Loading...
2015-01-22 Edmonds Downtown Alliance (BID) MinutesMinutes from the Ed! Alliance board meeting on January 22, 2015 at Sam at the ECA Note taker: Kim Wahl Attendance: Pam Stuller, Cadence Clyborne, Juliana Van Buskirk, David Arista, Mary Kay Sneeringer, Natalie Pascale Boisseau, Paul Rucker, Cindi Cruz, Patrick Doherty, Russ Whaley, Amanda Shea, Jim Marks, Mary Bess Johnson Meeting called to order at 8:04 am. Minutes from the January 8, 2015: Action Items: The Museum and DEMA discussions have been moved to a future meeting. Nicole, our temporary admin, will attend our next meeting. David moved to approve the minutes, Cadence moved to revise the language of the Treasurers report to say "Cadence reviewed the estimated revenue and expenses for 2014. We have approximately $47,382.83 balance forward for 2015". David made a motion to approve the amended minutes, Mary Kay seconded and the minutes were approved unanimously. President's report: Pam reported that she has only received a handful of responses from the member survey. Mary Kay and Pam attended the DEMA retreat. A response to the Beacon article a few weeks ago should go in this weeks' edition. Thanks to Mary Kay for drafting the letter. Our February 12 meeting conflicts with the Mayor's State of the City so we discussed options for our meeting. We decided to start our meeting at 7:30am so we can all attend the Mayor's speech. We will add that meeting change to the website, the special meeting notice will reflect that also. Treasurer's report: Cadence reported that the final numbers for 2014 showed additional expenses of approx. $1000 for administrative costs. Our final carryover amount is $46,326.86. Cadence wanted to remind everyone that if anyone has expenses they need to submit the form to Cadence, Pam or Paul with the receipt. Regarding delinquencies, we have not turned any businesses over since our initial round we sent to collections last April. We have approximately 65 businesses that are behind in payments. Action Item: Mary Kay, Cadence and Natalie will draft a letter that can be sent to those delinquent businesses. Action Item: Pam will talk to Scott, the City Finance director about improving our invoice. City Update: The City was not rewarded the Historic Preservation conference. It was awarded to Bellingham. Patrick and Scott have discussed the current bill and also the delinquency issues. They are both willing to work with any businesses who ask for help. The City council has decided not to pursue any changes to the delinquency policy at this time. On Feb 5th, Cindi and Ellen Hiatt and a group from the Snohomish County tourism bureau are planning to attend a conference in Canada with approx. 50 tour bus companies from Canada. They are looking for donated items for a gift basket. Natalie will work on a printout about Ed! to pass out. Aug 1 lth marks the 125th birthday of Edmonds. They are in the planning stages and are looking for ideas for a celebration. Upcoming Council Meetings: On Jan 27th the Grants program will be presented. On Feb 1 Oth the Council will evaluate the rate structure. It was encouraged that we bring ratepayers to the council meeting. Everyone is encouraged to attend. They can also write a letter or email to a council member that can be read at the council meeting. Member Feedback: Pam and Mary Kay met with a member who had requested a meeting so he could get more information about Ed! He was under the impression that Ed! was set up illegally. He thought the City Council was spending our money. They informed him that they only have oversight over our budget. After their meeting he said he was not going to sign their petition or be their spokesman. It was suggested that we attend one of their meetings and continue to meet with members who have concerns. Non -Profit: There is a non-profit that would like to contribute to Ed! Their feelings are that Ed! is doing many things that benefit their non-profit and they would like to contribute. Many questions came up with how to handle this. Pam will add this to the agenda of the next meeting so we have time to research this. Action Item: Cadence will look at the language of the ordinance. Committee Reports: Non-profit: They will be meeting next week. DEMA is discussing being absorbed by Ed! Admin: Nicole has been working hard to update the website and email list. Cadence and Robert will be writing up a job posting. They will send out to the board for review. Cadence made a motion "to be able to have Nicole be able to provide administrative services until her contract ends 3/31". Natalie seconded, there was discussion, this motion is strictly to add to her scope that we approved previously and it was passed unanimously. Member Assessment and Evaluation: Paul and Pam sent an email survey asking Ed! members for feedback. The areas we were inquiring about were the umbrella program, member seminars and the website. Hopefully by the next meeting they will be able to present the data gathered. Member meeting: A date of Thursday, April 30 has been tentatively set for the annual meeting with a start time of 6:30pm at the Plaza room. The committee will put together a schedule of member notifications, ballots, nominations, etc. There are 3-4 positions on the board that will be open for election this year. Friends of Ed!: They are wondering how many meetings per year we should meet and the timing of the meetings. Is it something we would like to put into a regular schedule? It was suggested we plan a meeting for August, we will discuss it at a later date. Marketing: The committee is working on a proposal that they should be able to present at the next meeting. The committee has engaged some merchants and one of them, Kimberly Koenig is doing research on marketing ideas, costs, demographics, etc. They will also be looking at getting a PR person who can look at a larger strategic picture and help us get the Ed! message out. Professional business resources: After the survey comes back the committee will have more ideas on what the members want. Parking & Appearance: The committee brought a sample of a bike rack. The company that makes them is putting together a map of where they think the racks are needed. The umbrellas are on back order until the end of February. The committee is doing background and research into digital directories. The committee has scheduled a meeting with the City for 1/30 and they will be discussing bike racks, garbage cans, digital signage, and parking. The directional signs at 9th and Main and the one on 3rd Ave are Up. New business: The Museum no discussion at this time. Public Comment: Russ Whaley commented on how hard it was to hear and see from the area they sit. Amanda Sean asked if we had discussed crosswalk flags or signs. David asked the public if they receive the emails and correspondence. The meeting was adjourned at 9:37am. Next meeting is February 12, 2015 at 7:30am in room 225 at the ECA.