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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20090512BHTminutes.pdf Approved: 6/9/09 Page 1 of 3 BETTER HOMETOWN BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Minutes: May 12, 2009 DIRECTORS PRESENT: Cullen Chambers, Judy Malins, Erin Sheldon, Dick Smith, Patricia Miller Wann DIRECTORS ABSENT: John Yarbrough VISITORS PRESENT: (none) CALL TO ORDER: Cullen called the meeting to order at 9:05am. APPROVAL OF APRIL 14, 2009 MINUTES Judy voted to approve the April 14, 2009 Better Hometown Board of Directors meeting minutes. Erin seconded. The vote was unanimous. BY-LAWS UPDATE Patricia asked if we needed to include the Visioning Statement in the By-Laws. Chantel said that Brannyn said it is not necessary. The By-Laws will go to City Council at the last meeting in May. Cullen requested that he have time to review the By-Laws and make editorial changes if necessary before he signs them. Erin made a motion to approve the By-Laws with necessary editorial changes by Cullen. Patricia seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Cullen suggested that we wait until we have a full Better Hometown (BHT) Board before setting the terms of service. Hope was expressed to have the new BHT Board members appointed ASAP. The two openings for the Better Hometown Board will be re-advertised. While there was some discussion of including someone from another non-profit organization, it was decided that we need to have a strong business presence on the Better Hometown Board. The re-advertised positions will call for one applicant from the North End and one from the South End business districts. Chantel will make sure that the BHT By-Laws are included in the 5/28 City Council agenda packets. REVIEW COMMITTEE DESCRIPTIONS AND CONFIRM BOARD LIAISONS The framework of the committees was discussed. Committees should meet once a month and be composed of five to seven members. The structure is that the board sets the organization’s direction and committees make projects happen. It helps minimize confusion, avoid duplication, and maintain two-way communication between the board and committees via the assigned liaison. Committees will provide concrete work plan proposals that the board will review and approve. The board liaison will provide updates at each Board meeting Approved: 6/9/09 Page 2 of 3 Cullen requested that we wait until we have a full BHT Board before deciding who will serve on the critical Economic Restructuring Committee. Erin will be the liaison with assistance from Patricia and Chantel. Judy agreed to serve as the Promotions Committee liaison as time allows. With the season already being so busy, Chantel will continue to assist with the Holiday planning meetings and other promotional activities that arise until Judy has more time. Chantel reported that some volunteers have expressed interest in particular committees, but want all the details before committing. Everyone present voiced concerns about the amount of volunteer time required. Chantel reiterated that with more volunteers for each committee the work load will be less demanding on one person. EDUCATION / DEVELOPMENT: VISIONING, WORK PLANNING The original goal was to have the visioning and work planning session in June. Board members remarked that June seems too soon. Cullen suggested waiting until the end of July to give the board time to “get their ducks in a row” for a really good roll-out of the Better Hometown program. The board agreed they do not want to jeopardize the process by not having a good foundation. Dick remarked that the movie shooting on Tybee in June, July and August will cause additional chaos. He thought that later in July would be better for the Visioning/Work Planning meeting. Cullen asked Chantel what the realistic timeframe was for the Visioning/Work Planning meeting. Erin suggested that August is a quieter time and people have more free time. There was concern about the amount of time to get the Committees up and running before the Visioning/Work Planning meeting. Chantel said that the Visioning/Work Planning meeting would help clear up any gray areas, give the public more clarification of our vision and mission, outline needs and confirm our goals. Cullen remarked on the importance of familiarizing Council with BHT and giving them a chance to ask questions prior to the meeting. He said we need to be on firm ground when we go before Council and the camera. Erin suggested doing an overview for Council. Cullen asked Chantel if the City had another workshop planned for this year so that we could approach the whole Council in that kind of setting. COMMUNITY VISITS (AT LEAST 3 TO BE COMPLETED) Chantel confirmed St. Marys is a Main Street Community. Cullen asked Chantel to set a date and time to meet with their director. Cullen offered to drive if the visit can be arranged for the end of June. OTHER BUSINESS Chantel said that she turned in a preliminary budget to her supervisor which includes items such as: BHT holiday promotions, monthly promotions and sidewalk sale(s), holiday pole decorations, $5,000 for a market study, and travel budget for conferences. We will look for income from participating merchants for various promotions. We could possibly have a fund-raiser for the BHT program. Approved: 6/9/09 Page 3 of 3 Chantel reported she is in contact with DCA regarding the Downtown Development Revolving Loan Fund. Cullen brought up creating incentives for property owners. He suggested setting up a revolving loan fund that would give small grants for façade improvements. He said he would approach the Tybee Island Historical Society Board to see if they would be interested in starting such a fund -- then down the road the BHT Board could approach the City to become a partner in the fund. Dick Smith said that the City’s budget meetings begin at 4pm today. The new budget goes into effect on July 1, 2009. Patricia said that she understood that we would not be eligible for any grants/loans until we got the BHT designation. Chantel said that as a “start-up” community, monies may be accessible from DCA still. Chantel will e-mail the board the budget she turned in and will check on whether we can push back the date of the Visioning/Work Planning meeting. There was discussion that we need to use this upcoming budget year as a “laying ground work” year with the City. Cullen and Chantel will set up a meeting with the Mayor to bring him up to speed on the BHT program. Chantel said this month is “Historical Preservation Month” and the theme is “This Place Matters.” She said that she is going to e-blast information to her distribution list. Patricia reported that the list of annual events for 2009 totaled twenty three. She said that some months had many events and others only had one event. This many events can lead to burn out among volunteers and event attendees. Discussion ensued about the quality of events on Tybee. Erin spoke about the need to have more family oriented events and less alcohol driven events. Concern was raised that BHT be associated with events that meet the standards for the BHT program. Cullen asked about the Holiday promotions and which events are Better Hometown. Chantel explained that Better Hometown is serving as the umbrella to assist in coordinating and promoting events on the island for Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day. The board agreed that the tree lighting ceremony should be an official Better Hometown event. The Sidewalk Sale in January is another Better Hometown specific event. BHT assists in retail promotions such as the Shop and Stroll as well as assisting organizations having events. A “Happenings” calendar list is e-blasted out to businesses and residents in Chantel’s distribution list. The Visitors Center is on this list. This lets people know what is happening within the BHT designated area and about events approved by the City. It also provides contact information if people want to participate. Cullen asked if Chantel was going to be responsible for press releases for the Better Hometown Board. She concurred. Attendees expressed the need to keep Board and Committee meetings to an hour or less out of respect for their time. ADJOURNMENT Erin made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:10am. Patricia seconded. The vote was unanimous.