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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-07-10 ACE MINUTES• • • I. ALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD Jul y 10, 2008 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood (ACE ) was called to order at 11 :42 a.m. in the City Council Conference Room of the Englewood Ci v ic Center, Chair Schalk presiding. Present: Schalk, McDermott, Guinther, Vasilas , Verbeck, Lonborg (e ntered 1 1 :43 ) Absent: Panetta (excused ), Espinoza (excused ) Also present: Michael Morton, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce Edwin Velis, Micro Business Development Joe Jefferson, City Council Liaison Jim Woodward, Mayor Bob Mccas lin , City Council Member Jill Wilson, City Council Member Staff present: Alan White, Community Development Director Darren Hollingsworth, Economic Development Coord in ator Nancy Fenton, Executive Assistant APPROVAL OF MINUTES June 12, 2008 Chair Schalk stated that the Minutes of June 12, 2008 were to be considered for approval. It was determined there was a quorum . Chair Schalk asked if there were any changes or adjustments to the M i nutes . Th ere were none. Vasilas moved: Verbeck seconded: THE MINUTES OF JUNE 12, 2008 BE APPROVED AS WR ITIE N. The motion carried unanimously. 11. ACE BUSINESS SUMMER SCHEDULE Chair Schalk asked the members if they were in favor of holding the August meeting or possibly canceling the meeting. He asked if ev eryone would be availab le on August 14th . Ms. McDermott sa id she may be out of town. After discussion, it was decided to wait until the end of the meeting to see if there will be an agenda for August. 1 • ART ABOUT Ms. Fenton announced t he Artabout has been expanded t h is year to two days and wi l l be held on September 2 t h and 281h. She stated she wo ul d be ask i ng lo c al business people in town to place posters i n their b usinesses. She said the posters are not quite ready; she is w aiting for the sponsors . She gave a short presentation on the proposed events. ARAPAHOE COUNTY DRUG DISCOU NT CARD Ms. Fenton said Comm u n ity D evelopment is working with Arapahoe County to distribute discount drug cards . T he cards are free to residents of Arapahoe County and act as an addition to ins urance . She passed o ut a flyer and information to al l members. If you have a prescription that is not covered by ins u rance, t he ca rd can be used to obtain an average 20% discount off the regular reta i l price . The cards cannot be combined with insurance and must be used at an Arapahoe County pharmacy. Yo u present the card and the pharmacy will give you the lowest cost...if a $4 prescription is lower than what the card wi ll give you , you will pay $4. If your vet prescribes yo u r pet a human prescription that is covered at a regular pharmacy, not a veterinary pharmacy, you can use the card to obtain the discount. Ms. Fenton sa id if anyone wo ul d li ke t o prov ide emai l addresses for veterinarians she wo uld be happy to send them the flyer. • Ms. Lonborg stated she will d i stribute the flyers to hospital employees. Chair Schalk thanked Ms. Fenton for her presentation . MICRO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UPDATE Mr. Edwin Ve lis gave an u pdate on Micro Business Development. He stated Micro Business D eve lopment (MB D ) has recently u ndergone changes in leadership and are having some financial difficu lties. He stated a grant that they were expecting did not come thro ugh . T he changes d o not affect the partnership between Micro Business Development and the City of Englewood or the lending program . T he reason the prog ram needed to be altered is that the direction MBD was going was steering them away from what they do well and as a result was taking away resources from the well focused efforts that ha v e gotten them to a point where they were operating w ell. He distributed an email from the Chairman of the Board of MBD explaining the changes . Mayor Woodward asked for assurance that the money that was advanced from the City of Englewood was not co-mingled with MBD's operat i ng money and that t he C ity's money is not at risk in any way. Mr. Velis said to the best of his knowledge that would be correct. May or Woodward asked Mr. Velis to please veri fy the money is not at risk and Ms. Lonborg asked that the verification be in writing. To date, only one loan has been made. Mr. Velis prov ided his email and phone number if an y one needs to reach him. • C hair Schalk thanked Mr. Velis for his presentation . 2 • At this time Ms. Fenton and Mr. Velis exited the meeting. • • ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS UPDATE Chair Schalk said as he sits and stares at Riverfronts Super Target across the street we move on to what are the most important projects and what we need to be working with at ACE and at City Council. He said he appreciates Mayor Woodard and Councilmen Mccaslin, Jefferson and Wilson attending the ACE meetin g. Economic Development will make or break the City of Eng lewood in the next five years. Mr. Hollingsworth distributed the information packet that was given to Council on July t h at a Study Session regarding Economic Development projects. The role of economic development in supporting a healthy economy in sales taxes is a cha ll enge. He reviewed several projects Staff has worked on and several new items, one of which is the En glewood Commercial Real Estate Report. The report will be distributed to the brokerage community, be placed on the City 's website and on Englewoodsites.com . He highlighted several projects in the economic development packet, provided a quick overview of new businesses, the downtown paseo redevelopment project, the Medical Center Small Area Plan , the Flood Middle School property, Kent Place and the Commercial Catalyst program. He distributed several examples o f marketing activities he wanted to share with AC E. The South Metro Chamber of Commerce put out a relocation map and Englewood placed an ad in it. He also passed out the Crossroads of Commerce ad that was placed in the D enver Economic Profile, will go to the Democratic National Convention de legates and ran in the Colorado Real Estate Journal this month. Ms . Lonborg asked what the average turnaround time from request to finish is for signage . Mr. Hollingsworth said it varies with each business. Sign companies take four to six weeks to produce a sign and it takes about three to four weeks to go through the design process, but the will of the business owner to participate must be taken into consideration. Co u ncil Member Mccaslin mentioned a property that is in the 4300 block of South Broadway that is in se v ere disrepair with a high level of vacancy . Ms . Hollingsworth said the new property manager was contacted and Staff has a meeting scheduled for next week to see what the City can do to help the property manager find tenants and beautify the property. Council Member Mccaslin said he appreciated Staff looking into the issue. Mr. White mentioned that Mr. G r aham has been out with Jeannette Espinosa visiting businesses for the Business Visitation program. The plan is to v isit 14 businesses this year with 8 or 10 al ready completed. Once the visitations are done Staff will prepare a report and will bring the results to AC E. Chair Schalk said he would like economic dev elopment to be on the agenda every month as it is very important right no w . He commented on the retail space report in the Englewood Commercial Real Estate Report. Englewood has 2 million sq u are feet of retail space with almost 10% vacant. Metro Denver has 141.2 m i llion square feet with only 7.3% vacant. It was suggested Denver's rents are cheaper. Chair Schalk said Englewood has a 3 • challenge in the retail area. He feels Englewood should be at 7% or less. Hopefully, this will change over the next 12 to 24 months . Council Member Mccaslin said it is not only the Riverpoint project, but there is the South gle nn remodel and the Gates redevelopment. There is a lot of opportunity in the area. Englewood cannot sit and wait for change to happen; we need to be a little more proactive. He said he appreciates Mr. Hollingsworth 's work. We need to capitalize on all the redevelopment happening around Englewood and not look at it as negative. Mr. Woodward asked Mr. White to pass on several charts that were part of a presentation by the City of Arvada at a CML conference that shows where Englewood stands in retail sales per capita compared to the rest of the metro area . Ms. McDermott asked about the possibility of improved signage at Hampden and Sant a Fe to capture people as they are traveling on Santa Fe to get to the new development. Council Member Mccaslin said the topic of signage along Broadway has been discussed at a Council meeting. Mayor Woodward said on Englewood Parkway and Broadway there is a vacant lot owned by the City of Englewood. T here is nothing along Broadway that says what is down Englewood Parkway (Hobby Lobby, Walmart). He feels the businesses along Englewood Parkway would jump at the chance to have signage along Broadway . Ms. McDermott said Englewood is not a mall; you have to seek out the businesses. Self- promotio n is very important. Mayor Woodward suggested billboard advertising on Hampden west of Santa Fe . • Mayor Woodward said he put in a Council request regarding the medians on the north. He said he is very disappointed in how they look. The members agreed. He said he realizes there are problems with keeping flowers alive and irrigation issues , etc., but there may be some creative things that the City could do that would help brand the City differently, such as art and wind turbines. Wind turbines could generate energy for the City and be art at the same time. • Ms. Schalk said he has been looking into LED reader board signage. He would like to see several installed in key locations in the City. T he y are very cost effective to operate and could help send messages of events, advertise businesses , etc. Mayor Woodward said that is part of branding. Chair Schalk asked if the Medical District Small Area Plan was moving along. Mr. White said it is. There have been several study sessions with the Planning and Zoning Commission and they are working through the details . The next step is the public process to obtain the public's input and the final step would be the public hearing for the formal adoption . Ill. COMME NTS & EVENTS CH AMBER OF COMMERCE Mr. Morton said two major events coming up that dates have been set for. The Celebrity Cha rity Golf Classic will be held at Broken Tee Golf Course on Septembe r 5 rh. It will be a celebrity charity event that will benefit Bishop Elementary. At the conclusion of the 4 • • tournament everyone that is entered and the celebrities will go to Red & Jerry 's for a dinner and dance. For further information please go to tournevents.com \chamber. The second event coming up is Englewood Day s to be held on October 4 th at C ityCenter. It will benefit the Mil itary Family Re lief Fund . T he military has offered to help, but vo l unteers are still needed . It will not be an Englewood Chamber festival, it will be an Englewood festival sponsored by the Chamber and Pro Pla y ers Association. Chair Schalk said he would like to hav e an update on these two ev ents on the August agend a. Ms. McDermott exited the meeting at this time. BID COM MENTS Mr. Vasilas said he was glad to see more City Council members present at the meeting. He stated the BID has been working on outside seating in the City since May. City Council is working on changing the approval requirements at this time. Mayor Woodward said Mr. Schalk submitted a request five weeks ago and has not heard anything to date. He is the owner of the property and meets the requirements . He said he is not aware of any Council member that is negati v e to outside seating . He said his interpretation of what i s going on is how we fine tune it to the point where it not only takes care of the outdoor seating b u t all of the BID 's requirements and requests such as bike racks , planters, art work, etc. He said that has been accomplished and wi ll be coming forward at the next Council meeti ng for first reading. The onl y part left is the rules and regulations. Mr. Vasilas said he would like to see it as soon as possible because the BID is being pressured from all the merchants that want to see something happen with their assessment. Mayor Woodard said he appreciates that; however, we have to follow the guidelines of the Charter. Mr. Vasilas stated the first "Sale Day" is Jul y 26 th. The BID will use United States Flags for this event. He is preparing a letter to the City Manager and Mayor to change the Sign Code to allow the BI D flag to be hung out for Sale Day. Mayor Woodward said Director White is aware of and working on that issue . He said the majority of Council is very supportive of those types of issues. City Council Member Mccaslin said he is c oncerned about merchants putting merchandise out on the sidewalk for a "sidewalk sale ". There are some issues , but said from what he understood everyone on the Council is very supportive. He said he hoped Mr. Vasilas tells people who come to him w ith questions that the Council is supportive and is working on the issue . Chair Schalk suggested at the next meeting ev ery one works together to find a way and make sure that economic dev elopment and business prioritization is really happening and • doesn't get put on the back burner. 5 • • Ms. Wilson said she thought it would be helpful for ACE members to understand and know the process. There are also budgetary issues and peop le who have been working on different types of issues. She said she realizes they might not be re ven ue generating, but they are for all the people in Englewood She said she doesn 't minimize any of the business districts issues , but Council is try ing to move through things as quickly as possible. She said she did believe it wo uld be helpful if ACE knew and understood the process . Mayor Woodward said it would help understanding, for example, the difference between an ordinance and a resolution and the timing for each. Mr. White said to further lengthen the process, changes to things like the sign code, ha v e to go to the Plannin g and Zoning Commission. Mayor Woodward said this is not out of the ordinary for any municipality. Mr. Morton asked if there could be an update system to obtain upd ates from Council at ACE meetings so Mr. Vasilas would have information to take back to the merchants . Mr. Morton asked where the outside seating and sale day flags stand. Ms. Wilson said it was coming to first reading at the Council Meeting on the 21 st and the se cond reading will the first week in August. Mayor Woodward stated Council Member Jefferson is the liaison for ACE and he will come next time with a report, hopefully that it has passed and we are in the 30 day referendum period. Chair Schalk said he would like to see something at the next meeting to help explain the process . Ms. Lonborg said she is also in a similar situation where she has something in front of her and doesn't know if it is a resolution or an ordinance because she doesn't kno w the difference. She said when she called the City she was asked to come bring up her issue at the ACE meeting with the Mayor and City Council Member Jefferson. She said she would ha ve loved to ha v e gotten from the City "here 's the difference, here 's t he process and here 's how you start". She did not receive anything like that when she wrote. She said she believes there is another easier way to get informed and educated. Ever yone agreed with her. Chair Schalk suggested this issue be discussed in more depth at the August meeting. He said he believes frustration comes from not understanding the process. ACE MEMBERS Mayor Woodward said Council is gearing up for their annual budget discussions. Staff is finalizing their budgets for the September 20 1h budget retreat. Chair Schalk asked if ACE could get further information on the proposed budget for the August meeting. Mayor Woodward said probably not in August, but the information should be available in September. He said speaking for himself as a Council member; he wou ld like to see a higher funding level for Community Deve lopment and Economic • Development. 6 • • • Ms. Lonborg asked Mayor Woodward if he and City Manager Sears could attend the September ACE meeting to tell ev er y one what you believe la y in front of us as far as the bud get goes. Council Member Wilson said the City needs to start moving forward 1n urgency in Economic De v elopment. The timing is right no w. Chair Schalk stated there will be an August meeting on the 14rh . Ms. Lonborg offered to host the August meeting at Swedish Hospital to include a tour of their latest expansion . It was decided to accept her kind offer and hold the August meeting at the hospital. Chair Schalk thanked Council Members Mccaslin and Wilson for attending the ACE meeting. STAFF COMMENTS Staff had no further comments. No further business was brought forth for consideration . The meeting was adjourned at 1 :40 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for August 14, 2008 . Barbara Krecklow, R cording Secretary 7