Loading...
11.09.21 DMC Minutes CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING MINUTES DOWNTOWN MANAGEMENT COMMISSION MEMBERS, STAFF, AND INVITED GUESTS PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS: Nuzum, Poe, Niemeyer, Preintz and Trees STAFF: Jones, Woulf, Bray, Landrith, Sgt. LeFebre (BPD), Bridges PERSON PREPARING SUMMARY: Heather Hayward, (303) 441-4191 TYPE OF MEETING: Regular November 9, 2021 Meeting called to order at 4:02 p.m. Approval of July 13, 2021 DMC Minutes Poe moved to approve July 13, 2021 meeting minutes. Trees seconded. All in favor. Boulder Police Department (BPD) Update (Cmdr. Jack Walker) Walker will be the BPD participant in these meetings going forward. He reported on the Mall Crawl that occurred Friday as well as police presence in the situation. Starting next year, they will increase staffing on-site as appropriate in anticipation of possible recurrence of the Mall Crawl (based on any available notice). Having large numbers of officers there in advance may be a deterrent to bad behavior. Walker informed that Sgt. Jeff Kessler is now in charge of the mall team and will be in future meetings going forward. They’ll start the year with 4 of 6 positions on the mall officers team filled and will be working to fill the two vacant positions. Staffing remains challenging right now. Walker said the camp sweeps are continuing with Sgt. Kessler as the new supervisor for that unit and able to provide future meeting updates on that topic. Downtown Boulder Partnership (DBP) Update (Chip) Chip reported that DBP has been busy with holiday marketing and events. Santa will be outside of the Visitors Information Center this year instead of inside. The DBP holiday party is on December 1st and commissioners are invited to attend. Ambassadors are working hard and their duties continue to expand. Chip said the DBP is also working to collect opt in cell phone data and he looks forward to providing an update at a future meeting. Outdoor Dining Update (Bowden and Chip) Nuzum requested an update on extension on outdoor dining. Bowden said temporary expansion under the emergency order has been extended through April 2022. Applications are in the process right now of working through the Beverage Licensing Authority. After they had communicated the process to businesses, the State changed process slightly for temporary expansion. Beyond the emergency order extension, staff has proposed a timeline for the consideration of a Pilot which might begin as early as May 2022 in the downtown area. That schedule, shared with Downtown Boulder Partnership, includes stakeholders meetings before the end of the year. They anticipate getting back in front of boards and commissions in January and providing a late February/early March update to council. Bowden also shared that Chip and Jones have had an initial meeting a Colorado-based parklet manufacturer. They are setting up a field trip to Arvada to look at the parklet infrastructure. Chip said the goal is to try to figure out something that will work in parking spaces everywhere, including on the West, whether or not the street is closed. Bowden said they’ll see more information in the January packet. The Pearl Street refresh and longer vision for Pearl Street is a separate work item that staff will propose for 2022. Council will consider this during their January 21-22 retreat. Consent agenda: Landrith said he wanted to clarify that they are waiting on a transformer to make the charging stations at 1500 Pearl operational. The transformer is scheduled for installation tomorrow. Poe said he had attended RTD expansion on 14th Street meeting asked about the long-term plan for expansion of the bus station. Jones discussed the 2007 FasTracks local optimization study which identified a number of different options for expansion. The preferred option that was accepted by Council was the on-street option. The long-term vision is more of a transit mall on 14th street that could extend to Arapahoe. Poe asked if RTD is no longer pursuing Boulder Junction. Bowden said that she had not confirmed that. She said she can invite Transportation staff to attend an upcoming meeting to provide clarification. Landrith said that due to staffing issues, RTD has no immediate plans to re-open Boulder Junction transit Center. Bowden said there’s a lot of local pressure to get that station staffed and reopened. Public Participation: None. Matters from Staff: AMPS Ordinance feedback from Council and IP Framing (Jones) (See 11.09.21 DMC Presentation) Trees asked about the fixed fee for garages on weekends. Jones confirmed that council did not support that element of the strategy. He said that this may be a work item for further analysis so they can have a better understanding of options for pricing in garages. Trees asked for further information about low garage parking utilization. Jones said they’re collecting real-time data on utilization and they are working to get that to be more readily available to the public. Visitation has returned significantly on evenings and weekends. Community Vitality Strategic Plan Update and 2022 Work Plan priorities (Jones) (See 11.09.21 DMC Presentation) Xcel Boulder Natural Gas Project (Bowden/Landrith) Bowden discussed the Xcel work that will be going on. She said the city is permitting this critical infrastructure work. Xcel will be evaluating and changing out underground infrastructure. There will be intermittent disruptions, for which there will be as much advance notice as possible. Landrith said he, Terry Takata-Smith (DBP), and Jen Bray (city/Communications) are meeting Xcel consultants weekly. As of this Thursday, 11th Street will be closed to a single lane of traffic through early February. Matters from Commissioners: DMC 2022 Priorities Commission members discussed DMC’s priorities for the coming year. Each commissioner discussed proposed priorities Nuzum • Safety and security around the mall • Support of businesses post pandemic • Mall attractiveness/continuing to bring people in • Affordability • Addressing climate issues Poe • Safety • Outdoor dining areas • Long-term vision for the walking mall Preinitz • Alternative transportation – supporting/protecting micro mobile forms of transportation • Supporting public art initiatives • Support for small business downtown • Creative approaches to climate initiatives Trees • Downtown vibrancy – specifically culture/feel around downtown space • Financial solvency • Safety and cleanliness • Creativity/Innovation Combined commission goals/themes • Safety/security/cleanliness (top priority) • Post-pandemic business support • Climate issues, including transportation modes • Attractiveness/vibrancy in Downtown area • Long-term vision/seeking creativity and innovation in that vision • Financial solvency Suggested Council’s 2022-2023 Work Plan Items • Safety/security/cleanliness • Post-pandemic business support – outdoor dining, April pilot • Vision/strategy – Long-term vision that supports attractiveness/vibrancy in downtown area – outdoor dining (can be under post-pandemic business support and vision/strategy as well) Nuzum and Preinitz volunteered to meet to create initial draft of work plan priorities for review. Nuzum motion to adjourn. Poe seconded. Meeting adjourned at 6:02 p.m. Next Meeting: November 9, 2021 APPROVED BY: DOWNTOWN MANAGEMENT COMMISSION Attest: ________________________ Chelsea Sullivan, Secretary Susan Nuzum, Chair Susan Nuzum (Jan 13, 2022 13:00 MST) Susan Nuzum 11.09.2021 Meeting Notes Final Audit Report 2022-01-13 Created:2022-01-12 By:sullivanc@bouldercolorado.gov Status:Signed Transaction ID:CBJCHBCAABAAdNcdpuEJR27ZLjyE7d8NYwcZNiwI2U-k "11.09.2021 Meeting Notes" History Document created by sullivanc@bouldercolorado.gov 2022-01-12 - 8:51:43 PM GMT Document emailed to Susan Nuzum (susan@nuzum.com) for signature 2022-01-12 - 8:52:29 PM GMT Email viewed by Susan Nuzum (susan@nuzum.com) 2022-01-12 - 8:55:39 PM GMT Email viewed by Susan Nuzum (susan@nuzum.com) 2022-01-13 - 7:59:46 PM GMT Document e-signed by Susan Nuzum (susan@nuzum.com) Signature Date: 2022-01-13 - 8:00:32 PM GMT - Time Source: server Agreement completed. 2022-01-13 - 8:00:32 PM GMT