May 2023 Minutes
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
PANAMA CITY DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT BOARD
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 8:30 AM
Panama City Center for the Arts
19 East 4th Street
1. Call to order at 8:42 AM. Present: Nate Taylor, Allan Branch, Catherine Shores, Jennifer Burg. Absent: Kevin Mitchell, Brent McLeod, Elizabeth Moore.
2. Changes/Deletions to the Agenda – Workshop is May 17th, 2023.
3. Chairman’s report – Catherine gave an update about a grant the city is applying for that would provide $200,000 in matching funds for a playground in McKinzie Park.
4. Approval of minutes – April 5, 2023, meeting – no quorum to vote, will carry over to June meeting.
5. Public Participation – public invited to speak about anything not already on the agenda- Jenna Haligas updated on the Martin Theatre. The city is still waiting on EHP. Hope to start construction in the fall. Cost is $24 million but the city only has $14 million. The city is considering taking out a bond to complete and would like endorsement from the DIB.
6. Financial Update – Bank account balances, current budget update
7. Arts Update – Jayson Kretzer shared that they are putting the remaining crosswalk projects on hold as Park Ave. may soon be under construction. They are working on a mural for the United Way building. The Center for the Arts parking lot is part of the streetscapes project and will be looking for donations to put it back as a programable space and would like the DIB to be a part of. Bay Arts is exploring a short-term lease at 551 Harrison to have their Halloween Horror House and interactive Christmas space.
8. Old Business –
a. Entertainment District Update – Working on branding. St. Andrews is interested as well. An ordinance has been drafted and submitted to the city attorney. Catherine has asked for a meeting with Mark Smith with PCPD. Catherine has reached out to Jerod Jones but has not yet received a reply. Grey Dodge has requested an internal meeting with city officials. Catherine reinforced that there is a significant amount of education involved and would like a place at the table with the city. Jenna Haligas requested the ordinance to be forwarded to her.
b. Update on temporary skate spot on Magnolia Ave. – The DIB has not been able to secure insurance. The email chain with the city will be forwarded to Jenna Haligas to see if there can be any collaboration.
c. Update on fountain rehab – Waiting on decision on tile. Jenna Haligas offered to assist with design.
9. New Business –
a. Sponsorship request for triathlon – Race for the Rescue is coming to downtown PC on Oct. 14, 2023. The goal is to raise money to be able to open the men’s half of the Rescue Mission. The plan is for this to be a reoccurring, yearly event. The former Mexico Beach triathlon pulled in 300-400 participants, there is a demand. Olympic triathlons are rare and will pull in people from out of town. Budget is $48,000 but hope to bring that down. Destination PC is a sponsor. Indigo is a top sponsor. The biggest expense is police, hoping that QOL will help. They will communicate with downtown businesses on how to participate. Allan made a motion for $10,000. Nate 2nd. Motion passed.
b. Sponsorship request for Red Fish Film Festival – Kevin Elliot presented that they are trying to bring a 3-day documentary film festival to Historic Downtown PC in April of 2024 and grow it to the premier, yearly film festival in the Southeast. Venues have been secured. Local business owners are on board. Destination PC is a sponsor. The attendees will be required to stay downtown at the new Hotel Indigo and use certain hashtags promoting downtown on their social media channels. They are asking for $12,000. Jennifer Burg recused herself from voting. This will be addressed at the next board meeting as there was no quorum.
c. Wish list for FY 23-24 budget and possible capital improvements – A list was distributed to the board. Discussion will be held at the next workshop meeting on May 17th where FY budget 23/24 will be discussed.
10. Administrative Update
11. Reminders / Calls to Action
a. Next meeting will be Wednesday, June 7th, 2023
b. Next Workshop meeting will be Wednesday, June 21st, 2023 – correction: May 17th, 2023
12. Adjournment at 10:04 AM