Economic Development Committee Final Minutes 1-10-2023

Economic Development Committee Meeting Minutes January 10, 2023 – 4:00pm The Economic Development Committee Meeting was held in person and by video conference on January 10, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. with Mayor Robin R. Christiansen presiding. Committee Members present in person or via video were Mayor Robin R. Christiansen, Councilman David Anderson, Clayton E. Hammond, City Manager Dave Hugg, City Planner Mary Ellen Gray, and Dr. Dina Vendetti of Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce. Guests present were Donny Legans of Rail Haus Beer Garden. Absent was Kim Adams and Diane Laird of Downtown Dover Partnership. WELCOME The meeting will be called to order at this time with a quorum. Councilman Anderson moved to approve the agenda and minutes as presented. Seconded by City Manager Dave Hugg. Rail Haus Beer Garden (Donny Legans) I am Donny Legans owner and operator of Rail Haus Beer Garden. I wasn’t sure of the type of presentation you wanted to do, so what I did was sort of reimagined the same presentation that I did for an edge grant that I just won for Delaware small business. So, we will talk about this grant. Will talk about where we are, where we will be. And see how we will be with the community at large. The QR codes in front of you, just to kind of level set that just a couple of additional items were gone to talk about. The first one is a 3D rendering of the plan so you can kind of see the image up here on the screen here and you take that image, and you see the 3D renderings you will see how the plan fits in place there with the Rail Haus Beer Garden. The 2nd QR code on there is a survey we did back in February of 2021 right in the middle of COVID. Just to see if this project is viable. We wanted to see what the neighbors thought about it, so we knocked on a bunch of doors, handed out flyers and did something on social media. And we got close to 400 folks within Dover within Kent County to offer their thoughts. There was some pretty good insight there. About 98 to 99 percent of folks that wanted to see this project go forward. So, that was a nice nudge in the back saying to let’s keep going with it. The last thing is a google earth presentation if you just use your phone and click it, kind of shows you real world satellite view of the project and how it looks in relation to downtown Loockerman Street and its relation to DSU downtown campus. Donny Legans reviewed the presentation entitled “Rail Haus Beer Garden” Exhibit #1.

Economic Development Meeting of January 10, 2023 PAGE 2 Councilman Anderson stated thank you for coming today. My questions have to do with obviously four and half months of the year is more challenging weather wise here. How big is the inside? And what does the operation look like mid-October through the end of March? Donny Legans responded that is a great question. It is 85 seats inside and right outside there is heating elements, Invertek electrical heat and gas heat all around. So, there is eleven heaters throughout the space, and there is 3 fire pits right next door to it. So, you are right outside the bar. So, you can have 85 inside, and you can still have coverage seating. When we get to the image, I’ll show you exactly where it is. So, right around here there is heating elements in those portions, and those windows come down. So, you can hang out there if you want. Still there are 85 seats inside and directly out there is about 40 or 50 seats under our cover patio with heat. So, there is like a three-season patio. In the dead of winter, you would just be inside. So, the operations from October that probably is the end of OctDoverfest which is huge for a beer garden. So, from September to October those are still heating up. And there are things you can do during December. Meet Santa Clause, that sort of thing. You can have snow days there. People will still go out if you have those fire pits on. There are 3 fire pits and there is a bunch of heating elements around there. We’re going to be year around. We will be the first year-round beer garden in the state. Constitution Yards they shut down I believe in October. I think Halloween was probably their last event there. With a place like that the miss the World Cup and they miss all the activities that come with that. And then January is big for football. So, people are still going out they just need a place to go for it. Councilman Anderson asked if they will have television inside? Do you have any outside? How does that work? Donny Legans responded we will have 2 tv’s inside with 2 projectors. We didn’t want it to be a sports bar. But for big events we will definitely have it down. And outside, not showing on these renderings above the 40 ft shipping container, there is a chance right where the red that is actually the kitchen right there. There is a chance to put a huge LCD panels up there. We’re talking 14x8 huge TV. And that is right where the pea gravel is. So, I am thinking great weather during the spring and early summer months we will have that for us. So, we are looking at different options for that. But that is one sort of huge outdoor screen will have televisions for. Councilman Anderson stated that is very interesting. And then you will have different games and alike that can be played. So, the outdoor screen that would make an interesting occasional movie night, wouldn’t it? Mr. Legans responded that it absolutely would. There is something we are kind of exploring; it is a silent DJ where you have headphones, and you can kind of tune into it so it doesn’t wash out everybody else who is hanging out having a good time. You’re sitting there and we discovered this at the Firefly festival. So, I’ve been talking to one of the managers there. And that would be something great here for a movie night. So, that black shipping container that bumps against the building, that is kind of where the big TV would go but in that pea gravel area there is about eleven to twelve of those long German biergarten tables that is kind of the hub of what we see that will be the outside area. You’re hanging out but instead of blasting out that whole area with whatever sport you’re playing or movie night you can actually have people that want to participate kind of put headphones on and watch so you can almost have a silent movie day. That is something we are exploring. Councilman Anderson stated thank you very much. City Manager David Hugg asked the numbers of employees and kind of what you see when you are in full operation. Donny Legans responded, so with full operations the number of employees

Economic Development Meeting of January 10, 2023 PAGE 3 is mandated by OABC (Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control), so I have to have 25 full time staff. Which is huge burden and I think it is the only burden for any liquor establishment in the state. Not a casino, not a block party, not any of that but for a bear garden you have to have 25 full time staff. So, we will be up and running, we ran the numbers to have runners, to have back of house chefs, hostess, and security that sort of thing, meters and greeters, and servers. We will probably be a little north of that number. Obviously, it will be challenging in the times when were mainly inside to have that type of staff. But that is a daily average, so I think we will recover that in the spring and summer months as well. But 25 is the daily average we have to have at the beer garden. Mayor Robin R. Christiansen asked, so would your full-timers be considered anybody over 29 hours? Or would it be 40-hour folks? Donnie Legans responded I think it was 29 hours. I have to go back and look. Mayor asked do we have any other questions? Anyone in the audience? Dr. Dina Vendetti do you think that would be a good place to hold some Chamber of Commerce events once Donny joins? Dr. Vendetti responded we talked a little bit about the chamber attending, we are kind of waiting. We talked about putting shovels in the ground. We can do a wonderful groundbreaking ceremony for you. We will want to talk. We will get you a lot of publicity. Mayor asked if anyone online has any questions? I know Mr. Hammond is online. Does he have any questions? Brandy, can you see if he has any questions. Mayor stated we appreciate your time. NEXT MEETING DATE February 14, 2023, at 4:00 PM ADJOURNMANT Mayor Robin R. Christiansen made a motion to adjourn. Moved by Councilman Anderson and seconded by Mary Ellen Gray. Mayor Christiansen called the meeting adjourned at 4:35 PM. Exhibits Exhibit #1 – Rail House Beer (Donny Legans) Presentation