Downtown Development Authority - Regular Meeting

Yes. Yes. Yep. We're ready. Okay. All right. I'd like to call to order the DDA meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 18th at 6 PM. Uh our first order of business is the pledge of allegiance. Would everybody please stand? 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. Thank you. Mr. Miller, would you take the role, please? Mayor Jacobs, here. Chairperson Walker here. Trustee Walonus be absent and excused. Trustee Haidider, absent and excused. Trustee Clark here. Trusty Barry here. Trustee Boom says has to be absent and excused. Trustee Nasserdine here. And Trustee Taylor here. We do have a quorum with six members. Thank you. Moving on to item four. Uh approval of the agenda as presented. Looking for a motion. Move. So moved. Moved by uh Mayor Jacobs. I have support support by trustee Taylor. Any comments from the table from the general public? All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 60. We don't have any presentations tonight. Uh no community events. Move on to item seven, the consent agenda.

Motion's in order for the consent agenda. I move to approve the consent agenda as uh presented A through three. I have a support from Trusty Fatty. Uh any discussion from the table from the general public? All in favor? I I opposed. Motion passes. 6. Moving on to item B, our action items. Uh number one is landscape and streetscape uh maintenance agreement. This is with Carter's landscaping. It's uh a one-year contract and they kept he kept the prices the same. Yes. No no increase. Correct. So So part of our original agreement with Carter was that he would have these yearly uh approvals based on his performance and um he always does a very good job in maintaining the downtown. Uh he keeps the trash cans emptied uh blows, sweeps, all of that. And then also part of the contract services has the decorations that go up plus the banners. All of that he takes care of and all of the flowers. Um so all of that is included in here. And uh again part of the contract is that um if you look through it, it is it is uh he does do a lot down there and it's a lot of area to take care of plus the mowing of the rightway. He takes care of that. And as bricks come loose, he does fix all of those. Also, uh Gary does, I think, a very good job. And um I think is well worth the funds that he charges us. Okay. I'll entertain a

motion for the landscape contract agreement. I'll motion it. Motion by Trustee F. I'll second. Second by Trustee Barry. Uh any more discussion from the table from the general public? All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 6. Uh moving on to item uh two uh 2025 chili cookoff community event budget. Uh Mr. Miller. Actually, I'm going to John is going to take this. Mr. Prash. So, are you ready, John? Sure. Uh, we've been working earlier this year on uh pre-planning for the event. And basically, what's in front of you today is a list of expected uh and historical expenditures in their entirety. So, instead of coming to the board and asking for this dollar amount for this activity and this and this and this, we just itemized it all up. The total projected expenses uh sitting at 28,300. So, we're asking for the board to request requesting a budget for expenses not to exceed $30,000. Excuse me. Also understand that this is offset by sponsorships that are not yet uh uh uh retained as well as uh income from the event itself. So, this money will offset um at a at a pretty big dollar amount. So, uh, this is really just to get everything rolling so we can put down deposits and reserve early this year and and get everything situated the way that we would like to. What what was our revenue? What did we bring in last year? This is expenditures, but what did we what did we bring in for this year? Last last year's budget, we we spent approximately 24,000 and we we brought in approximately

uh I want to say 18 and 19. Yeah, it was 18,000. Okay. So excuse. Okay. So any other discussion? Uh als just also part of um this expenditure is also the last M meeting we approved the purchasing policy where an event like this could be uh approved in its entirety. Okay. As opposed to separate items. So okay. I'll entertain a motion. I'll make a motion. Okay. that we approve the chili cookoff expenditures as presented. 30,000 for 30,000 not to exceed 30,000. Motion by uh Trusty Taylor. Do I have a second? Second. Second, Mr. Clark. Trusty Clark. Uh any more discussion from the table from the general public? All in favor? I I opposed. Motion passes. 6. Music in the park sponsorship. Yes. And I don't would Jackie, do you want to address the board? No, she says no. Okay, fine. She's good. Okay. In case you have any questions. Okay. All right. So, Jackie is here from the Garden City Business Alliance and each year we try to support their event for the music in the park. This year you can see that um we're asking for a sponsorship of $2,000 which we do have budgeted in the promotions line item for next year beginning July 1. Um but you can see that they have June 19th, July 17th, and August 21st concerts in the park. Um and they're doing all of that. One of the big I think one of the big name groups is in July and they're called what are

they called? Magic. Magic Bus. Magic Bus is a they have a large following and uh draws a lot of people into the community for the event. Um I know that um when they've played in Plymouth that you you can't even park near the park actually. It's so busy. Um and so they're hoping for that um to uh continue of course um our sponsorship and support of their their agency that is always working with the businesses in the community. So Okay. So you're recommending the the $2,000 uh sponsorship which we have done in the past. Okay. Uh entertain a motion. So moved. Motion by uh Mayor Jacobs. at the presenting sponsor as Yes. Yeah. Okay. A second. Second from Trustee Barry. Any more discussion on music in the park sponsorship from the table? The Hold on. Are we going to have the uh Zephy and uh Bisby? Uh we're not sure. Okay. Any more discussion from the table from the general public? All in favor? I I opposed. Hearing none. Motion passes. 6. Moving on to U. Item eight, other business. Uh, item A is 2025 hometown hero banners. These items are just for discussion. We don't vote on these. Um, we'll turn it over to you, Mr. Miller. Yes. I I'm doing kind of the final push to get 40 banners prepared for Hometown Hero banners for this year. Uh just yesterday at the city council meeting, I did a little commercial to kind of fill up the rest. I had 31 yesterday. I needed nine. Today I received five applications. So we're filling up

quickly just on the little commercial I did there. Uh what I'll be doing before I leave on vacation, um I'm going to be getting all that to the printer. So we um each picture submitted separately along with a Excel spreadsheet of the you know of the veteran and um what their uh branch of services and information for the banners. U we're looking to get those uh printed and up by Memorial Day. And so we'll be again you already have uh 40 people lined up. No, I still have a few more. I have a few. I had 31 yesterday. I received five. So, I'm at 36. So, I have four. They have to be active military or a uh or a veteran. And they have to have a connection to Garden City. Correct. Yes. Yes. And we need a photograph of them in their uniform. Photograph in the uniform. And they get that to you here at city hall? Yes. And the application's available online also. Okay. Any other discussion on this or questions? Anybody at the table? This is just discussion items. Okay, moving on to item B, lucky squirrel. Back to you, Mr. Miller. We're in full squirrel mode. So, you know, we have 150 vendor spots and we're uh working to fill all of those vendor spots this year. Uh, as you recall, maybe a couple meetings ago, I talked about our bag day and uh we got that all put together. We've ordered the bags and we've also established the uh a signin for that. So the purpose of this is to start to grow our our list of people who are attending our event so we can start to track better who is coming um and if they're going to uh continue and part of it is is to build our list so that we can say we're having this event, we're having this event and just keep in communication with them. So they'll register for of a bag and then

on that day, so they'll register with their email. We'll send an email with a QR code. They'll show the QR code and then we'll be able to give them the bag. The bag has Zephy the squirrel. That is the lucky squirrel, our little moniker. And uh um just kind of a just a cute connection with the squirrel squirreling away all these things and treasures they can find at the outdoor um craft and vendor show. So, we're working on that and we're also going to start a little Facebook event um kind of marketing uh event through the Facebook marketing to to uh get that and then support the event on that on those days. Um as you know uh it's busy down there and there's a lot of people that come to it and so we're trying of course uh to increase the amount of shoppers. We also did another little marketing piece for each of the vendors if they have a following. We gave them a um I can't think of it, a little flyer that they could also attach to their their stuff to get the word out if they have their following and when they're coming and they'll be at the event. So, we did that, too. So, okay. Any questions on the lucky squirrel from the table? Okay. Next item for discussion, chili cookoff. Again, we're, you know, we're trying to be better prepared for the September 27th event. Uh the mayor, John Zachary King, our communications specialist, and myself are meeting monthly about the chili cookoff, getting it ready, and looking forward to um making sure that we've got all the all the avenues covered for that event. Again, it does draw a lot of people downtown and we need to be prepared. Um, of course, you approve the uh budget, but we're also, you know, looking at changing a few

things for it. The touch of truck is going to be on central uh so that it's not going to be up at the up at the fire station. We're going to kind of be down here DPW trucks kind of to make a connection with Central because Central's closed and you know, it's kind of a no man's land. Um, we're also looking um and coordinating with the bands, uh, food trucks, and then we're hoping um, actually right now as we speak, the Garden City Youth Athletic Associ Association, GCYA, um, is trying to look at maybe partnering with us to do a a pancake breakfast. They used to do a pancake breakfast a number of years ago and, um, we're looking to see if they wanted to participate in that. So, in the morning from say 9 to 11:00, they would be here doing that. Of course, they'll bring more people to the event. Um, but in turn, they're going to be hosting that event, but they're also offering to um help each chili team by purchasing some of their food, you know, the food that they need to make the chili. And so, they're going to talk about that. actually are talking about at their board meeting tonight to see what they would come up with to in exchange for uh them doing this they would be helping our chili teams and purchasing all the you know the tomatoes and everything that goes in chili. I I don't even know. Um but um so hopefully that will be kind of we're trying to make it a chili cookoff community event and make it an all day affair. So, we're hoping kind of from either 9 to 9 or 10 in the morning till 10 at night to have something going on all day. Um, we're going to have the car show. Uh, we're looking at trying to have like a registered cornhole tournament at the event and then also additional food trucks that will support after say after pancakes are done, we'll have food trucks that will kind of supplement both the chili time and then also when the bands start and um the

beer tent is open. So, we're working on that. A lot of coordination. Um, soon, of course, the budget was approved. Soon as that's done, we can start to make reservations and put deposits down so that people can start to figure their schedule for the year. I also want to try and make that on the last lucky squirrel and on this chili cookoff. It's September 20th is last lucky squirrel. September 27th is the chili cookoff. and looking to see that we're going to kind of have like a harvest theme also to have a vendor that's going to do pumpkins, corn stalks, hay bales, those kinds of things to um offer for sale at that time. So, that's all. So, we're working on every month trying to work on coordinating all of that. Um we're always looking for sponsors. Uh we're al always looking for volunteers. So, please um think about that as we're going forward. So, okay. Any comments from the table or questions on the chili cook off? I just had one question. Um I know you had talked about having pumpkins and things like that at our last meeting. Is that something you could do in conjunction with Barson's or is would they have a line on that stuff or is there other people that you would pursue for that? I've I've talked to Mr. parson. So he think, you know, it's part of he wants to do it, but he's like he wants to make sure that he'll be able to get get the stock and everything like that. So we assume it will be him, but I'm not sure. Okay. Well, because I was going to pursue other things that I do through our church if I didn't want to supersede anything that's been done in the past. So if Barson's or a local um person was going to be doing it, then we'll just leave it alone. But I also can do some things if Barson's doesn't work. Okay. Well, we're um we're also um I've talked to Corey Butler a little bit at the fire station and um they did the pumpkin sales for Kuanas last year and so but it moved around and it didn't work great for them but we're trying to see if we can partner with them to have kind of this is going to be the spot where you can have you know uh support

quantis you can come here get them there also so make it part of that too. So just to help them kind of maybe kind of cement down where they'll be. So, okay. Item D, volunteer appreciation. Yes. I just wanted to let you know that unfortunately that we didn't have a big enough uh response and the uh event has been cancelled for the 20th. So, um if you did respond, you should have gotten an email back, but I just wanted to let you know in case you were planning on just showing up that it it is canceled. We don't at this time have one rescheduled. We do appreciate you, but we want to make it a cost-effective event also. So, okay, moving on to item nine, uh, public comments for non-aggenda items. Anybody in the public wishing to speak? Okay, director's report. I Well, of course, I've given you a lot of information. I just wanted to give you a little update regarding Orange Jewelers and and what's occurring over there. They have started they've begun the process to apply for uh reutilization of the spot. So there would be um commercial on the first floor and they're looking to add three levels of multifamily housing on the on the top there. Um and so they're going to apply for at first is a reszoning to reszone the parcel to PD plan development district so that we can look at part of the plan development district zoning gives some flexibility in the ordinance so that they won't have to meet all of the requirements say of multif family of parking all of that. they're building something that will fit the site and that they can service with parking uh setbacks uh density all of that. So, we're working with them to do that. Part

of that is um I think we talked about the uh property tax credit and um we've started to explore the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority property tax credit option to it would be an assist and a property tax credit um that they would be seeking from the city and also the Wayne County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to assist with some of the development costs over there. Um, but we've we're working on it and it is coming forward, but the first step is to apply for the resoning, which they've done. Um, but we're working on kind of revising the plans that were submitted to look more um maybe more pleasing to what we expected as opposed what they gave us, I guess. So, we're working on trying to uh look at that and go forward. Uh, also, um, do you have any questions regarding Orin? So, and then are they putting still putting a restaurant? I believe that's going to be part of it. So, because they they do have restaurants elsewhere. So, um Well, because I remember at one point they wanted to put a broom. Mhm. And then they went down to Westland. They put a broom over there. Yes. Yes. I seen that. It was the old steakhouse or It was Boston Market. Was it Boston Market? Yeah. Was there in front of Kroger? Yeah. Yeah. So, um, but we did talk to them about the food truck for, uh, the chili cookoff. They think they'll have that there. So, okay. And, uh, but again, it takes there's a lot of moving parts with that both on the city side for the DDA and, uh, for the developers, too. So, they're looking at approximately maybe 63 units there. So, so um, and, uh, of course, I've been supporting them doing that. Um, so, uh, and then there was another thing I wanted to report to and I forgot. I apologize. Um, if I think of it, I'll tell you by email. So, all

right. Thank you, Mr. Prash. You have anything tonight? Uh, no. Thank you. Okay, Trusty F. No comments. Thank you. Okay. Uh, Trusty Taylor, nothing today. Thanks. Trusty Barry, we are getting u upgraded equipment at the Marshall yard. So, I'd like to let you guys know that we are probably getting um close to a retail value of probably about a half a million dollars of upgraded equipment in there. Should be in there within the next two months. So, very nice. Something nice. Trusty Clark might be able to get a rematch there. Mayor Jacobs, you got anything? I still see that. Everybody asked me about it. Yeah. No, I'm good. Okay. Uh, I got one thing. Uh, I am resigning as of tonight. Uh, the wife and I are moving out of Garden City this Saturday. Uh, I've lived in Garden City 64 years of my 67 years and uh, it's time to start the next chapter of my in my life uh, towards retirement. So, I'll regret it'll be I love Garden City. Garden City will always be my home, but I do have to resign as of tonight because we are we are moving out of the city. Uh with that, no further business. This meeting's adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. We'd like to uh thank you for your service for not only DDA but everything. Randy, thank you.