August 2023 Minutes
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
PANAMA CITY DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT BOARD
Wednesday, August 2nd @ 8:30 AM
Panama City Center for the Arts
19 East 4th Street
1. Call to order 8:33 AM
Present: Catherine Shores, Allan Branch, Kevin Mitchel, Nate Taylor, Jennifer Burg
Absent: Elizabeth Moore
2. Chairman’s report- FY 22 preliminary audit report is in, and all looks good.
3. Approval of minutes of July 12, 2023 – Nate made motion to accept, Kevin 2nd. All approved.
4. Public Participation – public invited to speak about anything not already on the agenda
Ryan with the City of Panama City was at the meeting to answer questions about the Harrison Streetscapes project. He shared that 4th St. has been tied into the new water lines and working on a new force main now. The timeline was questioned but no completion date was given. Kevin asked if there was a performance clause in the contract with Royal American. Ryan did not know but would check. Catherine shared that a petition was being circulated downtown to business owners because of the delayed completion. Jenna Haligas stated that improvements improve property values and for the 2nd phase of the project, the city is considering not using the soil cells to speed up the process. Allan and Jennifer expressed their frustration with the negativity of the petition.
5. Financial Update – Bank account balances, current budget update
6. Arts Update – Jayson shared the new mural going on the United Way Building at the corner of 6th and Harrison Ave. The board expressed they did not like the background color. Jayson is going to look at repainting the background a different color. Allan asked Maria Williams to reach out to Johnathan Hayes with the city to see if money was needed for improvements in the parking lots, lights on murals, etc.. Jayson shared that Bay Arts Alliance has teamed with Jennifer Vigil to include QR codes for each of the murals downtown. Allan suggested selling T-shirts to support the murals. Jayson made a request from the DIB for $15,000 for the upcoming Fright Nights. There will be 2 locations this year, The Center for the Arts, and the Marie Hotel. Code enforcement has walked the hotel and there should not be any issues and an event permit has been applied for with the city. The event will start on Friday, October 13th and will be open for at least 9 days. Tickets will only be available for pre-sale this year. Lauren with Late Bloomer stated that merchants are discussing a skeleton walk downtown. Kevin made a motion to approve the $15,000 request. Allan 2nd. All Approved.
7. Old Business
a. AT&T Parking lot – Maria shared that emails and phone calls have not been returned and will continue to pursue.
b. 4th and Grace parking lot – Catherine and Maria met with owner, Mynta Harbison. The Harbison’s are open to allowing the DIB to use the lot for no more than 5 years. Allan asked Maria to investigate insurance and cost to bring in gravel to level.
c. Public bathroom project update – Catherine shared the different locations that have been discussed (Breezeway by Millies, Gateway Park, and McKenzie Park). She also shared an example of a prefab bathroom made for Key West, FL. Allan suggested a workshop meeting to discuss and to request options from the city where utilities would be available.
d. Social District ordinance update – Catherine shared the Maria has put out a survey to merchants downtown. St. Andrews has done the same. Maria shared the results that have come in so far. She is trying to reach out to every downtown merchant. Judd, with Moseys, expressed his opinion that he is not a supporter of the district but would not stand in its way. Kevin expressed that social districts are a proven economic driver, grows downtown communities, and people search them out. Jenna would like to see data with other comparable cities to Panama City and do on a smaller scale by limiting days. Catherine shared that if limiting days, it would appear more like an event and the DIB would like to move slowly as the commission has a lot on its plate right now. Jennifer made the point that the social district is more of a marketing campaign for downtown showing it as a social area with a lot of different things to do.
8. New Business –
a. Program Ad for Symphony Orchestra – Jennifer would rather hire the orchestra to play then spend money on an ad. Kevin recommended becoming a sponsor rather than pay for an ad as sponsorship comes with tickets that could be used in downtown projects. Allan pointed out that it would set a precedent to be asked for an ad in every downtown program. No motion was made.
b. Media creation contract with Gorgeous (Sean Brosnan) – Both Kevin and Allan expressed concern with WordPress website. Allan made motion to approve $5000 to cover verbal identity assistance, visual identity design, design of various signage, a map and video production. Kevin 2nd. All approved.
9. Administrative Update
a. Farmer’s Market permit approved for 2024
b. FY 24 Budget submitted to the city
c. Tree taken down on 4th St.
d. Renovation has started on Gateway Park fountain
e. City approved continuation of 3 mils for FY 24
f. Maria shared that the IRS has turned the DIB over to a collection agency due to payroll taxes not paid in 2009 and 2019. No files exist from 2009 because they were lost in Hurricane Michael. The 2019 claim is a valid claim. The DIB had fraud on their bank account in 2019 and the account was shut down before the check cleared the bank. It was missed by the DIB director at the time, city accounting and the audit. Maria has requested an abatement with the IRS and is waiting on a reply.
10. Reminders / Calls to Action
a. Next board meeting will be Wednesday, September 6th, 2023
b. Next workshop meeting will be Wednesday, August 16th, 2023 to discuss location and design of public restrooms. Time TBD
11. Adjournment 9:54 AM