Downtown Leadership Council Agenda

Downtown Columbia Leadership Council
February 22, 2011, 4:00 p.m.
City Hall New Addition
701 E. Broadway, Conference Room 2A

Agenda

1. Welcome/Introduce guests

2. Approval of January 25, 2011 meeting minutes

3. Charrette Report DLC Recommendations
a. Council Work Session
b. Coordinate public amenities with private development
c. Downtown Development entity – examples

4. Future TIF projects design review process

5. Proposed Short Street parking garage – examples from other cities

6. Historic Preservation Commission awards

7. Other items

8. Public comment

9. Next meeting – March 22, 2011

10. Adjourn

Seeking Input re: Football Weekends

We're currently putting together a proposal for the city that would allow us to treat home football games as events--the same way we'd treat an outdoor concert or festival.

Bars and restaurants could fence off a section of street directly in front of their business, serve alcohol within this fence, and have activities such as live music.  (Unfortunately, because so many game day tourists take Broadway into town, that may be a more difficult street to close.) We'd place extra trash containers and port-a-johns in appropriate locations to handle the larger crowds. Finally, we'd encourage retailers to stay open later at night to take advantage of the crowds and to add to the atmosphere of the evening.

The goal is to create a great pep-rally atmosphere that attracts more customers to District businesses and encourages them to stay longer. Expanding into the street would also allow bars and restaurants extra space to deal with game day crowds.

Help us draft this proposal by answering a few questions for us:

1) Would you be interested in closing a section of street and serving alcohol outside?
2) Instead of closing a street, would you use a patio or parking lot for music and/or outdoor bars?
3) Would you be willing to help us fund extra trash pick ups, port-a-johns or sidewalk bands?
4) If you're a merchant, would you be willing to stay open later on game day?

Please send your answers and any other input to cgartner@discoverthedistrict.com.

Thanks for the help!

Trends for Downtown Retail

Interested in what 2010 has in store for retail? Carol Gies, presidents of 4Insights, a consulting firm that works with downtowns and other specialty retail areas, shares her thoughts.

Who will be buying?
The baby boomers are not the primary market they no longer have a steady income and they re worried about their retirement savings. The focus now is on single adults.

70% of households have no children at home and the most common type of household is a person living alone. Because of this, retailers are shifting away from offering only family-oriented products.

Shift your focus to single adults and female head-of-households. Revamp your merchandise for a younger age group, with items such as electronics or eco-friendly goods. Look to extending hours in the evening and upgrading your web presence.


What will they buy?
For 80% of consumers, necessity, price and deals are at the top of their list. The other 20% are luxury shoppers who are slowing moving back into the market.

Stock and promote items necessary for daily living--household goods, towels and linens or tabletop items. Promote your lower priced items to pull people into your store. Offer perks and special services, like next-visit discount cards or personal shoppers.


How will they be shopping?
Time-pressed consumers are making fewer special trips for shopping and instead integrating it into their daily activities. They will pick up a gift on a lunch break or pop into a store before meeting friends for dinner.

They also do a lot of shopping online. They'll check menus or hours on a business website, comparison shop at their desk, friend a business they like, and much more.

Take advantage of downtown workers, evening diners and other incidental customers. Use web and social media to keep your business top of mind, like tweeting about lunchtime deals or blogging about a great new customer perk.


What do Columbians want?
Consumers are looking for cooking and tabletop items, home accessories and decor, linens and towels, and garden supplies and decor. They're also looking for more casual apparel (women's and men's), more shoes and more accessories.

They like the convenience and atmosphere of The District and are pleased by the service. They have lingering concerns about high prices and limited hours of operation.

Want more details? Our full survey deals with retail and restaurants so it's worth a look.

Public Meeting - Noise Ordinance

The SBD's Noise Committee will be hosting a public meeting to discuss potential changes to the city's noise ordinance on Friday, February 26 at 10:00 a.m. in our offices, 11 S. Tenth St.

The committee's goal is to strike a balance between maintaining a lively nighttime culture and encouraging the development of new downtown residential. The committee would like to hear input from a wide range of people so everyone is welcome to attend.

The relevant sections of the current noise ordinance can be found here:

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Council/Columbia_Code_of_Ordinances/Chapter_16/258.html

and here:

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Council/Columbia_Code_of_Ordinances/Chapter_16/259.html

If you are unable to attend at that time, please take a moment to fill out our quick online noise survey--just click here. Comments may also be sent to info@discoverthedistrict.com.

Take our Noise Survey

The Columbia City Council recently asked us to offer some suggestions for improving the downtown noise ordinance.

Our goal is to find the best way to balance a lively and entertaining nightlife with a growing residential population.

We'd like to hear from you--whether you're a business owner, employee, resident or customer. What types noises are acceptable in a downtown area? What types of noises do you find annoying?

Please take a moment to fill out our quick online noise survey. A few minutes of your time will help us out tremendously!

To take our online survey, please click here.

(We're also planning a public meeting so if you'd like to offer more input, check back for details.)

The Missouri Theatre is Alive and Well

Please take a moment to read this great article by Eric Staley, new director of the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts, where he explains the theatre's plans for getting back on track.

This also appeared as an op-ed in Sunday's Tribune.

The Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts is a public treasure. Tens of thousands of people came of age with knowledge of the theater during one of its many lives. Thousands have attended musical performances, plays, ballets, films and comedy shows both before and after the theater’s restoration. It is our theater, and we are proud of it.

For these reasons and because the theater received so much public attention in 2009, I thought it would be appropriate to share an update on the state of the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts.

In short, the theater is solvent, open for business and booking aggressively for 2010 and beyond. We are no longer on life support. We are here to stay. This is not to say the theater is not a bit fragile. Recovery takes time. Still, if we stay the course of prudent and vigilant management and keep our focus on vibrant and diverse programming as we grow our audience, a full recovery is possible.

The challenges facing the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts were well publicized during 2009. Massive debt, a mostly empty checking account and leadership changes made the news and painted a bleak picture of the theater’s future. Most reports were true and factual. By September, the theater had drained its resources and had less than a month’s worth of operating funds in the bank.

How, then, is it we are open? We implemented changes and a plan for a turnaround that married good management with the community’s good will, committed ourselves to efficiencies and transparent business practices and put into action a vision for more responsive programming that would generate a positive cultural and economic impact.

To make effective changes, one must know what to change. In the case of the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts, we needed to understand what went wrong. This process actually began in 2008 with the help of outside business management and accounting consultants retained by the Missouri Symphony Society’s board of directors.

The most important of those changes was to implement a new rental policy based on the real costs of operating the theater. The theater was losing money every day it was open and giving away its space. Our new rental pricing might create a hardship for some not-for-profit partners, but we have implemented a discount policy for those groups.

The theater already was operating with a skeleton staff, and reducing staff was the last thing we wanted to do. Instead, we dropped unnecessary expenses, some small and some larger but all adding up to savings. We looked at everything from niceties such as water coolers, which we discontinued, to a passenger van, which we sold. The search for efficiencies is an ongoing institutional policy.

Our 2010 plans include the development of a community programming council to advise us on ramping up our programming with the goal of producing a more diverse calendar that will use the theater’s space efficiently while providing better cultural service to a wider audience. To set the stage for exciting programming, we met with our regular partners to shore up damaged or confused relationships and to schedule their future programming as a priority.

In addition to cutting and controlling costs, adjusting pricing and initiating new programming to increase revenues, we approached close friends with an opportunity to invest in our new vision. They responded quickly and generously by pledging about $250,000 to secure operations in the short term.

With fulfillment of outstanding pledges and commitments, we also reduced a $5.5 million construction debt to $2.7 million. Still a hefty number, this represents a decrease of more than 50 percent of our debt. We then worked with our consortium of banks to structure a plan that ensures a performing loan during 2010 while reducing principal further.

As a result of these actions, the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts is alive and well as our community’s hub of cultural activity. This year, it will be the job of the staff, board and volunteers to keep the theater solvent and responsive to our community’s cultural needs. It is in the hands of the larger community to shape and preserve the future of its center for the arts as a key piece of our city’s dynamic future.

Noise Ordinance to Council

The City Council will be holding a public hearing and vote on the proposed changes to the downtown noise ordinance on Monday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 pm. Full details of the proposal can be found on the City's website at:

http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=175&meta_id=12308

Just a reminder, the Council meeting will be held in the new Council Chambers on the ground floor of the new building.

SBD Agenda

AGENDA
Columbia Special Business District
Board of Directors Meeting
February 9, 2010, 4 p.m.
11 South Tenth Street

Call to Order

Approval of the January Minutes

Financial Report
Approval of January Financials

Noise Ordinance
Update - Gartner
(to Council Feb. 15)

Committee Reports
– Downtown Leadership Council – Wilkerson
– Downtown Safety Summit - Ott

Old Business
– CID Update - Gartner

New Business

Director’s Report

City Update

Adjournment

Next meeting will be March 9, 4:00 p.m.

Fraudulent Check Alert

A District retailer has alerted us to a couple using checks from a closed account. The account is:

Ad-Vance-Ed Concrete and Construction Solutions

We only know this account is closed, not how the couple came to possess these checks. If they are successful the first time, the couple may return to the store several times over the next few days for more purchases.

Please make sure your employees are aware of this problem and pass this along to your neighbors.

Proposed Dumpster Removal

Attention all businesses located on the Panera Bread Block (between Tenth & Ninth and Cherry & Locust):


As you may know, the City has been trying to replace the dumpsters located in your alley with a larger, enclosed compactor. Removing dumpsters makes the public alley more accessible to pedestrians, emergency vehicles and delivery vehicles and, for this alley in particular, tend to keep things cleaner.

Compactors also keep rates low downtown. Right now, commercial trash rates outside of downtown are increasing 60% while those within downtown are remaining the same.

However, we’ve found that adding a compactor to your block would eliminate too many parking spaces. An alternative plan has been proposed that would remove all the dumpsters from this block. Businesses would take their trash either to the dumpsters located across Ninth St. by the City Centre or across Tenth St. behind the white houses--or at least where they used to be.

Please let us know your opinion of this plan by emailing us at info@discoverthedistrict.com.

We encourage you to speak with your employees, janitorial service, or anyone else directly responsible for taking out the trash.

Avenue of the Columns Update

Here's a great article by Daniel Cailler of the Columbia Daily Tribune on the Avenue of the Columns progress:

Avenue backers look for jump-start
New city hall could boost Eighth Street

After the public plaza for the new city hall is completed this spring, improvements will spill out onto the Eighth Street and Broadway intersection.

The goal is to rekindle efforts of the long-running Avenue of the Columns project, which seeks to alter the landscape along Eighth Street from the Boone County Courthouse to the University of Missouri campus.

Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine wants to use construction of the new city hall as a catalyst for the project. A first step will be to redesign the Eighth Street and Broadway intersection to aesthetically match the look of the city hall plaza. For example, the old pavers in the road will be replaced with bricks more closely matching the colors used in the plaza.

“The end result will be a uniform design,” St Romaine said.

The city recently submitted a proposal to engineering firm K&S Associates for pricing of the intersection work.

The facelift won’t stop at the street. Using $250,000 in state tax credits secured by the city last year, Landmark Bank, Boone County National Bank and Greenwing Development LLC, owner of the building that houses the restaurant Sycamore, will receive a 50 percent tax credit against the cost of sidewalk improvements along their properties. The work will include installation of trees, benches, new brickwork and lighting.

All the work will coincide with the master plan document approved by the Avenue of the Columns Committee in 2005.

“What we hope that will do is set the standard for any future development,” St. Romaine said.

Further work depends on public-private partnerships, he said, because the city lacks money to do it on its own.

Mary Wilkerson, vice president of marketing at Boone County National Bank, is chairwoman of the Avenue of the Columns Committee. She said the goal of the project goes beyond beautification to creating a reason to lure pedestrians down the street.

A lack of retail space and imposing parking garages has stifled activity, she said.

“Until you have the type of mixed-use economic activity on Eighth as you do on Ninth, all the beautification won’t make a difference,” she said.

Improvements to Courthouse Square in the 1990s kicked off the plan, but Wilkerson said she knew when she started that the master plan would require multiple properties working together to implement it.

“There’s a lot that can be accomplished, but it won’t happen overnight. You’ve got to partner efforts with actual activity on the streets,” she said.

Wilkerson hopes the city hall project and plans to renovate the Tiger Hotel will spur additional improvements in the near future.

“For me, it’s a labor of love. I’m excited about seeing part of the streetscape project being implemented. That’s a huge accomplishment,” Wilkerson said.

Hospitality Zone Committee Meeting

An SBD Committee will be reviewing the proposed District Hopitality Zone Plan at 9 am, Wednesday, January 27 in our offices at 11 S. Tenth St.

A Hospitality Zone is designed to increase business, improve safety and generally create a fun and welcoming nighttime atmosphere in The District. Because of this we welcome input, particularly from those involved in the nighttime economy such as restaurants, bars and clubs.

This is currently in draft stage so this is the time to comment. If you can't make the meeting, please email me at cgartner@discoverthedistrict.com and I'll pass your comments along to the committee.

The draft is available at http://discoverthedistrict.com/pdf/Hospitality_Zone_v3.pdf.

SBD Agenda

AGENDA
Columbia Special Business District
Board of Directors Meeting
January 12, 2010, 4pm
11 South Tenth Street


Call To Order

Welcome Returning Board Members
John Ott, Mary Wilkerson, Skip Walther

Approval of December Minutes

Approval of December Financials

Police Report

Committee Reports
• CID (Vangel)
Presentation to Council

• Downtown Leadership Council (Wilkerson)

• Downtown Safety Summit (Ott)

Old Business
• Downtown Police Force (Gartner)

• Draft Hospitality Zone Plan (Gartner)

• CID Campaign Training Session (Vangel/Gartner)
Please review list, board members will be assigned property owners from the list to contact.

New Business
• Green Streets Grant – energy efficiency grants (Wilkerson/Gartner)


Director’s Report
Holiday Sales Update

City Report

Public Comment

Adjournment

CCA Board Meeting - Cancelled

As is traditional, the December CCA Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 16 is cancelled.  Take care of all those holiday shoppers and we'll see you in January!

Street Light Outage

City crews are working to get the lights working on the north side of Broadway between Ninth to Tenth.  Should be up and running soon.

Nominations are being accepted for Lang Award

Nominations are being accepted for the 2010 Howard B. Lang Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. The award program, organized by the city of Columbia and the New Century Fund, will recognize an outstanding volunteer for his or her contribution to city government.

The award is made possible by Leo Hill, city manager from 1952-1958, who worked with Howard Lang when he served as mayor of Columbia. Hill wished to honor Lang, Columbia’s mayor from 1953-1957, for his service to the city through this award. Lang passed away in November 2007.

Nominees may have taken any volunteer role that benefits the city: a board, commission or task force member, elected official, or volunteer with any of Columbia’s city departments. The recipient will be chosen based on impact, initiative and length of service. Nominations will be accepted through Jan. 8.
Ed Kaiser, a longtime volunteer with the Columbia Public Works Department and the Columbia Police Department received the award in 2009.

The recipient will be recognized at the city’s annual volunteer recognition reception in the spring. The honoree will be presented a plaque along with $1,000.

Application forms and other details will be posted on the city’s Web site at www.GoColumbiaMo.com. You may also learn more by contacting the Office of Neighborhood Services at 874-7499.

Security Cameras to Council

Monday night the City Council will again address the issues of security cameras downtown.

Agenda is here:  http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=2&meta_id=10237.

Keep Columbia Safe's website is here: http://www.keepcolumbiasafe.com/

Meeting Announcements

We have two meeting scheduled to discuss the proposed Community Improvement District petition:

Special Business District Board Meeting (special meeting)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 4:00 pm
11 S. Tenth St.

Central Columbia Association Board Meeting
Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 11:30 am
11 S. Tenth St.

CID Petition, boundaries, board of directors and other information available on our planning website, www.downtown.org.

Public Safety Meeting Reminder

On November 11 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm at the Chamber Building on 300 S. Providence, Chief Burton and other Columbia Police Department representatives will be on hand for a follow-up meeting with downtown bar and restaurant owners.

This is a continuing dialogue between the CPD and various bars and restaurants designed to answer questions and concerns regarding policing in the downtown area, specifically with regard to alcohol and alcohol-related issues.

As many of you are aware, we have a new nighttime police team that is focusing on public safety issues, particularly in regards to alcohol consumption.

All downtown stake-holders are welcome to attend, although we'd like to concentrate the discussion on this particular issue.

Future meetings between SBD members and the Columbia Police Department are planned to address other issues and because the Police Substation is located in our office, we have regular communications with our downtown officers. Because of this, feel free to give us your thoughts on public safety issues or suggestions for future meetings and we'll pass them along to the Chief.

SBD Agenda

AGENDA
Columbia Special Business District
Board of Directors Meeting
November 10, 2009, 4 pm.
11 South Tenth Street


Call to Order
  
Approval of the Minutes

Financial Report
‐Approval of September and October Financials
‐Review of FY2009 year‐end financials ‐ Gartner

Committee Reports
  Noise Committee – Timberlake/Ott/Kespohl

Old Business
  Trash Compactor – Block 17
  CID Petition Approval
 
New Business
  Public Safety Report

Director’s Report
Retail Promotions

City Report

Public Comment

Adjournment