St. Marys Downtown Development Authority (DDA)

Board Of Directors

Meeting Minutes for June 1, 2009

The regular meeting of the St. Marys DDA was called to order by Craig Root at 9:01 AM.  Root mentioned that Monahan will be absent from the next three board meetings due to a business commitment.

Members Present: Charlie Smith, Bill DeLoughy, Barbara Ryan, Walt Natzic, and Craig Root

Members not Present: Jim Lomis and Tom Monahan

Guest in attendance:  Bob Barrie, Tom Richter; St. Marys Yacht and Boating Club, Mary Neff; Spencer House, and Chris Daniel; Camden Chamber of Commerce

 Staff:  Alyce Thornhill; Executive Director, and Renée Coakley; Executive Assistant  

Minutes:  Root presented the May 4, 2009 meeting minutes.  Natzic noted that under the Bike Trails Update the last sentence should read "…and will also be adding a back woods dirt trail around Gilligan's Island."  The minutes were approved with the one change with a motion by Smith and a second by Ryan.  All were in favor. 

Treasurers Report:  Alyce presented the treasurers report pointing out the new format for the financials due to an updated program that the finance department has implemented.  There were no major expenses on the city financials or the Profit and Loss or Balance sheets.  The financials were approved with a motion by Ryan and second by Natzic.  All were in favor. 

Additions to the Agenda:   There were no additions to the agenda.

Presentaion:

Website:  Alyce gave a brief introduction of Bob Barrie and his ideas for website optimization.  Bob presented the revamped DDA website.  The new changes will make the website more business relative, easier to navigate and be less time consuming to make updates and changes. The board agreed that the new site looked more functional and a motion was made by Natzic to replace the current website with the upgraded format.  The motion was second by Smith.  All were in favor.

Waterfront Development:   Tom Richter the Commandor for the St. Marys Yacht and Boating Club spoke with the board about the clubs concerns with keeping the bait shop open.  With the recent addition of a new bait shop business in downtown, the need for the shop in the waterfront park has diminished.  The shop is also in need of repairs and the club recommends closing the shop and possibly opening a marine center for transient boaters in the near future.  This center could offer Wifi access, showers, and transportation services to boaters in need of such.  The club will be searching for grants to aid in this transition if the idea is agreed upon.  The current bait shop contract will end in July of 2009 and due to lack of volunteers the club does not feel they will renew the contract at this time.

Business discussion:

Promotions Committee-Website:  This item was covered with Bob's presentation.   

Design Committee-Benches:  Alyce mentioned that the proposals for the benches went to Property Committee which gave support on this effort.  The committee will now look at trying to get samples of the benches with the hopes of having a competition or voting for area residents.  Tree Board:  Alyce mentioned that the Tree Board will be meeting on Thursday, June 4^th to discuss an oak tree that needs to be removed at the Catholic Church.  Bike Racks:  Alyce mentioned that she recently attended a Greenway meeting where bike friendly communities/businesses were discussed.  This promotion is geared toward larger cities but the City Planner has identified areas where bike racks may be located/implemented into the city.  The racks would cost approximately $300 each and Alyce asked the DDA if they would be interested in purchasing 5 racks ($1500 total) with funds obtained from rental income of DDA property.  The board agreed and a motion was made by Ryan to purchase 5 racks ($1500 total) with funds obtained from rental income of DDA property with a second by Smith.  All were in favor.

Economic Development Committee-Marketing Package:  Alyce mentioned that the branding campaign is moving forward and the firm may incorporate the Marketing Recruitment Package folder as one of the possible showcase items for the idea.  Alyce mentioned that GA Power does extensive marketing reports that we will be able to include into the packages as well.  

 Nominee Report:  The committee recommended to the board that the following members be voted in as officers:  Jim Lomis-Chair, Walt Natzic-Vice Chair and Charlie Smith-Treasurer.  Motion was made by DeLoughy that these three positions be filled as stated and the motion was second by Smith.  All were in favor.

 Conference Room Equipment:  Walt mentioned that at the last meeting he stated the price for the conference room system would be approximately $2400.  After further investigation it was learned that the system would total approximately $4999.99.  This system would have a fixed camera and to upgrade the system to a pan and zoom camera, he asked the vendor for a price but guessed it would be an additional $1000.  The board determined that it would not be able to support the entire project this fiscal year and due to an earlier vote Root asked if Alyce would determine if the Finance Department would allow the purchase of the bike racks to come from the city budget computer equipment line item.  The board agreed with this suggestion.  Motion was made for Alyce to approach the Finance Department with this request by Smith and second by Ryan.  All were in favor.  If approved the funds in the DDA account previously voted on for bike racks may be used for part of the conference room equipment.  Alyce will put this item on the July agenda.

DIRECTORS REPORT:

Kingsbay Village:  Alyce mentioned that the Bakaar group will be making some improvements to the shopping center soon and will be making a visit to Las Vegas for their annual recruitment convention and she shared the new military Zone incentives with them to garner interest in recruiting businesses to the shopping center.

Film Commission:  Alyce mentioned a recent visit from Roger Whitehouse who will be visiting Savannah soon and bring a sample of their filming group portfolio for their area to share with St. Marys to get more exposure through the film industry.

St. Marys Scoop:  Alyce mentioned that the Scoop continues to receive great feedback and a question was raised recently as to the different types of advertisements for the scoop.  After discussion of the parameters of the scoop the board agreed that the inserts should be limited to businesses in the DDA boundaries unless the insert is from a St. Marys business and offers classes of some sort for businesses.  The Chamber offered to share their policy statement in regards to advertising for businesses and the board asked that the Promotions Committee review this and set standards for the scoop.

NPS Superintendent Reception:  Alyce reminded the board about the coffee reception for the incoming Superintendent on Tuesday, June 9^th at 8:30 AM in the DDA Building co-sponsored by the St. Marys CVB, the DDA and the Planning Department.

Military Zone Map:  Alyce mentioned that she currently has copies of the map of census tract 106 with the benefits for a business in a military zone printed on back.  These maps and brochures will be made available to new businesses and will also be available on the new DDA website. 

Preserve America designation:  The firm Brockington and Associates has an associate who will assist the City of St. Marys in achieving this designation at no charge.  More information will come at a future date.

EIP Grant Package:  Alyce mentioned that the package is in the City Attorney's office for review.

Businesses and Updates:   Alyce mentioned that the Cottage Shop will be relocating from midtown to downtown in the former 2 Sisters Café location.  The front of the business will belong to the Cottage Shop and the back half will be a chocolate store.  The library RFP will be going out in July for their renovations.  Hurricane season begins today, June 1^st and Alyce will meet with other city departments (i.e. fire, police, and public works) regarding preparations for the city in the event of a hurricane.  This information will be presented to businesses at a future date.  The Dixon family will be hosting a movie series in July to garner awareness for this year's upcoming Christmas in the Park event.

Adjourn - The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 6^th at 9:00 AM and the meeting was adjourned at 10:45 AM. 

_____________________________

Tom Monahan, Secretary

Prepared by Renée Coakley, Executive Assistant