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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20120211minutes.pdfApproved: March 21, 2012 Page 1 of 3 BETTER HOMETOWN BOARD OF DIRECTORS Meeting Minutes: February 11, 2012 Directors Present: Bill Garbett, Jim Glass, Vicki Hammons, Amy Kagan, Judy Malins, Beth Martin, Monty Parks, Stephen Palmer, Peggy Stone, John Yarbrough Directors Absent: N/A Call to Order: Monty called the meeting to order at 9:04am. Welcome Monty welcomed everyone. Chantel introduced the following new board directors: Bill Garbett, Vicki Hammons and Amy Kagan. Guest(s): Mary Ingalls with the Tybee Arts Association presented their Moons over Tybee project to the Board. She explained that the project is designed to be a public art project for aerial decorations (i.e. lit Christmas balls) to be displayed around Tybee, slow traffic in residential areas and provide the food bank with an opportunity to collect food. Currently some are displayed at her house and they are working with residents on North Campbell to hang more. Monty inquired about other cities that are doing a similar project. Mary confirmed Greensboro is doing a similar project and is using it as a way to do food collection for food banks. Bill asked about the possibility of using solar power. Approval of minutes John made a motion to approve the December 20, 2011 Better Hometown Board of Directors meeting minutes. Jim seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Committee Reviews Chantel commented that the new directors have the a copy of the Vision / Mission Statement, the 2012 meeting calendar and the BHT 2011-12 Committee work plans at their seats. Economic Restructuring: Being “Entrepreneur Friendly” Mary Ellen McClanahan, Director of Entrepreneur & Small Business Development with Georgia Department of Economic Development joined the board meeting via conference call to review how Tybee can become more entrepreneur friendly. Chantel explained that the Mayor and City Manager asked her to research how Tybee can become a designated “Entrepreneur Friendly” (EF) community. Mary Ellen and she spoke in mid December. GaED is no longer designating communities “EF” due to smaller staff and the demand. However, Chatham County did receive the designation and Tybee can fall in the category with works being done, such as the “Business Resource Guide” brochure developed by the Economic Restructuring Committee. Mary Ellen stated that it is good to have a “go to person” such as Chantel and it needs to be promoted. Tracking vacancies, working with zoning and permitting and making reference to the Small Business Resource Center are excellent. She commended those that put together the guide and suggested that the brochures be placed in highly visible locations and for the committee to consider postcards for increased awareness. Mary Ellen reviewed the guide with the board and made the following additional comments about being entrepreneurial friendly and suggestions to improve the guide: - Under Community Development: highlight that this is the place to begin Approved: March 21, 2012 Page 2 of 3 - Add information about business plans, financial opportunities (i.e. Boomtown) to the back of the brochure. - Be sure to add where a list of commercial vacancies can be found - Be sure every business knows about the guide - Continue to build relationships with the businesses - Regarding zoning / permitting: deal with local issues, some cities offer incentives (i.e. waive the first year business license fee) - Offer open forum meetings where business owners can discuss issues regarding zoning / permitting in order to know what the issues are Monty mentioned an article he read on Yahoo. The article stated that Georgia was ranked 50. He commented that initiatives may help and that we did get national recognition at the launch of our Better Hometown program. Beth commented that the brochure was great and agreed the Small Business Resource Center information should be added. Organization: Director Appointments Jim made a motion that Monty serve as Chair of the Better Hometown Board of Directors. Peggy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Vicki made a motion that Stephen serve as Vice Chair of the Better Hometown Board of Directors. Peggy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Jim made a motion that Judy serve as Treasurer of the Better Hometown Board of Directors. Peggy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Jim made a motion that Peggy serve as Secretary of the Better Hometown Board of Directors. John seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Bill requested that Chantel look into having the meetings recorded. Committee Liaisons Jim agreed to serve as the Design Committee Liaison. Judy agreed to serve as the Economic Restructuring Committee Liaison. Stephen agreed to serve as the Promotions Committee Liaison. Budget Review Discussion ensued regarding the 2012-13 BHT budget. Chantel reported that she is waiting to find out if money from Steele’s budget was put back into the BHT budget to cover the City’s performance license agreement costs. This cost were taken out of the of the BHT 2011-12 budget and was not anticipated when the 2011-12 BHT Program budget was prepared. Steele had confirmed he would do this, but since he is no longer with the City, Chantel is conversing with the City Manager. Monty inquired about increasing the budget in order to be more effective and for additional projects during the 2012-13 fiscal year. Chantel explained she will be meeting with the City Manager to review the 2012-13 budget. Bill requested that Chantel come back to the board with the budget for input and final decision. Beth expressed showing the economic benefit of the program. Tybee Island Information Providers Program Chantel reported the Information Provider Program will begin the beginning of March. Thus far, there are two volunteers. Jim expressed the need to have more volunteers and ways to promote it. Approved: March 21, 2012 Page 3 of 3 Visioning Workshop Chantel reported that it is time to host the annual Community Visioning Workshop. This workshop assists the board and committees with determining the work plans for each year, as well as, provides the public with an overview of what has been accomplished since the last workshop. Beth expressed that the public wants and needs to know what BHT is doing. She wants the works to be shown and the impact in a simple to understand way. She explained that as time allows, the video project, which the board previously discussed, will help these efforts. She conveyed the need to address negative topics first in order to dispel them. Peggy commented that the presentation needs to be strong in order to back up the works of the program. The presentation needs to show where we were, what we have done and where we are going. All agreed to strongly show what BHT has been doing (i.e. Locals Appreciation Card, Info Providers, etc.). Beth suggested having a strong agenda. Peggy suggested everyone on the board give Chantel input. The board agreed to have the workshop after the next board meeting. Chantel will bring the presentation to the next board meeting for review and planning purposes. Design: Keep Tybee Tidy Updates Chantel provided the board with a progress report of the DNR – Coastal Incentives Grant: “Keep Tybee Tidy: Combating Litter by Land for the Sea”. The ultimate goal is to decrease litter by 20%. Data from Tybee Beautification Association’s beach sweeps was used in the grant application. TBA will continue to collect data this year in order to compare. The Department of Public works will begin installing the thirteen (13) trash/recycling/side- mounted ashtray containers at locations throughout the corridor where Design committee members suggested. Recycling containers and “recycle here” stickers are being ordered for placement at beach crossovers. Jim will send Chantel the Tybee Beautification Association (TBA) logo to include on the stickers. Jim confirmed Chantel will need to obtain Deb’s permission to use it because it is copyrighted. Chantel reported that TBA is hosting an Adopt a Highway on March 3. Promotion: Third Thursdays on Tybee Chantel reported that the panel of judges met and reviewed the ten submissions for the 2012 Third Thursdays on Tybee Spring and Fall series. The judges were pleased with the quality and diversity of all the submissions and had a difficult time making their decisions. The lineup is as follows: March – Roll on Rodney, April – Chris Desa, May – Brenda Morie, September – Jan Spillane, October – Jeff Beasley, November – Annie Allman & Duane Damiani. John expressed the need to increase visibility of these concerts and wants to participate in brainstorms with the Promotions Committee because he has many ideas. Amy explained that there are minimal monies available to promote Third Thursdays on Tybee. Chantel explained that in the fall there will be a need for lighting since the time of the performances is 5:30pm – 7:00pm. Tybee for the Holidays (Discussion postponed until next BHT BOD meeting.) Other Business: John requested that the post season Community party be put on the next meeting agenda for discussion and implementation. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 10:30am.