HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-28-2021
Members - Present Members - Absent Staff - Present
Laura Oswald
Jeff Canter
Jennifer Frazier
JT Crawford
Craig Beavers
Josh Linville
Lucas Bremer Katie Axt – Main Street Director
Melanie Reason – Staff
Minutes from May 24, 2021: approved.
Director Report Out:
Monthly Reinvestment Stats: Q2 2021: additional 450k of private investment noted through
permits and public records. 5 redevelopment projects in the month of May, totaling
approximately $150k: 200 Kentucky (Market House Theatre), 104 Broadway (repair
renovations), 100 Kentucky Ave (Seaman’s Church).
City Block Update: Latest design updates will be available for staff to view this week, and it will
be forwarded to the design committee for preview. City commission approved the funding for
public facilities as part of City Block. Groundbreaking looks to be delayed until spring, but the
project is moving forward at an appropriate pace.
Entertainment Destination Center: 17 agreements have been received, waiting on 5 more, for a
total of 22 participants. Bars and restaurants are waiting cups for the program to begin. They
have not been able to be sourced due to a cup shortage. Staff is working with Innovations
Branding House to connect with alternative vendors.
Downtown Business Survey: The final survey is broad and detailed to understand the needs and
feedback from all types of businesses that are located in the program area. The final survey will
be going live at the end of this week. It will be open for two weeks, with a follow up period to be
completed after that.
Budget Report Out: See attached. Disbursements totaled $ 850, leaving $8183.27. Upcoming
expenses will clear the rest of the budget based on the work plan before the end of the fiscal
year, which will be reflected in the budget report out at the next meeting.
New Board Members: Discussion surrounded new appointees and the board agrees to be
intentional about diversity, inclusion, and skills brought to the board. Josh Linville suggested two
candidates, Laura suggested two candidates (see below for suggestions). It was noted that there
are currently two vacancies, and several board members who are rolling off (Jeff, Jennifer).
Board of Directors
June 28, 2021
3:00 p.m.
Virtual Meeting
Minutes
There are no restrictions on number of terms a member can serve. Discussions surrounded the
skillsets, qualities, and groups to be represented that future board members might bring to the
Main Street program included Library/storytelling/history/community programming; youth
and/or high school/MSU leadership; law firms or CPA firms from within the program area to
connect restaurants/retailers to the other service providers that are also located within
Downtown; riverfront/water/ecology groups;
Board Happy Hour: Date set for Thursday, July 8th at Broussard’s, 5:30. Jen will send a calendar
invitation for reminder.
Board Bios: JT completed the headshots and bios. Melanie will work to get those published on
the Main Street website and promote them on social media.
Committee Report Outs:
Organization: MSM, markers mapped and designed.
Promotions: Downtown Happy Hour promotions are ready to go when the EDC officially opens.
The committee will be working with retailers to activate their sidewalks for the event. The
committee is working on a welcome program; an anniversary recognition program. More to
report on those at the next meeting. Outdoor Dining at Market House Square is up and running
with new tables and extended lighting. The next step will be to install similar lighting on Water
Street. Rack cards are finished and ready for delivery across Western Kentucky. The committee
is working with the PHA and CVB on a QR code program to place codes in hotels and riverboats
that will link tourists with Downtown.
Design: A new member was added to the committee, Regan Wainscott. The historic design
standards were submitted to HARC for comments, to be discussed at the August meeting. Both
groups are working with staff on how the administrative process will work. The committee
discussed street furniture at the last meeting, following up with designs on benches, planters,
and trashcans to standardize the design. Masterplan with phased approach to update and
replace all the existing furnishings and locations. The group also discussed parklets and their
design, engineering, and execution; lighting and lighting improvements. The design committee is
making great progress on their work.
Economic Vitality: The committee is discussing riverboat deckhand training and supporting the
workforce for the river industry. Members are working with middle school guidance counselors
to connect youth with career opportunities on the river. Other work includes discussions with
Paducah Life to tell stories about river industry careers, with members of the real estate board
to reactivate the commercial property listings page on the Main Street Website to facilitate
filling vacant buildings and commercial spaces. Other work includes the City sponsored Industry
Luncheon series, with the next focusing on construction trades, to connect industries with the
city. Discussion surrounded including engineers and architects in the next luncheon along with
tradespeople.
Looking ahead: discussion surrounded the yellow event roll-outs around Market House Square.
The roll-out trashcans are temporary, to help carry the load of heavier summer foot traffic and
the expected influx of cups from the EDC. These will be replaced by the updated trashcans as
part of the street furniture master plan. Other discussion included the cleanliness of the
sidewalk, and the need for power washing and management of cigarette trash. Merchants are
responsible for keeping sidewalks and public areas directly in front of their shops clean and tidy,
but some may not be aware of that or know how to properly care for their sidewalks or brick
walkways. Discussion surrounded how to communicate this to merchants and work with them
on the issue. More work is needed to formulate a program to help merchants get on track.
Craig introduced the idea of Baptist’s Heart Walk event scheduled for October 2021. There could
be an opportunity for merchants to engage with walkers and bystanders before, during, and
after this event.
Meeting Adjourned at 4:14 pm. Next meeting will be 07/26/21 at 3:00 pm.
New board member suggestions:
Heather Abanatha - retail and promotions
Rachel Atufunwa – Owner, Ideal Fit Physical Therapy
Neal Clark or Tiffany Thomas, Oscar Cross – youth and community programming
Matt Collinsworth, Quilt Museum – connection to arts and tourism
Krista Dubrock or CSI representative, Downtown location – fundraising, organization capacity
Samuel Hawkins, Oscar Cross – community organizer, artist
Chris Hutson, attorney and owner of Frenchtown Station – preservation, law office located in
Downtown, serves on Columbia board
Bradley James, formerly with Socially Present – social media, storytelling, content creation
Jule or Pearl Jones – Community Relations @ Arkema, Calvert City – PR, economic development
Dixie Lynn, WKMS (applied for consideration) – storytelling, creativity, connected to the library historian
Sarah McGowan or Bobbie Wrinkle, Library – storytelling, history, community programming
Andrew Meadows – new assistant principal at Innovation Hub
Stacey Thomas, Diversity Director @ McCracken County Schools – worked on ORG committee