Economic Development Committee - Regular Meeting

all the meetings in order. Laura, do you want to take a roll call?

Member Borchardt?

Present.

Member Faria?

Yes.

Member Hilton? Here. Vice Chair Mahmood?

Here.

Member Price is absent. Chairperson Riccitello?

Here. Present. A stamp of the Pledge of Allegiance? Who do you want to lead us to? Okay.

Ready? Salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We know no one in the peanut gallery.

I just want to move on to the approval of minutes. Are there any corrections to the minutes? Hearing no corrections, then now we'll consider the match approved as distributed.

I don't... Excuse me, Chair, did you ask if there was a public comment online?

On the minutes? No. I'm sorry. Is there someone online?

I don't have anyone online, but you do need to ask for a motion to approve the minutes, and then I have to have a first and a second. No, that's just to adjourn the meeting. No, I'm for the minutes.

Can I have a motion to approve? Second. Move and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. HAB-Masyn Moyer- There's no one on zoom for comments. HAB-Masyn Moyer- About the staff updates, I am six eight would be the update on the master plan. HAB-Masyn Moyer- yeah.

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me. I'm Efrem Sanchez, Senior Founder with the Canadian Development Department. City staff is currently working on the downtown master plan. As you may know, the project, with the help from our lead consultant, came to be. We began this project in August of 2024 after securing funding from SACOG's Remain School Program. The first engagement events were held in the The public's feedback helped generate the vision statement, which you see on the screen. The downtown Lincoln will be a vibrant, welcoming destination at the heart of the growing neighborhood, where residents and visitors can safely and enjoyably walk between community amenities and variety of private local businesses. We later expanded the project after applying for state funding through the EEI grant. This funding provided additional resources for community outreach to engage a broader demographic and offer meetings in Spanish, interpreting sentences, and translation for project materials. The EEI grant allowed us to partner with the Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce and Dragos Vantage as our consultant to do additional outreach for the Downtown Master Plan. The ODS implements the Downtown Master Plan through objective standards for building form, site design, entries, open space, and development text. These standards support the community division and preserves the character, skill, and walkability of downtown neighborhoods. The odds are intended to provide clear, objective, and measurable standards for future development in downtown Lincoln, while supporting the implementation of the downtown master plan. The odds will be optional and provide an alternative path for planning entitlements. Projects using that may receive faster approval because the standards are objective and predictable. Projects that meet these standards can move forward with fewer discretionary review. So for the downtime master plan, as part of it, there'll be a regulating plan, as you can see on the screen to the left. It's organized in a series of transit zones, illustrated by the different shades ranging from pink to dark purple. Each transit zone is intended to shape the built environment according to its unique character and desired development pattern. Although the colors differ between the two maps, the other map being the current zoning ordinance, many remain largely consistent in character. on the regulating plan, for example, intended to preserve the existing character of those neighborhoods. The most notable changes are proposed along corridors such as 3rd Street, 12th Street, Downtown Boulevard, Lincoln Boulevard, sorry, and East Ave. In these areas, greater building heights up to three stories and a broad mix of uses are permitted to support neighborhoods serving amenities and services. Overall, the goal of this is to create more opportunities for mixed use In March of this year, we had the second workshop where we presented the master plan and received comments and direction on how to refine it. During the second workshop, we held both English and Spanish sessions to gauge the public's input. The Spanish-only session marked the first time the city has asked Spanish-speaking communities to participate in the workshop. input. 25 people attended the special inversion. Participants in both sessions noted that they are proud to be part of the Lincoln community and want to preserve its small-town character while improving access to arts, recreation spaces, and opportunities for both residents and visitors to visit and enjoy downtown. What you see on screen are some of the key comments that we received during the community workshops. We are now at the third and final community workshop, where we will present the objective design of the office. It will be held on Saturday, September 19, 2026. The first session in Spanish will be from 10 to 11.30 a.m., and then the English session will be from 11.30 to 1 p.m. at the Lincoln Community Center, which is located at 210 First Street. We anticipate presenting the master plan, the odds, and environmental document at the PI Commission at City of Nassau this year, basically tentatively for November and then at City of Nassau in December. At this time, there will be a public review period for all three of those documents so that we can review them and provide feedback. So yeah, so just keep up with the project's website as we will be looking be uploading these documents to LinkedIn. Any questions?

Everett, thanks. When you talk about keeping the look and flow of buildings and these new plans, is there also something in terms of, or what's the plan for landscaping and lighting around them, or is there one? And then you also mentioned something about arts. Is there a plan for the arts, or that's just an idea at this point?

Yeah, so with the downtown master plan, that's going to be the policy document. And in there, there's going to be essentially like what the vision and what proposed development is going to look like. But as part of the objective design development centers for any sort of site development, if there's like vacant lots, there will be some sort of like, you know, certain like landscaping and certain standards for like the entries of the buildings, the height and that sort of thing. for like what we want them often to look like.

Then for art pieces or artwork that's done with buildings or something, is that going to be a separate commission?

Yeah, it's the downtown master plan does make a reference to the art league and the effort that the county have for like murals and stuff. So it does reference that. Okay, thank you.

So Efren, the approach that you were taking at one time was similar to what they did in Davis. What was the terminology used for that?

Yeah, in Davis, they did a downtown specific plan. So the only difference is essentially with this, we have the master plan, but then we also combine it with the objective design and development centers. So essentially, with the objective design and development centers, it's supposed to help.

Does this refer to a form, Bill?

Yes, it's a farm-based code.

Can I say it again? A farm-based code? So you're still taking that project in the downtown proper area, or are you taking the entire plan?

It's the entire plan area. Including the residential areas? Yeah, that farm-based code. But again, it's voluntary. It's not mandatory. So if someone comes in with a project and they don't want to opt in to using the form that's prescribed for a certain vacant lot, they don't have to. They can come forward with a plan of their own. They're just going to go through the regular plan process. If they choose to use the form that's prescribed for that lot, then there is a much... quicker, faster process.

So what's the rules that apply if you don't follow the formula?

It's the regular planning process that we have now.

I mean, what rules apply? What zoning rules apply? Land use rules?

The city's zoning and land use that are in existence for that lot. So if it's a residential lot.

Zoning staying in place?

Exactly. So that's not changing. This is just in addition, an alternative path.

reduced.

It does for some areas. That's important.

Yeah. So yeah, what the idea with the form-based code essentially like a lot of times with development, there's like, you process but what they deal with the form-based code essentially is like if you know your architect reviews all these standards and then they can design something that matches that it'll be a lot more streamlined and less like subjectivity in reviewing the project and you get more on average you probably get slightly

And it changed all sorts of different areas, so this gives them another way to, yeah.

It's the fast pass. It is.

Should that reduce some of your work?

It'll be different work instead of, like, preparing stuff for, like, a meeting and, like, getting your notes out. It might add to overall efficiency.

Okay.

Yeah, I don't know that it actually will reduce the work of the planners, because they still will have the same level of review required for the plan to ensure that it meets the prescribed form. Sure.

Long road. Congratulations. You get to the end, huh? Yeah, we're almost there.

19th, then we'll be scheduling the Planning Commission adoption of these documents and then more recommendation to then the City Council. So we'll be presenting this to the Planning Commission and then after Planning Commission, City Council.

So there could be some update based on the input on the 19th?

Yeah. Yeah. There could be some changes to slight changes to the document. Yeah. we hadn't gotten before? Some of the feedback, it's still relatively the same. The topics are still the same. There's concerns of parking. But at least I think one of the things that struck out to me was the improvements of I was like oh yeah like we should probably like change that as far as like the timing when crossing and stuff like that yeah so just like it was more like I was like oh that's very public specific yeah yeah good any other questions comments there was a comment up there about the water table I think that was some feedback is that yes being addressed in the With that, yeah, there is concerns about like, those were the comments I brought up at the community workshop number two. And so for that, as part of this project, we also have the EIFD visibility. And so one of the things is like looking at our current infrastructure and see where like, you know, what's our infrastructure is lacking currently and when it is, you know, projected to be approved and how much it would cost to prepare all that and if any chance we could do, like, negotiate a better cost sharing with the county for taxes.

Do we have some of that information already when we went through the whole water rate stuff a couple years ago?

Even on the water table levels? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, so that depends on which portion of Lincoln and what watershed you're in, because we're in sort of two different ones, depending on where you live. But on the flat ground, yeah. There's actually, we know this because there's a few homes in the downtown that actually have basements. And a number of years ago, a gentleman came in and we were talking and he told me that depending on the level of rain that year, his basement will actually flow a little bit. So you're, they call it freeboard water world, but we get as high or as high up in the table. We wouldn't want to drink that water that's a little closer to the surface. It's the oils and things in there you want. But primarily the thing would be that if somebody comes in with a project where they want to have a subsurface basement or something, they'd probably need an engineer to go verify that they could build it without flooding all the time. Since I've been here, I can't remember. I think it's just because that table's too high.

The overall capacity is there for growth.

Oh, yeah.

I think that's the issue.

Oh, I'm sorry. We have thousands of units of capacity already reserved through Clash County Water Agency, and then this last great study we included more of a presence with our own wells, just a major problem. So we have, I think, six or eight wells that we plant in the Village 5 area to supplement. So water is not a problem for us for the short term, at least medium term. Longer, longer term, all waters, we learned this during the drought, people that had pre-red variant 1917 rights, which looked to be the strongest rights in the world, During the drought, the government said, nope, all water is belong to us, and then flicked aside. PCWA does have a really decent water rights, and because they survive snow melt, their reservoirs are usually pretty good shape, but we could go through a time where it's better to be on surface water that you're buying in that case than it is to be on your own wells, which they can... I don't know if Lincoln did that during the drought, but whether you guys are part of the whole water every other day thing and mandatory conservation during the drought. But in terms of capacity, that's not really an issue for us.

Okay, well here's to a makeover for Duncan.

Yeah, so past seats along these fires.

I have one last question. Yeah. Aside from the outreach that we got, we were doing as part of the stutter grant. Yeah. How many, have you had six public meetings about this now or more?

Yes, we had two. So essentially, we have the community workshop number two, and then we're going to, we're applying for the September 19th community workshop number three. But we also had two additional stakeholder meetings. Yeah, that's right. Okay. And then the last one was in July, July 9th, and it was at the chamber. Okay. That's good. That's pretty robust for Planning Commission and they're like a final yeah yeah I can do that great I just see the final final you think the draft documents the first time everybody get a peek at it is when um yeah we're trying to like upload it and have it up um before the 19th okay I'm assuming it has to go to Council yeah that's correct

Yeah, there's no one online. Questions?

No one online.

Okay, thank you.

So our next item is 6D.

It's an update on the Play Arts Center. I'm a graphics person for the Lincoln Play Arts Center. So this is to give a little recap. The Lincoln Play Arts Center non-profit was founded in 2024 for the sole purpose of reactivating the current library. It's sitting there vacant and underutilized since the 12 Bridges Library to give us a grant to hire a consultant to look at a feasibility study for the reuse of the building. And at the time, we were thinking it would be more of an exhibit special events space. But the consultant we hired, AMS, planning the research out of Sacramento came back and said that's basically, I mean, you could do it, but it's not going to generate a lot of economic impact. And it's going to be a constant uphill battle to keep it going. You have to refresh it continuously to keep people coming back. So they came back and recommended that we do a center, an art center focused on the play arts, which makes a lot of sense given where we are and given our history here. Then in 2026, the city council to renovate the building to actually convert it to the Arts Center. Currently, we are in for permits. We've submitted for permits, working through that process. Hopefully soon we'll get our first set of permits. There's not a lot of work that needs to be done. But our initial permits will be focused on upgrading the electrical work and doing the work on the side of the building to make it ready for the ADA elevator lift that needs to go in to provide ADA access to the main level of the building. And that's full disclosure. The electrician's full circuit out of Roseville. And then we have MEG Concrete, which you guys have used quite a bit here at the city. TAB, Mark McIntyre:" And then pack West we went through five different companies to post out on path West for the elevator with a lot of bidding process and no less than three business in cases five days and then the equipment. TAB, Mark McIntyre:" we're getting ready to sign the purchase order for all of the equipment, we have our. TAB, Mark McIntyre:" tables. signing that purchase order in the next week or so, because there's a long lead item, fairly long lead item on the kilns. Initially installed two kilns, but we're going to have capacity for up to three. And then our target date that we've initially set for opening the Claydart Center is the first quarter of 27, which seems like it's tomorrow, but there's not a lot of work that has to be done, so I'm still optimistic we'll make our opening date early 27.

You're doing the restrooms, right? You're doing the downstairs restroom?

We're not adding a restroom. The building is really tiny. Anybody who wants to walk through it, I'm happy to do it. But adding a restroom on the second level with all those windows just didn't make a lot of sense.

So that would be an ADA-compatible restroom?

The restroom downstairs was, they did a renovation of the building in 2001. and they upgraded the restroom to ADA, but we're going to be doing some improvements to it.

Next slide, please.

So the vision is to, based on the work that AMS did on the project, they recommended a clay art center. So our overall vision is to transform it into a vibrant hub for the clay arts. I'm sure they're eager as much as a lot of us are to see that building put back into productive use. And there's an overall timeline for the building itself opening in 1909. And I just realized yesterday the chamber was founded that same year. Oh, really? So we have it. with the chamber in that regard. That's funny. Then first, like I said, the first renovation was done in 2001, feasibility 25, renovation almost 100 years later. Well, the building's in really good shape, which is a good thing. So there's not a lot of work that needs to be done. So the city's done a good job keeping it. It was really well built, and the city's done a really good job maintaining it. Next slide. So it's a building steeped in history. There's one of the earliest photographs I could find of the building. It was done shortly after it was finished. It looks almost exactly like that. It's got a little bit of wear and tear on the outside and a few things added to it, but essentially it's the same building. I did some effort to try to find a color. They didn't have color photography, but they did do a lot of colorizing of black and whites. I did my best. What would you call that?

Charcoal kind of color for the doors.

The building was constructed with a grant from Andrew Carnegie. The ground it sits on was acquired by a group of Lincoln residents and donated to the project. And then Gladys McBean contributed all the brickwork you see, terracotta trim, and the roof tiles were all manufactured by Gladys McBean. And the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. I think it entered the registry in 1990, early 90s. It was put on the registry.

Aren't those, when they're registered, they're sometimes difficult to make changes to? Is it just because we're not changing the exterior? We're not making, well, the ADA is required.

That's a requirement.

accommodate the ADA accessibility. Other than that, we're not making any changes on the industry. We're making some minor changes on the inside, but nothing that detracts from its original condition.

The solution you came up with for the lift is really cool because all the alternatives that have been discussed for many, many decades was to either put probably an unsightly chairlift on those stairs at the very front.

Stair chair.

Yes, exactly. Or get rid of those old stairs and build a winding path all the way up. So Dave's concept is much better because it's tucked on the side and just as usable.

Yeah, we looked at six different alternatives, you know, I have a group of retired guys working on this, so we seem to have plenty of time to explore alternatives. So we even looked at a ramp. To do a ramp up to that level, we'd have to basically go all the way around the buildings. Which I try to argue that the benefits of doing it, but it was a little hard to make that happen. And then we looked at several different ways of accessing it on the side of the building. We did look at putting a chairlift in the front, but we don't have enough space between the start of the stair and the public sidewalk. So we have to encroach into the public sidewalk to do that. So we abandoned that pretty quickly.

So which side is it going to be?

It's going to be on the side of the building. You won't even see it. It's a side entrance to it. to the right of, well, I'm sorry, yeah, to the right, between the Carnegie and the adjacent property.

And then it's the area behind the little parklet or whatever that is.

Yeah, I'm going to touch on that later, but yeah, we're going to, that's phase two. I've got plenty for my full retirement. Next slide, please. So the programs that we're going to be offering, essentially the main level of the building will be an open plan studio space. So we hope to accommodate, well, we will accommodate six artists in a little studio workspace. There'll be some exhibit areas on the main level in the back. So we can have work generated by the artists in the studio on display, folks that are interested in purchasing. any of those items. And there'll be an area set aside for the shared equipment that the artists will be using, different pieces of equipment that they need. Each artist will have their own pottery wheel and their own workstation, but then there's some shared equipment. And then the downstairs will be the workshop space. So we'll have 10 wheels, pottery wheels, and tables set up for conducting classes, both beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes. In the downstairs area, we'll have the storeroom. I don't know who's been in the building or not, but there is a storage room in the basement that will be retrofitted and accommodate the kilns, initially to, like I said, If the demand dictates it, then we'll go to a third kiln. And the restroom is downstairs. There'll be some modifications to the restroom. And then the Lincoln Clay Arts Center office will be in there. Phase two, some of the future programs that we're discussing as a nonprofit, an artist-in-residence program. We actually reconfigured one of the studio spaces on the main level to be a little bit larger than the other ones to accommodate an artist-in-residence program. There's currently one at the Blue Line managed to pull that off here. I think that would be further in our cap, so to speak. And we have an individual who's come forward and expressed an interest in actually funding that. So we're working with that individual and the Placer Community Foundation on putting the funding together to make that happen. So hopefully within, hopefully we can launch that, launch it late in 2027. We're also looking at doing a clay art therapy program. Clay art therapy is a lot of therapists who work with folks with mental health challenges. They use art as a as part of their therapy programs. Clay art is considered one of the more effective ones because of the forgetting nature of clay, because you can rework the clay if you don't like the results. We're all back together and start over again. And the tactile nature of clay. So it has a lot of beneficial use for Patients going through mental health challenges. So our goal is to launch something in 2020. That's going to be a fairly complicated program to put together. We'll need a number of partners to work with us on that. But our goal is to launch that in 2028. And then we also probably will in 2028, not this first year, but the second year, have some introductory classes for students. Interesting. I'm learning this as I go.

You might be one one day, though.

I don't think so.

In your retirement.

So classes, you know, just to introduce the youth from our schools to the world of play art, it would probably just be a single class during the summer months and then maybe around the holiday season, I'll offer some classes.

In addition to having events there, like Blue Line has a lot of events to offset their costs.

Well, there is a completely different model than ours. They have a much larger facility, so they can have a standing exhibit. We're just not large enough to do that. But we plan to have events through the year, probably more like in line with an open house type of event, where we can open the building up, invite people in, and hopefully sell some art pieces that we would then collect a commission on.

That's our plan.

I wanted to do one monthly, but I'm told that's crazy. So maybe every other month we'll have an open house.

I was told that by somebody that would know. To land on like parade days where there's thousands of people.

Yeah, so when there's an event downtown, we might have an open house that day as well. Open the building up and invite people in. But keep in mind that the artists working upstairs, that's their office. So they're working, but hopefully they won't be too disagreeable with having folks come in. observe them working. We'll see how that works out. And then phase two, I've thrown this out at Sean a couple times, and he hasn't really commented too much on it, but I like the space behind the Carnegie Library that I think everybody, I think it's Scal Hall Park is how I think about it. I'd like to reconfigure that into an outdoor public art park, so we have display. And that's where I like to work with Gladi McBean to put some large stale Gladi McBean artifacts on display and rotate those over time so it's not just a static exhibit that we can maybe sell some of the contemporary pieces and then bring in new ones and then rotate the Gladi McBean pieces so there's new pieces to come. And then we would have a small area for events for small stage for some types of gatherings. We could have small gatherings or events take place. And then we can also combine it with other events. For example, the farmer's market. I don't know if they are now. I keep meaning to go

I don't think they spill in there, but they could.

But like when they have feets of clay and the art league does feets of clay, we could spill it over into the art.

Makes sense.

And the other idea is that we could also, during the months of the year when the weather's really good, we can move some of the pottery wheels out into the art park and have the artists actually working out there. That's awesome.

And people can come by and... Is there any plan to maybe repave that little parking lot that's a secret parking lot back there? That is the city's parking lot.

And I'll leave that question up to the city.

Where is it?

It's a secret.

This is the one right behind the spell. That's ours? Yes.

Well, I think he's put up a sign saying, you know, regulating who can park there, but it's the city lot. Oh, really?

Scott has one of those cardboard recycling bins there.

Oh, okay. I'll go take a look at it. There's something new today.

It needs to be repaved. It's really old. It's the place that I always park my parking down to.

That's a lot. Yeah. I legitimately never parked there because I figured it was so much private parking.

It is marked for them. They marked it for themselves, right?

Exactly.

I believed it. I would have enjoyed it.

You're giving up your secrets. I know, I know.

I don't want to tell special people about this.

One time I thought about putting the kilns. It is a tripping house. One time I thought about putting a small structure in that lot with a kiln.

Nobody knew about it. You could have done that.

Sean may not know, but the city knows.

And then you put a sign up, my kiln's locked.

Everyone can walk real quick on that idea.

One other item is that the leadership class, their project was to redo that scout hall garden in a few years. You might want to talk to them, the chamber, about if you're going to change that. Well, the chamber's aware. Because it was a leadership project that they spent time and effort and money on. I talk to the chamber all the time, though.

When did they do that?

Recently? I don't know, four or five years ago? I don't remember. But that was their, whatever class that was, that was their project, so. Maybe there's a way. I'm in print. Are they in print on theirs?

Well, I just may be sensitive to the fact that. So we're becoming a chamber member of the Lincoln Play Arts Center.

Yeah, I don't know if Tom would remember, but I'm sure he would.

Anyway, I just wanted to bring that up because I appreciate what they do in their project. I mean, Tom has wanted to stage their proposal.

I heard it was a bleacher. It says a stage.

Tom, for a long time, it didn't work out for a couple of reasons, mostly grade. But there was a thought for a while that it might be cool to have a stage there where You have a lot of space there, but this idea is just a school witness.

So if you've ever been in Auburn, they actually do have a public art park kind of similar to what it's a lot of hardscape. I don't think ours would be quite that much concrete, but they have a public art park in their downtown area and a Lincoln Street right next to their, I think it's the chamber there or their visitors bureau. And that one actually has a public restroom in it. I know you can talk about it. Yeah, we did.

It's really nice. It's very nice. We went one day. It's well done. They've got, like, I can't remember what other city did the same kind of exhibit that I was in. Anyway, I can't remember if it was, like, maybe Seattle. But they have this exhibit where it's all these different colored umbrellas that you walk under. And then they have, like, a mosaic... kind of art walk through it. And then there's benches and plants. There's a little stage. Yeah, a little stage. So it kind of blends into the cityscape when it's not being used. But then I can see how it could just transform into a place, like place making.

Yeah, I can send some pictures around. But they use the umbrellas in the summertime. They're actually just open umbrellas, different colors.

Yeah, it's beautiful.

And then in the cooler months, they put out lights. So it's a good example of one that's right here in our backyard that you can go look at and get a sense of what we'd like to do with Scott Hall. So all of this does relate back to a previous item we had on the agenda about working with the state to get Lincoln designated as a cultural district. So that's what we're working towards. Hopefully, the Play Arts Center will help move that forward. we'll be ready to submit an application when they open that up again in about four and a half years from now. So that's really what we're trying to do. And I got involved in this being on the EDC, because I see this as part of our overall economic development strategy for downtown, reactivating underutilized buildings and putting uses in them that attract visitors to Lincoln, because a lot of the tax revenue, which is good tax revenue, visitors come, spend their money, and then they leave, which is which is a good way to generate revenue for your city cost for spending in your services. So it all connects. Next slide. So I actually did this slide, which I broke every rule in the book by putting too much on. So essentially we're in the process right now. We have the capital dollars to pay for the renovation of the building, to pay for all the equipment. We're looking, we put together a business plan. I'm getting ready to send a business plan. I've got a draft, brown and silver Vachon. Next week, we did perform a budget for a conservative budget for the operation of the Play Arts Center. We expect to break even based on the information we receive from AMS, as well as research that we've done our own, that the center should be able to break even, fully support itself by year three. It might happen sooner, but we anticipate it happening in year three. So we need to start raising some funds, start on capital for the, for the operation. We would like to bring on board a full-time studio manager and assistant. And we need different vendors to support the operation and supplies center until we get to the point where we're fully self-sufficient. So we're in the process of reaching out, looking for donors. We've met with the Lincoln Feeney Foundation, which is now an early supporter of our project. Thank you. We've met with the Placer Community Foundation, the Lincoln Hills Community Foundation, the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. We now have our Giving Edge profile under review by the Sacramento Community Foundation. Once that's approved, then we'll be eligible for the big day of giving. So our profile will be online for anyone that's looking for opportunities. to invest in a nonprofit whose mission they aligned well with. So we're in the process right now of spreading the word of potential donors. I have a little flyer here. I'm happy to send around to folks. If you have family and friends or know people that might be interested in the project, please pass it on. I'm more than happy to meet with them and go over what the overall plan of action is for the building and answer any questions they may have. We've also had some help from the county, thanks to Daniela. They did a foundation search for us. We're in kind of that uncomfortable situation where you don't have a track record. Most foundations and corporate givers want a nonprofit that has an established track record of at least two years. So we're in that little weird spot right now. And startup capital, if you've ever started up your own company, startup capital is some of the hardest dollars to raise. That's where we stand right now. Our goal is $75,000. And I hope we get there. I think we will get there. I'm positive we will get there.

Dave, is there some kind of support that we can provide in writing or something the city council could ask? HAB-Terry Palmos- For being really clear about the city's commitment to the project success that might help you get other dollars like if they knew that you know we've been running in and we're likely going to commit to helping as well that be useful do you think.

HAB-Terry Palmos- Well, the fact that the city is doing so much money already already already well. HAB-Terry Palmos- Let it be heard.

I mean, if you needed something like that, I'm sure we could do it.

Yeah. So if I talk to a donor who wants confirmation of the city's support, then I would say reach out to you to see if that would be possible. I would think that once the city council considers the brownies and they are on board with approving that, that becomes an official act. I appreciate that. Thank you.

Just one other question. I was wondering, when you get to break even at year three or before that, are you setting up your business model such that some portion of that break-even revenue is you know, something you're charging for people's use of the facility or visiting it and also ongoing fundraising and philanthropy.

So we didn't put any numbers into the pro forma for that because of the uncertainty of that revenue stream. But we can make the building when it's not being used. The basement can be used for meetings and different kinds of events. I guess small events could be held in the basement. I think the art park has a bigger opportunity for revenue generation than the building itself. And then the main level, the artist studios, it's an open floor plan. All the equipment's movable, so we can, in theory, move everything to the side and have it at that big place on the main level as well. So that is definitely something that we're gonna pursue and see if we can make that happen. So I think a better play for them will be the art part. Like a showcase for them. So I have reached out to them on a number of different occasions. I'm about ready to submit. They have a foundation. The parent company has a foundation. So I'm going to submit a request. Okay. primarily geared towards providing tuition reimbursements for individuals that are moderate to low-income families. That's really their focus is education. So it doesn't have a great chance of getting funded, but I am going to submit that.

No, Sierra Pacific has a foundation. They don't give very much, though.

But any amount is good because then they show up as a supporter. Any amount that's provided. We're actually using Zephy as our platform for collecting the donations. And there's a little thermometer or whatever on there. And so today or tomorrow, it will reflect a donation that we received from the Lincoln Community Foundation. So it's starting to move a little bit. amount that's donated moves that needle further. I am in discussions with a older couple that wants to put up what I call a challenge grant. Basically, they'll put a dollar per dollar, they'll match dollar per dollar a grant, any donation up to a certain amount. And we're discussing what that amount would be. So that would be helpful in terms of encouraging people to want to give because essentially the dollar you give is double. So it has a double impact.

Well, I understand it went well at the Plaster Community Foundation. They were impressed. Oh, yeah. I like those folks.

I expect to get support from them going forward. They are already helping us with the Artists in Residence program. They have a donor that's funding the program in That's all I got. Any questions? Any more questions?

Super impressive. Just keep coming back to how long people have been sort of in analysis paralysis over what to do at this moment. never really doing anything it's always the city should do something yeah do something not that though or that or any of that yeah how dare you do that and it's pretty cool too because i i mean you know i'd be honest with you when we first kind of got a full proposal and we were prepping um council members that maybe weren't super involved in sort of like skepticism because it seems sort of fuzzy uh it doesn't seem so fuzzy now actually play arts are a big thing in this part of the states there's actually a demand for more workspace for players we were just talking over here that um daniella was on a hot streak of winning every award in the region and we just thought

So I'm out pitching, seeking opportunities to pitch it to various, like the Kiwanis or the Rotaries, just to let them know where we are with the project. Maybe there's some members in their organizations that stand up in some way. So that's the process I'm going through right now. That's all I have. Awesome. Thank you. If there are no other questions on that, we'll move on to new and continuing business. Brian on strategic plan priorities and next steps. I assume there were no questions on Zoom. Sorry, I should have asked.

We're just going to go over, I know this was a question in regard to what we're working on as it relates to the strategic plan that we approved, and then also what we see on the horizon for the year ahead and how this committee can get involved. So you can go to the next slide, please. So just a reminder in terms of the three pillars that we're focused on as it relates to our strategic action plan, business development, which equates to jobs and revenue, business retention, expansion, and creation, and then competitiveness and business climate. So current projects that are underway, and I actually forgot to put one on here, so I apologize. Business development, we've done a tremendous amount of outreach. We've been involved with GSEC. We went to ICSC earlier in the year, and now we'll be going to San Diego Next week, so Daniela will be in San Diego next week. We have meetings with a number of retailers while we're there, really highlighting some of our biggest commercial developments that are on the horizon, including 12 Bridges, Lincoln Square West, Lincoln Square, and Ferraro Pavilion. So those are our four targets. And then as we continue to go to ICSC and other conferences, we'll also So a ton of outreach in that area, which falls under that commercial and retail focus area. And then, as you just heard, the Carnegie Refresh, which falls into activating downtown. So we're really excited. Those are projects that are underway, currently in progress. For pillar two, business retention, expansion, and creation, Danielle has launched a number of products over the last year and are still continuing those areas. That's our permit assistance program, which is monthly. Our business spotlight, which we coordinate with the 12 Bridges Art and Media class. We're very excited to get that back underway now that they're back in school. And then also the... business retention expansion, so the business walks and the follow-up as it relates to our business walks have all been underway. The one area where we don't have a ton underway or an active project is really that third pillar, competitiveness and business climate, but we do have an exciting Just really quickly, this is what we see as new projects to undertake and how this committee will get involved, especially with the city council approving the strategic plan for the city last night and how these fall into areas that were highlighted. A or priority B for the city council. So we'll all go into more detail on three of these, but for business development, we are very interested and are just now investigating a site selector brochure, which would be a physical brochure that we would work with our development commercial partners on, as well as a clickable brochure on our website. So where you can go onto our economic development page, click through those, it would link to The demographic page we already have available. So just making it a little more interactive. So when we're getting these inquiries, we can send them directly to this page. In addition to the portal that already exists with zoom prospector to identify available properties. And then also, like I said, the demographics page. which we're really excited about and I'll let Sean talk about here in just a minute. For our business retention, expansion, and creation area, that will be the innovation hub that we're working on with Jessup University. I have an update for you on that. And then for competitiveness and business climate, what we'd really like to focus on in the next year is a full marketing campaign to help not only for the residential growth, but More importantly, our commercial and industrial growth that's on the horizon. So how we can start to really set ourselves aside in the region, not compare ourselves to neighboring communities, but more important, highlight what makes us unique and why they should come here. So we'll go to the next slide, Blair. So under business development, we have done a lot of work in the last two years on creating new materials, identifying areas to highlight, how we market ourselves at industry events, how we coordinate with GSEC. So this would be putting it all in one place and more importantly, making it digital. A lot of what we have now is digital. take it with us. It's materials that we're taking to events for a reason of mine, but a lot of the work we do are with people that are not in the area. So we would love to be able to drag them and highlight the tools that our amazing IT and GIS staff have already made available for us, but in a more comprehensive packaged presentation. So not only would it help us with the retail outreach that we're doing, but it would be something that would tie into the branding campaign as well as we launch that for the third pillar. So we're really excited about this. This would be an area if anybody's interested in helping or becoming a part of a subcommittee, this would be an area moving forward in the year ahead that we think aligns directly with city council's goals, but also starts to set up Lincoln aside with the commercial development we have on the immediate horizon. Next slide. For the business retention, expansion, and creation, we're so excited. I think this is something that is really going to be another activating a downtown space and really leveraging the expertise of the School of Business at Chesif University. They received some of our ARPA funding, and not a ton, but we are very excited. We've toured the space now, and we have an initial proposal for spending to... the area second floor that we're talking about. It would be an area where people could come to work. We could host workshops with the School of Business. It would have technology available. for them to come in and use, create, sort of launch their business space and accelerate plans. So with the initial, and no promises here, I don't have definite timelines, but with the purchases and with the space across the hall, what we would hope to have through our three tiers of activation with Jessup to get it all outfitted is a full conference room slash classroom that would have video, audio and recording capabilities. Two usable offices with technology other than just computers. So if somebody's coming in and needs a space to create their own business or to meet with potential clients, that would be sort of their office space that they could use. And a four-person recording studio. in the space as well. So we would be able to accomplish this all with just the $50,000 that we gave them. And then we would continue to expand in terms of what programming we would bring online, how the School of Business would get involved additionally to bring resources, classes, events to that space outside of just the accelerator and working space for potential businesses. That's pretty exciting. We're very excited. We're in the initial phases now. So there is work going on, but it's a blank canvas right now. If for anybody who's been in that space or have seen it, it's just empty walls with four offices and a kitchen. So what we would like that to be is a real working space. So for the next September through December, our goal is to purchase the equipment, outfit the space with the technology that we need, and then bring a subcommittee together or a stakeholder group that would then market it. So that would be an additional opportunity for members of this committee to get involved in the next year in terms of how we program that, how we coordinate with Jessup, with the School of Business and other master's programs.

What do you foresee the recording studio for?

That you'd have to ask Ray. We are relying on Ray Bryant from Jessup University, who heads the School of Business, whether that be Commercials. Podcasts. Any number of things.

Podcast space.

Any number of things. It wouldn't necessarily be for us to use, but for somebody in the community who would want to do something as a space. I mean, secretly, I would love to do something. But we're really relying on Ray's expertise and his background to help us outfit it. And then we would bring stakeholders together from the city to make sure it's programmed correctly with Chamber and vice versa. I'm very excited about this project.

When you say... Like we gave them the ARPA funding? Correct. Was that the city giving? Correct. It was our remaining. University or the business school or who? Where did that come from?

Chesapeake University received the funding and they're partnering with us. We have an MOU and a resolution that went in 2025. The end of 2025 was approved for this space specifically to be some type of business accelerator or innovation hub. So in the early, since January, we've been working with Ray on what this could look like, what sort of resources. As I'm sure all of you have read, the university has gone through a number of leadership changes in 2026, which is why we haven't outfitted it yet. We wanted to make sure that they were on solid footing, we were on solid footing, so the plan didn't change. And Ray's been a great resource. and how he runs the school and businesses he's run. So now we're in the, we're going to outfit it by the end of this year with the technology we need. And then initially when we took that proposal to city council, we had talked about a stakeholder group being the committee that sort of identifies how do we use this? How do we market it? How do we make this available to businesses? So that's where either one to two members of this committee would be on that stakeholder group with members from Jessup University. to identify how we would then use the space moving forward so we're at the very early phases that we thought would have been accomplished in the first six months but with the leadership changes i'm really excited they're on board they're very engaged the university overall and i think this could be an exciting opportunity for us to um not compete with neighboring communities and what they're doing but enhance and make that space available here businesses on lincoln so we're very, very excited about next steps. So that will be a project that I would hope one to two members of this committee would be interested in how we activate the building and really grow that hub with Jessup moving forward. And then, oh, go ahead.

Well, at some point, I was actually just thinking once they're a little bit closer to enrolling, probably we'll invite Ray to come. here. He's a really, really interesting guy. He's a big thinker. He's an entrepreneur. He's started many companies and is now in a phase, I think, he's in a phase of his life where he's just sort of doing some teaching and enjoying himself. Yeah.

We're very excited about that. And before I let Sean talk a little bit about the regional sports complex, I'll get to that third pillar as well. So Blair, we can go to the next slide. I'm pretty sure it was my second or third meeting here. I brought the post-marketing budget to this committee. As I'm sure you can imagine priority shift over time and funding is not what it is in every city, but we're very excited to launch something in 2027 to market the city of Lincoln. We have met with a number of developers who are seeing fluctuations even in home sales and what that looks like and how we compete with other areas in Placer County. But we obviously have a ton of residential growth. And now, more importantly, we have the commercial to support it and really to set ourselves aside. So if we have a brand, when I go talk to the community, a lot of times I hear, well, Roseville has something. or Rocklin has, or they do this. And I think what's really important as we launch this campaign, which we don't have a name for yet is who cares what Roosevelt has and what Rocklin has, what sets Lincoln aside and really digging in and trusting that message and sticking with it over a period of time so that we start to, um, create a narrative about Lincoln for Lincoln, not how we fit into the larger scale, but it's what makes Lincoln special, what pushes us forward and making it a part of everything we do in the city of Lincoln. How parks and rec communicate, how library communicates, how public works communicates, how public safety communicates, we'll all have that same thread running through it. And that's how we start to distinguish ourselves in the market. And I think this is a perfect time because we do have large commercial on the horizon. We have exciting projects. We have interested retail developers that are right there on the cusp of wanting to come here. So I think as we can start to increase what we look like and sound like and feel like when you come here, we'll be able to start hosting site selector events and for a very distinct reason that has nothing to do with what's happening or Rockland or Sacramento. It's because they're coming here because of Lincoln. So this is something we're just now, we've talked to a couple of developers on what they're seeing from the residential side. We're very engaged on the commercial side as we head to ICSC next week. And we'll be able to take some of that feedback from the retailers themselves and then bring a committee together to launch. Okay, what does this look like? this off the ground. And then, Sean, I don't know if you want to just touch briefly on the Village Five Sports Complex area as well.

Yeah. Well, just to add one thing here, I'm really excited. And I really like, it was funny, we had a meeting a couple weeks ago about this, and I think I fell into it myself. Like, we spent a lot of time being like, oh, you know, optimism, you know, nuggets or whatever. Or we spent so little time, so much time sort of chasing that, not really like thinking about it. um on the regional sports complex i presented that last time so i'm going to go through all that again with you but the update on that is that um we so we met with flash valley tourism a couple times about this and um they're super interested um the details that are going to get um i think it'll be fun experience but there's going to be a lot of wrangling about what fields of what particular sport and how do you use those 70 acres to the greatest extent. Having them involved, as I said last time, is really important because there's just things I don't know about, you know, the professional sport and how bathroom towards the front or whatever, right?

So they've been super useful.

And they're going to be, Tim Summers, who runs that place over there, is going to be a participant in the process. We should have, I'm putting together sort of a first very rough draft of what an RFP Chris Wanner, pockets to come in and potentially partner on the accelerating the build of this left to its own devices, as I said last time, I think that the project probably doesn't happen. Chris Wanner, So the city kind of has to take a. already kind of compiled and we kind of like Aaron said on the other items we'd love to have this is going to be a little bit more complex subcommittee because there's a couple community members that are Roger Goulton who is a really useful person to have because he spends a lot of time researching things and really follows his stuff very closely so he's been very involved He suggested that we also include a couple of people from our rec committee to participate, and then a couple of people from this committee. So I'm thinking that if those names get established, I would say within the next two more weeks, I'll have a couple of different draft versions for subcommittee to look at. And I don't want to bog it down too much process, but that looks pretty decent. We get it here, we get it to rec, we get it to city council, and we get it out on the street. My ambitious internal goal is if we could get it out onto the street before the end of the year, then we could spend the first couple of months hopefully getting some responses. We're actually going to go and directly solicit some of the larger companies that do this kind of thing, not just hope they see it.

So you're looking at it privately financed?

Yeah.

We're giving the lay on and then somebody comes in wanting for the improvement.

Yeah. And they, they, the idea, I mean, we'll see how everybody feels about the idea probably is that it operates mostly as a private, you know, B for service place. And then what we hope is we can work a deal that like during off days. So off season or, or, you know, Mondays through Thursdays, it's just a and then Fridays through Sundays or Mondays are just, that's when they're making the big time. So, PBT's watching this very closely because so many of the room nights have to do with travel and sports. It's interesting, she was telling me that, she was telling me that the market in the hotel world is weird right now because they're doing super well, even our hotels here are doing super well like Thursday through like Sunday. Yeah.

The more successful the sports complex is, it draws more folks to it.

Depending on the scale of it, it's pretty big and there just isn't anything relatively recent that exists around here. Big question we asked ourselves at the very beginning is, should we go and do a market study to determine what exactly we should do? PBT's perspective was, look, we've already done that a bunch of times. We know what you need.

So the one that they bought the naming rights on, that was in Roseville? Yes. So pickleball.

Soccer. Soccer. Yeah, long field.

How many acres is that facility? Does anybody know? Soccer field?

Zero. I don't know. It's certainly not as big.

Five fields? Eight fields?

Ten.

Ten fields.

Yeah, we probably could find out. I don't think it's over 70. It's certainly not over 70 acres. I'd be surprised.

They've got 500 parking spots on each.

Oh, that's true. They did have a lot of parking. Yeah. And then, you know, the other little things are what other little side amenities. Because remember, we have 20, the developer has 50. So there's a room in the space, like, Uh, yeah, that's the, well, that's the other question too, is whether the whole family goes up to this project or 50 of the private does a 20. It's just a. Larger part break next door to it. Yeah.

Just have to maintain the park for you.

Yeah. The grounds is huge and it's 55 to 60. Acres.

The grounds, yeah.

It's big. Which works, I think, to our advantage here because you probably aren't going to get those people with the deep pockets to come in on a DeAnchor project. You know, they want to book this thing all year round, everything.

So much to be excited about. Thank you.

A lot of the stuff that we work on is not super fun and exciting. This is actually sort of fun.

That's true for a lot of jobs. So if there's something you're interested in before we leave today, you can let me know. We'll also send a follow-up email just if there's a project that you do not have to be. These are just opportunities since I know that was a question on how we get this group engaged on active projects. So we'll send a follow-up if there's something before we leave today we can touch on.

I'm interested in how One of the things I'd like to be able to do is, you know, a lot of artists, they're doing the artwork to support themselves, but they don't know how to run a business to actually do business. So give them some basic training around how to operate themselves as a business.

They could use the hub for the technology to sell their stuff online and do videos and do a podcast, all the thing.

Virtual app events.

Uh-huh. So we're very excited, but we hope this helps sort of streamline how it fits in, how it ties back to the council strategic plan. But we think we have a lot of great things in motion, but also really timely and things we can accomplish in a timeframe. So I'm really excited, but we'll send a follow-up email as well. Thank you.

Any more questions? Anything online? It's done. HAB-Jacques Juilland- So job concludes on 788 is many initiated business any questions or comments from. HAB-Jacques Juilland- The items you want to come on the agenda in the near future, since you want to throw out there.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- Okay, follow up on this on this.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- Most important. All right, our next regular scheduled meeting is October 14th, same place, same time. I don't need a motion to adjourn. So we're adjourned. Thank you.