clear and useful
understanding. The DDB ordinance advises what the board can and cannot do. Staff will
be advertising this meeting and she agreed that the CRA would split the cost with the
DDB for the planning session.
Member Cassano moved to approve funding the DDB Planning Session with
matching funds from the CRA at an amount not to exceed $2,400.00 with funds from
the Future Downtown Initiatives line item. The motion was duly seconded and upon
roll call, the vote was;
Ayes: Member Morfopoulos, Member Sjouwerman, Member Jammo, Member
Teixeira, Member Cassano, and Member Devineni.
Nays: None.
Motion carried.
8. Revisions to DDB Goals, Purposes, Policies — Paris Morfopoulos, DDB Chairman stated
that the original idea was to have a workshop to define functions and goals. He stated that
after he had recently reviewed the code section that defines the DDB. he found portions to
be obsolete and out of date. Being that the code needs to be revised to better define
board functions, he wants to work with Ms. Fogarty France and bring a revised draft to the
board.
Member Jammo moved to appoint Chairman Morfopoulos and Anne Fogarty France
as a subcommittee to work on revisions to DDB Ordinance, Goals, Purposes and
Policies. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call the vote was:
".Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Sjouwerman, Member Teixeira,
Member Jammo, Member Cassano, and Member Devineni.
"Nays": None.
Motion carried.
9. Review of DDB Funding Request Application —Anne Fogarty France, Downtown Manager
discussed proposed revisions she received from members. She noted that she will send
form out on April 13 with completed forms due back by May 15. Members questioned if
the form should be sent out or if the board should wait for the event organizers to contact
them to ask for the application. Discussion continued about changing the process and the
form. Members suggested making the form more accessible by placing the form on the
website allowing flexibility in line with events the board wants to continue as well as more
accountability,
Downtown Development Board Meeting—April 4, 2018 3
The new paragraph 16 was suggested about issues with Station Square Park events and
to make sure events are located where stated on the submitted form. Another item to
note was that the components on the event application differed from what is being done at
events.
Members discussed the need for the applicant to know there is some accountability and
the possibility of having to submit receipts was an item noted that should be on the form.
Ms. Fogarty France reminded members they could ask questions during the Post Event
Report about accountability. She added that the new forms were being sent out in April
and were, due back in May. Members would receive binders containing all funding
requests received in June and event organizers will do presentations at the July meeting.
Member Jarnmo moved to approve revisions to the DD13 Funding Request
Application as amended. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the
vote was:
"Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Siouwerman, Member Teixeira, Member
Jammo, Member Cassano, and Member Devineni.
"Nays": None.
Motion carried.
10. Chairman's Comments — Chairman Morfopoulos mentioned that the new DDB ex-officio
councilmembers were David Allbritton and Hoyt Hamilton and that he looks forward to
working with them. He read a list of the upcoming downtown events that can be found on
the DowntownC lea rwate r.com website.
Member Morfopoulos stated that he recently visited the Riverwalk area on the
Hillsborough River, near Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa. He toured
Armatureworks and suggested that others visit this area. Members agreed it would be a
good place for a field trip before the Imagine Clearwater initiative starts. Member
Morfopoulos reminded members that this project took 24 years to complete.
11. Final Comments
Member Cassano stated that he recently visited downtown Dunedin and commented on the
heavy presence of people visiting that small area and stated we could do this in Clearwater
too.
Member Teixeira stated she likes the way the board is heading. She added that it is a great
place and it's good to be part of a growing downtown that she looked forward to residing
here.
Member Sjouwerman stated Public Relations (PR) was sparking the flames for a greater
downtown and PR is, fanning that fire. People living downtown are bringing more people to
the downtown area for retail and arts. He feels that word of mouth and social media is
helping.
Downtown Development Board Meeting—April 4,2018 4
Member Devineni stated he was recently in Atlanta and visited a market attracting millennials.
There were many old buildings being renovated into breweries and doing this here could
possibly bring new concepts into downtown Clearwater. He also liked the idea of a field trip.
Member Jarmo said she liked the idea of the field trip as well.
Chairman Morfopoulos stated that he was considering taking his building and turning it into
something like the Oxford Exchange that is in Tampa.
12. The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m.
Downtown Development Board Meeting—April 4,2018