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