Business Improvement District Board #5 (westown Area) - Regular Meeting

Economic Development Committee. I'm your chairman, Alderman Stanford. To my right further's right is Alderman Chambers. To his left is Alderman Demetriovich. We've been joined by Alderman Moore. Welcome. And we are here with alderman Jackson and our trusted assistant, miss Carmen. We're gonna get started with number one 250659. This is a substitute ordinance relating to the membership of the emerging youth achievement advisory council. We are here joined by the chief of staff for the president, mister Clifton Crump. Cliff, you wanna tell us about this membership?

Thank you, mister chairman. Thank members. Clifton Crump, policy administration director for President Perez. I'm going read a brief statement that he prepared in relation to this item. I'm a firm believer that youth must be at the table when they are being discussed.

To that end, on April 21, the council approved a partnership with Milwaukee Succeeds that will, amongst other things, assist in identifying youth that are interested in seeking board, task force, or council memberships via Milwaukee Succeeds youth training model for board readiness. This legislation proposed is proposed in concert with that resolution as we seek to add two youth members likely high school graduates to the emerging youth achievement advisory council. Big picture wise, we collectively need to engage youth to hopefully stay in Milwaukee and become more civically engaged. This is one method to do so. So we've been talking about doing this for quite some time.

We had various iterations of it. We shortened the term to two years just because of the young people tend to move around. And so that's one of the most recent changes we've made to it. We'll be flexible with the times as well as we make future agendas. But again, the purpose is to have younger people at the table when we're making decisions about the future.

Excellent. Yeah. This conversation derived from the few meetings that we've had at the council, and one of the biggest concerns was adults not engaging youth for what the youth want or what the youth wanna see. So I support this. Thank you for your leadership on this cliff, and you've been right with us from the beginning with the emerging youth council. I'll So open it up to my colleagues for any questions or comments. Yes. Okay. Alderman Chambers moves for approval, but we do have comments by Alderman Moore. Right?

Yes. Yes.

I just had comments I just want to echo your sentiments as well Mr chair. Of course- this obviously you know I love what you said cliff. We cannot have- opportunities for young people without young people being at the table

right

and so- I am hoping that you know. So when we say that and I hope that we don't say that just as a- just as buzzwords. But it also has to go into action by number one- making sure that those young people there's some sort of small stipend on that they receive. In addition to making sure that the meetings are convenient. You know for them depending on the age group or population you know on that you're looking to serve with this high school or college age. But that you all you know that the group really push themselves to make sure that they structure

Right.

You know, the the meetings to support young people's input. But thank you all so much for moving forward on this. Thank you, mister Chair.

Yeah I was going comment in the ideal world and I know other women more is very involved with the youth council and ideal world this is a this is the next step for them.

That's it.

As they begin to learn more about Robert's rules and procedures and budgets. So again, it's a pathway. It's a start. We'll seek any method whether it's private funds or whatever to pay this board. This board is not a compensated board.

No, just the young people

though. Right. Yeah. But but you know how things are. If you you have certain rules, you have to pay one, have to pay them all. But we'll we'll we'll we seek to find ways to to accommodate that.

Yeah. We'll we'll be here if you need to change the policy on that. Thank you so much.

What what how many members is this put up to? 13. Okay. Great. Alright. Alderman Chambers moves for passage. Hearing no objections or thank you so much, bro. Yeah. Number 2251914 appointment of Beth Handle to the business improvement district number fifty one by the mayor. Miss Handle, are you available? She's online.

I am right here. Hi there.

Hey. Good afternoon, and thank you for your patience. This is an appointment for you. Let us know why you like to serve.

Hi. My name is Beth Handel, and I am a business owner in the Harbor District. My business is Milwaukee Kayak Company, and we offer kayaks, canoes, and stand up paddleboard rentals to visitors in our great community here in Milwaukee. And so I would love to serve on behalf of the Harbor District and where I spend most of my time.

Excellent. Excellent. How long you guys been in operation over there?

This is going to be our fourteenth summer,

so a long time.

Congratulations. Let me see if we have any questions or comments. Any comments or questions by the committee? Hearing none, older woman Moore moves for your confirmation, miss Handel. Hearing no objections to the order. Thank you for your willingness to serve.

Thank you very much.

Have an excellent day. 3251916, reappointment of John Rosito to the petition number 51. He does have perfect attendance. Does not need to is he here? Are you here? He's not. Oh, he's not. Okay. No. He does not need to attend. Older woman Demetrievich moves for his confirmation hearing. No objections. So order. Thank you. Number 4251917. Reappointment of David Steggman to the business improvement district number fifty one by the mayor. Mister David Steggman, are you available? I am. Thank you for coming today. Let's see here. This is a reappointment for you. How many years have you been on the board in the 14th Automatic District?

Boy, it's been quite a number of years. It's just been an honor. I'm I'm sitting in my office here at River 1. You know, we've been very involved. Michael's Corporation, my employer, been very involved in the district and it's just been an honor to serve and hopefully create some more growth down here.

Excellent. Excellent. We thank you for that and with your dedication and commitment to the area are your order woman is here she like to move approval aside some comments with you order woman.

Oh thank you so much- chairman stamper thank you David for your continued service- you know, your company's investment there has really started off a chain reaction of positive energy in that area. So we thank you for your continued service and there's going to be continued growth and it's essential to have your voice be heard there. Thank you.

Well, you. With that yeah. Thank you. We appreciate it. So with that, all over Demetrius Hibbert moves for confirmation. Hearing no objections so ordered. Thank you, and have a great day. Number five. Thank you. Yes, sir. Number 5251918. Reappointment of Colleen Cheney to the business improvement edition number 51 by the mayor also in the 14th Automatic District miss Colleen Cheney. How are you today?

Yes. Doing well. Thank you.

Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. We share the sister cities committee.

Yes, we do.

And you do a great job for that. Do you also do a great job on this bid?

I like to think so. Yes. All

right. Well, let us know why you would like to continue to serve, miss Chaney.

Oh, I enjoyed my service and certainly like to continue the work. Know, quite involved in the South Side. I think my work here in the South Side is a good bridge between the Harbor District and the Lincoln Village.

And

there's a lot of shared common of thing. Doing. I that's

a opportunities to thank these wonderful citizens that continue to provide this service. Not easy. Much of it is unpaid. But Colleen does provide. That was a perfect word of bridge. She does a lot of work in President Perez's district and also mine. And this is one of many hats. We truly appreciate your service and thank you for the work that you do. Never thank anyone on this board that it goes unnoticed. We know the folks that are at every meeting and doing things. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank

you. Appreciate that. I agree with those comments and order. Davis moves for confirmation. Cummings, hearing objections are ordered. You have a great day.

Thank you.

Number 6252166 appointment of Aaron Francesca to the Milwaukee Arts Board by the mayor. Miss Erin Francesca, How are you today?

I'm good. How are you?

Excellent. This is an appointment for you. Do you have an arts background? If so, tell us about it.

I do. I'm an artist myself. I was a teacher for many years teaching arts and humanities at a high school level. I am now the manager of after school arts and humanities programming for Milwaukee Recreation. Great. Yes. Yes. That's right. My main task is to expand access to arts and humanities programming for generally, historically, students who have limited opportunities within that. But through that work, I've sort of been able to well, I'm new. I've been here for a year. And before that, I was a supervisor promoted to manager. But yes, I'd love to advance that mission for providing access to arts and humanities programming at this board level.

Awesome. Well congratulations on all your advancement. This is an appointment so do we have any I'm you're you're you're if to be 02/01/1967 appointment of Melissa Mueller to the Milwaukee Arts Board as well. Melissa Mueller, this is an appointment for you. How are you today?

I'm great. How are you?

Good. Good. Do you also have a arts background or let us know why you're interested?

I do. I've worked for artists and arts organizations, nonprofits throughout my entire career. Also an artist. I'm a fund development consultant by day. And then in all of my waking hours, work towards Washington Park Wednesdays and the free concert series. So I'm deeply rooted in the community of arts and making sure that artists get paid a livable wage in the city.

Awesome. Awesome. Do we have a good lineup set for this year?

Oh, my God. We do. Yes. Well,

I know I'll be there. I know all of them will be there, so but we invite the entire city. They've been successful, and we appreciate you keeping that park active. Let me see if we have any comments by the committee. Yes. All the women more.

Thank you. I'm so Of course. Thank you so much. I'm so honored that Melissa I was appointed- to this position of. The I was doing that sitting here Melissa doing the math and I was like oh my gosh I've known her. For almost almost twenty years our children- started off at Highland community school so they were just in you know probably K. Three- K. Three together and went- went throughout so I've known Melissa for quite some time and just her passion- for community and the work that she does- is just- we're I'm grateful grateful to have you- not only in community but to also serve. On the arts board so- I move approval when the time comes. Or confirmation.

Excellent excellent. So thank you so much is great to hear. Great things about you miss Melissa so with that.

Thank you so much

yeah all the more moves for your confirmation hearing no objection to order. You have a great day.

Thank you. You too.

Alright. Number 8252169. Appointment of Maritza Maritza Yugaro to the Emerging Youth Achievement Advisory Council by the Mirror. This is Emerging Youth Achievement Advisory Council. Cliff left. So let's see here. Does anybody

Appointment. It's

She's an

not here with me.

She's not here. Okay. Alderman Chambers moves to hold at the call of the chair. Hearing no objection shall order. Number nine. Number nine. 252209. Resolution related to the acceptance and funding of a US Department of Agriculture Agriculture Marketing Service Regional Food System Partnership Program grant. With us joined today is our director, mister Mario Higgins. How are you doing today, mister Higgins?

Good morning, chairman,

and good afternoon.

Is it Good morning, right. Mario, which one

is it, brother? Good afternoon, chairman and committee members. I'm Mario Higgins, director of community development grants administration. Today, we there was a really long name and title for this particular grant. True. The USDA regional food system partnership program. Yeah.

Us what

we can do with that.

Yeah. So we applied for this grant last June. Okay. So the timing of it is actually really good, considering all the work that the council has done, especially members of this committee, has done around food systems. So this gives us another tool to be able to really get some work done on infrastructure type stuff and coordinating.

So the this particular grant seeks to develop model for regional food system transformation that will improve food access and strengthen economic opportunity in Milwaukee and across the state. It is a regional grant. We're working with Dane County and Brown County. Sort of we're going to be the coordinators and they have their own coordinators in their in their areas. It's a three year grant.

So I think that's probably that we'll be working on this. The city will work with local partners and expanded partnerships with Dane and Brown Counties. Partly, think our idea is that this is gonna increase sort of feed them key and just broaden it. We wanna use that base in order to implement this grant, not create something new. Okay.

So work on that initiative to increase local food system infrastructure and capacity, provide technical assistance to food enterprises and the in distressed communities, establish infrastructure for food recovery and composting. The grant supports and will work in collaboration with the mayor, common council, Milwaukee health department, and others to address access to fresh food in Milwaukee and distressed communities. There's four key activities for the grant that we're working on, and that will be convenient and coordinating. So the grant, we do have sort of distressed communities that were identified by the grant from an index that they use. So but it's 53205 Okay.

53206, and 53208. So those are the targeted areas that we have to work on.

Sharon, I'm gonna yeah. What's your what's your ZIP code?

1616 and a little bit of 10.

And and then you have 16? It did have

16 included. I mean, however, a lot of our work would still be broader regionally, but it's just those three ZIP codes that we had to that the grant required required us to

have to When when you guys were running the grants in collaboration with the other counties, were we facing or was it imminent, the the grocery store departures that are happening in the community? Is that part of this grant or no?

Sort of. I mean, because it it's helping you try to get to the to the bigger systems of of of grocery and of foods food providers.

Okay.

You know, distribution. I mean, look at some marketing and development, all types of resources in order to to attack sort of the downline stuff before they're even grocers and providing them technical assistance and things like that. So you're to build this infrastructure out. Sort of, I mean, sort of when you think about us giving out the the the funds that that you just allocated. Right. Before you even get to that stage. So trying to develop new partnerships and new grocery store systems or systems that they can walk into and have some basic infrastructure to increase their rate of survival in the long term.

So that's that's this is the add added component to what we did. Correct. Okay.

Yeah. It's you know, the timing is really good.

So when when one applies for some of the stuff we did, will they be knowledgeable? Will they have this option as well, or is this coming from the city side?

I'm sorry. Repeat that again.

So when agencies or or farmers or whoever wants to needs help with their grocery store, and they apply for us, the current stuff, is this available or is this coming just from the city and us reaching out to people that need help?

So we so a stronger component is is the convenient and coordinating. We do have to work with the local partners, whether it's grocery stores, nonprofits to help build the systems and to do all of that outreach to them. The other part

of it curious. What's the connection with Dane County?

It had to be a regional Regional well, we call it regional. Obviously, Dane County or Brown County are technically what we would consider regional, but

they

too had indexes, zip codes in their areas that they were working on. So that's, you know so it was a regional grant, so we had to partner with multiple partners in order to get to be eligible for the grant.

Mister chair. Sure. Is Dane County not Dane County, Madison.

Dan County, Madison, yes.

Okay. So no Milwaukee County suburbs.

No. Well, not in this grant.

No. Okay. We're in the courtroom.

Hold on one more.

So just for clarity, just along those lines. Yeah.

We're, I don't

know. We're we're partnering. To administer this grant but it will it will support our community here.

Correct. Correct. They have they would have their own coordinators in in their in their district Our we will be working with them on sort of reporting out on the total grant, but we have our own section of this grant.

So based on the number that we have here, I know this is over three years. Am I breaking this down divided by three, then a proportion of this also goes to another community or what would what would be our portion like per year?

I think I think the whole portion is ours. We do have to we do have to hire a we'll be doing an RFP for a for a project coordinator. Okay. That coordinator would be the ones working with Dane and Brown County. And so there may be small portions of resources that go to them. They think about how that works. And Kim probably can answer that a little better. Yes. That

would be great.

Marketing and outreach and some technical assistance. But the largest portion of the do stay here.

Good afternoon. Kimberly Kuiat. Great. Kimberly.

We get up

to you. Yes.

Thanks. So yes, the money will be spent so the City Of Milwaukee is in large part a fiscal agent, but we'll be spending the money primarily any of the

sort of most of

the direct resources are going be spent in City Of Milwaukee. As far as actual dollars going to either the Dane County or Brown County partners. That's primarily in

sort of

shared resources. So there's some equipment for cold storage and helping set up sort of free access type food areas and so providing them with some equipment for that. So that's the kind of resources. Basically, we'll be developing primarily informational resources. So we'll be developing training and tool kits on how to replicate kind of what has happened in Milwaukee and sort of build that out in Dane and Brown Counties.

So a lot of the assistance is really more from a collaboration and guidance and technical assistance. It's not so much monetary assistance. So most of that budget

is city of Milwaukee.

Is city of Milwaukee.

So am I correct with the 1.3?

Over three The grant itself is just short of a million dollars, and then there's a match that the city has to provide that working with the health department on.

Mister chair.

Yes you have the floor.

And all of the match stays here.

Okay. No that that's great. So an example so like the project coordinator if I'm looking at the figures correctly. The the two call it $2.90, that would go that's for a period of three years?

Correct.

Does it also include I'm assuming it may include benefits because I don't think we're paying our project coordinator $96,000.

It would well, that's a contract anyway. So, it wouldn't be a staffer.

Oh, it's a con. Oh, okay. So, that's contracted.

Yeah, because they would have to travel to Madison. Sure. Brown County, we didn't want to have a staffer do that. Gotcha.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, mister chair.

No problem and do we need a project coordinator?

We don't have anybody can who's

gonna administer all those other programs?

Well, we're gonna do an RP for this. You

can say

300. Y'all don't know why you can do that?

Because I'm I think there's I think there's concern with the the travel the travel from the I think we sort of talked to the city attorney about it. I think there's just concern with all the travel having to go back and forth to Madison and Dane.

Do we have a contractor already in place for it? Or

No. Not yet. They're our people.

What's the concern? Cipher off some gas money?

We can still take a look at it. I just I Is

anybody interested in your

I don't know. We we don't know yet.

Man, before you our people, see somebody interested Alright. Keep that 300.

Well, remember too, it's, you know, when we do that, I think you put people on the I mean, the other types of benefits that we have to provide. It's temporary, so it might this might be better in the long run versus putting somebody on the city payroll.

But because then you also have to do with mileage and everything. But, you know, we we can still look at revisiting. I'll I'll let you know what we come up with.

I mean, I'm open to it, but I just thought Get the money. We can say I don't

know if it's the same You're

not giving that same money.

We won't.

No. You won't

see So we can't reallocate the money the way we want. Well, they can't. They already work here.

It's a it's a pretty strict grant, but I don't know that it's it wouldn't matter whether it may not matter that we did a staffer to the grant itself, whether it was a staffer or or someone outside. Think The money

you said you spent? Correct. Okay. Gotcha. Alright.

I have a question.

Of course. We got old on the drivers. They're all in the Jackson. You got a question? No.

So the grant compliance manager, 40, is that a city employee?

That's a city employee. Yes. So still have to make sure that we're getting all of the required documentation from that coordinator. It's only partial time for over the three years.

That's what okay. So the 157 is over three years? Correct. And who which employee is that?

Right now, it would be Matt Baleshiri.

Matt, you want both of them?

Okay.

Triple up, man. That is me.

Is that normal, though? 40% like that? Like Yeah. That's not Yeah.

It's just It it will I mean, that was what we estimated at the actual workload. Okay. So that mean that obviously could change a little bit.

Woah. Workload. Yep. She she

raised a good point.

Go ahead.

Right. Yeah. Open up. On the mini grants of $300,000 Mhmm. Who's getting the mini grants?

Those are those would be allocated out or I don't

know if you have

an RFP but they're but they're they'll yeah they'll be yet to be issued. But the 300,000

will be completely 100% city of Milwaukee?

Correct. Correct. And

those will be

mini rents to court to organizations locally.

And I'm assuming that's a 100,000 per year.

Correct. Correct. Okay.

Oh, yes. Yeah. I'm breaking it down.

Well, we just wanna make sure we helping out with our advertisement of what's available from the city. Absolutely. So And that's and that

can easily give a part

of tell us what we can talk about versus what we can what we can promote versus what we can't.

We we you

mean in here? If I call if I call Sherman Park Moe and say Moe, we got some money. What what can I tell them?

This particular grant, grant, well, we'll we'll doing some outreach in order to bring all of those partners together and so developing all of the type of community outreach that we'll we'll be doing. And now part part of that will be Matt's position Okay. In working with especially working with the the coordinator Okay. The outlying areas, but for for locally here as well.

Well, is there time to come back, Mario? When when you guys when we can have a little bit more detail?

Sure. Yeah. We can we'll get to work on this.

I know it really slow. That, but before you Yeah. I guess when you when it's time to launch, can you just let me know? You can come back to and talk

to us.

You guys will be very involved in all of that because of the outreach portion of it compared to what we would be able to do with the other programs that you already stood up is gonna be really important.

Well, thank you. This is good news. Yeah. I don't know our relationship with Dane and Brown County, but do they have ZIP codes like 5 to 206 and 5 to 205?

Of course not. Right. But

And what? They got some type of expert

They only have one each in their particular

One grocery store?

No. No. No. Just one. I don't know about the that, but the one ZIP code in in their areas.

Okay. You. Alright. Alderman chairman says to let me see. Adopt me. Adopt Adopt Yeah. Alderman chairman moves for adoption. You're in objection to order. Good job. Thank you for, your presentation today. We need as much resource as possible. So Okay. Congratulations to your office for receiving this grant for the city. Appreciate that, especially around grocery store. I'm really appreciative of that. And everybody, thank you so much for coming today. As usual, we had a nice, quick, succinct

I love it.

And efficient.

And efficient.

Good day. Y'all have a good day. Meeting adjourned.