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1. 1Call to Order - Roll Call▶ 0:00
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   Discussion with New Port Richey Main Street, Inc. RE: Work Plan and Proposed Memorandum of Understanding

   discussed

   New Port Richey Main Street, Inc. presented a proposed work plan and Memorandum of Understanding to council, outlining a refocus from event-heavy programming to fewer signature events (Seafood Festival, Chasco Fiesta/Main Street Blast, Main Street Holidays) plus smaller community events and tangible downtown design projects (bike racks, an artistic crosswalk by artist Kevin Brandt). Council discussed the organization's $15,000 city funding, office space and rent, board composition, and raised conflict-of-interest concerns about a committee member who is also a councilmember's spouse. No formal vote was taken; the item was a discussion to give direction.

   • direction:Council provided informal direction that Main Street should review committee membership for potential conflicts of interest and continue refining the work plan and MOU. (none)

   📍Bank Street parking lots / area near park📍Sims Park📍west terminus of Circle Avenue🏢Boulevard Beef and Ale🏢Chamber of Commerce🏢Greater Downtown New Port Richey🏢Historical Society🏢New Port Richey Main Street, Inc.🏢Rotary Club🏢Seven Springs Middle School👤Anne Gaffey👤Dave Gaffey👤David Maharaj👤Dr. Unger👤Guy Harvey👤Jackie Ryan👤Jeff Starkey👤Jose Cardenas👤Judy DeBella Thomas👤Kevin Brandt👤Mike Ryan👤Mr. Driscoll👤Nancy👤Rich Williams👤Rob Marlowe👤Steve👤Ted👤Wyland#$15,000 city funding for Main Street#Bike rack art project#Chasco Fiesta / Main Street Blast#Crosswalk art project#Main Street Holidays#Main Street Work Plan 2018#Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)#Seafood Festival

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   [00:00:19] And the first item of the mention on the agenda, the only item on the agenda, is discussion [00:00:24] of New Port Richey Main Street Work Plan and Memorandum of Understanding. [00:00:28] Do you want to kick that off? [00:00:29] That's correct. [00:00:30] Sure. [00:00:31] I can do that, Mr. Mayor. [00:00:32] The last time we met with the Main Street Organization was August 15th of this year. [00:00:40] And at the conclusion of some discussion, it was determined that the Main Street Organization [00:00:49] should put together a work plan. [00:00:51] And the purpose of that was for consideration of some additional funding. [00:00:58] At that meeting, you appropriated an amount of $15,000 to support the Main Street activities [00:01:07] for the current fiscal year. [00:01:10] And in respect to the fact that they were requesting additional funds, we asked, or [00:01:18] you provided some direction to them that a work plan would need to be established to [00:01:24] identify what specific projects and initiatives would be undertaken by the Main Street group [00:01:31] during the current fiscal year. [00:01:33] And this is their opportunity to present that to you. [00:01:38] Wonderful. [00:01:39] Take it away. [00:01:40] And I hope that Nancy is on her way with our written presentation. [00:01:43] She's walking over from the office. [00:01:45] So I'd like to tell you what we did is we went back and tried to put together a work [00:01:51] plan that reflects a lot of the input that we've gotten over time of the role that Main [00:01:56] Street plays in the city. [00:01:58] We realized when we looked at ourselves as a group, a couple things, is that the city's [00:02:05] own involvement in the community is much larger than it ever was before. [00:02:09] And what I mean to say by that is we're not faulting previous city management or previous [00:02:14] city council people, but there is a higher quality of events. [00:02:18] There's more involvement in things in the area for people. [00:02:21] So we realized that one of the things that we had heard was that Main Street was too [00:02:26] event-focused. [00:02:27] We were in the position where we had five major events a year. [00:02:30] Part of that was to fund our group because a basic breakdown of how the funding works [00:02:36] is with a $15,000 grant from the city and with roughly $7,000 or $8,000 a year in membership [00:02:44] dues. [00:02:45] Roughly, there's $22,000 or $23,000 of income a year. [00:02:49] The situation right now, our basic expenses, just rent, director's salary, basic utilities, [00:02:56] are about $23,300. [00:02:58] So we end up in a position where we could just be a business that didn't do anything [00:03:02] based on the money that we have, but we still have a need to generate revenue, which comes [00:03:06] in from the events. [00:03:08] But we thought we could clearly identify there were three events that we thought were the [00:03:12] most important of those events, and that's the Seafood Festival, Kia Fest Main Street [00:03:18] Blast, and then the Main Street Holidays. [00:03:20] And we've been excited this year that we've been able to partner with Dr. Unger, who is [00:03:25] a chiropractor that, for the past seven years, has done an event with 30 tons of snow for [00:03:32] local children. [00:03:33] It's been over in the Longleaf area. [00:03:35] It was at Seven Springs Middle School. [00:03:37] He was looking for a permanent home for it. [00:03:40] And this year, he's going to be in Sims Park. [00:03:42] We're working in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce. [00:03:44] We had probably the most wonderfully productive set meeting I've ever been on in my life today [00:03:49] with all the heads of the departments. [00:03:51] Everybody was cooperative. [00:03:53] Everything was great. [00:03:54] We had, because of the dredging with the lake, moving the cards into the lake. [00:03:58] And it wasn't, not into the lake, I'm sorry, into the park. [00:04:01] That would be bad to put the cards in the lake. [00:04:03] But real spirit of cooperation. [00:04:05] So, you know, we're excited about the direction we're headed in. [00:04:09] And, you know, I am a little embarrassed Nancy's running behind. [00:04:11] So, you know, I have that in writing for you. [00:04:14] But what we tried to do is identify the four tenants and then explain that one of the plans [00:04:19] that we have for this year is to work on some of the smaller events that you talked about. [00:04:23] And we think that we've also discovered that part of the expenses that have made it hard [00:04:27] for us to raise funds is the MOUs. [00:04:30] And we understand that that's because we've closed streets, we've needed barricades, [00:04:34] we've needed other things like that. [00:04:36] So the plan that we've come up with is to identify some of the smaller projects, [00:04:40] some of the smaller events, and still hopefully do our three events a year. [00:04:44] Because, again, those provide necessary funding for us so we can put back into the area. [00:04:49] And I guess I'll just go through from memory if it's okay. [00:04:53] And then when she gets here, we'll give you the written presentations. [00:04:55] But one of the things we looked at under the design committee were some other things [00:05:00] that could be tangible for the downtown. [00:05:02] Because we would like to leave a mark as Main Street where things like the murals that [00:05:06] Main Street did in the past and the bench projects, those were things that people could [00:05:10] look at tangibly and say, hey, it's made the city a prettier or a better place. [00:05:14] And we identified really three different things that we think fall under the design [00:05:18] as short-term projects in the near future. [00:05:22] And one of those would be undertaking, well, actually finishing the bike rack project, [00:05:27] which is maybe the longest project in the history of time. [00:05:30] It seems that way. [00:05:32] Jose Cardenas, who was our design committee representative, who has since resigned from the board, [00:05:38] had started the ball rolling and commissioned an artist to create bicycle art that can [00:05:44] double as a bicycle rack. [00:05:46] So if you park your bike next to it, you can chain it. [00:05:48] You're in no problem of it being taken away. [00:05:50] They're styled after the old-style unicycle-type bicycles that people used to ride [00:05:55] or whatever those are called back in the old days. [00:05:58] And those were produced over a year ago. [00:06:01] Jose resigned. [00:06:02] We found the bikes. [00:06:03] We got them to the city just recently. [00:06:06] I had an email today that they've identified the location for them, which is the [00:06:11] terminus of Circle Avenue, which I think would be right near Rich Williams' office, [00:06:16] if I'm correct. [00:06:17] Would that be the terminus of? [00:06:19] I'm sorry. [00:06:20] I didn't see the communication. [00:06:21] The west terminus of Circle Avenue is what they got back to us on. [00:06:24] And I think that would be right near the mayor's business now. [00:06:28] The west side would be up by the Historical Society. [00:06:32] I don't know that the city has cited any specific locations at this point. [00:06:36] Okay. [00:06:37] But we certainly want to get them installed. [00:06:38] How many is there? [00:06:39] There's two. [00:06:40] Yeah, there's two. [00:06:41] We have one in front of the ice cream shop. [00:06:43] Yeah, the Ottoway. [00:06:44] And this is a different design. [00:06:45] That's a traditional-style bicycle. [00:06:47] This is a large wheel with handlebars. [00:06:49] It's really art as much as it is a bicycle rack. [00:06:52] And I think it is attractive. [00:06:54] But we're going to be very thrilled to have something there that's tangible [00:06:58] and measurable like that. [00:07:00] One of the other things that Jose had started was on a crosswalk project. [00:07:04] And Mayor Marlow is familiar with that. [00:07:07] We had a discussion about that earlier in the month. [00:07:09] And one of the things about Jose, a very gifted artistic person, [00:07:14] unfortunately we found out a lot of the projects that were brought to us were [00:07:19] probably outside the realm of what we could make sense from a financial standpoint. [00:07:23] The crosswalk that was proposed was to be a large compass right in the area [00:07:27] between Bank Street, the parking lots on Bank Street, and the park. [00:07:32] The estimated cost was almost $10,000. [00:07:35] About $1,000 to $1,500 of it was materials. [00:07:38] The rest of it was the fee for the artists. [00:07:42] Naively, I thought, well, we'll just find a wildlife artist [00:07:45] or someone else that would do it for close to the same amount of money. [00:07:49] We contacted Weiland, who's a well-known artist out of California, [00:07:52] found out he's in the neighborhood of $100,000 to do something like that. [00:07:57] Guy Harvey was substantially higher. [00:07:59] We found a gentleman named Kevin Brandt, who's a Florida-born natural wildlife artist. [00:08:05] He does fish, turtles, manatee, things like that. [00:08:08] He's going to come out before the end of this week. [00:08:11] One of the things we're going to ask you to do when Nancy gets here with the map [00:08:14] is to help us identify what area we would show him as a prospective crosswalk area. [00:08:19] What he had proposed to design would be something that would be aquatic life [00:08:25] swimming across the street into the park area towards the river. [00:08:30] He has some work that he's done with turtles and with manatees and things like that. [00:08:34] It's very well done. It's three-dimensional. [00:08:36] We think it would be an artistic addition. [00:08:39] The question is, where would it go? [00:08:41] The other question that we had, and we think that we have the cost well under $4,000, including the talent. [00:08:47] There would be some buy-in work from local art guilds, [00:08:51] possibly some folks from the gallery downtown, other people that would assist him. [00:08:55] He would be able to outline objects, designate the color, and have people help on that. [00:09:00] We think it could also be kind of a media day as well, [00:09:04] because to have something like that happen, we would hope to have families there, [00:09:08] people that would want to observe it and see it done. [00:09:10] So we're excited about that. [00:09:12] And then one of the other things that we thought about... [00:09:14] You're right there. [00:09:16] We are real close to putting a blinking yellow light to access from the parking lot to the park. [00:09:25] It's already purchased. [00:09:27] We're waiting for its arrival. [00:09:31] So I think we've identified where that crosswalk is going to be, the same place it is right now. [00:09:36] So where the white striped crosswalk is is exactly where it would go? [00:09:40] That's where everybody is. [00:09:41] Because the drawing we had that Mr. Cardenas had done was much larger than that. [00:09:45] It was a large compass. [00:09:46] I don't know if you had seen that, but it was pretty ornate and pretty nice. [00:09:49] But one of the things that we thought about with the mural, [00:09:52] with wildlife and flora and fauna and the things on the bridge, [00:09:57] and also the asset that we have with the river running through the park, [00:10:00] we just thought it would be a nice addition. [00:10:02] We've been pushing for that because of the safety of kids going to the splash pad. [00:10:07] Absolutely, I can see that. [00:10:08] That whole triangular area is available for designations of crosswalks. [00:10:14] A couple of things. [00:10:15] You may want to maybe reach out, Steve, to our Rotary Club. [00:10:17] They like doing projects with the city as well. [00:10:20] That might be a good funding source. [00:10:22] A question I had regarding your new facility is what is the square footage [00:10:25] and what are you paying for rent for your new office? [00:10:32] We can come up here. [00:10:35] A little over 1,300 square feet. [00:10:37] And how many people work out of the office full-time? [00:10:40] One full-time person and then volunteers. [00:10:43] And what's your monthly rent? [00:10:44] $1,000. [00:10:46] That's a good price for the square footage, but when I just saw the space, [00:10:49] I was like why do you need to spend $1,000 on 1,300 square foot [00:10:53] to have one person who's working there on those executive offices [00:10:57] up on top of Boulevard B and Rose's Beach are there for rent. [00:11:00] Sure. [00:11:01] It just seemed like a lot of overhead when you all are looking to try [00:11:03] to generate more funds to keep your organization going [00:11:06] to rent a 1,300 square foot office for one person. [00:11:08] Well, sure. [00:11:09] Let me answer that real quick. [00:11:11] I am being paid at very little wages. [00:11:16] They do not have the overhead for salary that they used to have, [00:11:22] but we also have that extra space there that we can offer to the community [00:11:27] to use for presentations, meetings, [00:11:31] facilitate other community partners that may need to have space. [00:11:36] And that was our idea of that extra space, also to have displays, [00:11:41] things like that. [00:11:43] Okay. [00:11:44] And if I can jump in, Jeff, it was $650 for half of the building [00:11:47] or $1,000 for the whole building. [00:11:49] And with that extra space, Dave and Anne Gaffey [00:11:52] and her partners have done some renovation there. [00:11:54] There's some other things that need to be done. [00:11:56] It's actually being looked at for rezoning right now [00:11:58] to make sure it's compliant to use the other half of the building. [00:12:01] But the idea was that what we'd like to do is be able to offer more benefits [00:12:05] to members at different levels. [00:12:07] We have a very inexpensive due structure of $25 for local members, [00:12:11] $125 for 35, and $125 for business members. [00:12:16] We'd like to be able to elevate that, [00:12:18] but I think we're all aware of where we live, [00:12:20] and raising rates and raising fees and raising dues are not very popular. [00:12:24] But we thought that we could create some different levels [00:12:26] where people had access to an office space in the downtown area. [00:12:30] So if somebody was a Main Street supporter from outside the city area, [00:12:34] they would be able to stop into that conference room, [00:12:36] use a fax machine, use a copy machine, [00:12:38] and possibly even schedule a meeting there, [00:12:40] which we think would make sense, you know. [00:12:43] And I think having a presence in the downtown, [00:12:45] one of the things that I think is interesting is the face on an organization [00:12:49] is very important. [00:12:51] I think if it wasn't, I don't think attorneys and car dealers [00:12:55] and other people would be located where they're located. [00:12:57] So we think being a part of the downtown is important. [00:13:00] We have access to the lot next door. [00:13:02] Our idea is to be able to do some outdoor events in that lot. [00:13:06] So, I mean, we do have plans for it. [00:13:10] I think that traditionally Main Street offices are the place [00:13:17] where tourists or visitors to the community are coming in. [00:13:21] And many years ago we had access to actually offices above Boulevard Buffinelle. [00:13:28] And the challenge then was that people that were visiting [00:13:34] did not want to climb up the stairs to be in the downtown. [00:13:37] And I like the visibility of being on Main Street. [00:13:39] I mean, it makes sense to be on Main Street. [00:13:42] When Mike and Jackie Ryan owned the building downtown, [00:13:44] they found that was a major obstacle, a major hurdle, [00:13:48] to get people up into their office space. [00:13:50] It was very infrequently visited because of the climb up the narrow stairs. [00:13:53] So, you know, we feel fortunate and blessed to be where we are. [00:13:56] And we think that especially with the revitalization of the things happening [00:13:59] in the downtown, being right across from a new microbrewery, [00:14:03] we don't think that's a bad thing. [00:14:04] We don't think it's bad to be on the parade route. [00:14:06] We don't think it's bad to be in those other areas. [00:14:08] So I think part of it is, you know, we functioned for a long time [00:14:12] like an organization just trying to survive. [00:14:14] And we wanted to send the message that it's not where we are now. [00:14:16] We have a new direction. [00:14:19] And, again, without going into great detail [00:14:21] and just sounding like I'm telling you what you want to hear, [00:14:24] I think we have a better understanding now of where Main Street fits in with the city. [00:14:28] And I think our board members are more clear of that. [00:14:31] You know, the city owns the city. [00:14:34] We're just an organization that's supposed to help enhance the quality of the business life here [00:14:38] and contribute to the downtown. [00:14:40] So we think, you know, it's important to be there. [00:14:43] Do you have plans for the use of the area between the building that you're in? [00:14:48] I think there's an area there. [00:14:50] Oh, the lot? [00:14:51] Yeah, the lot is ours to use. [00:14:53] Eventually, they hope to develop that. [00:14:55] So that's not something that we have for a long-term purpose. [00:14:57] But it could be a place that, during downtown, [00:15:00] downtown events, especially when there aren't street closures, [00:15:03] that a band could be located, the tables could be set up, [00:15:06] and we have access and we can use that in the meantime. [00:15:10] One more question, and Judy, I hate to put you on the spot [00:15:13] here, and I know this has kind of been the elephant [00:15:14] in the room, but I'm just looking through this. [00:15:16] So Jose Cardenas is no longer on your board, right? [00:15:18] He's resigned, yes. [00:15:19] Okay, and it says here, Judy DeBell Thomas [00:15:21] is on the promotions. [00:15:22] So you're now an active member of the board? [00:15:25] No, she's not a board member. [00:15:27] Did it show she was a board member? [00:15:28] No, it's on a committee. [00:15:31] Committee members. [00:15:32] Right, she's a committee member, not on the board. [00:15:34] And please, I'm not trying to. [00:15:36] Not a problem. [00:15:37] So it would be like as if any one of us [00:15:41] here was a volunteer with a Chasco or a chamber committee. [00:15:48] When Ted was on council, he was on the government affairs [00:15:50] committee. [00:15:51] No, but we're making executive decisions here as a city [00:15:54] to give this organization money on an annual basis, one [00:15:58] of which they're asking for more money than we've allotted [00:16:00] currently. [00:16:01] And whether you call it an active position [00:16:05] or an additional committee member, [00:16:07] I'm just not trying to pick on you. [00:16:09] But if it was me, I'm not a member of any organization [00:16:12] downtown simply because of that, because I'm a city council [00:16:16] member. [00:16:17] And I just think we have to be very, very careful, all of us. [00:16:21] And please, I love you to death. [00:16:22] I'm not trying to call you out by any means. [00:16:24] But when it's an organization that's [00:16:26] putting on events in our park, asking the city for money, [00:16:29] I just think we have to be really, really careful here. [00:16:32] Honestly. [00:16:32] Yeah. [00:16:33] Well, the conversation I had had with the attorney years [00:16:37] when I was actually on the board, that was definitely. [00:16:42] But he had said as a volunteer with an organization. [00:16:45] But I would be certainly sensitive to that. [00:16:50] And we could easily, Jeff, we could easily [00:16:52] remove her as a promotions committee member. [00:16:57] I'm just bringing it up. [00:16:58] I mean, it's on everyone's mind as we go on. [00:17:03] Because I don't want to see the organization go away. [00:17:06] I mean, the things that you're talking about doing, I think, [00:17:08] are very, very encouraging. [00:17:11] I love the snow in the park. [00:17:13] My kids and I and Amber go over to Wiregrass Mall [00:17:15] just to see the snow. [00:17:16] And it's awesome. [00:17:17] Things like that are what we want to see. [00:17:19] We want to see smaller events, as we talked about [00:17:21] and talked about, to engage our community that [00:17:25] lives here, in and around Main Street and surrounding [00:17:27] neighborhoods, and to attract the people we're [00:17:29] trying to attract to live here. [00:17:31] So great organization. [00:17:33] And I'm not trying to knock on just, you know, [00:17:35] I wish almost Mr. Driscoll's not here. [00:17:38] Sorry, I should have asked him to be in attendance. [00:17:40] I don't want you to get in trouble, [00:17:41] but I don't want us to get in trouble either. [00:17:43] No, absolutely. [00:17:43] And if I could just say. [00:17:45] I was a vendor for Greater Downtown New Brunswick. [00:17:47] And when I first got on city council, [00:17:49] the attorney asked me not to accept fees anymore. [00:17:54] So I started doing it as a volunteer. [00:17:56] So I was no longer a vendor, because they [00:17:58] thought there was a conflict. [00:18:00] I'll leave it at that. [00:18:01] I just want to be really careful. [00:18:02] OK. [00:18:03] Sure. [00:18:03] And honestly, you know, where I am in my life, [00:18:09] it would be, you know, I love the organization dearly. [00:18:12] And I have really stepped way back [00:18:14] from participating with them. [00:18:18] But I would want to make sure, definitely, you know, [00:18:21] speak to the city attorney if that's an issue. [00:18:23] But again, my understanding was, as a volunteer, [00:18:27] that that was not an issue. [00:18:28] It's not like she comes into the board meetings [00:18:31] and can vote on anything. [00:18:33] She volunteers on the promotions to help put the events on [00:18:37] when they're being updrafted. [00:18:38] I'm not picking up trash. [00:18:40] Well, I know you have experience. [00:18:42] You know, you've been doing this for a lot of years. [00:18:44] I can say that, certainly, I've availed myself [00:18:48] for, you know, information. [00:18:51] You know, how did this come about? [00:18:53] You know, why are we doing an event like this? [00:18:55] Or, you know, who can we contact? [00:18:57] That type of thing. [00:18:58] So as far as, you know, not a consultant, but just, you know, [00:19:02] I wish I had a USB port in my head [00:19:04] that I could just, you know, hand it off to them. [00:19:07] But my own time has, you know, I'm [00:19:10] filled with lots of other things, [00:19:11] do a lot more traveling than I do. [00:19:13] So I'm less and less involved with the organization. [00:19:17] Well, now that we have our work plan in front of us, [00:19:20] we could go through from the work plan for 2018. [00:19:23] And we can go as quickly or as slowly as you'd like. [00:19:26] What we didn't want to do is include the same information [00:19:28] we include every year and spend a lot of time talking about it. [00:19:31] But if there's any questions, we're [00:19:32] happy to help explain it. [00:19:35] One of the things we're looking at now [00:19:37] is modifying and updating our bylaws. [00:19:39] They haven't been updated in quite a while. [00:19:41] We're looking at adjusting the number of board members. [00:19:44] We've been approaching other people in the city [00:19:47] to replace Jose Cardenas. [00:19:49] We've had a confirmation from David Maharaj, who is very [00:19:53] involved in the local community. [00:19:55] He's the sponsor of this year's Christmas tree [00:19:57] for the Chamber of Commerce, local downtown business owner, [00:20:01] and a great guy. [00:20:02] So we're excited to have him on board. [00:20:04] We're also looking for more representation [00:20:06] from the HMA, from the bar and restaurant community downtown, [00:20:10] and hoping that we have one of the new owners [00:20:13] or the new people step up as well. [00:20:18] One of the things we're trying to do is refresh [00:20:21] the identity of Main Street. [00:20:22] We think the office space on Main Street is critical. [00:20:27] We have a nice lobby. [00:20:28] If you haven't stopped in, please stop in. [00:20:30] It's like visiting any other professional office. [00:20:33] There's nice chairs in the waiting room. [00:20:35] There's a television. [00:20:36] There's desks, all the things that should be there. [00:20:38] And anybody that remembers Judy laboring in the back room [00:20:41] at Joe DeLuca's building amidst all the different color [00:20:44] rusted file cabinets, I mean, we think we've taken a step up. [00:20:47] So we're no offense intended, of course. [00:20:51] So we feel good about that. [00:20:53] And again, just considering who we are, where do we fit in, [00:20:57] and what do we do for the city, the thing that I think [00:21:00] keeps driving us is we really think [00:21:02] that we can be an asset to everything good that's [00:21:04] happening in the city. [00:21:05] And we can complement that. [00:21:07] I mentioned the new board member, David Maharaj. [00:21:09] We're excited about that. [00:21:11] We're coming up with review guidelines [00:21:12] for all of our board members. [00:21:14] One of the things that we're going [00:21:15] to ask the board members to be is more actively involved. [00:21:18] In the past, we've had board members, [00:21:20] like a lot of organizations do, that aren't necessarily [00:21:23] involved in the community. [00:21:25] Recently, we've had board members participate [00:21:27] with Bob Langford and the Friends of the Hacienda [00:21:30] on their event and try to support that in every way [00:21:33] that we could. [00:21:33] We had board members that volunteered with the Bike Fest [00:21:37] that the Chamber of Commerce did. [00:21:39] And what we're looking for is to have all of our board members [00:21:42] at least somehow actively involved [00:21:43] in the outside community. [00:21:44] Because again, all the things that we're a part of now, [00:21:47] we're all pulling in the same direction [00:21:49] to make New Port Richey better. [00:21:52] Again, regular meetings, that just makes sense. [00:21:54] We want to grow membership, and we [00:21:56] want to do it in a way that makes sense [00:21:58] to bring people on board. [00:21:59] We're looking at some different levels. [00:22:01] Again, and we had talked about the shared office space [00:22:03] that we think is an asset for people. [00:22:05] And fiscal stability is invest in projects [00:22:09] that bring a return on investment. [00:22:10] That's what I said immediately. [00:22:12] We like the fact that there'll be two bike racks there [00:22:15] that will be long after. [00:22:17] Maybe we're not an active part of the group anymore. [00:22:19] Hopefully, the group continues. [00:22:20] But they'll be there. [00:22:22] The mural and the crosswalks and the other things like that, [00:22:24] we think are important. [00:22:25] We all joke about the benches on the bridge [00:22:28] and that they're not the most beautiful things in the world. [00:22:30] But they sure look better now than they were just [00:22:32] concrete slabs. [00:22:33] So that's one of the things we're looking for. [00:22:37] We talked about design, installing the bike racks. [00:22:39] We've been told that that'll happen [00:22:41] within the next few days or next few weeks. [00:22:43] The crosswalk mural design, I shared [00:22:46] we were meeting with Jenny Pearl. [00:22:47] She gave us an estimate that didn't seem [00:22:49] like it was where we were going to go. [00:22:51] And now we're with the wildlife artist, who's [00:22:54] coming before the end of the week. [00:22:56] He's going to view the crosswalk and give us [00:22:58] a hard estimate on that. [00:23:00] And then we'd also like to add additional murals [00:23:02] in the downtown. [00:23:03] Nancy had an idea for something near the splash pad [00:23:07] especially if we're working with Kevin, [00:23:11] to do something that looked like an aquarium. [00:23:13] Something that kids might enjoy [00:23:15] with the different colored tropical fish [00:23:17] or things like that. [00:23:18] You identified a wall somewhere in there? [00:23:19] I thought there was a wall over by the splash pad area. [00:23:22] We could get something in mural there. [00:23:24] Slide the mic up. [00:23:26] Slide the mic up. [00:23:28] Oh, slide the mic up. [00:23:29] He can't hear you. [00:23:30] Not the guy mic. [00:23:31] That would be more fun. [00:23:34] No, I was saying that I thought [00:23:36] if there was a wall near the splash pad [00:23:38] that we could put a mural on [00:23:40] that looked more like an aquarium. [00:23:42] Because that's water and the kids are over there playing [00:23:45] and I thought that would be kind of centered [00:23:48] on the children, centered on something [00:23:50] they could relate to more in a mural [00:23:52] than the historical murals that we have downtown. [00:23:55] Gator on cigar bar? [00:23:57] Well not, I don't want a gator. [00:23:58] That wasn't ours, but that's, it's. [00:24:00] But you know, fish, turtles, things like that [00:24:03] that are fun, festive, that bring a little [00:24:05] more playfulness to the area. [00:24:08] And I'm hoping to look at something like that. [00:24:10] We have a wonderful artist that's very creative [00:24:13] and I'm really excited about him coming to town. [00:24:16] And I'm really looking forward to what he proposes for us. [00:24:20] Well you're talking about the design. [00:24:21] You know, when I looked through this [00:24:23] and I saw the design committee and stuff [00:24:25] and I knew that, you know, Jose had left. [00:24:27] But we redesigned downtown and took away the trees [00:24:31] and put in palm trees so the businesses [00:24:34] would more want to show their wares. [00:24:37] You know, and I didn't know if you would approach [00:24:38] the businesses along with Mario and his money [00:24:41] to try to, you know, knock on their doors [00:24:43] and see if they would. [00:24:44] You know, that's what I look at as a design committee. [00:24:47] You know, you would do as far as greater downtown, [00:24:50] Newport Riches, to promote the business, [00:24:52] try to get people to come down. [00:24:53] Right. [00:24:54] So I didn't know, and I haven't heard any of that. [00:24:56] It's not listed here. [00:24:57] And I'm, Chopper, you were saying just what, [00:25:00] for planters or for some type of. [00:25:01] No, I mean, they can do, you know, a variety of things. [00:25:05] They can put a whole new facade [00:25:06] on the front of their buildings. [00:25:08] And can do that now, and it's visible [00:25:10] because we have palm trees versus, [00:25:14] what was your favorite tree? [00:25:15] Drake Elms. [00:25:16] Drake Elms, yeah. [00:25:16] Drake Elms. [00:25:17] And that's a good point. [00:25:18] I mean, we had talked, you know, some time ago [00:25:20] about a stakeholders meeting, [00:25:22] and I think Mario was able to conduct one of those. [00:25:24] But we would like to be involved. [00:25:26] You know, the HMA, the whole concept of that [00:25:28] was that there's bars and restaurants [00:25:30] that are not exactly like other retail businesses [00:25:33] in the downtown. [00:25:34] Their hours are different. [00:25:35] Their profit centers are different. [00:25:37] Their customer base sometimes is different. [00:25:40] And I think a meeting of those people, [00:25:42] we have people now like Kelly Mackey [00:25:43] that are very involved as an owner down there. [00:25:46] There's been a change of ownership over at the bar [00:25:48] that used to be first down. [00:25:50] There's a new manager over there. [00:25:51] So, I mean, we're open to anything [00:25:53] that we can do to foster that. [00:25:54] I think one of the challenges has been [00:25:56] for both us and the Bike Fest Committee and others [00:25:59] is getting a buy-in and participation [00:26:01] from some of the downtown businesses. [00:26:03] Well, I could definitely agree with that [00:26:05] when it comes to Seafood Fest, [00:26:07] because other than Dos Sets, [00:26:08] I don't see anybody from your HMA [00:26:11] or potential HMA people that are involved in it. [00:26:14] Well, and to carry it further, for the Bike Fest, [00:26:17] the Bike Fest brings a lot of people to the city. [00:26:20] There's a downtown stage. [00:26:21] I know because I was the chairman [00:26:23] the year that it came back in 2014, [00:26:25] and there's a downtown stage that has an expense. [00:26:28] We put bands on it. [00:26:29] We pay for the stage. [00:26:30] We pay for the sound man. [00:26:32] There were only two bars downtown [00:26:33] that made a contribution, a cash contribution. [00:26:35] So I'm not chastising them. [00:26:37] I'm not saying they're bad people. [00:26:38] All I'm saying is that it's a goal of ours. [00:26:41] And if we can work with Mario to somehow do some type [00:26:44] of a meeting for downtown business people, [00:26:46] and it might be something that we really need the city [00:26:48] to help us orchestrate so there's more clout behind it, [00:26:51] because the thing that we hear is [00:26:53] we like the downtown events. [00:26:55] We did not do Night in the Tropics [00:26:57] because of the MOU cost compared [00:26:59] to the ability we have to raise funds. [00:27:01] And one of the things that we've been chastised before [00:27:03] is doing events that lose money. [00:27:05] So we heard loud and clear, [00:27:06] you shouldn't do events that lose money. [00:27:08] So we chose not to do Night in the Tropics [00:27:10] and had intense criticism from the downtown bars [00:27:12] and restaurants. [00:27:13] But this organization's been around for, since 84? [00:27:15] Is it? Sure. [00:27:16] 84, eight. [00:27:18] 1990. [00:27:18] Long time. [00:27:19] No, before then. [00:27:21] Before then. [00:27:22] Well, it was the New Permanente Cooperative [00:27:24] was prior to that, but since we're in Main Street, [00:27:27] it was originally funded by the state in 1984, [00:27:30] or something like that. [00:27:31] It's changed names and stuff. [00:27:34] Well, we can look it up, but yes. [00:27:36] I was involved back then, and so were you, [00:27:37] because we closed off Main Street. [00:27:39] Right. [00:27:40] And I wasn't around that long. [00:27:42] But anyhow, whatever number, 86, whatever. [00:27:45] It doesn't make a difference what number. [00:27:46] But the membership then was 75. [00:27:48] And what's the membership now? [00:27:49] 70. [00:27:50] Around 70, yeah. [00:27:51] And one of the, I think, one of the most. [00:27:52] And I have a problem with that, [00:27:53] because we have, what, 1,000 businesses? [00:27:57] But, Chopper, if I can interrupt you, [00:27:58] what we need is help from the city, not criticism. [00:28:02] No, no, no. [00:28:03] We need a way to mobilize the people [00:28:05] that are downtown business people that aren't a member. [00:28:08] If I could twist their arm and compel them to join, [00:28:10] I think it's a great thing, [00:28:12] but the only way we can do it [00:28:13] is try to grow the organization [00:28:14] with the things we're talking about, [00:28:16] and get people to buy in. [00:28:16] I think you need to ask yourself, [00:28:19] why are the businesses downtown, [00:28:23] why are they not coming to us wanting to be involved? [00:28:26] What is, you know, just let me finish, please. [00:28:29] Why is this not happening? [00:28:30] Like I said, last time you spoke, [00:28:32] I was hoping to see local business owners here backing you. [00:28:35] I think that's something you have to ask yourself [00:28:37] from within, and in my opinion, [00:28:39] you've been very, very receptive to our, [00:28:42] at least my, from what I've seen, recommendations, [00:28:44] what I've heard from business owners. [00:28:45] Like, you just brought up the Bike Fest. [00:28:48] The bars love the Bike Fest, as the mayor said [00:28:51] during communications at our last meeting. [00:28:53] Kelly Hackman, who you just brought up, [00:28:54] who's a great downtown tenant, business owner, [00:28:57] did not like the Bike Fest. [00:28:58] She lost money because of the Bike Fest. [00:29:00] So, I don't think you need to be asking the city, [00:29:04] well, why are the businesses not more involved? [00:29:07] I think you need to ask yourself that, [00:29:09] and take it upon yourselves [00:29:11] to go meet with the business owners. [00:29:13] There's some new businesses coming to town. [00:29:14] There's four, you know, right off the bat, [00:29:16] going into the old antique building. [00:29:18] There's another brewery on the works. [00:29:21] Engage them now and say, listen, here's what we're about. [00:29:23] We want to do things to help you, [00:29:26] and we want to work out a partnership, [00:29:28] but to say, just my opinion, and once again, [00:29:31] you've been very receptive, Steve, to my recommendations [00:29:33] and what I've heard thus far, you know. [00:29:36] But, you know, the bottom line, in my opinion, [00:29:40] is you can't keep doing the same things over and over again [00:29:42] and expect different results. [00:29:44] And I think you guys are catching on to that. [00:29:46] With the quality, I'm not gonna use that term, [00:29:49] with the residential units that we're putting in [00:29:54] and the target market, and there's plenty of them [00:29:56] moving into downtown, they're gonna need businesses. [00:30:00] to go to, and the businesses are depending on these people, [00:30:02] there's a lot of moving parts right now, [00:30:04] and it's a great opportunity for you, I believe. [00:30:06] I really, really do, but I don't think [00:30:08] you should be looking to the city for answers. [00:30:10] Look to yourselves and get out [00:30:11] and engage the businesses yourselves, [00:30:14] and find out why they're not here supporting you right now. [00:30:17] Well, Jeff, we didn't, and I'm not trying to be critical. [00:30:20] But let me tell you, because we didn't ask them to be here, [00:30:23] and I have to tell you that I'm a little confused, [00:30:26] and I sometimes get disappointed, [00:30:29] because I feel like we're damned if we do, [00:30:32] damned if we don't, and what we didn't want to do [00:30:34] was bring in a group of people cheering us on [00:30:36] and applauding when I talk and all that [00:30:38] to try to influence you guys. [00:30:39] We thought this was a one-on-one open discussion [00:30:42] about our potential to move forward. [00:30:44] We realize there's been problems in the past. [00:30:47] Would we like to have 200 members? [00:30:49] Yes. [00:30:50] Can I make a bar that doesn't have enough foresight [00:30:54] to understand that being part of a local group [00:30:56] can benefit them when the dues are only $125 a week? [00:31:00] That guy, Jeff, I've been doing this since 2005, [00:31:06] and I've sweat blood to try to make that happen. [00:31:08] I paid a bar's dues one year [00:31:11] to make them a Main Street member. [00:31:12] At the end, he said, yeah, I saw a value. [00:31:14] Will you pay it again this year? [00:31:15] And I said, no, sir, I won't, and they dropped out. [00:31:17] So there are some problems that I want to suggest [00:31:20] that go deeper than it's that darn Main Street [00:31:22] can't make people like them. [00:31:24] We have a change in the downtown, [00:31:27] and I believe with people like Big Storm, [00:31:28] with the new brewery, [00:31:30] you're gonna have people with foresight that understand. [00:31:32] Can we do a better job and get them involved? [00:31:34] Yeah, we can. [00:31:36] I wasn't trying to make them the city's responsibility. [00:31:38] What I'm saying is there has never been a joint meeting [00:31:43] so far between Main Street and the city [00:31:46] to try to meet with downtown people, [00:31:48] which suggests that we're somehow on the fringe or outside. [00:31:51] So all I'm saying, I had suggested to Mario [00:31:53] one time we did a stakeholders meeting [00:31:56] of downtown business owners [00:31:57] because I happen to know some of them. [00:31:59] Joe DeLuca is a friend of mine. [00:32:01] Bob Carroll sits at my table in Rotary, [00:32:03] and a meeting was done and Main Street wasn't invited. [00:32:05] I'm not chastising him for that. [00:32:07] All I'm saying, it was a missed opportunity [00:32:10] for Main Street and the city to work together. [00:32:12] So the only thing I'm asking you is, [00:32:14] please don't scold us for not doing things [00:32:16] if you won't help us do them. [00:32:18] We want help and we want assistance. [00:32:20] I'm sorry if you took it that way. [00:32:22] I didn't feel like I was scolding you or anybody. [00:32:24] I honestly didn't. [00:32:25] But Jeff, I've been doing this a long time [00:32:26] and we put our hearts and our souls into it. [00:32:28] We want it to work, you know? [00:32:30] I want it to work for you as well. [00:32:32] You know? [00:32:33] And I will tell you, I came on board in the middle of May. [00:32:37] And I have making a concerted effort [00:32:39] to at least two days a week be out in the street [00:32:42] going into businesses, talking to everybody, [00:32:45] trying to get their confidence level up in this. [00:32:47] Because one of the things I've heard repeatedly [00:32:50] is there's been so much change in Main Street. [00:32:52] Every time they turn around, there's a new director, [00:32:54] there's new employees. [00:32:56] And I'm trying to show them we're professional, [00:32:59] we're valid, we have foresight. [00:33:01] And I'm hoping they will see our value [00:33:04] and they will come on board as long as they learn to trust. [00:33:08] And they've got to be able to have that time to trust. [00:33:11] And I feel that if I continue that, [00:33:14] if I continue being the face out there, [00:33:16] they're going to come around. [00:33:18] They're going to see. [00:33:19] I've got a very pleasant relationship [00:33:21] with a lot of people that up until a few months ago, [00:33:25] they wouldn't even talk about Main Street. [00:33:28] And I'll go in and they're happy to see me [00:33:30] and they'll actually engage. [00:33:32] So I feel that we are making some strides in that area. [00:33:35] Yeah, I just think it's a great opportunity. [00:33:36] Right now, the timing, once again, [00:33:38] I'm not trying to scold you. [00:33:39] No, and Jeff, I'm sorry. [00:33:40] But I just, let me just finish real quick by May. [00:33:44] I just think it's a great opportunity [00:33:45] for your organization because when we're talking [00:33:47] about smaller events and engaging [00:33:49] the people that actually live here, [00:33:51] I understand you need your three big events for funding. [00:33:53] And I'm not opposed to you. [00:33:53] I think those three events that you do are great events. [00:33:57] You know, you're not trying to do an event once a month. [00:33:59] You know, I get that. [00:34:01] But my point being that I just think it's a great opportunity. [00:34:04] I'm excited to see what's going to happen [00:34:05] over the next 12 months with so many people [00:34:08] hopefully moving downtown along with new business. [00:34:10] I just think we're on the cusp of such change. [00:34:12] It's, I think you guys could really take off now. [00:34:15] And I'm not telling you how to do it. [00:34:16] I'm not involving your organization. [00:34:17] I wouldn't know how to do it. [00:34:19] I'm just hoping that's going to happen. [00:34:20] And I honestly think that the information [00:34:23] or the recommendations that I'm giving you, [00:34:26] whether they're correct or incorrect, [00:34:27] you've been receptive to and I appreciate that very much. [00:34:30] Jeff, we appreciate the input. [00:34:32] And I think, like I said, where I get frustrated [00:34:35] is we're a small group of people [00:34:37] that are dedicated to do what we do. [00:34:39] And I think that what's difficult right now [00:34:41] is we know where we've had problems before. [00:34:43] We're trying to fix those things. [00:34:46] We're strapped for cash [00:34:47] because we're between our major events. [00:34:49] KIA Fest was in June. [00:34:51] This Christmas event will be a wonderful event [00:34:53] that we're going to make no profit from [00:34:55] and it's going to cost us money to support the boat parade [00:34:57] and to support the snow thing in the park. [00:35:00] And with that, with this great Christmas event [00:35:02] that you're going to do, how do we bring more exposures? [00:35:04] These people are coming to see the snow [00:35:06] and know that they're coming to see the snow [00:35:07] because of you guys. [00:35:09] Yeah, toot your horn a little bit more. [00:35:10] You know what I mean? [00:35:11] It's not a city event, it's your event. [00:35:13] You guys are bringing snow to Orange Lake. [00:35:15] Let everyone know, hey, this isn't the city of New Port Richey. [00:35:18] It's not a private sector. [00:35:20] It's not any other organization. [00:35:22] It's the mainstream. [00:35:24] Yeah, it's going to get promoted quite a bit [00:35:25] through the Trinity [00:35:26] because that's where Dr. Unger's office is. [00:35:28] So, I mean, he has, I can't remember the number of people [00:35:31] that he touches. [00:35:32] It's a big deal. [00:35:33] Well, and they're more adept at, [00:35:35] and we know most of our weaknesses. [00:35:38] There are some we choose not to acknowledge. [00:35:39] But most, one of our big ones is social media [00:35:42] and Dr. Unger's staff, they have expertise in that area. [00:35:45] So that's one of the things that works. [00:35:46] I just want to give you guys credit where credit's due. [00:35:48] It's going to have momentum. [00:35:49] And we appreciate it. [00:35:51] And I was just going to say, [00:35:52] we recognize the issues downtown [00:35:53] because I know, you mentioned Kelly. [00:35:56] I know SIPS has the same issue. [00:35:58] They had the worst week ever, they told me during- [00:36:00] At Bike Fest? [00:36:01] Well, no, they closed down at Bike Fest. [00:36:02] They were out of town. [00:36:03] So we realized that the only people that benefit [00:36:06] from the big events may be the bars [00:36:08] and the people that were really trying to attract [00:36:10] and bring downtown, the restaurants, the SIPS, Kelly's. [00:36:14] We got to do different events, [00:36:16] but the problem is the big momentum was with all the bars. [00:36:20] And that's why we're looking for help with the city [00:36:22] because it's expensive to put on an event, [00:36:24] to kind of create something new. [00:36:25] And if we got to come out of pocket with it- [00:36:28] Twice now I've tried to talk and you guys have interrupted. [00:36:30] Well, we're sorry. [00:36:31] I apologize. [00:36:32] I did too, I apologize. [00:36:34] But you guys are concentrating, in my opinion, [00:36:37] and I just, when I got interrupted, [00:36:39] I said, there's a thousand businesses in New Port Richey [00:36:41] and your concentration is right on downtown. [00:36:45] But if those are the thousand businesses in town, [00:36:48] they all have business tax receipts. [00:36:50] So we have a list of them, [00:36:51] but all those businesses are going to be successful [00:36:54] if things are successful in New Port Richey as a whole, [00:36:57] not just downtown. [00:36:59] So I think, looking at the bigger picture [00:37:02] and saying we have a thousand people, not a couple dozen- [00:37:05] You're asking us to broaden our base. [00:37:07] Well, thinking that mentality that there's people up [00:37:11] on mass that would love to be involved in downtown, [00:37:14] people in South Grand that might want to come up downtown [00:37:17] and might want to be involved [00:37:18] because it's bringing people downtown. [00:37:20] We're only five square miles. [00:37:22] So if you get them downtown, [00:37:23] they might make it to this business, [00:37:24] or they might come and be a participant [00:37:26] at $100 a business. [00:37:29] So this all concentration on downtown isn't necessarily, [00:37:33] I think, the whole picture. [00:37:34] It's just that this originally was mostly [00:37:37] to promote downtown. [00:37:38] That's why it was originally whatever the original name was. [00:37:44] As I say, our membership was down last year. [00:37:45] So we're back up to where we were [00:37:48] maybe a year and a half ago. [00:37:48] I have put on six new members since I came in in May. [00:37:53] I could insert. [00:37:55] So the things that we're experiencing [00:37:57] as a Main Street city are not new, [00:37:59] we're not specific to our city. [00:38:02] You know, if you were talking to any other city [00:38:06] that is similar to ours, [00:38:07] the buy-in with the community [00:38:10] and the buy-in with the business merchants, [00:38:12] that is really a challenge. [00:38:13] The Main Street organization itself [00:38:18] has difficulty helping you define [00:38:21] how to deal with your downtown merchants [00:38:23] because they want it to be a program of attraction [00:38:27] so that what you're doing, [00:38:30] you know, the entire community is gaining from. [00:38:33] But how do you convince someone that is a member [00:38:36] and paying $125 and getting the same benefits, [00:38:39] so to speak, from what's happening in a community [00:38:43] to with a merchant that won't join? [00:38:46] I know many years ago, [00:38:49] the membership team cooperated, [00:38:51] was coordinating with the chamber [00:38:53] because they were thinking, [00:38:54] well, there's a lot of small downtown business merchants [00:38:57] and perhaps they could create a product [00:39:02] where they're joining both the chamber [00:39:05] and the Main Street organization [00:39:06] so they're not deciding between each one [00:39:08] and having a cooperative cost to belong to both. [00:39:14] As many reasons as you can think of, [00:39:16] there's reasons why the merchants have not, [00:39:19] you know, don't join for whatever reason. [00:39:21] And again, it's not peculiar to our city. [00:39:26] The other thing I wanted to say is that over the years, [00:39:29] the events that take place, [00:39:31] there are actually a lot of downtown businesses [00:39:34] that participate in in-kind services [00:39:38] or allowing their sales to, you know, [00:39:42] insert themselves doing the hospitality food or whatever. [00:39:47] The other piece is, [00:39:51] I mean, as long as, [00:39:52] I mean, we were involved with the program [00:39:54] before we were involved with the programming. [00:39:56] We were merchants in the downtown. [00:39:57] And even back then, [00:40:03] there was lots of businesses that just, [00:40:06] for whatever reason, just wouldn't join. [00:40:09] Yeah. [00:40:10] And then of course, [00:40:11] yeah, and another challenge [00:40:12] with a lot of the businesses in downtown, [00:40:15] they support it because it's like more of a mindset. [00:40:19] Main Street program is more of a mindset [00:40:20] than actually a membership-driven organization [00:40:24] where they're stroking a check. [00:40:25] So they're supportive of it. [00:40:26] You know, that doesn't help the bottom line especially, [00:40:29] but there's, you know, as I said, [00:40:32] this is a challenge that every Main Street city, [00:40:36] you know, experiences. [00:40:37] Yeah, Main Street program is different [00:40:38] than a chamber program [00:40:39] because we're not member-focused per se [00:40:42] or member-driven. [00:40:43] I mean, we're focused on development of the downtown, [00:40:46] the historical aspects of it, the design. [00:40:50] I know Nancy and I met with Jeannie Pearl the other day, [00:40:54] and I don't know if you know Jeannie, [00:40:55] but she designed. [00:40:56] I didn't realize how accomplished artist she is. [00:40:58] And she's super tied in with the city. [00:41:00] Put her on Facebook page. [00:41:01] Well, yeah. [00:41:02] Well, she is super tied in with the city of Clearwater [00:41:04] where she's helping them rewrite their five-year-old. [00:41:06] I'm there all the time. [00:41:07] So we met with her. [00:41:08] She is willing to come in. [00:41:09] She said, that's the one thing we're lacking up here [00:41:12] in West Pasco is if you look at every city [00:41:14] in Pinellas County, even Pinellas County itself, [00:41:17] they all have a public arts master plan [00:41:21] of where they're going to spend [00:41:22] and how they're going to spend it [00:41:23] and where they're going to put public art. [00:41:24] We don't really have that. [00:41:26] So she's willing to work with us [00:41:28] and try to put together a presentation [00:41:31] that we can present to you on a master plan of- [00:41:33] She's working on it for us. [00:41:34] No, it's very much needed. [00:41:35] You brought up in-kind. [00:41:37] How much, what kind of numbers do we give you guys in-kind [00:41:41] for your three events? [00:41:42] I think it's varied from event to event, correct? [00:41:45] It does, but annually, [00:41:48] it's about 12,500 to maybe 15,000, depending. [00:41:54] Do we give any cash to Chaskell? [00:41:57] No, we do not. [00:41:58] Do we just give in-kind to Chaskell? [00:41:59] That's correct. [00:42:01] And I think that that would have been based on five events. [00:42:03] So as the number of events decrease, [00:42:05] you know, we tried to use a, [00:42:07] and one of the difficult things, [00:42:09] and it's nobody's fault, [00:42:10] but it's difficult when you do events [00:42:12] because you do a set meeting, [00:42:13] you get an estimate of costs, [00:42:14] but you don't realize what the actual costs [00:42:16] are gonna be until the event happens. [00:42:18] We're doing that kind of stuff in-kind, right? [00:42:21] Right, but what I'm saying, Chopper, [00:42:23] is that $15,000 would have been based [00:42:26] probably on five events with MOU forgiveness [00:42:29] for five events. [00:42:31] So my point is that should go down with three events [00:42:34] because if we do an event. [00:42:34] Well, actually, the request from Main Street [00:42:36] for this year is for $20,000 for three events. [00:42:40] In-kind? [00:42:41] Yes. [00:42:43] What's the fourth one, sir? [00:42:44] Well, the Night in the Tropics if we revitalize it. [00:42:47] Yeah, so there'll be a four [00:42:49] if we revitalize Night in the Tropics [00:42:51] because we can't do it right now without help [00:42:55] because last year we lost a couple thousand dollars. [00:42:58] And that's why I've said we're not doing it this year. [00:43:00] We can't consciously do it. [00:43:02] You can't get the bars and restaurants along that strip. [00:43:04] I mean, do most of them contribute? [00:43:06] They're making a lot of money. [00:43:07] Okay, well, we had a little discussion. [00:43:11] They told me that we have the event [00:43:15] and if we lose money, they would write checks then. [00:43:19] Well, you can't do it on a promise, you know? [00:43:22] And it's like, no, that can't work that way. [00:43:24] Well, and Jeff, to give you the history of- [00:43:26] We asked for $150 and they wouldn't come up with $150. [00:43:30] And to give the history of what we've done [00:43:32] when we started the HMA, [00:43:35] there was no cost to any of the members. [00:43:37] I donated radio remotes [00:43:39] and we did bar-focused promotions in the downtown [00:43:41] and everybody thought they were great. [00:43:43] And we had full participation. [00:43:46] And then there was still going to be no charge for the media [00:43:49] but we wanted $125 per bar to be a part of it. [00:43:52] We had three participants. [00:43:54] One of them said the timing's not right for me. [00:43:56] And I'm not being critical. [00:43:57] All I'm saying is yet we don't have a rowing [00:44:00] in the same direction. [00:44:01] And the thing that I think I've seen, [00:44:02] I've been in radio a long time, [00:44:04] as the sophistication of your merchants increase, [00:44:08] there's more of a cooperative effort. [00:44:09] And I'm not saying our merchants aren't sophisticated. [00:44:11] What I'm saying is in some areas, [00:44:13] like people use Dunedin for an example, [00:44:15] there are merchants in Dunedin that catch the vision [00:44:18] and they say, I'm in for the year. [00:44:20] And if I do five bad events, I'm in for five. [00:44:23] And we're going to see where this ends up. [00:44:24] And they create momentum [00:44:25] and they create draft that pulls people along [00:44:28] and the thing starts to go. [00:44:30] And I think the frustration that we have sometimes, [00:44:32] and we get criticism, I think, [00:44:34] well-deserved for our shortcomings in the past, [00:44:37] but we also get people that haven't grasped the new vision [00:44:39] of what New Port Richey is. [00:44:41] We talk to people outside of the downtown area [00:44:43] about doing things in New Port Richey [00:44:45] and we get a response from a kind no thank you [00:44:48] to sometimes a rude criticism of what New Port Richey is. [00:44:51] And we don't believe that [00:44:53] and we don't wear our heart on our sleeve and argue with them [00:44:56] but we say, okay, we'll come back to them [00:44:58] down the road and later. [00:45:00] I'm sure we'll share that vision and understand the importance. [00:45:05] Mr. Fitt, can I have the floor at any time in the future? [00:45:09] Go ahead, Councilman. [00:45:11] I know I'm not there and that's a net benefit because I'm not in that chair next to Chopper, [00:45:18] but Ms. Manns, would you please share my email from this afternoon with the Main Street Group [00:45:25] and with my colleagues sometime tomorrow? [00:45:28] I won't belabor all of my points. [00:45:31] I will do so, Mr. Councilman. [00:45:36] To get us from here until April 15th, which is a key date in my mind, I had five points. [00:45:48] One was to try to tandem with the Cultural Affairs Committee and the Main Street Group [00:45:52] to discuss the art funding project because the Cultural Affairs Committee is the group [00:46:00] that we've tasked with the art. [00:46:03] If they work together, I think that would be a net benefit. [00:46:07] For Mr. Smallwood's small part, he gets to work closer with his wife because she's part [00:46:12] of that committee, so that's always good. [00:46:18] Number two, I was looking at the program and organizations. [00:46:28] I know you highlighted your plan, and I'm sorry I'm not there to see it, but wanting [00:46:33] to make sure that you stay on point with the tenants or the creed of the downtown or of [00:46:40] the Main Street program, which I think you've alluded to. [00:46:47] You also talked about trying to do a stronger citizen membership category, which I think [00:46:52] is a really great benefit. [00:46:55] I'd like to see you cross over a little bit with the Board of Realtors, the West Pasco [00:47:05] Chamber, which you said you had a great meeting with, and the Bayou Business Group, so there's [00:47:09] some tandem between that downtown group and this one. [00:47:18] Lastly, I'd like to see a report in January and then again in April. [00:47:22] I'd like to look at, not promising, but I'd like to be able to at least extend an open [00:47:29] hand of doing a tiered funding after that April 15th date. [00:47:36] I'd like to shorten the MOU between the city and the group. [00:47:41] I'd like to make it three or four pages, and unfortunately, I want to put a drop-dead clause [00:47:46] in it, because if there's no progress, I don't want to move forward. [00:47:51] The last thing, and I've talked about it for three years, ever since Mr. Iazzoni showed [00:47:55] up in town, is I think Main Street ought to be in charge and ought to be trying to work [00:48:02] with the founder day process with the city. [00:48:07] You talked about it. [00:48:09] I think there ought to be a way to ... I've always wanted, and we've recognized those [00:48:15] businesses that have had 50, 75, 100 years in the city. [00:48:20] I said it either on a Friday afternoon or a Saturday, invite those businesses to come [00:48:26] down and get a hamburger and a hot dog in the park, bring them up on stage for the ones [00:48:31] that have been in business 10 years, 15, 20, 25. [00:48:35] If that doesn't help you set your marketing event to be in front of them, I don't know [00:48:40] what else can be done, because you can't do it individually and try to walk into everybody's [00:48:47] business two days a week over ... That's 104 days for the year. [00:48:53] Those are some of the suggestions that I've made. [00:48:56] I just believe that if we look at it now, and then in January, and then in April, and [00:49:08] do a tiered funding, whether it's cash or in-kind, I think that gets you out to your [00:49:13] other two major events that are still within this fiscal year. [00:49:17] Those are my suggestions. [00:49:19] Thank you, Councilman. [00:49:21] Let me get something in before we start wrapping up on this. [00:49:28] I'm glad to see you de-emphasizing the big monster events. [00:49:33] Unfortunately, there was a history where you had a whole bunch of events and lost a little [00:49:38] bit on each one, which wasn't cost-effective because of the number that we're just getting. [00:49:46] They were drawing not only the organization down financially, but on a volunteer basis. [00:49:53] You'd look at the volunteers at the end of the weekend, and they'd all look like they [00:49:58] just were zombies, killing your volunteers. [00:50:04] What I envision in the downtown is not so much the large mega events, but simply reasons [00:50:15] that people are going to want to be downtown basically every Friday, every Saturday night [00:50:23] of the year. [00:50:27] I don't know if you call those events, or maybe just small-scale promotions. [00:50:34] There's one coming up. [00:50:35] I've heard nothing out of you guys yet, although I know we've had it in the past. [00:50:41] That's Small Business Saturday, which is coming up the last Saturday of this month. [00:50:46] It doesn't take a whole lot to coordinate that. [00:50:51] I've got extra bags from American Express. [00:50:53] If you find somebody that didn't order any, I'd be happy to share the ones I've got because [00:50:58] I've still got some from last year. [00:51:03] Little things that bring people down, it's sidewalk art, cruise-in, little things. [00:51:11] They don't have to be big mega events. [00:51:13] They don't have to have bands. [00:51:14] They don't have to be expensive to put on. [00:51:18] Just reasons that people say, hey, it's Friday night, let's go down to New Port Richey. [00:51:23] That's what I would love to see. [00:51:25] It wouldn't kill you guys to try to put them on. [00:51:29] I think it's a mistake to do the big ones, as many as you have done when you've got so [00:51:34] few people that are volunteering to help. [00:51:40] It's not practical to try to do the big things, but little things. [00:51:46] If you could talk Kelly and Sips and Rose and Jerry and Boulevard Beef and that group [00:51:54] to have some sort of promotion one specific Friday or Saturday, get the word out. [00:52:01] Make a big deal out of it. [00:52:04] Those are things that I think are very doable. [00:52:05] They would show that the Main Street organization was actually coordinating something and doing [00:52:09] something positive in the community. [00:52:12] When you come back to talk to us in January or in April, as Councilman Phillips pointed [00:52:19] out, you say, hey, these are some of the things we did over the last few months that got people [00:52:25] gave them a reason to come downtown. [00:52:28] Great point. [00:52:29] In your defense, too, that's what I'd like to see out of you as well. [00:52:32] One of the things. [00:52:33] I don't think you, your organization alone, should be solely tasked with putting on small [00:52:37] events that attract people to downtown and make people want to live downtown. [00:52:43] Frank Starkey has great ideas. [00:52:44] I'm sure you guys engage Frank. [00:52:46] He's just a very progressive thinker. [00:52:49] When I sit down and speak with him and he and Maria and I meet, I would just always [00:52:53] come out of the meeting with some good, fresh ideas. [00:52:56] Rock the Boat Productions, Kieran Casey, the next younger generation of just diehard New [00:53:02] Port Richians that love living here, live here their whole lives, and want to see downtown [00:53:07] work and want to see our city prosper. [00:53:11] I'd just like to see all the small organizations partner with you and just brainstorm and come [00:53:15] up with ideas. [00:53:16] Maybe one weekend a month, New Port Richey, Main Street, Inc. will do a market downtown. [00:53:24] Maybe a second weekend a month, Rock the Boat and Frank can do something. [00:53:28] Maybe the new breweries can get together and do something once a month. [00:53:33] I agree with the mayor 100%, but I don't think you should be solely tasked with putting that [00:53:37] on, but if the organizations that are looking to make New Port Richey a cool place can get [00:53:42] together and kind of work together, I think everyone will benefit from it. [00:53:49] That's agreed. [00:53:52] Just really quickly, if you'd like us to, we can do a speed read through the rest of [00:53:55] the things and let you know. [00:54:00] We had talked about another project that we'd like to undertake, but it's one that we would [00:54:04] request some direction from the city of how you would like it implemented. [00:54:08] Our past president, Debbie Leon, had pointed out that we have a number of historical buildings [00:54:13] in the downtown. [00:54:14] I'm aware of them when I go to Mike Fasano's tax collecting office and you go through and [00:54:20] you see the pictures and I'll say to myself, oh my God, that used to be a post office and [00:54:23] that used to be a grocery store. [00:54:27] Debbie had an idea for some type of a banner that was either a fixed banner on a light [00:54:31] post in front of the building or some type of a designation so we could coordinate walking [00:54:36] tours of historical buildings in the downtown. [00:54:38] Nancy remarked today that she almost hopes they don't cover up the food lion sign or [00:54:43] whatever it is on the building down there because it's so historic and so cool. [00:54:47] That's again something that we think that we could do to make people take more of an [00:54:51] interest in the downtown as well. [00:54:53] Ghost tours? [00:54:54] Yeah, we got ghosts, yeah. [00:54:56] We got them. [00:54:57] I'll interrupt you on that, but I was reading that and in some part of my head you're aware [00:55:00] of our wayfinding signs. [00:55:03] We had heard there's new signs that are to be placed in the downtown? [00:55:06] Yeah, it's a pretty large, expensive project. [00:55:08] And so those will all be the historical building? [00:55:10] I don't know, but some we can work on together. [00:55:12] We want it all to flow, right? [00:55:14] That's correct. [00:55:15] But I'm recognizing historic buildings, I think it's a great idea. [00:55:18] I'd like the theater, for example, and some other buildings are just really beautiful. [00:55:22] The old firehouse, they just put windows and doors on it. [00:55:24] Frank did a tour of downtown as people talked last week to a big crowd and it was amazing [00:55:29] how many people were asking questions and didn't know the historical aspects of some [00:55:33] buildings. [00:55:34] So it's something we definitely need to do. [00:55:35] Real quick, I got a call today at my office from a gentleman, I think his last name is [00:55:39] Schmidt. [00:55:40] He's writing a book on downtown New Port Richey and New Port Richey history and he wants [00:55:45] to start sometime this winter. [00:55:47] I told him to reach out to Mario and Debbie and as far as he wants to do historic walking [00:55:54] tours of downtown New Port Richey on a monthly basis, so it'd be cool to, like you said, [00:55:59] have some kind of recognition for the old buildings for people driving by or for walking [00:56:03] on those tours as well. [00:56:06] Absolutely. [00:56:07] And I guess the final thing, we included an MOU that was just a copy of the one that [00:56:12] used when Ms. Quaretti was brought in as director. [00:56:15] We just, you know, extracted some information. [00:56:17] We don't propose to write the MOU. [00:56:20] We would just like to have one that the city is confident in. [00:56:23] I think we had one in 2016, but not in 2017. [00:56:27] So we operated without an MOU, but everything was fine and we operated in good faith. [00:56:31] And then a request for funding and, you know, again, just trying to find a way that we can, [00:56:38] you know, fit the things that you're looking for in the downtown. [00:56:42] One thing I would just like you to consider is that, you know, for us, what's the challenge [00:56:46] from the financial standpoint is, and I want to correct one thing, usually our Main Street [00:56:53] Blast and our Seafood Festival have always made money. [00:56:57] As far as I know, never lost money on those events. [00:57:00] And we funded our organization all year with very little other income, even when it was [00:57:04] $10,000 from the city and we had 60 members. [00:57:08] But, you know, I think as we go forward, just, you know, trying to find a way that we can [00:57:16] fund some of those smaller events. [00:57:18] Because when you talk about a small event in the street, there's usually some type of [00:57:22] tent rental, table rental, other things like that. [00:57:25] And our challenge is if we doubled our membership tomorrow, we would add about another $7,000 [00:57:29] a year to the bottom line. [00:57:32] If you're asking for 12 monthly events, $7,000 divided by 12, if we double our membership [00:57:37] miraculously overnight, we wouldn't have much of a budget to do those things. [00:57:41] So part of our challenge is just finding the dollars. [00:57:45] Sponsorship dollars are great. [00:57:46] We have a great friend in John Gillis who loves the downtown. [00:57:49] He has a New Port Richey business that's within city limits, a big supporter of the downtown. [00:57:53] I wish there were more John Gillises because then he strokes the check that underwrites [00:57:57] those things. [00:57:58] So we want to do all those things and, again, all we want to do is find the funding for [00:58:01] it. [00:58:02] I'm an eternal optimist about lots of things and I think that I really believe that people [00:58:07] are bandwagoners. [00:58:08] I mean, the Buccaneers, if they started winning games tomorrow and they made the playoffs, [00:58:11] we'd all be big Bucs fans. [00:58:13] It's just how the world works, you know. [00:58:15] And I think if we can do a better job as a Main Street organization, and I want to apologize [00:58:20] if I seemed like I was putting the onus on the city to make us successful. [00:58:24] That wasn't what I was saying, but if they sensed an appreciation, a cooperative effort, [00:58:28] a mutual respect between us, which we have for the city and I know you have for us, then [00:58:33] I think it helps our cause because we hear things that I know is going to surprise you, [00:58:37] but I have a problem with Main Street and the story is from 1994 when their problem [00:58:42] happened and they still have that chip on their shoulder. [00:58:45] That's very difficult in a small town environment. [00:58:48] The only way we're going to win those people over is, I believe, what Chopper said, broaden [00:58:51] the base, show them success, make them feel like there's results coming to them in the [00:58:56] downtown and that's what we're hoping to do over the next year. [00:59:02] And I don't know if I have other questions or things that we wanted to submit. [00:59:06] I would just like to insert one thing. [00:59:08] The important thing is to remember that the program comes under the Historic Preservation [00:59:12] and so encapsulating our history, our city, because what we have as a city, and it always [00:59:21] amazed me, I've lived here for 40 years and we can't seem to embrace, I'm so pleased that [00:59:26] the folks at the Hacienda have kind of embraced that now, but the connection to Hollywood [00:59:35] that this city has and I know that years ago that we talked about doing the Historic Walking [00:59:41] Tour, which is a bona fide tour that the Main Street program was able to develop, but [00:59:50] to stamp the sidewalk, much like the Hollywood in Hollywood, where you have that star memorializing [00:59:59] the star. [01:00:00] But there are so many wonderful historic buildings in our city. [01:00:04] And the history of this city, you know, having had the privilege of working on that historic [01:00:09] walking tour, it's fascinating when people hear those stories. [01:00:13] And I know it was the Gulf High School class of whatever, about 20 years ago, that helped [01:00:18] us kick that off. [01:00:20] They were excited and enthused to know that, you know, this organization had held on to [01:00:26] it and memorialized it. [01:00:28] So I think that that is a really key piece to the success, because that type of thing, [01:00:34] having people, you know, doing a walking tour, understanding our history, you know, is really [01:00:39] what captures our city. [01:00:42] And I remember having this conversation with Juan back when he was alive. [01:00:45] You know, there's a town out west that has memorializes their town by a big blue ox. [01:00:52] There's no such thing as a big blue, I mean, we have the history here, and we need to just [01:00:57] embrace that. [01:00:58] That leads me to a question as well. [01:01:00] What the thing that you said about the tie-in, and I know that the theater has done the Thomas [01:01:04] Meehan Film Festival and other things. [01:01:07] Would it be acceptable to the city to replicate some type of a star walk with the names of [01:01:12] some of those in that theater corridor? [01:01:15] I mean, I just think things like that could generate interest in the downtown as well. [01:01:19] I don't know that they know all the celebrities that lived in the area. [01:01:22] I don't see any reason why not. [01:01:25] Especially in that area. [01:01:29] In order to get this wrapped up. [01:01:32] Councilman Phillips, any final thoughts? [01:01:34] Oh, okay. [01:01:37] In that case, Councilman Davis. [01:01:39] I just think the next year or two is going to be really, really important for the organization. [01:01:52] I hope it goes well. [01:01:53] There's a lot going on downtown. [01:01:54] It's a great time to get everyone working together, and the potential is there, I think. [01:02:01] I was going to say, I think as an organization, we're making a pretty bold move. [01:02:06] Last year, we went through two different city-provided directors, and it didn't work out, and we [01:02:11] had a city space. [01:02:12] We made a pretty bold move and decision to go off and find a space on Main Street, and [01:02:16] it's probably more than we... [01:02:18] If we were just worried about events, we could probably have Nancy work out of a house, but [01:02:22] we wanted to really have a presence on Main Street. [01:02:25] Try to figure out a way maybe to bridge the downtown to City Hall, and try to broaden [01:02:30] Main Street, and figure out a way to provide additional benefits by using that extra space [01:02:36] in the building and that lot to bring maybe some small little events. [01:02:41] So again, I think we're taking a big step, and we're looking forward to really putting [01:02:46] together the whole program of the Main Street program, and not just being focused on those [01:02:50] big events that I guess we seem to be known for. [01:02:52] I appreciate that. [01:02:53] Actually, that's one of the things I said. [01:02:54] I'm not an event planner. [01:02:55] I don't want to do just events. [01:02:59] One of the things I think I've said to both Steve and Bob individually, and I'll say it [01:03:04] for everybody's benefit, but the two things I'd love to see absolutely sooner than later [01:03:12] is a date specific, when those two bike racks are going to get installed somewhere, so we [01:03:20] can celebrate it, and the second would be a date specific, when we can all show up at [01:03:29] a crosswalk to have a painting party. [01:03:35] I think that what we did tonight was wonderful, and I really would love to see us do this [01:03:39] more often, because I think the more dialogue we have, the more understanding that we have [01:03:43] of why they do what they do, and the way they do it, and the information that we can share [01:03:47] with them, the better. [01:03:49] So I would really encourage us to do this. [01:03:51] I would almost say bimonthly, if not quarterly. [01:03:54] I think that actually the one MOU called for quarterly reviews and meetings, and we would [01:03:59] like to do that. [01:04:00] We would. [01:04:01] It always just became a report, but I like this idea. [01:04:04] I also wanted to add that we don't necessarily, when we ask for the MOU forgiveness, we didn't [01:04:08] pick a $20,000 number because we thought, hey, we want to spend as much city services [01:04:13] as we can and have you pay for it. [01:04:15] Our desire is to keep those services as low as we can. [01:04:18] The challenge for us is a night in the tropics, like when we go into an event like that. [01:04:22] I'm not going to beat a dead horse, but if we don't do a beer truck, there's not a profit [01:04:26] center for us. [01:04:27] The average sponsor will not pay a significant sum of money to have their cars in the downtown [01:04:33] for three or four hours, from six or seven o'clock at night until 11 o'clock at night. [01:04:38] You're just not going to get a $5,000 sponsorship in today's world. [01:04:42] Maybe it's the wrong thing to say, but people are becoming smarter about how they spend [01:04:45] their sponsorship dollars, and you can't fault them for that. [01:04:49] Part of it is just being able to develop the thing on those downtown events where we make [01:04:54] them make sense as we go forward. [01:04:58] Thank you all very much. [01:04:59] We'll adjourn until 7 o'clock meeting. [01:05:04] Thank you.

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3. 3Adjournment