September 2024 Minutes
Minutes
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
PANAMA CITY DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT BOARD
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 @ 8:30 AM
Panama City Center for the Arts
19 East 4th Street
1. Call to Order at 8:32 AM. Present: Chair Catherine Shores, Allan Branch, Lesli Todd, Jake Sostheim, Shawntell World, Jayson Kretzer. Absent: Catherine McCloy
2. Approval of Minutes from August 7th, 2024. Lesli made a motion. Jake 2nd. All Approved.
3. Additions or Deletions – addition of 12. J. to discuss Center for Arts front lawn. Delete 13. A.
4. Financial Update
5. Public Participation – Michelle Franklin from Minutes and Miles inquired about mosquito treatment around McKenzie Park.
6. Arts Update – None
7. CRA Update - None
8. PCR Update
9. DPC Update – Jennifer Vigil shared that this year instead of beer tasting there would be a Volksmarch on the Friday before Oktoberfest. Currently, 8 businesses are signed up for the passport that will be checked off during the Volksmarch and can be turned in on Saturday to Destination PC. All vendor spots are sold out. The street closure will be from 5th street to Oak Ave. starting at 9 AM. The vendor set up will start at 11 AM and only be in the 400 block of Harrison as streetscapes was supposed to have started.
10. Public Works Update- Streetscapes will start the week of September 16th. Street signs will start to go up next week with the change in traffic patterns. Businesses will be given 48-hour notice before street closure. Will start with 4th – 5th street. Darin is still trying to get into a couple buildings to video buildings before construction starts. May need DIB help.
11. Old Business
a. Budget for Electrical box in Gateway – Maria received 3 estimates to clean up the electrical box in Gateway, add GFI’s to the outlets in the park and cover within use covers. Estimates were received from Haid Electric for $1870, MDC Electric for $3200 and Whittaker Electric for $3500. Allan made a motion to approve $2000. Jake 2nd. All approved.
12. New Business
a. Request to release all funds to CRA for the public restrooms – Jayson made a motion to approve. Lesli 2nd. All approved.
b. Wi-Fi in McKenzie House – Catherine shared that if lighting in the park goes forward and to be able to monitor the cameras in Gateway, Wi-Fi would be needed. McKenzie House has been offered. Jayson shared that Bay Arts may be programing the house and they would put Wi-Fi in the house if necessary.
c. Ask from Eric Darnell for Scarecrow Trail – For the month of October, businesses in Downtown and St. Andrews will be participating in a Scarecrow Trail. People visiting the businesses can donate and vote for best scarecrow to raise money for Witches of St. Andrews for Pancreatic Cancer. On Oct. 26th there will be a scavenger hunt for families and participating businesses will have candy to pass out. Deadline for businesses to participate is Sept. 14th. Allan made a motion to approve $300 for marketing and up to 20 - $100 gift cards from Walmart for the 1st 20 downtown businesses that want to participate to help offset scarecrow build and candy. Jake 2nd. All approved.
d. Request for funds to settle with the IRS to cover 2009 unpaid FUTA – Shawntell made a motion to allow Maria to pay $1050 to the IRS to cover debt from 2009. Jake 2nd. All approved.
e. Request for Merchant Christmas Party – Lesli made a request for $1000 to go towards the merchant Christmas Party. Jayson made a motion for $1000. Allan 2nd. All approved.
f. McKenzie Park improvements- Allan made a motion to add $25,000 from reserves to the current $6000 for the FY 25 budget to go towards McKenzie Park improvements. Jake 2nd. All Approved.
g. Amended Budget for FY 25 – The MOU from CRA in the amount of $40,000 was added to the budget to cover maintenance of downtown. Allan made a motion and Jake 2nd. All Approved.
h. Election of Board Positions (Chair, Vice-Chair, and Treasurer/Secretary)- Allan volunteered to fill the Chair position. Jayson 2nd. All Approved. Lesli nominated Jayson Kretzer to fill the Vice-Chair position. Shawntell 2nd. All approved. Jayson nominated Lesli to fill the Treasurer/Secretary position. Allan 2nd. All approved.
i. New signers on Accounts – Catherine Shores and Jennifer Burg, who is no longer on the board, will be coming off the accounts. Jake made a motion for Allan Branch, new board Chair and Lesli Todd, new board Secretary/Treasurer and Executive Director Maria Williams to be signers on the accounts. Shawntell 2nd. All approved.
13. Chairman’s Report – Catherine is hopeful that the board will continue to move forward with different projects such as window clings in vacant buildings, a downtown putt-putt course with the businesses, games in the parks, lights in the trees, vacant building audits, creating a page on the website with vacant buildings, and continue forward momentum in parking data.
14. Administrative Update - Administrative Update - Public Restrooms: CRA is hopeful that they will be completed before the end of the year. I have asked the city to add DIB to the “brought to you” board that is at the job site. EV Charging Stations and Martin Theatre Parking Lot: We are still waiting on FPL to run their electrical. Public Art: The city opposed the idea of painting the dumpsters on Luvene Ave. and are looking at alternative solutions to move the dumpsters off the street. One possible solution is asking for a portion of the States Attorney’s Parking lot to create an enclosure like the ones behind the Martin Theatre. Solid Waste will be making a run to see if their trucks can accommodate that location. This solution would clean up Luverne Ave. and create additional parking. Downtown Maintenance/Ambassador: Last month, I shared that the CRA will be contributing $35,000 to the DIB for downtown maintenance. They upped that amount to $40,000. The MOU was approved at the CRA meeting on Aug. 20th and the Commission meeting on Aug. 27th. Lucien has been doing a great job. Just a reminder, please reach out to me if you see anything within the CRA boundaries that needs attention. He currently has the area divided into sections that are worked in on certain days but can adjust for anything urgent. Martin Theatre Parking Lot: The city has asked for the parking lot directly behind the theater to be used as a laydown yard for the renovation of the Martin Theatre Complex. They have agreed to leave out of the fencing the 6 EV spaces. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on September 13th. Permanent Lighting in McKenzie Park: Allan, Maria, and John Agusta, the city electrician, has met with Lumiscapes. We are still gathering more information.
15. Marketing Committee Update – Shawntell shared that the committee met to create a framework for the posting on social media. Two High School gentlemen have volunteered to create content for volunteer hours. The focus will be on downtown events, calendar of events, where live music is played, and construction updates. They will start with 2 posts per week. Still looking for an intern.
16. Reminders/Calls to action
a. Next meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 2nd, 2024 – meeting will be at McKenzie House
b. Next Workshop meeting TBD
17. Adjournment at 10:15 AM