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01-07-2000 Minutes r. Clermont Main Street Meeting Minutes for January 7, 2000 The Mulberry Inn Board members present:Robert Porter,Jeff Biddle,Donna Covert, Louise Stockton, Micki Wolfe,Jim Simon,Wayne Turner,Kathy Schlachter and Bill Thompson. Others present:Rose Biddle, Barbara Hollerand Robert Porter opened the meeting at 8:35 a.m. and asked for approval of the January 7, 2000 meeting minutes. Louise Stockton noted that her first name was misspelled in the minutes' second paragraph. Jim Simon made the motion to approve the minutes with the correction to Ms. Stockton's name.Jeff Biddle seconded and motion passed. Mr. Biddle gave the treasurer's report for Sandy Lawson, who was unable to attend due to illness. Mr. Biddle said Clermont Main Street currently had a bank balance of$12,684.09 and recently had $690.91 in expenses, including $500 in sponsors' sign-related expenses, $48 for two magnetic signs and $70 for the Christmas parade banner. Donna Covert asked if the sign was up, and Mr. Biddle said it was still being constructed. The AppleTree, Inc. bill for the initial logo design work came to $220. Mr. Porter and Denise Pyke had agreed to donate$500 toward the cost of the sponsors' sign. Mr. Porter asked the board for approval to pay AppleTree for its portion of the logo design work. The motion was made and seconded. Ms. Stockton then made a report for the logo committee. Brush Brothers, the firm now handling the logo design after AppleTree, had presented two variations of a logo to the committee, comprised of Ms. Stockton, Mr. Simon and Micki Wolfe. Ms. Stockton noted that Brush Brothers was showing a lot of interest in the project and that they were "85 percent there" with an acceptable design. Ms. Wolfe said the committee was especially interested in a design that would be clear even at a smaller size—even if that meant including fewer design elements. The selected design could include the trail, antique cars, a gazebo and Lake Minneola. Ms. Stockton said the committee hopes to have a design chosen by the following week. Mr. Simon asked how to get a copy of the Florida Main Street application. el'" Barbara Hollerand said she has a copy of last year's application and would get a copy to anyone who requested one. Mr. Porter also mentioned that board members should look up mainst.org on the-Internet, saying it had a lot of good information. Mr. Porter also said the city of Zephyhills in Pasco County had a nice streetscape, including "antique" lighting and attractive landscaping. He said Clermont's streetscape might need to be phased to help store owners get through the decline in business associated with the construction. Ms. Wolfe mentioned that she had noticed Dillsboro, N.C. had paid special attention to incorporating plenty of seating into its streetscape design. Mr. Biddle said the streetscape plan that had been presented for Clermont was still only conceptual and that specific design features could still be addressed. Mr. Porter asked if the City of Clermont was going to pay for the streetscape. Mr. Biddle said the City will apply for a Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, for up to $600,000. The application has a checklist that includes points for communities with Main Street designations and many other programs. Mr. Biddle also mentioned that Clermont Main Street has also reapplied for the South Lake County Community Foundation grants program this cycle. Mr. Biddle said Sanford may be the best example of how Clermont may want to approach the streetscape. Mr. Biddle also addressed the idea of phasing the streetscape. He said Leesburg phased its construction so that everything was not torn up at the same time. Mr. Biddle said it may be inevitable that some businesses go out,but new ones will replace them. Mr. Biddle said the City of Clermont bought a new copier for the South Lake Chamber, which in turn, donated its old one to Clermont Main Street. He said Clermont Main Street will need to buy a new toner cartridge and pick up a maintenance agreement. Mr. Porter then asked the board to consider which categories of sponsors would be included on the sponsors sign. Ms. Stockton said she thought sponsors at every level should be on the sign—though the placement of each name would be a separate issue. Mr. Porter said he agreed. Brush Brothers, the firm handling both the logo design and the sign, will charge a $50 trip fee each time the sign is modified to add names. Chris Giachetti received perrrussion from the On the Corner Seafood Grill owners to add a second sign on their property. Donna Covert said she thought the sign was to attract larger sponsors. r'''■ O f (7) Mr. Simon said Clermont Main Street could list sponsors by category, possibly using different colored lettering. He said everyone should be on sign and there should only be one sign, so that it becomes a focal point. He suggested adding "wings" to the sides of the sign to display the names of the smaller sponsors. He stressed that the sign needs to reflect the entire community. Ms. Wolfe said she liked Mr. Simon's idea of including wings. The individual/family sponsors could be on the wings, saving the larger space for the major sponsors. - Mr. Porter asked if a $250 minimum donation could be the determiner of a "major" sponsor. Mr. Simon made the motion that all sponsors' names be placed on the sign, with sponsors under $250 displayed on the wings and donors above $250 listed by sponsor level and displayed on the center area of the sign. Mr. Biddle seconded the motion and it passed. Mr. Porter said the sponsorship drive needs to be formalized, since only a few sponsors have signed up so far. Additionally, only a few board members have joined. Ms. Stockton said the board needs to make an effort to get some corporate sponsors, which in turn,would make it easier to secure other corporate sponsors. She had spoken informally with a representative at Channel 9. (7) Mr. Porter said the flyers handed out at the Christmas parade did not prompt any new sponsorships. He said potential sponsors should be approached individually. Ms. Stockton reminded the board that it needs to set an example by joining. Kathy Schlachter asked if the Chamber banquet would be a good venue to solicit sponsors. Mr. Biddle said it would be expensive to have representation there, and the potential payoff would probably be minimal. Mr. Porter mentioned inserting a flyer in the Chamber Business Beat,but was told this process has changed and it might not be cost effective. Wayne Turner said he believed asking for sponsorships through face-to-face contact was the only successful way to approach fundraising. Mr. Biddle said Clermont Main Street could host a St. Patrick's Day event, the Sharing of the Green, as a fundraiser. The event, held on St. Patrick's Day, Friday, March 17, could include Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage and green beer. The party would be around 5 p.m. and include games like a potato toss. Tshirts would be available and Irish folk music could be the featured �'`� entertainment. J/ Ms. Covert said Kash n' Karry was eager to get involved in the community and might be willing to donate the cabbage and corned beef. Mr. Porter asked for volunteers to help put the event together. Ms. Covert, Mr. Porter, Mary Jackson, Rose Biddle and the firm Multi-Tech were suggested. Mr. Porter made the motion to host Sharing of the Green and Ms. Covert seconded. Motion passed. The next agenda item was the community visioning meeting. Some board members said they weren't sure if such a meeting was needed, but others spoke up to support the idea. Mr. Turner said he believed the organization needed to host such a meeting to counter the stigma that Clermont Main Street was only a downtown project. He said business owners on Highway 50, for instance, need to be drawn into the process. Right now, they don't feel connected. Ms. Biddle said the Downtown Clermont Partnership had Jenkins Auditorium reserved for Wednesday, Feb. 16 and that Clermont Main Street could hold the meeting that night. Ms. Covert said she could take care of publicizing both the Sharing of the Green and the visioning meeting in the News Leader by designing a two-sided flyer that promoted each event on one side of the page. Clermont Main Street could make 1,500 copies of the flyer and insert it into the News Leader. Mr. Biddle made the motion to hold the visioning meeting on February 16. Bill Thompson seconded the motion. Mr. Porter asked board members to call him if anyone had speaking opportunities he could take advantage of. Mr. Turner said he thought it would be more effective to send targeted organizations a letter explaining the Main Street effort and asking for a $250 donation. Then the board member should follow up with a call or meeting. Mr. Simon said he would ask Rotary to sponsor Clermont Main Street. Ms. Schlachter suggested eventually publishing a map of Clermont and including the sponsors' business locations as another benefit of joining. Mr. Porter made the motion to adjorn at 9:35 a.m. Mr. Simon seconded, motion passed and the meeting adjorned. fl