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07-07-1999 Minutes Clermont Main Street Meeting Minutes for July 7, 1999 (Inaugural Meeting) South Lake Hospital, First-Floor Conference Room Board members present: Jeff Biddle, The Mulberry Inn, Donna Covert, The News Leader, Mary Jackson, Events Unlimited, Sandy Lawson, Lawson Estate Homes; Robert Porter, Pyke-Porter Properties, Jim Simon, South Lake Animal League, Karen Slevin, Kissimmee CRA/Main Street, and Louise Stockton, community representative Others present: Gordon Hallgren, Westwind Antiques, Sherry Hallgren, Westwind Antiques, Barbara Hollerand, Main Street volunteer, Russell Lawson, Lawson Estate Homes, and Howard Stockton, South Lake Chamber of Commerce Jeff Biddle opened the meeting at 7 10 p m by introducing himself and asking each board member and guest to do the same Then, working from the agenda, Mr Biddle took a few minutes to explain the interrelationships between the Main Street effort, the City of Clermont's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA)and the Downtown Clermont i^ Partnership He explained that it is unclear right now how the missions of the Downtown Clermont Partnership and Main Street will overlap, though there were many opportunities for collaboration Those relationships should become clearer as the Main Street effort moves along, he said Mr Biddle, a member of the Clermont City Council and its CRA, asked the board if it needed an explanation of what a CRA was and how it functions Jim Simon indicated he would like more information, so Mr Biddle explained that the CRA was created by the City of Clermont in 1997 under enabling legislation in the Florida statutes. It is a defined area of the city slated for redevelopment, and in Clermont's case, extends roughly from S R 50 on the south, to Lake Minneola on the north, and east to Fifth Street and west to 12th Street, with a few exceptions The CRA uses tax increment financing in which the city establishes a base year for taxes within the redevelopment area, and then allocates all subsequent increases in that area's property taxes over the base to be used solely for reinvestment within the CRA Mr Biddle said the increment is growing each year and could be as much as $45,000-$50,000 by the end of this year Mr Biddle then invited board member Karen Slevin, the City of Kissimmee's CRA manager, to add her insights into how the various groups interact within that city Ms Slevin said there was overlap in the goals of the CRA, chamber of commerce and downtown business owners group and that Main Street provides the means to bring these redevelopment efforts together She stressed that one of the Florida Main Street program's real strengths lies in its technical assistance Often, designated communities will use the $10,000 state grant to offer facade grants to downtown business owners to foster exterior improvements to their buildings It is not uncommon for such a program to spawn 14 or 15 facade projects Ms Slevin also said other key benefits designated communities receive are the reconnaissance visits from the state and access to the state architect In Kissimmee, the Main Street program has used its technical assistance services for a marketing analysis, a marketing plan to coincide with its streetscape project, and a retail consultant Ms Slevin said the Main Street program is"tried and true," with a great state and national network that's a"great place to steal good ideas " Louise Stockton asked about the importance of buyin of the downtown business merchants Ms Slevin said that they are traditionally the last group to buy into Main Street, but that it is important to remember that downtown belongs to the community and not just the merchants Discussion then followed that noted that only about half the merchants downtown own their own buildings Sandy Lawson, herself a downtown business owner, said her observation was that many of the downtown business owners were both a little unsure of what was going on with Main Street and were"tapped out" right now She said she thought more would get involved as time went on and they saw others involved Sherry Hallgren with Westwind Antiques said many members of the Downtown Clermont Partnership were very interested in Main Street and redevelopment as a whole She noted that only three members of the partnership had yet to renew their dues for the year and that she believed they would Robert Porter raised the question about whether the two groups might ao bine Gordon Hallgren with Westwind Antiques said the partnership is very supportive of Main Street and this year's effort to begin organizing for Main Street came from some members of the partnership Mr Hallgren also noted that there would be a liaison to Main Street from the partnership Ms Lawson said she thought the focus of the Clermont Main Street board of directors should be to get the community ready for designation next year Howard Stockton mentioned that Jason Yarborough, city manager of Groveland, is also interested in the Main Street program This touched off discussion on the viability of a three-city (Clermont-Groveland-Minneola) Main Street program, a proposal that has been supported by Ray Gilley of Florida Power Discussion ensued, but the consensus of the group was that organizing and then applying for Main Street for just one community was a challenge -- and one that had be pursued in Clermont for several years without success The group felt that Clermont was finally ready to make the commitment, but could also assist other South Lake communities such as Groveland with organizing as they too became ready Ms Slevin said she was unfamiliar with where Groveland might be in its consideration of Main Street, but that there were resources it could draw upon for assistance, namely calling Bob Trescott, the state's Main Street coordinator, and inviting l" Gail Hamilton, Main Street manager for Dade City, to speak to a community group Mr Stockton said he thought it would be a well-received gesture to assist Groveland where possible and mentor its community leaders interested in pursuing Main Street in the future ( ) Mr Biddle then suggested the board consider election of officers Mr Porter indicated that he would like to see Mr Biddle serve as president, but Mr Biddle said he believed someone else should lead the group as president, though he would be interested in vice president Mr Biddle indicated he thought Mr Porter would make a strong president. Mr Simon then nominated Mr Porter for president and Mr Biddle seconded the motion Mr Porter said he was very interested in the Main Street effort, but also had a lot of other commitments at the present time Ms Lawson suggested the board keep its slate of officers in place through September 2000, which would take the group through the Main Street selection process in August and to the end of the city's September 30 fiscal year Mr Porter, after some discussion, agreed he could take on the role of the board's president Mr Simon then amended his nomination to include Mr Porter to serve as president and Mr Biddle to serve as vice president Mary Jackson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously Discussion then moved to who would serve as treasurer and secretary Mr Biddle nominated Ms Lawson for treasurer and Mr Porter seconded the motion Again, it carried unanimously Donna Covert was then asked if she would consider being secretary Mr Biddle made the motion and Ms Stockton seconded It passed unanimously Mr Porter then assumed running the remainder of the meeting, and asked if a board member would like to make a motion to adopt of the articles of incorporation Mr Simon moved approval of the articles of incorporation, and Ms Slevin seconded The motion passed unanimously Mr Porter announced the board would then consider the bylaws for Clermont Main Street Ms Slevin called attention to Article 6 of the bylaws which dealt with the terms of office for the board Ms Slevin said she was concerned each term was only for one year, and that the entire board would leave office at the same time She said the state selection committee might question the short terms Mr Hallgren, who worked on assembling the bylaws from a boilerplate version available from the state office, said the three-year term in the state's version was pared down to one-year terms in an effort to attract a strong board of directors-- and that a three-year commitment might have scared off some otherwise interested, though heavily committed, community leaders from considering a board position Mr Hallgren added that he saw no reason why the bylaws couldn't be amended later to lengthen the terms More discussion ensued, with Ms Stockton suggesting two-year terms for the board Ms Slevin suggested staggering terms after the first year Finally, Ms Jackson made the motion to leave for now the officers with one-year terms C and all board members with two-year terms, explore a way to stagger the terms so that all board terms were not up at the same time and to commit this initial board to serving terms /", that extended through September 2000 Mr Porter seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously Next on the agenda was a discussion of membership dues, which was tabled by Mr Porter It was decided that Barbara Hollerand would research what other communities of similar size did and then report back at the August meeting Future meetings of the board were slated for the first Wednesday of the month, but at the earlier time of 6 p m to accommodate those members who lived or worked out of the immediate Clermont area The next meeting was chosen as Wednesday, August 4 at 6 p m in the first-floor conference room of South Lake Hospital Ms Slevin announced that this year's selection of Florida Main Street communities would be at the Radisson in Orlando on August 18 She encouraged anyone who could go to do so The presentations would probably begin around 8 a m and continue throughout the day Ms Hollerand also brought the"Wish List" handout to the attention of the board, asking that they let her know if they or someone they know might like to donate items for the Clermont Main Street office Ms Lawson said she might have a computer available, and Mr Porter said he might have a filing cabinet to donate Mr Simon asked when the board would be applying 1 for 501(c)(3) status now that the a articles of incorporation and bylaws had been adopted Mr Biddle said he would get them to attorney Wade Boyette as soon as possible to start the application process, which could take four months or more Mr Porter asked if there was anything else to discuss, and hearing none, Mr Simon made the motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Mr Porter Meeting adjourned at 8 15 pm