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   Presentation of Work Plan by New Port Richey Main Street

   discussed

   New Port Richey Main Street Executive Director Liz presented the organization's 2019 work plan to the City Council/CRA, covering board reorganization, committee structure (design, organization, promotion, economic vitality), planned events and projects, and goals including becoming a Florida Trail Town and updating the downtown business directory. The City Manager indicated she will bring a proposed Memorandum of Understanding to the June 4th meeting, with CRA funds (~$15,000/year) as the proposed funding source. Council members asked board members about their motivations and expressed support.

   • direction:City Manager will present a proposed Memorandum of Understanding with Main Street at the June 4th meeting, using CRA funds as the funding source. (none)

   🏢Boulevard Buffinelle🏢Cultural Affairs Committee🏢Fitzgerald's🏢Florida Main Street🏢Historical Society🏢New Port Richey Main Street👤Adam Shoemaker👤Anne👤Bob Smallwood👤Carrie McAteer👤Cindy Partizana👤Commissioner Mariano👤Councilman Altman👤David Dorsey👤Debbie Manns👤Frankie Roman👤Jeff Baker👤John Gillis👤Karen Carpagnone👤Liz👤Patrick Binet👤Sherry#2020 National Main Street meeting in New Port Richey#CRA funds#Cody River Seafest#Dine, Drink, and Shop Downtown Day#Districts app#Florida Main Street Awards#Florida Trail Town designation#KFS Main Street Blast#Maestro program#Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)#Mornings on Main#National Celebrate Main Street Week#Night in the Tropics#River Lights Holiday Parade

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   [00:00:13] OK. [00:00:14] Well, thank you for having us. [00:00:15] We appreciate the opportunity to discuss our work plan. [00:00:20] I know you have a copy in front of you. [00:00:22] I can go through it if you'd like me to, and then if you [00:00:25] just want to ask questions or whatever you would like me to. [00:00:28] Hit the highlights, and let's take it from there. [00:00:30] All right. [00:00:31] Well, we'll begin with our board, our new board of [00:00:33] directors, President Bob Smallwood, Vice President [00:00:37] Patrick Binet, Treasurer David Dorsey, Secretary Carrie [00:00:41] McAteer, Board of Director Cindy Partizana, who's not [00:00:46] able to attend, and Board of Director Karen Carpagnone, who [00:00:49] is not able to attend as well, Board of Director Frankie [00:00:53] Roman, not attending, and Board of Director Adam [00:00:56] Shoemaker, to my right. [00:00:58] Attending. [00:00:59] And Board of Director Anne. [00:01:01] She wasn't able to attend either. [00:01:04] Our new board members are brought on for two years. [00:01:07] The previous board members that were brought on will [00:01:10] serve through October, and then we'll revisit that. [00:01:16] We'll get new people in. [00:01:19] We'll decide that then. [00:01:22] We did work on an advisory board that we would like to [00:01:27] meet quarterly. [00:01:28] The folks listed here, Commissioner Mariano, City [00:01:33] Manager Debbie Manns, John Gillis, Jeff Baker, and Bob [00:01:37] Smallwood have all agreed to be on the advisory board, [00:01:40] sorry, just to make sure that we're running [00:01:45] things as we should. [00:01:46] Any ideas that they have? [00:01:48] Any feedback suggestions up to the county level? [00:01:53] Right, Bob, did I miss anything there? [00:01:54] The same thing, whoever the board president is would be on [00:01:58] that committee. [00:02:00] Correct, yes. [00:02:01] Bob Smallwood is on the committee because he's the [00:02:03] board president. [00:02:04] So whoever the next board president is would, which [00:02:07] would be Patrick Benet, would be on the advisory board. [00:02:12] He's very excited. [00:02:14] I have another chance. [00:02:18] And to fill you in on, happy to have another badge, right? [00:02:24] Sure, I'll take it. [00:02:27] The 2019-2020 Main Street Board, we did hold a meet and [00:02:31] greet in April, just to introduce you guys to each [00:02:36] other, and council was invited. [00:02:41] We had a quick meeting, just wanted to give them an [00:02:43] opportunity to meet each other, talk about what we [00:02:47] were going to do going forward, and set our meeting [00:02:49] dates throughout the rest of 2019, which are listed here. [00:02:54] They will be held at the same location, 6 o'clock PM, at [00:02:57] Boulevard Buffinelle, with the dates listed there. [00:03:01] And then currently, I am the only staff member that Main [00:03:05] Street has. [00:03:07] And moving on to our work plan for 2019, I can read [00:03:14] through this quickly here. [00:03:17] I am the new full-time executive director. [00:03:21] Part of my job will be to attend continuing education [00:03:24] classes, webinars, and Main Street conferences. [00:03:27] We did become a Florida state-accredited Main Street [00:03:30] program again, officially, as of April 24. [00:03:34] We did adopt new bylaws at our last meeting. [00:03:39] We are looking at holding a board retreat to continue to [00:03:42] discuss the reorganization of the Main Street program. [00:03:46] We'd like to update our community vision, statement, [00:03:49] and mission, develop some transformation strategies, [00:03:52] develop established review guidelines. [00:03:55] This is in the works, has not happened yet, but it's [00:03:58] definitely at the top of the list. [00:04:01] Basically, sorry, I'm just going through here real quick. [00:04:06] One of the main items, also, is to report to city council [00:04:08] quarterly, or as often as you would like us to. [00:04:13] But I report to the state quarterly, and had asked if we [00:04:16] could report to council at the same time. [00:04:19] With all the information I send to the state, I can [00:04:21] discuss with you, but we want to make sure that we do that [00:04:24] every quarter. [00:04:27] There's fiscal stability, invest in projects, bringing [00:04:32] return on investment, and to be transparent. [00:04:35] We definitely want to make that, what am I trying to say [00:04:42] here, definitely want to be transparent. [00:04:44] It's been brought to my attention that, thank you. [00:04:47] Yes, we'll just leave it there. [00:04:49] We want to make that a priority for sure. [00:04:52] Moving on to the design aspect of the program, we're [00:04:56] continuing to put together committees. [00:04:59] We do have folks that are interested. [00:05:01] We have more than have just been talked to in the past few [00:05:05] days that are interested. [00:05:06] We have not had a set date yet for the meeting. [00:05:09] The members are still talking to each other and trying to [00:05:14] figure that out. [00:05:15] We're working on dates, though. [00:05:17] Each of our new board members have been asked to lead one of [00:05:21] the committees. [00:05:22] They all are asked to be on at least one committee as well. [00:05:26] They can be on more, of course, but we would like a [00:05:29] board member to lead each of the committees. [00:05:31] I actually just met this morning with Sherry at [00:05:34] Fitzgerald's to talk about a mural project, possibly. [00:05:37] We've had a bike rack, I know, that's been in the works for a [00:05:41] little while, and we had a little setback because our [00:05:44] metal fabricator, his wife has been [00:05:48] relocated to another state. [00:05:49] So he's unable to finish the project. [00:05:51] So it gave us a little setback, but we are working on [00:05:54] moving that forward as quickly as we can. [00:05:58] I have some other ideas that just we kind of listed that we [00:06:01] are interested in doing. [00:06:02] And I hope that list continues to grow as our committee meets [00:06:05] and our board continues to meet. [00:06:07] We did highlight some short-term and long-term goals [00:06:13] that we do have. [00:06:15] And we'll just continue on unless you have any questions. [00:06:20] There's one comment which was seemingly small but very [00:06:26] important, which is that your report, if it could come to [00:06:29] the CRA agency, the redevelopment agency, it's the [00:06:34] same ones as we are, but it's a whole separate pile of money [00:06:38] and that's where the funds are. [00:06:39] So you might want to talk to the CRA members. [00:06:43] So that's the plan. [00:06:51] The organization, we went through some of this already. [00:06:57] But we are working on a membership, or what I like to [00:07:03] call a community support plan, to roll out in July. [00:07:08] We have some examples from other Main Streets, some that [00:07:11] I have got from the Florida State Main Street, that have [00:07:16] worked very well in other Main Streets. [00:07:17] So we're putting together some ideas. [00:07:20] I'm going to bring them to the board in June for us to start [00:07:23] moving forward, hopefully implement the plan in July and [00:07:28] get moving on that. [00:07:30] We wanted to increase Main Street exposure to other [00:07:33] organizations. [00:07:35] Our board is very active in the community, so we will [00:07:39] represent Main Street, I believe, very well out and [00:07:42] about in the West Pasco area. [00:07:45] I will be attending community network functions. [00:07:47] I'll be volunteering and hoping to help supply Main [00:07:51] Street volunteers to community events, educate the [00:07:56] organizations and downtown businesses on [00:07:59] Main Street's purpose. [00:08:00] I really want to have my face out there until they tell me [00:08:04] they're sick of seeing me. [00:08:05] But I have a pretty good relationship with some of the [00:08:11] downtown businesses, and I hope to continue that and [00:08:14] establish relationships with our newer businesses. [00:08:19] We also want to create some marketing materials with Main [00:08:22] Street's purpose and goals to distribute out to the [00:08:25] community and the networking events as well, and our social [00:08:33] media, that's important. [00:08:34] Nowadays, there's increased social media presence, and we [00:08:37] have been working on that and talking with some other folks [00:08:41] in the community about how they can help with that. [00:08:45] Moving on to promotion. [00:08:48] We do the two major events of the year, the Cody River [00:08:50] Seafest, which just wrapped up, and we're getting ready [00:08:52] for the KFS Main Street Blast. [00:08:56] We like to partner with other organizations on the River [00:08:59] Lights Holiday Parade. [00:09:01] We like to see this event grow, since we do sit on the [00:09:03] river, and I think it would be important to include other [00:09:08] organizations and really make it a great event. [00:09:15] Of course, we want to stay working closely with the [00:09:17] Cultural Affairs Committee. [00:09:21] Do you have a question, Debbie? [00:09:23] No. [00:09:23] OK. [00:09:25] Stop me if I'm going a little fast. [00:09:26] I get a little nervous, so I tend to talk a little fast. [00:09:31] We did participate in the National Celebrate Main Street [00:09:34] Week, which was May 6 through the 10th, just a couple weeks [00:09:39] ago, actually. [00:09:40] That was great fun. [00:09:41] We tried to include as many of the downtown, the art gallery, [00:09:46] the Historical Society, the library, and our Dine, Drink, [00:09:52] and Shop Downtown Day on Thursday, which we had quite a [00:09:56] few of the businesses participate in. [00:09:59] We are introducing Mornings on Main. [00:10:01] These are going to be held at a downtown business location. [00:10:05] They'll have an opportunity to speak about their business [00:10:08] themselves or invite a guest speaker. [00:10:11] Little networking function, show off anything they want to [00:10:14] highlight that they have coming up. [00:10:17] We'll serve light refreshments and light bites, as I tend to [00:10:22] call them. [00:10:23] We're scheduled, actually, through September with those [00:10:26] right now. [00:10:26] So I'm looking forward to rolling those out. [00:10:30] How often are they? [00:10:31] Once a month. [00:10:32] The first one is on the third Tuesday, but we're looking at [00:10:35] the second Tuesday every month following. [00:10:40] We want to coordinate event calendars in a timely manner. [00:10:43] That's what we're trying to establish now by scheduling [00:10:46] out a few months in advance. [00:10:53] We do want to update and distribute the downtown New [00:10:56] New Port Richey map or placemat. [00:10:58] That was in place before. [00:10:59] That was awesome. [00:11:03] I know we gave out many, many at the chamber in my previous [00:11:07] life, and they were well received. [00:11:10] So we would like to get back on that and get those out. [00:11:13] And update our online business directory as well. [00:11:16] We're looking at recreating the whole website, talking [00:11:20] with a few companies now to see who can help us and give [00:11:24] us the best deal. [00:11:25] But we'd really like to have all of that just revamped and [00:11:30] a completely updated online business directory. [00:11:33] And of course, the monthly meeting would be held, as is [00:11:38] in every committee. [00:11:40] There's just an example of our three-month working calendar [00:11:43] of events. [00:11:44] Includes our board meetings, our mornings on Maine, when [00:11:48] we'd like to roll out the community [00:11:49] support membership plan. [00:11:51] I'm hoping to have some sort of, not so much membership [00:11:56] drive, but some sort of meeting where we can talk [00:11:58] about the plan, answer questions, and just have [00:12:01] everyone get together for that. [00:12:05] Possibly, I put Night in the Tropics for August. [00:12:08] I really don't have too much more information on that event [00:12:10] right now, just something that we can discuss with the board [00:12:14] and the downtown businesses here shortly and see if that's [00:12:17] a direction we'd like to go. [00:12:18] You may want to think of doing that at some time other than [00:12:21] August. [00:12:21] I don't know if that would be a good idea. [00:12:26] Brutal. [00:12:26] Brutally. [00:12:29] Very tropical. [00:12:30] Night in the Tropics is a lot of hot topics. [00:12:32] There you go, right? [00:12:33] It was like Sahara Desert. [00:12:36] Having the EMT on standby. [00:12:37] It's going 90-90. [00:12:39] 90 degrees and 90% humidity. [00:12:41] That's right. [00:12:44] I just put a note at the bottom that each of the four [00:12:47] committees will meet monthly. [00:12:48] They just have not been finalized. [00:12:50] The dates have not been confirmed at this time. [00:12:58] I'm sorry. [00:12:59] Economic vitality on the back. [00:13:04] This is an important one. [00:13:05] I know our new director at the state level [00:13:08] is really focusing on this, which is very important. [00:13:13] Recruit new business downtown. [00:13:14] Facilitate parties interested in opening a business [00:13:17] in New Port Richey with assistance [00:13:18] in navigating the process. [00:13:20] Arrange meetings for new businesses [00:13:22] with city departments to facilitate the permitting [00:13:24] process. [00:13:25] We would really like to have something [00:13:29] in place with the city to help any new business that [00:13:32] want to come down, as well as possibly even on our website. [00:13:36] And that's something that hopefully we can meet [00:13:39] and discuss further very shortly. [00:13:42] We do want to include an inventory of lease or for sale [00:13:45] properties on the website. [00:13:49] We will be applying for some small grants. [00:13:53] I do have a list from attending the conference in Tallahassee. [00:13:56] I was given a small grants list that we [00:13:59] will be looking at closely at our next board meeting. [00:14:04] I had discussed trying to see if New Port Richey can [00:14:08] become a Florida trail town. [00:14:11] The state sent me an assessment that needs to be completed. [00:14:15] They are not reviewing these assessments until the fall [00:14:20] to take on new cities. [00:14:21] But the gentleman I spoke with actually [00:14:24] has been here kayaking. [00:14:25] So he thought it was a fantastic idea [00:14:28] and has sent me the assessment, which [00:14:30] I will review and speak with the city about assistance [00:14:34] and anything that they're looking for for that. [00:14:37] We would like to implement historical walking and boat [00:14:39] tours. [00:14:41] There is an app called Districts that [00:14:42] is created specifically for Main Street programs. [00:14:45] I've been in contact with the gentleman that created it. [00:14:48] He has sent me some login information [00:14:50] to update New Port Richey's profile. [00:14:53] This app is also offered to any of our businesses. [00:14:57] I believe it's $10 a month, but he said [00:15:00] will come out and do a presentation and a demo for them. It's an app that they [00:15:05] themselves have access to so they can update photos, information, anything like [00:15:10] that. Looking at a new program called Maestro, this program was designed by a [00:15:17] former executive director of a Main Street program and it keeps basically [00:15:22] any record that we are required to keep that you'd want to turn into the city. It [00:15:28] is a report builder as well. It's just an amazing tool. There's so much to [00:15:35] it. I did a live demonstration but I would need quite a few hours probably [00:15:41] of just going through it. But it keeps track of your volunteers, your [00:15:46] finances, your projects you're working on, your inventory of leaser for sale [00:15:51] properties. You can have as many users as you would like. Your board will have [00:15:56] access to it. They can keep track of their projects. Volunteers can log on [00:16:00] and keep track of their hours. It's a very neat program. I will be looking more into [00:16:05] it. I just did the initial demonstration. [00:16:13] Any other special projects as assigned by the City Economic [00:16:18] Development Director? We would be glad to help with using social media to help [00:16:24] with city and event updates and the creation of business guideline brochure [00:16:28] in conjunction with city planning and review criteria and make recommendations [00:16:35] to the board for submittal for the Florida Main Street Awards. I think we [00:16:44] included just the description of each four of the pillars of the program. My [00:16:53] working work plan. Thank you. Mayor, if you'd allow me, I think it might be [00:16:58] important for the record to indicate that the board is here this evening to [00:17:07] present themselves to you for purposes of re-establishing a memorandum of [00:17:14] understanding with the group as it relates to the operation of the program. [00:17:19] All of us on the CRA know the history of the program, but there may be some people [00:17:27] in attendance or at home that aren't aware of the fact that the program did [00:17:34] for a period of time lapse in operation, about a year to be frank with you, but [00:17:43] they have re-energized themselves in a really positive fashion and added [00:17:52] additional members as well. Earlier today I sent all of you an indication for the [00:18:01] last three years of costs by the city in respect to the Main Street program. In [00:18:09] large part I did that really just to demonstrate to you the tradition of the [00:18:14] city in working cooperatively with the Main Street program. It's happened in a [00:18:18] lot of different fashions. At one point the city even paid the staff costs [00:18:25] associated with having a Main Street director. Based on that experience though [00:18:32] we determined that it's nice to have the separation between the Main Street board [00:18:38] and the city and to work cooperatively together. And Councilman Altman [00:18:45] correctly stated that the source of funds that we have relied on in the past [00:18:50] to support the program has been CRA funds. It would be my recommendation that [00:18:57] if we do continue that the CRA funds would be the source of funding as well. [00:19:06] It's my current plan to present to you at your June 4th meeting a proposed [00:19:14] memorandum of understanding which in large part follows the same terms as [00:19:21] their last MOU with the exception of the fact that they were required to have a [00:19:29] presence in the downtown and to staff an office that may no longer be appropriate [00:19:35] or it may not be the wishes of their board to do so. And from my perspective [00:19:41] that would be an acceptable deviation from the terms of the agreement. Although [00:19:47] I indicated to you that the city's participation in the program has been [00:19:52] varied in recent years. It's aggregated about $15,000 per year. I haven't heard [00:20:00] from the board yet on what their specific request is, but I'm thinking [00:20:06] because I haven't that it's likely in that same range. And with that being said [00:20:14] the terms of the MOU would require that meetings occur, members attend, discussion [00:20:24] occurs, and those communications would be forwarded to the city quarterly. It [00:20:33] would include the committee structures of economic vitality, design, promotion, and [00:20:41] organization. And I have met with the executive director as well as the [00:20:48] chairman and conveyed those things to them. And they accepted that that would [00:20:55] be a requirement as it has been in the past. And we look forward to working with [00:20:59] them in any respect you determine to be appropriate. [00:21:08] You don't all have to answer, but I'd like to hear from all of you if you don't mind. [00:21:12] Why are you doing this? Why is it important to you to get this organization [00:21:17] up and running again? Because you're all basically new members except for Bob. [00:21:21] Then David, yeah. Right, so I'm just curious as to what got you to want to be [00:21:25] a part of this and get this organization up and going again? [00:21:30] I've been a business owner for many years, and I believe in the past that we have done a good job of doing that, and I think that's something that the city really needs. [00:21:45] I think it's an asset to the city is what it comes down to. [00:21:54] I'm in agreement with David. I've worked downtown for 17 years, and I truly believe in this city and would like to see it flourish and become something where people want to come and visit as tourism and so forth. [00:22:11] I do believe that, yes, I do. [00:22:19] I think I tend to agree with the two of them, obviously, but I had a little talk this morning with Rob, and I didn't know a whole lot about Main Street, and I've done a lot of research on it just recently. [00:22:34] I think it would be a great opportunity for us to spread business-wise, but also, I know about five years ago, I had no idea what Main Street was, but I used to go to Main Street luncheons, and I thought, those are great. [00:22:58] But I wasn't really interested in Main Street because I didn't own a business on Main Street, and that's what I thought it was. [00:23:06] But since then, since Liz has approached me, I've done a lot of research on Main Street and how it is throughout the country in different aspects, and I just think it's a great opportunity for small businesses to expose themselves and do it easily with one another. [00:23:24] We're a small town, and I like that part of it, being from a small town, but I think it's a great opportunity if we're able to get it back up and running. [00:23:38] Next. [00:23:41] Next. [00:23:42] There we go. [00:23:43] You know, I'm a business owner in town for 15 years. [00:23:47] I'm not Main Street, but I am in town. [00:23:49] I'm New Port Richey proper because I'm on 19. [00:23:52] But we bought a house two years ago in the city, and we walked downtown, and I feel like the movement of the vision of the city council and the mayor towards a pedestrian city and creating that long-term vision, that a supporting group that can provide support, vision, ideas, energy, volunteerism, that we can make a difference. [00:24:22] By helping carry forward that mission of a pedestrian city, as well as to highlight the history of New Port Richey. [00:24:30] You know, we have a lot of historical markers. [00:24:32] We have a lot of history in town. [00:24:34] The hacienda is going to be up and running soon. [00:24:37] One of the things that Liz did not mention is a year, next July, we have the national meeting here for Main Street. [00:24:47] So they're coming to New Port Richey, and I'm very excited about that. [00:24:50] I think that will provide a huge platform for us to really put a mark on the town. [00:24:56] And, you know, I told her, I said, if we're doing this, we need some big ideas. [00:25:01] And I think a tremendous idea, for example, is to work with either the local businesses and set up a Segway tour. [00:25:12] Because we have some stuff that's just on a walking range, but we could hit quite a bit of our historical markers. [00:25:19] We could hit quite a bit of our art areas, the galleries, and that sort of tour would be promotable to people that are maybe less mobile. [00:25:31] But you could take them downtown up to Massachusetts, back down the river, and through Sims Park. [00:25:37] And I think that is just a beautiful way to show the town. [00:25:41] I'm excited about making it a trail town. [00:25:44] I ride my bike from here to Weekeewatchee and back. [00:25:48] And there are different areas on the trail where towns have created microcosms of business centers [00:25:55] where people like me coming through the trail, you stop, get food, and it creates a small business center. [00:26:03] And I think those are some areas that we can focus on from outside and provide that energy. [00:26:09] And so that's why I'm excited about it. [00:26:12] That's why I put my name on it. [00:26:14] That's why I said to Bob, I think you should stay president while we transition until we learn and get everything in order. [00:26:24] And I'd be happy to take over president for two years and lead it because I think we can make a huge impact. [00:26:35] I guess I could jump in, too. [00:26:38] You know, I've been on the board, I guess, four or five years. [00:26:41] I've always been a little disappointed that we've never fully maintained or fully implemented the Main Street program. [00:26:46] And if you really study the program and see some successes that are going on in other places, [00:26:52] I think it's really a great model that applies to what we're doing here in Newport Ridge. [00:26:57] So as the program was kind of flaming out and turning into ashes, I hate to kind of give up on something. [00:27:04] I think that was a great idea, and that's why I was kind of doggedly stuck together with this, [00:27:09] trying to figure out a way to bring it back to life. [00:27:13] And things just happened for a reason sometimes. [00:27:15] Liz became available to lead the group. [00:27:18] And because of her connections with some of the businesses downtown and with some new individuals, [00:27:22] we got some great energy and new faces on the board. [00:27:25] So I'm excited to see what can happen with this group moving forward. [00:27:36] Of course, I've been here 33 years. [00:27:39] You know, this is my hometown. [00:27:40] I truly love the city. [00:27:41] I love the direction it's headed. [00:27:44] It's always been important to me. [00:27:45] I always wanted to be active. [00:27:47] I'm a homeowner down here and have volunteered on the Land Development Review Board a few years ago, which I enjoyed. [00:27:55] And coming from a chamber background, the community is important to me. [00:27:59] I wanted to stay involved. [00:28:01] And I truly believe in the Main Street Program. [00:28:03] There's many layers to it. [00:28:05] There's so much that you can do, and I feel like we could really help the city, [00:28:11] kind of be an extension of the city and offer a lot of help and just be here to support it any way we can. [00:28:19] So it's very important to me, and I appreciate the opportunity. [00:28:23] It was kind of interesting I discovered today, too. [00:28:25] This is the 29th year New Port Richey's been a Main Street city. [00:28:29] And some of the people I was looking at Liz, she was maybe 10, 11 at the time when we became a Main Street city. [00:28:36] So there's a lot of new energy and new ideas. [00:28:41] And it kind of built upon some of that foundation that was laid with the early directors of the program. [00:28:48] It was pretty disappointing when the program flamed out, [00:28:53] and it got monofocused on just the big events in the park, [00:28:58] which I understand the financial reasons for wanting to do that. [00:29:03] But it really ignored all the other parts. [00:29:07] And Adam and I talked a little bit about the four points, and he's been to the national Main Street website, [00:29:13] which I would encourage anybody who hasn't been to go take a look at it because it has a lot of great ideas. [00:29:20] I remember I've been a member of the Main Street organization as a merchant for long enough to remember [00:29:27] back when we had a business owners association that met on a monthly basis. [00:29:32] We had breakfast over at the IHOP on U.S. 19, [00:29:36] and there was invariably a program and some other good information that came out. [00:29:42] And we had opportunities that were presented to us. [00:29:45] The one that I remember most vividly was the Suncoast News did a presentation about advertising. [00:29:56] And at that point they then offered. [00:30:00] the special deals, if for any of us that wanted to try [00:30:04] and see if print advertising would work for us. [00:30:07] And at the time it made a lot more sense than perhaps today, [00:30:11] but that was the sort of thing that we had [00:30:15] on a monthly basis that I really miss as a businessman. [00:30:20] And so I was just tickled to death [00:30:22] when I saw the mornings on main programs pop up. [00:30:26] And my first comment to Liz was, [00:30:29] I'm going to have to play hooky [00:30:30] from the Business Development Week committee meeting [00:30:33] in order to attend the first one. [00:30:36] And as Adam will vouch, [00:30:37] I told him I wasn't going to make the next meeting. [00:30:41] So, and I would encourage all my colleagues [00:30:44] to take a look at that. [00:30:46] That one's going to be at the Family Benefit. [00:30:49] I was going to try to say Global Benefit, [00:30:51] Family Benefit Services. [00:30:53] And then we've got additional ones. [00:30:55] One's going to be at the library. [00:30:57] One is going to be at Wright's Natural Market. [00:31:00] And I'm missing one. [00:31:01] Rose's Bistro. [00:31:02] Rose's Bistro. [00:31:03] So those are the sort of programs [00:31:05] that as a downtown business owner, [00:31:08] I think are important. [00:31:09] And that is going to be what helps this organization [00:31:14] reconnect with the downtown merchants. [00:31:18] Pete, you had a... [00:31:19] Yeah, you saw me dragging the microphone over. [00:31:23] Yeah, I think just to recap where we are, [00:31:27] I mentioned to my colleagues at our last meeting, [00:31:30] I've got, I think it was Cheryl Burney, now Swartzel, [00:31:35] who had created these rugs you hang on the wall [00:31:40] with the different buildings that were around [00:31:46] and was selling them for a while in her flower shop. [00:31:49] But all the buildings had like 1922, 1924, 1926. [00:31:54] Our library's coming up on 100 years. [00:31:56] Our city's coming up on 100 years. [00:32:00] And as had been mentioned, [00:32:02] I'm very excited to hear the vision that you have [00:32:06] for not just having a role or being able to be on the board [00:32:12] or play an important part in the town, [00:32:14] but to participate in what's really happening organically, [00:32:19] but it needs the fertilizer, it needs the new ideas, [00:32:22] and every new idea is generating [00:32:24] more excitement in the town. [00:32:26] I was out of this for a long time, [00:32:30] working in other communities [00:32:32] in community development district world, [00:32:35] where those new communities have the benefit [00:32:40] of long-term bonds to create brand new places. [00:32:43] And so it's like, this is like the old song, [00:32:47] I was in the right place, [00:32:49] but it must have been the wrong time. [00:32:50] It's like, now we're in the right place [00:32:52] and the right time to me. [00:32:55] And so all of the help we can get [00:32:58] to coordinate is important. [00:33:01] I do wanna say that the most critical thing, I think, [00:33:06] is that we all recognize the partnership aspect [00:33:08] of how we have to make this happen, [00:33:11] and that we have just updated our plan for another 30 years. [00:33:16] We've extended our life of our CRA. [00:33:20] It's a huge, it's probably the most aggressive [00:33:25] redevelopment city in the state. [00:33:28] It has been the subject of some concern from others [00:33:34] that, oh, we've got the whole city. [00:33:35] Well, our whole city did decline. [00:33:39] Our whole West Pasco did decline. [00:33:41] And so I think we're justified in making it the city, [00:33:44] but to others in Miami or other areas around [00:33:50] where they just find one area that's a blight, [00:33:53] or it's a different kind of blight maybe than we have. [00:33:57] We are both lucky to have so much investment [00:34:05] that's coming in from the county. [00:34:07] And just again, to reiterate for those who don't know, [00:34:10] because we are a non-chartered county, [00:34:14] like all of the biggest counties in the state up to us [00:34:18] are charter counties, and all of those CRAs [00:34:21] have to negotiate with the county commissions for money. [00:34:25] So what's happening in Tampa? [00:34:27] The Hillsborough County is taking a, [00:34:30] only giving a percentage of their tax. [00:34:33] So we're getting every dollar above $370 million [00:34:38] of property value in this city. [00:34:39] Every new business that builds, every new building, [00:34:44] every increase in value, all of that tax money [00:34:46] on that incremental growth is going into the CRA. [00:34:51] And so it's a huge opportunity. [00:34:54] It is a huge revenue stream that was outlined to us [00:34:57] from our consultant, how much money it would bring in [00:34:59] over the years. [00:35:01] And it's only, the only reason to do it [00:35:06] is if we have big ideas. [00:35:08] So we're at this hundred year pass. [00:35:10] We got some big things that might be coming up. [00:35:14] And to me, we need the buy-in and support of everybody. [00:35:18] One more thing I'd just like to say, [00:35:20] we've got a bunch of different collaborative efforts [00:35:25] that are sort of disjointed right now. [00:35:26] We have here our cultural affairs chairman. [00:35:30] We've got other interested residents. [00:35:33] We got someone who started this out years ago, [00:35:36] Marilyn Deschamps here, has the history. [00:35:38] I read something where someone said, [00:35:40] we need new young blood, and we do. [00:35:44] But we also have a lot of experience [00:35:46] and historical knowledge. [00:35:47] And the time wasn't right. [00:35:49] I spent years on city council trying to make things happen. [00:35:53] And colleagues, all of us did. [00:35:57] But people weren't moving here. [00:35:58] And they saw Pasco as being the blue collar place [00:36:02] and not, the lights went out [00:36:04] when you crossed the county line. [00:36:06] Now, the entrance to Highway 19, [00:36:09] if you all have seen it now, [00:36:10] coming in from Pinellas County, [00:36:12] the big palm trees they just planted in the middle. [00:36:15] Our city started the project, [00:36:19] and now the county has jumped in. [00:36:21] And so the county, in their report, [00:36:25] called out the city and our downtown [00:36:27] as the place where West Pasco is going to kind of thrive. [00:36:32] So I just wanted to give that little talk [00:36:35] because it's so much ingrained in who I am [00:36:39] and what I've been trying to do and participating. [00:36:41] I'm fortunate we have a city council [00:36:43] that's all on board in that respect. [00:36:46] You know, we can disagree, [00:36:48] but we can then come back and get along. [00:36:51] And I think that my message is that [00:36:54] the Cultural Affairs Committee does a lot of thinking. [00:36:56] And some of the stuff you've marked down [00:36:58] or some of the things maybe they think about, [00:37:00] the murals, the art. [00:37:02] We have other committees in town as well. [00:37:07] I really hope that anyone who sees [00:37:11] the beginning of separation [00:37:13] or trying to position themselves in this effort, [00:37:19] we just need to call that out and say, [00:37:21] we're all gonna have to agree what we're gonna do. [00:37:25] The CRA has the dollars. [00:37:27] The big ideas are gonna require CRA support. [00:37:30] And the CRA needs the support of the community [00:37:34] to have the courage to go forward [00:37:35] with some of these ideas too. [00:37:36] So I'm all in. [00:37:39] I think Debbie made a good comment there early on [00:37:43] that she has been convinced that there's new energy. [00:37:49] I'm seeing it tonight from you guys. [00:37:51] And I'll bet some of the others have it too. [00:37:53] So I hope we keep a good partnership. [00:37:57] Final word. [00:37:58] The CRA legislation that was attempted to be passed [00:38:02] was, which would have sunsetted CRAs. [00:38:06] There's some enemies of CRAs in the counties [00:38:08] didn't like the cities getting their money. [00:38:11] The bill that did pass is an acceptable and good bill. [00:38:15] It doesn't restrict this in any particular way. [00:38:17] And so some of the funding challenges [00:38:20] that the general fund may have, [00:38:23] even the events, we might wanna be thinking [00:38:25] about having the CRA maybe become more of a funder [00:38:29] of the events because there's revenue that can be used. [00:38:34] There was a provision that didn't pass [00:38:37] that said CRAs couldn't support events anymore [00:38:41] if they were ongoing events. [00:38:43] They could only do promotional and new stuff. [00:38:45] So all of the challenges, the good news is [00:38:51] they escaped, the legislation escaped. [00:38:54] It really didn't harm us. [00:38:56] And I'm just excited to be able to be back [00:39:00] and be part of it and old friends [00:39:03] and a bunch of new energy that's really positive, [00:39:08] makes me feel fortunate to be here. [00:39:10] Well put, Matt. [00:39:11] Yeah, I agree with Mr. Altman about the legislation [00:39:13] that could have passed but didn't. [00:39:15] Seems like common sense prevailed in Tallahassee [00:39:18] and that doesn't happen a whole lot. [00:39:19] So I'm glad to see that. [00:39:22] I was very excited to see Liz take this challenge on [00:39:26] and I'm glad she's doing this. [00:39:28] And I was even more excited when I got to meet the board [00:39:31] at the mixer over at Beef O'Brady's. [00:39:36] Just a lot of great people, a lot of energy, [00:39:39] many of whom I've known for a long time [00:39:41] and just very active in the community. [00:39:42] So thank you all for stepping up [00:39:44] and look forward to see what you're gonna do. [00:39:52] All right. [00:39:53] I've been around as long as Liz has, no. [00:40:00] 29 years or something, I don't know. [00:40:02] No, more longer than that. [00:40:04] I started, when I had Jilly's and Main Street came to town, [00:40:10] I mean, it was trying to revitalize, [00:40:11] it came out of Tallahassee, [00:40:13] it was trying to revitalize downtowns. [00:40:15] And they gave, I don't know, $26,000 to a town [00:40:18] that wouldn't jump aboard. [00:40:19] And Maryland jumped aboard, but the town didn't jump aboard. [00:40:23] And so she did a fine job at a fine arts show. [00:40:29] And then she gave me Main Street, [00:40:32] which actually downtown didn't start to the bridge. [00:40:36] So I was the gateway to Main Street [00:40:38] and we put a spring fling on and did some things. [00:40:41] But the town never accepted the Main Street program [00:40:44] and it struggled for years and years and years. [00:40:46] And I'm just really glad to see this group here [00:40:50] come with the energy that it originally had [00:40:52] back in 1990 or somewhere in that area. [00:40:56] But just a couple of things. [00:40:57] Your economic development thing, [00:41:00] over the last few years, we hired Mario [00:41:02] and Mario stole your flame. [00:41:04] Well, Mario's retiring so you can steal the flame back. [00:41:08] I'm sure he'll help you with things that he's, [00:41:10] people that have knocked on his door [00:41:12] and given things there and ideas there. [00:41:18] Derek Pollens is having his 100th anniversary, [00:41:22] or 100th, I guess it's 100th anniversary of his building. [00:41:27] And just a little thing, a little event that you can steal [00:41:30] that won't bother Jeff [00:41:32] because it's not a whole downtown event. [00:41:34] There's a ghost tour. [00:41:36] They had 50 people sign up and it was signed up instantly. [00:41:40] There's people in waiting for it. [00:41:42] So I think that's just a whole new idea [00:41:43] that you can take and run with some once a month [00:41:47] or whatever the community will jump aboard. [00:41:51] But those types of things I think are really, [00:41:53] the culture affairs board, [00:41:54] I think that you should be locked with hips with them. [00:41:58] The library's got another great, [00:41:59] I mean, they're the smartest people in the town here. [00:42:02] They're all masters and bachelors. [00:42:07] I mean, we got the smartest people in the library. [00:42:08] We need to get them out and get them involved. [00:42:10] So I'm sure that you get some great ideas from them. [00:42:13] But I'm looking forward to it. [00:42:15] I was at the mixer too, along with Matt, [00:42:17] and I met the rest of your board that isn't here [00:42:19] and they're all excited about this [00:42:21] and I'm excited about this. [00:42:23] One other little thing is that I was waiting [00:42:26] for you guys to die, I'll tell you quite honestly, [00:42:29] because I saw it coming. [00:42:30] I saw it coming for two or three years [00:42:33] and I wanted, when it happened, [00:42:36] to the West Pasco Chamber to grab it. [00:42:39] But now West Pasco Chamber's taking a bigger picture [00:42:41] and they're not gonna focus on Newport Rich anymore. [00:42:44] They're gonna focus on half the county. [00:42:47] So it really didn't fit with them anymore [00:42:50] and I'm so glad you guys came back [00:42:52] and as an entity and yourself [00:42:55] and you've got, it sounds like you've got [00:42:57] all the support of us up here. [00:42:59] Thank you. [00:43:01] Yes. [00:43:02] At the risk of over-promoting, [00:43:05] I may be the only one at the table [00:43:07] that has had experience with an effective [00:43:10] Main Street program, as I served a city [00:43:14] that had a program and for some time here, [00:43:19] I enjoyed the benefit of the program [00:43:23] and find it to be not only a vital resource, [00:43:28] but a great value as well. [00:43:31] And I respect and appreciate very much [00:43:34] the fact that we refer to it as a partnership [00:43:37] because that's exactly what it is. [00:43:39] But we'd be short-sighted if we met [00:43:41] at the table tonight and didn't acknowledge [00:43:44] that there were disconnects along the way. [00:43:47] No question about it. [00:43:50] Sometimes a subcommittee of Main Street [00:43:55] would be working on a parallel project [00:43:57] to the city staff working on something. [00:44:00] There were, I'll refer to them as territory tugs. [00:44:04] On certain projects and one of the things [00:44:08] that we've discussed to minimize that [00:44:11] and to make sure that we're always [00:44:13] marching forward in the same direction [00:44:16] is we will, I will, be assigning city staff people [00:44:21] to work on each of the subcommittees [00:44:23] so that I can keep abreast of what they're doing [00:44:28] and we can provide the resources [00:44:31] that the Main Street organization might need [00:44:34] and hopefully that will result in an improved partnership. [00:44:38] Very good, Jeff. [00:44:40] The only advice I would give you, [00:44:41] and it's just not to you, it's to everybody [00:44:43] that's involved in making this community work. [00:44:47] And we've done incredible things, [00:44:49] I think, in the last six years [00:44:50] with our city and our downtown corridor. [00:44:52] And it may have started here with council [00:44:54] and with Ms. Manns and our staff with ideas, [00:44:57] but we wouldn't be where we're at today [00:45:00] got involved, and everyone worked together. [00:45:02] There's a lot of committees, a lot of boards, [00:45:04] a lot of organizations that want the city of New Portagee [00:45:07] to strive and do well. [00:45:09] But what's important to me, and I [00:45:10] think what's important for everyone's goal [00:45:14] that we all share, is that everyone respects [00:45:16] each other's opinions, and we work together. [00:45:18] Right? [00:45:19] So you've got Main Street Organization. [00:45:20] We have Cultural Affairs Committee. [00:45:21] We have our Environmental Committee. [00:45:23] We have Rock the Vote Productions. [00:45:25] You know, a lot of times they kind of [00:45:27] move into each other's territory with the goals [00:45:29] and the things that they're trying to do. [00:45:32] But I would just say, rather than compete, [00:45:35] just put your differences aside. [00:45:37] If you have an issue with one individual on another board [00:45:39] that you may be working with, put those differences aside [00:45:42] and think what's going to be the best [00:45:44] overall outcome for the city. [00:45:45] You know, we'll talk about it in communications, [00:45:47] but right now we have a board at the theater. [00:45:50] The Ritchie Suncoast Theater has a new board, basically. [00:45:54] And they're not even willing to meet with us on city council. [00:45:57] We've asked them for a work session. [00:45:58] They won't even come to the table and talk to us. [00:46:00] I have an issue with that. [00:46:01] So we'll discuss that more in communications. [00:46:03] But my advice to you and every other subcommittee of the city [00:46:07] and all the organizations is let's just [00:46:08] continue to work together and do what's [00:46:11] best for the overall goal that we all share. [00:46:15] Just a challenge to my council members. [00:46:18] I've been working close. [00:46:20] I went to the people who are ready for their opening [00:46:22] or their social. [00:46:24] I've given them more names than people [00:46:26] can fit on their committees. [00:46:32] So I believe they want to be involved in it. [00:46:35] So I challenge you if you've got somebody [00:46:37] that might be interested in passing the bill. [00:46:41] I'd like to follow up on that, too. [00:46:44] Our Chasco group used Timmy Bowes, [00:46:47] who's a graphic artist who's got a small little office [00:46:52] above the Boulevard Beef and Ale. [00:46:53] And she did the t-shirts, if you saw them this year. [00:46:55] And the free golf cart riding. [00:47:00] Well, I think that the golf cart riding issue [00:47:04] has a possibility for promotion and advertising. [00:47:07] And that's a free service to bring people around. [00:47:12] And the drivers work for tips. [00:47:15] They've expressed interest in coming back. [00:47:17] And I think talking partnership, the city [00:47:20] has events that we want to promote. [00:47:22] You have events you want to promote. [00:47:24] Chasco has events they want to promote. [00:47:26] I talked to the owners who are, I think, [00:47:28] going to make a presentation of the company [00:47:31] and suggested that if something like that was actually [00:47:34] a fundraiser to help us raise money for music or for events [00:47:39] or for culture or art, which we're [00:47:41] trying to move towards the art, then all the people in town [00:47:44] could participate by utilizing that service. [00:47:48] And it would also be another plus. [00:47:50] So two takeaways is, one, I spoke to Timmy the other day [00:47:58] upstairs about the Gulf High 70s reunion [00:48:03] is going to be July the 19th at the Boulevard Beef and Ale. [00:48:07] And they're expecting 400 or 500 alumni from Gulf High [00:48:12] to be attending that first night because they're [00:48:16] making it a 10-year rather than individuals deal. [00:48:21] And the class of 74, which is sponsoring it, [00:48:25] has been one of those classes that kept their act together [00:48:29] and kept going. [00:48:31] But they wanted to, I went to one of their meetings. [00:48:34] They wanted to have maybe, we talked about a pub crawl [00:48:38] or a way to introduce those people that [00:48:40] are coming back into their old town, back to the city. [00:48:43] And they put a little brochure with everybody's names on it. [00:48:47] And they wanted to sell little ads. [00:48:49] I think there were $100 apiece for each bar or whatever. [00:48:52] But it seemed to me, back onto your idea of your tabletop map [00:49:02] of the city, that maybe someone like a graphic artist [00:49:07] would like to contribute who's not a bar or a restaurant [00:49:10] or a business, just like we have an accounting [00:49:12] office and those of you that are in different fields. [00:49:15] But she offered to assist. [00:49:20] And maybe she could do some of her own thing [00:49:22] just so that she can, she's a new business from California. [00:49:27] But identifying those new business people, [00:49:29] firing them up, getting them on board, [00:49:32] I could see a way for you all to generate revenue [00:49:34] by using those guerrilla marketing tactics [00:49:38] because people aren't reading the newspapers [00:49:40] like they used to. [00:49:41] Sorry, I know. [00:49:43] Good luck, and keep up the fight. [00:49:46] But driving around and seeing signs for restaurants [00:49:51] and having that vibe, we've got to keep developing [00:49:54] the vibe, whatever it is. [00:49:55] So I would encourage you all to maybe participate in that. [00:49:58] I am encouraged to see the direction. [00:50:00] Looks like you're going to start taking the organization. [00:50:03] And it's long overdue, in my personal opinion. [00:50:07] I'm glad to see it moving that way. [00:50:11] Would encourage the transparency [00:50:14] and the quarterly reports, which is something [00:50:17] that fell off fairly early on as the old organization imploded. [00:50:23] Those are critical to keep us up to speed on it. [00:50:25] And certainly, we can get together informally like this. [00:50:29] That was part of the reason that Mr. Starkey and I came down [00:50:33] and started moving tables because we [00:50:35] didn't want this to be a real formal thing. [00:50:36] It just wanted to be a round-the-table discussion [00:50:40] and make sure you guys and we are all on the same wavelength. [00:50:47] One last thing. [00:50:48] Since Mr. Starkey mentioned, we will [00:50:50] be talking in communications about some of the stuff [00:50:53] with Ritchie Theater. [00:50:56] Conversation I had with Susan Dellinger, who's [00:51:00] their board president, she expressed an interest [00:51:04] in having a mural on the side of the building. [00:51:07] So I will let you and Cultural Affairs [00:51:08] fight for who gets to pick out the mural. [00:51:14] So anyway, that's it. [00:51:17] And with that, any other comments? [00:51:19] Interesting. [00:51:19] There's a lot of people here that might want to add something [00:51:22] and we ran out of time. [00:51:23] Stick around and say something during the voice of people [00:51:26] during the box pop when our regular meeting starts. [00:51:32] I appreciate that. [00:51:32] Yeah, that'll be coming up pretty quick.

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3. 3Adjournment▶ 51:34