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MAIN STREET ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MINUTES
5:00 P.M. – DECEMBER 13, 2006
WILLIAMSON COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Board Members Present: Gordon Baker, chair; Cindy Locke, vice‐chair; Larry
McCormick, secretary; Dana Wood, Kirk Kriegel, Terri
Countess
Board Members Absent: Beverly Adam, Sarah Jane Blankenship (resigned),
Laura Eliel (resigned)
City Staff Present: Shelly Hargrove, Tourism Director and Main Street
Manager; Cari Miller, CVB Coordinator
Others Present: Renee Morgan, Been Around the Block Designs
1. Meeting called to order at 5:20 pm by Chair Gordon Baker
2. Motion to approve the minutes of the November 8th meeting of the Main
Street Advisory Board was made by Larry McCormick, seconded by Kirk
Kriegel and approved by all present.
3. Renee Morgan presented her application for a Façade & Sign Reimbursement
Grant. Her request was for $500 to defray partial cost of signage on her
business. A brief discussion followed in which Shelly Hargrove pointed out
that $8,227 was balance available for allocation. Motion to approve the grant
application was made by Larry McCormick, seconded by Terri Countess and
approved by all present. In closing comments Renee Morgan commented on
the beneficial aspects of extended business hours and the nature of her
business.
4. Staff Report: Shelly Hargrove reported New Library Construction – Grand
Opening ‐ Jan. 20;
New Downtown Businesses – Main St. Streetscape Project stopped for holidays until
around January 10 where they will be breaking ground, Cianfrani’s will move to 7th St.
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and open around Feb. 1, Chandeliers received special use permit from City Council,
Monument Cafe almost complete of demolition phase, wayfinding signage going up at
airport in January (delayed due to pole paint color) and then downtown signs will be
ordered
Downtown Landscape Plan – contracted with landscape designer to redo the plan for
the square and around Grace Heritage, plan should be finished by February and
installation by spring
5. Gordon Baker indicated that the Board had a need to know details of the City
budget that impacted Main Street activity. The point was made that there was a
disparity between allocation and actual expenditures. He suggested that the
Main Street Advisory Board might request budget allocations that have a closer
fit to actual expenditures and that this issue would be an appropriate topic for
retreat discussion.
6. Shelly Hargrove opened a discussion about the possibility of a consolidation of
the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board and the Main Street Advisory Board.
She indicated the mission statements for the two boards were similar and this
generated considerable repetition of effort. In addition, the preparation and
communication time for two separate board meetings consumed considerable
staff time that might be better invested in other projects beneficial to the
downtown. Larry McCormick indicated that his experience promoting the
HCAS project to two boards was time consuming and repetitious and that he
favored consolidation. He indicated that a dilution of responsibility by
spreading tasks between two boards negatively effects individual commitment to
board tasks. Gordon Baker indicated that he felt the boards addressed
substantially different issues and should probably remain separate. He
expressed the thought that we might entertain making a request to increase the
size of the staff. Kirk Kriegel expressed a similar line of thought indicating that
his perception of Main Street was that it was a separate item. Terri Countess
raised the question whether closer coordination between the boards was needed.
Shelly responded that she felt closer coordination was advantageous. Dana
Wood suggested that a more synergistic relationship should be promoted
between the two boards. Larry McCormick expressed the opinion that the staff
was doing most of the heavy lifting and that consolidation would reduce their
burden. Kirk Kriegel expressed concern that that the board concentrate on its
advisory capacity. He also expressed a concern that Main Street might “get lost”
and the interests of Main Street might not be well served by consolidation. He
requested that a list of pros and cons be prepared. Larry McCormick suggested a
trial consolidation of one year. Shelly Hargrove indicated that time saved would
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be used to address several other projects. She mentioned several examples. Kirk
Kriegel suggested that several members of the two boards get together for a
discussion of the issue of consolidation. Gordon Baker indicated the need for
more information before a motion is made. He appointed Kirk Kriegel and
Cindy Locke to meet with him and members of the CVB to discuss pros and cons
of consolidation
6. Committee reports:
a. Design: No report presented.
b. Promotion: Cari Miller reported that sponsorships for the Red Poppy
Festival are ahead of last year at $6000. In addition she indicated that Trent
Willmon had been booked as the main entertainment and the web page
updated
c. Economic Restructuring: No report presented.
d. Organization: No report presented
7) Gordon Baker presented a gift to Shelly Hargrove in appreciation for her
efforts this year.
8) Motion to adjourn by Dana Wood, seconded by Kirk Kriegel. Meeting
adjourned 6:35 p.m.
_________________________________ _____________
Gordon Baker, Board Chair Date
_________________________________ _____________
Larry McCormick, Secretary Date