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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20091209BHTBODMinutes.pdfApproved: January 19, 2010 Page 1 of 4   Better Hometown Board Meeting Minutes Minutes: December 15, 2009 Directors Present: Cullen Chambers, Maureen Grindstaff, Patricia Miller Wann, John Yarbrough Directors Absent: Mel Gordon, Judy Malins, Erin Sheldon, Dick Smith Guests Present: Lindsey Fruchtl (Tybee Island Tourism Council), Sandy Majors (Windfall Resources), Keith Gay (Tybee Beach Vacation Rentals) Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 9:05am. Approval of Minutes: John made a motion to approve the November 10, 2009 Board of Directors meeting minutes. Maureen seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Guest: Sandy Majors Sandy Majors spoke to the Board about the need for the community to sponsor a Seafood Festival that would involve the entire community including businesses, residents and non-profit and church organizations. The Festival would promote Tybee and has the potential to build into something very special. Sandy mentioned the Oliver Hardy Festival in Harlem, GA which now has over 35,000 people attend each year. The festival would capitalize on seafood, which is something unique to our community. Cullen asked what time of year does she envisions the festival being held. Sandy said it should be similar to Celebrate Tybee which was held in October. She asked Patricia how long it took to put Celebrate Tybee together. Patricia said it took well over a year. Sandy said that Bluffton does a 3-4 day seafood festival. She said she believes that the Better Hometown Initiative is the right organization to sponsor the festival because this organization doesn’t have some of the baggage some of the other organizations have. Lindsey agreed. Cullen said that we are limited as to what we can do by our Charter. Lindsey asked if fall is the right time for such a festival since there is so much going on such as Pirates Fest. Chantel said that Dean Morrison is already planning to do a Seafood Festival at the Pier and Pavilion. John said that Dean spoke to him about a week and a half ago and that he intends to do the festival next year. Sandy said that she had not spoken with Dean and that maybe we can work with him. Cullen said that we do not intend to take his idea. Cullen said the grant cycle is in September for funding for advertising money from the Tourism Council. Sandy said that last year she held a Volunteer Tybee open house and 22 organizations participated. Cullen said that he thought the Seafood Festival could be a great concept. Chantel suggested tying in Island seafood stores. It could become an annual maritime event for Chatham County. Everyone agreed that it is an exciting concept. John said he would like to be involved. Maureen said that we could include a kayak/scooter aspect. Sandy said that transportation is key to the event. Approved: January 19, 2010 Page 2 of 4   Cullen suggested we schedule a meeting and take point on it. All agreed it should be family friendly. Cullen repeated that we must be clear on the grant cycle for Tourism events in 2011. Revised By-laws Review Cullen signed the revised bylaws which reflect that Board meetings will be held monthly. The number of Board members remained the same. Chantel will make copies of the original to distribute at the next meeting. Board of Directors Update Erin Sheldon is no longer active with the Better Hometown Board of Directors. Mel Gordon is moving and has resigned. Dick Smith has gone off City Council. Cullen recommended that we keep Dick on as a voting member. Cullen will draft a letter to Council. Maureen said she would put her name in to continue serving. We will have to advertise and ask that people interested in serving on the Board submit a letter of interest / resume to Council for them to act at their second meeting in January. John said he will talk with Vance Reyes who is a part owner of Bernie’s and active in the Savannah Waterfront. Monty Parks has also expressed an interest. John also mentioned Jenny Orr as a possibility with her business savvy. Community Visit A site visit to Darien is planned for Friday. Maureen and Cullen said they would attend. The Board will consider visiting Blackshear in January. Main Street Conference – March 17 - 19, 2010 in St. Mary’s Cullen stressed that it is imperative for Board Members to attend this conference. Attendance at the Conference is one of the criteria we have to meet for designation this year. He said that we cannot afford to be delayed another year. He has been trying to get in touch with Martha (our DCA liaison) but without success. Chantel said that Martha has had much happening in the past few months and will continue attempts to speak with her. Committee Updates Design – Cullen On November 21 there was a “Come Down to Clean Up & Planting Day.” Sixteen people came to help. The Garden Club and Tybee Beautification Association contributed greatly. Joe Wilson with DPW is aware that the irrigation in the landscaped beds along Tybrisa will have to be adjusted. Cigarette butts were mostly collected this time as compared to cups and such last November. There was a porch that needed to be cleaned up at street level and it has been done. The anti-litter campaign was discussed. There was discussion about code enforcement for litter. The board discussed using a slogan such as “Show respect -- don’t litter.” Cullen is meeting with the City Manager. John brought up the problems of sharing dumpsters. There are certain liners that are supposed to be used and it is obvious when condo residents are using the dumpsters. Keith Gay said that has been an issue. Cullen said that other dumpsters are being abused. The City Marshal, Chuck Bargeron, has told Cullen he needs pictures as evidence of the abuse in order to address it. Approved: January 19, 2010 Page 3 of 4   There was a Sign Ordinance meeting on December 1 at All Points Café on Tybrisa. Many business owners attended. Cullen commended Keith Gay for his participation and input at the meeting and Chantel for putting the meeting together and bringing the city government and business community together. Chantel organized the meeting at All Points Café which was a neutral site and made for civil and constructive discussion. Keith said that it was an excellent example of the struggles business owners have as they try to take care of business. He spoke of the lack of communication and lack of understanding between the business community and the City. He said that the enforcement of the Tent Code was a good example and had created bad feelings. The Better Hometown Initiative is good in making sure that people understand what is going to happen, but some people see any changes as anti-business. There was discussion among the Board members that the Sign Ordinance is not anti-business. Communities who have a strong sign ordinance have seen an economic advantage. Cullen said that everyone needs to work together instead of stirring up trouble. People have been involved in the sign ordinance revisions for months. Keith said that the meeting gave people an opportunity to express their opinion. Cullen said that Chantel is constantly out talking to business owners and we need honest discourse instead of a malicious campaign. Keith said that there is not a lot of communication. Cullen asked if we could e-mail the businesses. John said a hand out was better because a lot of people don’t check their e-mails daily. Cullen suggested that we have a meeting up front about signage, parking & trash. Keith said that there were 30-40 people at the meeting and maybe 50 businesses top on Tybee. He suggested that Board members contact the businesses directly and ask them to attend meetings. Cullen asked if we could use the City channel 7. Chantel commented on the ongoing efforts to improve communication. Cullen suggested that we need one public workshop before rolling anything out. Keith added that we need to stay on the high road. The Board discussed parking updates. Chantel said she continues outreach efforts to educate people about the “pay to park” system on Tybee. She talked with Council member Wanda Doyle about her continued efforts to find solutions for parking. Wanda is talking with people involved with parking in Savannah. Cullen said that we need to realize that the issue goes beyond business and impacts Tybee resident’s quality of life. He said that we need to explain why parking is being expanded into neighborhoods and suggested again that we have a public meeting. Keith said we need to address the transportation issue on the Island. We need to be able to move people around the Island. He said he doesn’t like the idea of a parking garage. He asked if there was any kind of grant for seed money for investment in equipment etc. He would like BHT to take a front position on this issue. Keith said that the market was perfect to buy dirt for parking. Cullen pointed out that this is not just an eighteen-day problem. Space for parking is necessary throughout the peak season. Chantel suggested that a trolley could be a solution, but there needs to be a collective effort. Cullen said we need a public workshop/meeting on parking and we need a facilitator. Approved: January 19, 2010 Page 4 of 4   Maureen asked about government grants. Cullen said he thought there would be community support for such a thing. Patricia asked if there was a possibility of any stimulus money that could be used for transportation. Chantel reviewed the trash receptacle donation program. People are interested in donating money for the new trash containers. However, cost is an issue because they are expensive. Chantel has been told by the City Manager that the City does not have funds currently available for additional containers. Cullen said that the Historical Society is committing to three trash containers. Economic Restructuring - Judy Chantel reported Judy is in the process of contacting SBAC regarding a possible loan program for Tybee businesses. Organization – John Chantel has been emailing regular updates via newsletters. As the board moves forward with outreach, she requested there be more input from the committee liaisons. John is working with Matt and Chantel on a BHT site. Kim Carter with DCA said we need to wait until we have designation to launch the site. The tybeefortheholidays.com site has been useful this month, but there were issues with designing it to match the look of the posters. Maureen said she could not make changes to the heading and sidebars due to restrictions. Updates regarding the holidays continue to be posted to the site. Chantel continues to post information to the BHT initiative Facebook page. Cullen said the board needs an update on the BHT Checklist to see how we are doing. He commented that Chantel has moved the BHT Initiative forward. The question was asked about the BHT budget and how the city has allocated funding. The board discussed the possibility of BHT receiving a portion of the City’s share of Hotel/Motel tax. Promotion – Maureen Chantel reported that the Christmas Parade was postponed to this coming Saturday due to the weather last Saturday. The Polar Bear Plunge is scheduled for January 1 and restaurant specials for that day are posted on the BHT holiday site. Lindsay does not believe there are any issues with BHT taking over www.tybeefortheholidays.com. Patricia and Chantel are working on Third Thursdays on Tybee. Patricia has lined up panelist to judge the musicians that submit. Other Business Adjournment Patricia made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:30am. Maureen seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.