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05.14.24 DMC MinutesCITY OF BOULDER BOULDER, COLORADO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING MINUTES Name of Board/Commission: Downtown Management Commission Date of Meeting: May 14, 2024 Contact Information Preparing Summary: Lauren Kennedy (303) 413-7492 Board Members Present: Justin Kalvin, Susan Nuzum, Don Poe (V-Chair), Stephanie Trees (Chair) Board Members Absent: Staff Present: Cris Jones, Director of Community Vitality (CV) Matt Chasansky, CV Senior Manager of Cultural Vibrancy & District Vitality Elliott LaBonte, CV Business Services Senior Manager Reegan Brown, CV Senior Project Manager Lane Landrith, CV District Vitality Specialist Lisa Wuycheck, CV Executive Assistant Lauren Kennedy, CV Board Specialist Sam Bromberg, CV Senior Project Manager Ben Manibog, Public Works Senior Project Manager Megan Newton, Housing & Human Services Policy Advisor Emi Smith, CV Communications Program Manager Guests Present: Bettina Swigger, Downtown Boulder Partnership CEO Type of Meeting: Hybrid The DMC meeting was called to order at 4:03 p.m. A quorum was present for the conduct of business. Agenda Item 1: Roll Call Lauren Kennedy, CV Board Specialist took roll call; all commissioners were present. Agenda Item 2: Procedural Items A. Approval of the March 2024 Meeting Minutes • Kalvin motioned to approve the meeting minutes as presented in the packet. Second by Nuzum. The motion passed unanimously. B. Welcome Board Specialist Lauren Kennedy Agenda Item 3: Public Participation There were no members of the public present. Agenda Item 4: Consent Agenda Consent Agenda – Topics will not be discussed unless there are questions posed by the Commission. Please reference the consent agenda memo. • Poe asked how many applicants there were for the Commutifi program. Reegan Brown, CV Senior Project Manager updated the commissioners that the program launched on April 1, and there are about 15 employers across CAGID and Boulder Junction participating. • Poe followed up with additional questions about the size of the businesses participating, and Brown clarified that there is a mix of large and small businesses participating. • Cris Jones, Director of Community Vitality (CV) asked if Commutifi is planning on providing a mid-year update, and Brown clarified that they provide quarterly reports and can come to commission meetings to present the information. Poe stated that the reports were sufficient and requested them, and Brown confirmed she will provide them. • Nuzum asked about the ambassador program and if the lower population on The Hill during the summer has been accounted for in the allocation of resources. Jones clarified that the program is funded by the General Fund and CU, so there were no adjustments made by CV, and discussed how the future opening of the Moxy Hotel will have an effect on the population of The Hill in the summer. • Trees asked about the Root Music Project Brown talked about the program’s goals to help local artists thrive and offered to send a flier with event details to the commissioners. • Trees asked about a consultant being hired for affordable commercial shared spaces. Jones clarified that the funding is coming from ARPA, and is therefore subject to strict guidelines, and the consultant is going to help create a framework for implementation of an affordable commercial spaces project. Agenda Item 5: Fund Financials Fund Financials – The fund will not be discussed unless there are questions posed by the Commission. Please reference the packet attachment. • Poe asked a clarifying question about the document. LaBonte and Jones clarified that it is written incorrectly and should say use tax instead of sales tax. The commission discussed the details of the data, and the overall trends the city has seen for January 2024. Agenda Item 6: Downtown Boulder Partnership (DBP) Update Downtown Boulder Partnership CEO Bettina Swigger updated the commissioner on current DBP topics. • The monthly pedestrian count is up for Q1 2024. • The Taste of Pearl event was a great success and sold out. • The Tulip Fairy and Elf Festival was fun and included the Rocky Mountain Indigenous Dancers group and The School of Rock. • DBP efforts to advocate and connect with the area include work regarding public safety, wayfinding, crime preventions and de-escalation, addressing homelessness, and coordination during the April power outage. • Spring Green program distributed flowers to local businesses to help beautify the area. • The most recent Town Hall meeting discussed office space issues and efforts to assist people facing mental health issues. • Ambassador staffing has been low in the winter and spring, but Swigger expects more volunteers for the summer. Trees asked about the changes in numbers from Jan to Feb. Swigger said she would find out. Swigger clarified that the graffiti removal includes stickers. • Swigger shared a video about Downtown Boulder. Trees asked where there is Thai food in Boulder, and Swigger updated about a new local Thai restaurant. Poe asked who made the video, and Swigger responded that is was 11 Dollar Bill and the city’s creative director. • Swigger updated the commission about the upcoming Employee Appreciate Week and Band on the Bricks events. • Kalvin asks if the city partners with Out Boulder for Pride events. Swigger confirmed that they will and are looking forward to Pride and supporting all events occurring downtown. • Trees asked if the city is planning on holding Taste of Pearl again, and Swigger confirmed that they are planning to hold the event annually since it was such a success. Agenda Item 7: Boulder Chamber – Economic Vitality Update Vice President, Economic Vitality and Executive Director of the Economic Council Joseph Hovancak was not able to attend and will provide an update at a future date. Jones requested permission from the Chair, Trees, to invite Hovancak back on another date, and Trees gave permission. Agenda Item 8: Matters from Staff A. Boulder Social Streets Update Ben Manibog, Public Works Senior Project Manager updated the commission on changes to the street use at West Pearl after the pandemic, and keeping the area closed to cars for restaurant use. Manibog discussed the plan from summer 2023 that included a series of downtown events. The plan served as a pilot, and eventually template, for other areas for events. Manibog shared that the most attended events were the Melanin Funk Fest and Boulder Street Soccer Classic. Trees asked whether attendance for the two events was significantly higher than the other six events, and if so, was that being taken into consideration when planning future events. Manibog clarified that this program was an effort to establish a template that community members can use to create events that they want to see and submit to the city for 2024 and moving forward. Jones added details about this being an effort to streamline staff efforts and make event planning easier and more accessible for community members. Trees asked for clarification about the frequency of the events and if they can be recurring or should be one-time events. Jones answered that City Council wants the planning and underwriting portion of the events to shift from the city to the community members who want the event held, and this template will make that easier for them. Poe asked if the city would keep track of applicants and try to match ideas to each other to lessen the cost for organizers. Jones answered that the template will make it easier for smaller events to be held. Matt Chasansky, CV Senior Manager of Cultural Vibrancy & District Vitality added that there will be advisors to help community members navigate the application process and sponsorships available to help fund events. Poe asked if the city would help connect non-profit organizations to sponsors, and Chasansky answered that the city will be doing that. Poe asked if there could be staff that is dedicated to helping event permits move through the planning department, and Jones clarified that the special event planning team is one person at the moment. The planning department has funding from permit fees that the special event planning team does not have access to, as the city does not charge for event permits, so they cannot staff for that work to be done. Poe asked what is charged for events, and Manibog stated he would provide that information to the commissioners. Trees asked if there is a price for event permits that makes the program sustainable and also doesn’t make events too expensive to hold. Jones answered that there are other ways to bring in more funding, such as charging a flat rate on Saturdays, that are not implemented at this time. Jones stated that the flat rate pricing model was put in front of City Council a couple years ago and did not pass. He offered that the DMC could bring this proposal to City Council again if they decided to. Manibog went over the safety perceptions of the events gathered from community member surveys. Poe pointed out that one-third of people felt unsafe, and the commission discussed what this indicated in the community. Poe asked Manibog for more information about the survey, including raw data, and Manibog stated he would provide this information to the commission. Manibog updated the commission about the Social Streets program, including the timeline and where the team was in the progress of the program. Manibog confirmed that he be providing updates on the program to the commission in future meetings. B. Day Shelter Services Update Megan Newton, Housing & Human Services Policy Advisor updated the commission on The Day Services Center. It was a City Council priority in 2022 and has faced challenges. It is intended to be a place with daily services in addition to more in-depth assistance regarding behavioral health, substance use, and housing for community members. There is no requirement to stay the night in order to use the day services. The center will be located on North Broadway and is slated to open in mid-June and has faced challenges regarding renovating the space and staffing. There are transportation issues that Newton’s team has faced and their solution is offering more frequent bus services. Trees asked what the daily cost is, and Newton clarified that they don’t have a daily number, but the annual amount is $1.6 million. Trees asked what Newton is most excited for regarding this project and what she is unsure about. Newton said she is excited that people in the community are going to get the help they need and connect with others in the community. She said she is unsure that the utilization will be very high and isn’t sure what the neighborhood community’s response will be. Poe asked if diversion programs are a part of this program, and Newton confirmed they will be. Poe asked if Newton’s team has outlined what success looks like and how to measure it for this project, and Newton confirmed that it is an ongoing conversation on her team. C. Q1 Economic Update LaBonte and Jones updated the commission on the new software being used called Placer AI. He talked about the metrics for visitation into the area. Trees asked a clarifying question about people moving past the area instead of staying in it and if that data is excluded, and LaBonte clarified that the system only counts pings that are in the area for more than 10 minutes in order to omit people who are just passing through. The commission discussed the Placer AI software and capabilities more in-depth, and Jones clarified that the software is used by many retailers in the country and provides many insights into community members’ movements. D. Cross District Consulting Chasansky updated the commission on the need for suggestions for work and policy changes that will make the districts more accessible and better for community members, and for volunteers from the commission to discuss this work. Nuzum observed that the goals need to be narrowed down to be successful and Chasansky responded that this work is an effort to create a plan and work on making larger goals successful. Poe asked for clarification on the goals and direction of the work. Jones clarified that the next steps are to hire consultants to work with stakeholders and identify problems, and that this work is to define the scope for the consultants. Poe clarified that he wants to make sure that all stakeholders’ needs are being identified and addressed, especially if they are conflicting needs. Poe expressed interest in being the ambassador for the DMC for this work. E. Parking & Access Survey Results Sam Bromberg, CV Senior Project Manager updated the commission on Metropolis and its rollout in city garages. Poe asked for clarification about how Metropolis is perceived in other municipalities, and Bromberg stated that the data is not available. Jones clarified that Metropolis will be operating in more municipalities soon, so the hope is that customers will be more comfortable using Metropolis. Bromberg said the biggest take aways are that there is a lot of misinformation surrounding the platform, there is a need for increased perception of safety, on-street parking is preferred to garage parking, and service and retail workers perceive a lack of affordable parking for their group. Nuzum observed that there is an issue with the on-street parking requiring the Park Mobile app and the garages requiring Metropolis, and that this may be upsetting community members. Jones clarified that Park Mobile uses a pay-in-advance model and Metropolis allows for paying for time used after the fact. If Park Mobile were to offer a similar model to Metropolis, the city would be interested in expanding them to the garages. Poe asked if the revenue was on target, and Bromberg and LaBonte confirmed that Metropolis is performing better than expected. Bromberg said the next steps are looking forward to the 2025 budget. The commissioners agreed that they want to see how this program runs for a year and what the data shows. F. Connecting Downtown to The Hill Brown updated the commission on the wayfinding signage along the corridors that connect Downtown to The Hill. She discussed other efforts including the Creative Crosswalk project, upcoming Roots Music Project events, the Civic Area Project in Phase II, a possible “Cultural Corridor” connection from 13th Street to Pearl Street, improvements to the Arboretum Park, a District Outlook Analysis, and a longer-term wayfinding strategy. Poe asked if the city can provide wayfinding information to hotels, and Jones confirmed that Visit Boulder does this. G. Commission Recruitment Update Jones updated that the city is looking to appoint two new commissioners in June and are hopeful that both vacancies will be filled. Nuzum asked who the candidates are, and Jones confirmed who they are. Agenda Item 9: Matters from Commissioners A. City Council Priority Update Jones updated the commission that City Council has priorities of economic vitality and connection of districts, affordable housing and homelessness, and many others, for a total of 11. Poe asked if budgets had been lowered, and Jones confirmed the budgets are going to be lower but that this was anticipated and is being accounted for. Agenda Item 10: Next Commission Meeting Next Commission Meeting: 4 p.m., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Agenda Item 11: Adjourn DMC Meeting There being no further business to come before the commission at this time, Nuzum moved to adjourn the meeting. Second by Kalvin. The meeting was adjourned at 6:23 p.m. Attested: ___________________ Lauren Kennedy Board Specialist Date: ______________ Approved by: _____________________ Don Poe DMC Vice-Chair Date: _________________ July 17, 2024 Don Poe (Jul 17, 2024 08:03 MDT) Don Poe Jul 17, 2024 05.14.24 DMC Meeting Minutes - APPROVED Final Audit Report 2024-07-17 Created:2024-07-17 By:Lauren Kennedy (kennedyl@bouldercolorado.gov) Status:Signed Transaction ID:CBJCHBCAABAAIYHtKy67u40Zmyaaqt_UJOutrjFJFSAF "05.14.24 DMC Meeting Minutes - APPROVED" History Document created by Lauren Kennedy (kennedyl@bouldercolorado.gov) 2024-07-17 - 2:01:45 PM GMT- IP address: 174.51.23.2 Document emailed to don.poe@peopleproductions.com for signature 2024-07-17 - 2:02:12 PM GMT Email viewed by don.poe@peopleproductions.com 2024-07-17 - 2:03:06 PM GMT- IP address: 104.28.48.213 Signer don.poe@peopleproductions.com entered name at signing as Don Poe 2024-07-17 - 2:03:20 PM GMT- IP address: 104.28.48.72 Document e-signed by Don Poe (don.poe@peopleproductions.com) Signature Date: 2024-07-17 - 2:03:22 PM GMT - Time Source: server- IP address: 104.28.48.72 Agreement completed. 2024-07-17 - 2:03:22 PM GMT