06-28-17 DDP Board Meeting Packet

DOWNTOWN DOVER PARTNERSHIP BOARD OF DIRECTORS June 28, 2017 7:30 AM in City Council Chambers DRAFT AGENDA as of 20 Jun 2017 1. Agenda Additions/Deletions 2. Approval of Minutes – May 3. Monthly Financial Reports/Budget Update A. DDP Monthly and YTD Budget B. Main Street Dover Financials 4. Dover Police Department Update – Captain David Spicer 5. Executive Director’s Report A. Property Update 1.) Demo of 680 Forrest Street 2.) Re-stripe DDP Parking Lots B. Strategic Planning C. FY2018 Budget D. Board of Directors Group Photo 6. President’s Report – Gregg Moore A. Proposed Slate of Officers Anita Evans, President/Lucy Findlay, Vice President/John Van Gorp, Treasurer/Todd Stonesifer, Secretary B. Bylaws Update – Diane Laird 7. Mayor’s Comments – Mayor Robin Christiansen 8. Legislative Update – Sen. Brian Bushweller and Rep. Sean Lynn 9. Planning Department & Restoring Central Dover Update 10. Committee Reports A. Parking & Safety – Anita Evans (1st Tues @ 8:00 AM) B. Organization – C. Design – Kristin Pleasanton (2nd Wed @ Noon) D. Economic Development – Mitchell May (3rd Wed @ 7:30 AM) E. Marketing/Promotions – Tonda Parks (1st Thurs @ Noon) F. Merchant Committee – Tom Smith (2nd Wed @ 6:30 PM) TBD 11. Other Updates A. City-wide Economic Development B. Wesley College – Robert E. Clark, II C. Schwartz Center – Tracey Miller D. Bayhealth – John Van Gorp E. Tourism – Wendie Vestfall 12. Public Comments 13. Executive Session – Legal Matters – Pursuant to 29 Del C. §10004(b) (2) DDP BOARD MEETING ~ Sep 27, 2017 at 7:30 AM @ City Hall Conference Room October 25th and December 6th

DOWNTOWN DOVER PARTNERSHIP BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES May 25, 2017 in City Hall Conference Room ATTENDANCE: Mayor Christiansen (departed early), Robert Clark, Anita Evans, Lucy Findlay, Mike Harrington, Dave Hugg, Diane Laird, Maxine Lewis, Mitch May, Donna Mitchell, Gregg Moore, Tim Slavin, Todd Stonesifer, Erin Thwaites, John Van Gorp, Wendie Vestfall STAFF: Joan Cote, Tina Bradbury OTHER ATTENDEES: LT Christopher Hermance - Dover PD, Tonda Parks, Tom Smith Gregg Moore, President welcomed our newest member to the DDP Board of Directors, Erin Thwaites, Owner of Bel Boutique who will be replacing her father as the Land Owner. John has written a request to the Mayor to bequeath his position to Erin. Loockerman Plaza Usage Application originally presented to the Board will be handled with Gregg and Joan as a functional daily operations item. If you have any feedback please get them to Gregg or Joan. Gregg asked for a motion to approve the Agenda as presented with the above exclusions. 1st Anita Evans 2nd Mike Harrington All Approved/No Opposition, motion carried Gregg asked for a motion to approve the April minutes as presented. 1st Anita Evans 2nd Mitch May All Approved/No Opposition, Motion carried Joan presented the DDP April Financials Report. Joan commented that the Contractual line item included ceremonial shovels for Dover PD to use for a tree planting at their station honoring their Patrolman and Cadet killed in the car crash. Councilman Bill Hare will reimburse the DDP for that expense. DDP received a $700 bill for staging at the Capital City Holiday Celebration. Discussion was made on who should be responsible for this item since it was never approved by DDP BOD or DDP Staff. As good faith to the City, Gregg approved its payment. Donna Mitchell will look into the remaining FY17 payment(s) from the City for Downtown Dover Partnership Appropriation. Gregg asked for a motion to approve the DDP April Financials as presented. Joan presented the Main Street Financials Report which included the P&L and copy of PNC Statement. Joan stated that there was a $300 deposit for Sponsorship from Mitten & Winters to cover the cost of the St Patrick’s Day Parade Trophies. Gregg asked for a motion to approve the Main Street April Financials as presented. 1st Bob Clark 2nd Mike Harrington All Approved/No Opposition, Motion carried Dover Police Department Update by LT Christopher Herman, Special Enforcement Units Commander Community Outreach Event partnering NCALL and several other organizations was very successful and thanked the DDP for use of the Plaza. Dover PD looks forward to partnering with DDP again for the Safe Streets Halloween Parade. Funding for Cadet Program/Foot Patrol Strike Force has been exhausted so only routine Patrols will be conducted. They will continue with targeting specific high crime areas. Statistics prove that when Cadets are gone complaints increase. 20 Shootings to date are up in the same generalized areas, targeting each other with persons or property being hit.

Burglaries City wide are down from last year at this time. 40 guns to date have been taken off the streets with locations being tracked. Department deals with lack of Victim participation which complicates matters. They are looking at beefing up the 6 cameras currently in the DDD area. Nascar and FireFly are coming up with major work effort from the Department. Several Officers from the Department have been injured recently. Diane Laird spoke briefly on the Building Block Grant process which would impact the City and Department which is $200K with 50 applications. More requests than available funding. Gregg addressed the City Staff as President of the DDP on the major concern and big issue the impact of crime and the lack of funding for walking patrols on investments and Visitors to the Downtown area. John Van Gorp and Maxine Lewis made comments on the impact on them personally and professionally. Tom Smith expressed his concerns that response from the local government for the multiple problems downtown is facing hasn’t been what he had expected. Gregg promised that he, Anita, Tim Slavin and Joan will be meeting with Chief Mailey in June. Robert Clark spoke about lack of solid deterrence and the lack of significant sentencing so keep the perpetrators off the streets; basically “catch and release”. We as a community need to let them know they are not welcome here on every level. Once criminals are arrested they are turned over to the State system and lots of deals are made. Executive Director’s Report Santa House Lease was presented to Mike Marasco for limited use for 1 season in the Loockerman Way Plaza. Gregg believes he won’t follow through with obtaining the requirements presented to bring his business to the Santa House. Gregg has instructed Staff to move ahead with Farmer’s Market and Special Events in the Plaza. Todd asked why Mike wasn’t allowed to bring his Trailer downtown. During discussions at McGinnis with Mike, he never brought up using his trailer over the Santa House. Gregg asked that communication be made through proper channels as both Phil and Joan have reached out multiple times to Mike with no engagement on where he is in the proposed process. Gregg, Joan and Anita presented the DDP Annual Report to City Council. Copies were distributed at the April BOD Meeting. Strategic Planning Review Committee (Anita Evans, Lucy Findlay, John Van Gorp & Todd Stonesifer) interviewed 3 Candidates and their proposals and selected Peggy Geisler to conduct pre-interviews and Strategic Planning Sessions. FY18 Budget Process was started in January with letters to Committee Chairs and meetings with McGinnis Real Estate reminded them of the upcoming budget input needed. Workplans need to be a priority for Committees in the coming years and would like to work with Diane Laird to get them back on track. Gregg would like to see the budget on June 14th for review. Joan and Tina attended the Main Street Conference in Pittsburgh and thought it was extremely valuable. It was a very good investment of time and funding. Thank you to Diane Laird, DEDO for their sponsorship of up to $750 pp for expenses. Downtown Dover Partnership received our Accreditation from Main Street National. Diane Laid, stated the criteria and self-assessment will be enforced in the coming years, with 7 of 10 requirements being mandatory to receive accreditation in the future. DEDO will work closely with Mentors to assist all the communities to be ready in February. Executive Committee approved $100.00 donation to be made in memory of Bill Neaton to the Modern Maturity Center. DDP has joined the DANA – Delaware Alliance of Non-Profit Advancement and their Grant Station Program/Database. Joan and Tom Smith will be visiting the Downtown Vision Program in early June. All are welcome to join us to learn more about their Ambassador Program best practices, funding and challenges. DDP is putting together a Working Group to get a comprehensive package/checklist for potential new businesses. Complaints are there seems to be no centralize location to help cut the confusion and frustration of how to proceed and what financial support if available. DDP is already planning for the Home for the Holidays Parade with Ami Leaming agreeing to lead our Committee again. President Report - Gregg reminded Board that Bylaws update draft has been completed (Joan brought hard copies) and emailed earlier but at the recommendation of our S/P Consultant, we are going to hold off on review and approval until

after the Strategic Plan is completed as there may be changes. Diane Laird agrees and believes that an “Outsider” view point is extremely valuable. We would like to bring down the size of the board, address errors, representing a diverse population of our community, have Military Members at Large and review the Committee structure. Quorum requirement would be for 7 members present, no phone call attendance permitted, term limits recommended and formally add the Merchant Committee. Gregg stated and Diane agreed that we need to make the Board Smaller but also be inclusive of anyone would like to join our Committees. DDP made a matching grant which was coordinated by Bill Neaton before his departure to give $3K to match NCALL’s $3K to Delmarva Black Chamber of Commerce, Clay Hammond and to date, there has been no progress or reporting. Diane helped the office with a contract that including reporting requirements that Clay signed. Nomination Committee lead by Diane Laird is finalizing the slate of potential Officers for consideration at the Annual Meeting in June. You will be getting an email in advance with the names of candidates. Gregg will be stepping down after 10 years of service. He believes he needs to depart and bring new energy to the President’s position. Mayor’s Comments - Mayor Christiansen departed the meeting early on. Legislative Update - Senator Bushweller and Representative Lynn were not present. Planning Department - Dave Hugg said several large projects are being worked on the Corridor and Eden Hill and though they are out of the District it was an opportunity to realize the Department could greatly improve the inspection process and Staff communication. There is a large business from Washington DC that has serious interest in the old Loockerman Exchange and Gregg will provide Joe Petrosky’s information. EPA would like to engage with a Brownfield/DNREC project in Downtown Dover and identify several pieces of DDP property for consideration to get them back into being productive for their communities. They are looking at more manufacturing process like Aquaponics, Herbs, etc. vs community garden. City and Gregg are still working on Economic Development and Planning with 3rd Meeting in June. Dave has worked to improve the impression of the City Hall (housekeeping) and be more Customer friendly. Dave said he is having fun! Parking & Safety - Anita reminded everyone that we are in the middle of a Parking Study that is due in July. They are holding a public workshop on May 31st 5 – 7 PM at the Dover Public Library and a presentation to the Committee next month June 6th with a list of alternative & action recommendations. Staff will get it pushed out and post on Facebook. Mike Harrington stated that Economic Development Committee would like an assessment of the actual net of the Parking Lots over the actual costs associated with oversight to consider whether we should charge for parking. Discussion ensued of impact of “free parking” because of Lease requirements. LT Hermance reminded the Board that the Department has only 1 Enforcement Officer on the streets which has greatly impacted the amount of coverage. Design Committee – Joan reported the Capital City Farmer’s Market Banners and up and look beautiful. Economic Development – Mitch thanked Tom for coming to discuss working together on the Development Package. Marketing & Promotion – Tina reported that the new Bike Rack is beautiful. First Friday is coming up with Entertainment being provided by D3. The Farmer’s Market is starting next month up until October. We are looking to diversify the advertising to encourage people to come to Downtown Dover. 300th Anniversary looking at securing a location for the time capsule with the Mayor. Lucy added that D3 added an excitement to First Fridays 5-8 with permits to 9 PM and started encouraging Merchants to be open later, run a special sale and provide refreshments. Anita added that D3 received a grant from Restoring Central Dover for the Entertainment. First Saturdays will be looked upon as more of a Family Day in Downtown. Donna Mitchell and the City is looking at streamlining the Special Event Permit process and confirming the schematics that are turned into the City that are accurate and must stay within their codes and being safe. Erin asked if there a better way to communicate with the Merchants when road closures are granted.

Merchants Committee – Tom stated they are looking at new app from UD called GEOSWAP, free Downtown Wi-Fi, Mentoring Program and their Military Discount should launch soon. Tom asked if the Merchant Committee can encumber in the current budget or would have to wait until next Fiscal Year? Gregg asked him to bring invoices to Joan and Gregg’s attention as soon as possible and he has the authority to approve it outside the budget. Wesley College – Robert Clark said the recent graduation of 250 was the largest in recent history. WC is hosting Boys State again and providing support at Residence Hall for FireFly. Renovation at Carpenter Hall because infrastructure is failing. $750,000 project has been decreased because of partnerships in the Community to $275,000. Schwartz Center – Tracey Miller not here Bayhealth – John stated that improvements to the entrance to the hospital will improve the lighting and safety in the crosswalk. Tourism – Wendie reported 20,000 visits to their new websites. Encouraging people to update their information for contact information and events. Tourism Talks are 3rd Tues monthly. They are working with Travel Bloggers. Mobile Visitors Center will be here in September, partnering with Chesapeake Utilities. Partner with Bike Delaware on the Amish Bike Tour and expand on its presence. Nascar next year will be the same weekend as Dover Days. Public Comments – None Executive Session – Legal Matters – Pursuant to 29 Del C. §10004(b) (2) 1st Mitch May 2nd Dave Hugg All Approved/No Opposition, Motion carried The meeting was adjourned 9:25 AM