DDA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Meeting Minutes for March 2, 2009

The regular meeting of the St. Marys DDA was called to order by Craig Root at 9:00 AM. Due to lack of quorum the agenda was altered until another board member arrived.
Members Present: Barbara Ryan, Walt Natzic, Craig Root, and Tom Monahan
Members not Present: Bill Deloughy and Jim Lomis
Guest in attendance: Mary Neff; Spencer House
Staff: Alyce Thornhill; Executive Director, and Renée Coakley; Executive Assistant
Additions to the Agenda: Alyce added IDA donation, VSU Professor Dr. Lipscomb’s visit and Natzic added the Bike path resolution.

BUSINESS DISCUSSION:
Promotions Committee-Osborne Buzz: Alyce mentioned that a draft of the Osborne Buzz will be sent out to the board this week for feedback. The Osborne Buzz is a newsletter that will be going out to the businesses in the DDA boundaries with pertinent news and events/updates. The first edition will be emailed and hand delivered by volunteers on the Promotions committee.

Monahan joined the meeting at 9:10 AM, with a quorum the minutes and financials will be reviewed and all items requiring a quorum vote, (Monahan will have to leave before end of meeting), then the agenda will continue.
Minutes: Root presented the February 2nd, 2009 meeting minutes. The minutes were approved with a motion by Natzic and a second by Ryan. All were in favor.

Treasurers Report: Monahan presented the treasurers report. Alyce mentioned the larger than usual telephone bill was due to the additional charge for the SCORE telephone line. The Savannah office has paid the amount and it will be credited to the telephone account on the next month. This will be the standard for the SCORE line for future bills. The Profit and Loss and Balance Sheets were reviewed for both February and March due to the February copies being omitted from last month’s meeting package. The financials were approved with a motion by Ryan and second by Natzic. All were in favor.

Board Resignation: After brief discussion the board decided to ask midtown business owner Charlie Smith if he would like to fill the vacant DDA position. The board discussed other candidates and will approach an alternate if Mr. Smith declines the request. The board will review these decisions via email in order to get the nomination to the City Clerk in time for the next Council Meeting.

Budget Committee: Root and Monahan will once again serve on this committee. The board agreed that Deloughy should serve on this committee as well. Alyce will email the committee a proposal and set up a meeting for them as soon as possible. The preliminary budget must be presented to the Finance Department by March 13th.

Promotions Committee-Chair-ity Auction: the Parents of Autism/ADHD Coming Together (PACT) board has decided that they do not have the volunteer base available to assist with the upcoming Chair-ity Auction due to other obligations. The Promotions Committee has discussed partnering with the Design Committee and the auction benefiting “Chair-ish our Downtown”. The funding will be used for benches, trash receptacles, etc. The date of the auction is set for July 18th. The board agreed with the new focus for the auction. Kingsland

Hotel Promotion: Alyce mentioned that 6 hotel properties have agreed to the program and have received binders with menus from the participating restaurants and dining cards to accompany the hotels room card key. Alyce will present feedback from the program as it progresses.
Design Committee-Benches: the committee is currently working on design choices and prices for benches for the downtown area. Design Guidelines: this document is in draft form and will be presented to the board at the next meeting.

Economic Development Committee-SCORE report: Alyce mentioned that June Fischer went with the Savannah chapter to Macon for training. The local branch had 7 clients for the month of February. The have spoken to Rotary and will be speaking at other organizations in the near future.
Annual Planning Session Report: Alyce presented the document that was delivered from the annual planning session facilitators. The board asked that the document be formatted like previous reports and added to next month’s agenda.

Bike Resolution: Natzic mentioned that the resolution was signed on February 9th by the Mayor and attorney. The resolution gives the option to use intercommunity routes. The committee is also working on a state level plan for the stimulus package. Natzic also mentioned efforts to install bike racks through a national organization - Bikes Belong and will coordinate this with the Design Committee.

DIRECTORS REPORT:
Discovery Map: Alyce presented the map that the board advertised on last year offering businesses in the DDA boundaries the opportunity to be placed on the map for a discounted price. This item was placed in the marketing plan and budgeted for and was submitted for informational purposes.
Conference Room Equipment: Alyce thanked Natzic for completion of speaker installation in the large conference room. Alyce mentioned that there was money left in
the budget for the white board that was discussed in the past for the large conference room. It was also mentioned that there was enough money to convert the large conference room for video conferencing. The board asked Alyce to determine what would be needed and cost for both options. Barbara will give Alyce an article that talks about video conferencing and lists of items needed. Alyce and Natzic will work on items needed for this project and report to the board next month.
Educational opportunities for small business: Alyce mentioned that Bob Barrie and Tricey Godfrey from Discovery Maps will be giving free classes to aid small businesses in the near future.

Georgia Power Econ Dev Tour: Alyce mentioned that representatives from GA Power will be in town on March 5th at 12:45 PM at Borrell Creek and has invited all local DDAs and the JDA to discuss Economic Development.

Publicity in Washington DC: Alyce mentioned that she is working with Bill Gross on packages for the Leukemia Ball in Washington DC. Spencer House, Greyfield Inn, Emma’s Bed and Breakfast, and Gross Construction all have donated items for this event. This will market St. Marys before hundreds of people at this event.

Military Zone: Alyce mentioned that she has received the agreement from the City Manager to submit the letter for this designation. Once created this will create additional job tax credits for businesses. Alyce will get the letter out this week.

Wireless Zone for Downtown: Alyce mentioned that the City Manager asked her to set up a meeting with him and the IT department regarding a grant application for a wireless zone in Downtown. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 2nd and Alyce will report back to the board the outcome.

Garmin locations: Alyce mentioned that there are several locations in the area not listed in Garmin GPS systems. Through a company called NAVTEQ users can sign up to be map reporters. This allows users to add points of interest and businesses that are not already installed on the GPS systems.

New Businesses and Updates: Alyce mentioned that Bulldog Liquors is now open. Aerospace Missions Corporation has received their funding and looking for an area in downtown. The company is interested in the Cumberland Harbour building and Alyce mentioned to the board if they are aware of anyone purchasing that building that the company would be interested in renting a space. The Coastal Art League is looking at renting the upper level of Marianne’s Sterling’s Southern Café for use as a downtown gallery and possibly having a coffee shop in the cottage at the same location.

IDA Donation: The IDA has agreed to fund $37,500 of the DDA budget for this year and next years.

Valdosta State University Professor Dr. Lipscomb’s visit: Alyce mentioned that the professor will visit Friday, March 6th at 10:30 to train Economic Development people on using the demographic studies system that the college currently uses.

Coastal Area District Development Authority (CADDA) visit: Root asked Alyce to set up a briefing for CADDA to come talk about loan programs they offer. He asked that the IDA attend. Alyce will add this to the agenda in May or June. Alyce mentioned a conversation with a DDA member from Woodbine and the need for local DDAs to meet sometime. Root suggested that the local DDAs should get together once per year.

Adjourn – The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 6th at 9:00 AM and the meeting was adjourned at 10:10 AM.
_____________________________
Tom Monahan, Secretary
Prepared by Renée Coakley, Executive Assistant