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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2023_tcwsmin0109 Council Work Session January 9, 2023 Council Chamber, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, Virginia, 7 00 p.m. Mayor Kelly Burk presiding. Council Members Present: Ara Bagdasarian, Todd Cimino-Johnson, Zach Cummings, Kari Nacy, Vice Mayor Steinberg, Patrick Wilt, and Mayor Kelly Burk. Council Members Absent: None Staff Present: Town Manager Kai Dentler, Town Attorney Christopher Spera, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Economic Development Director Russell Seymour, Public Information Officer Kara Rodriguez, Public Information Officer Michael Drogm, Business Development and Retention Manager Melanie Scoggins, Small Business Development & Tourism Specialist Allison Wood, Assistant Public Information Officer Leah Kosin, and Clerk of Council Eileen Boeing. Minutes prepared by Deputy Clerk of Council Coma Alvarez. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Items for Discussion a. Social Media Policy Ms. Kosin gave a presentation on the Town's Social Media Policy and provided usage statistics across the various platforms used by the Town. --- ---- ---- -- ---- - Council and staff discussed the item. b Virginia Main Street Program Mr. Seymour and Ms. Wood gave a presentation on the Virginia Main Street Program and presented Council with options. It was the consensus of Council to allow staff to pursue Option I (Tier 2 and Tier 3 Main Street Community status by utilizing the awarded Community Vitality grant). Resolution to be modified and presented at Tuesday's Council Meeting for approval. 2. Additions to Future Council Meetings Council Member Bagdasarian requested an inventory report of current Downtown parking signage and a work session to discuss additional public parking signage to direct _people to the parking garage and/or parking lots. It was the consensus of Council to add this item to a future work session discussion. Council Member Bagdasarian requested initiation of a text amendment to Zoning Ordinance 11.4—Alternative Parking Provisions, to allow for residential and non-residential facilities to access alternative parking within 500 feet of a Town parking facility to meet minimum parking standards and for staff to prepare an impact analysis and map of impacted parking parcels for future discussion. 11Pige Council Work Session January 9, 2023 It was the consensus of Council to add this item to a future work session discussion. Council Member Nacy requested a follow-up regarding motorhome parking restrictions in response to an email sent by a resident. Mr. Spera said staff identified an interim solution until staff can propose something more specific regarding motorhomes Mr. Spera is providing the interim solution to the resident No fiirther action is needed by Council at this time. 3. Adjournment On a motion by Vice Mayor Steinberg, seconded by Council Member Cummings, the meeting was adjourned at 8:09p.m. Clerk of Council 2023 tcwsmm0109 UU 2 Page January 9, 2023-Town Council Work Session (Note:This is a transcnpt prepared by Town staff based on the video of the meeting. It may not be entirely accurate. For greater accuracy,we encourage you to review the video of the meeting that is on the Town's Web site-www.leesburgva.gov or refer to the approved Council meeting minutes.Council meeting videos are retained for three calendar years after a meeting per Library of Virginia Records Retention guidelines.) Mayor Kelly Burt Let me call to order our Town Council Work Session of January 9th,2023 The first item for discussion tonight is the Social Media Policy and looking at your sideshow, 10 minutes Leah Kosin: Yes, ma'am No worries. Thank you, everyone Welcome to everyone's first official meeting of the year Last spring, I had attended the government social media conference and learned a great deal Its practical for managing public sector, social media, getting unparalleled opportunities to network with agencies across the US There's a lot of great, valuable information that we learned during this event It's for communicators, PIOs, elected officials, marketers,you name it I wanted to bring back some of what I learned and just share as a quick update since we have a few new members here on our Council this evening Really quickly, statistics,just so that you can see that the United States has the third largest social media audience worldwide after China and India Three hundred and two million of those users are social media users Fifty five percent are women 25 to 34 years old That is accurate for the Town's social media outlets Of course, Facebook outpaces all other social media sites As you can see, roughly a third of US adults say they use it to get news on Facebook and that is what we're seeing for the Town Where is Leesburg? Here are the numbers You see we have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Nextdoor Facebook again continues to be the spot where we have the most followers compared to Nextdoor which is a little different We post mainly news releases, and different neighborhoods can opt-in or individual families Here's our social media handles which you'll have in front of you to make sure that you're following them whenever you get the chance Just as a reminder that the Town is no longer posting to TikTok following directions from the Town Manager and the Governor's executive order prohibiting TikTok on State networks and technology. Not only does the Town have their own page, but we also have a number of departments that utilize their pages as well We have the list here for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Nextdoor Most of these departments have staff that's already managing the content However, they will come to the PIO Department for assistance Here are just some of the things that we're posting If you haven't seen it already News releases,events before,during,after specifically with Parks and Rec,road closures,and accidents which we cross-promote with the Leesburg Police Department We've done a lot more with ribbon cuttings and Facebook Lives and videos We also have started to post more meeting notices reminding people of the topics that are going to be discussed Weather alerts, critical incidents, and of course most recently daily themes such as Meet Me Monday and Throwback Thursday Why are we posting?The purpose of the Town of Leesburg's official social media accounts is to present matters of interest to our community This includes residents,businesses,guests, and other members of the public Of course, it all comes down to transparency These are just industry terms regarding people who engage, and we definitely see a little bit of all of them The Super Fan, it's always positive, they're our cheerleaders The Talker Social is important source of their daily interaction They visit our website pretty much daily The Dipper They share details but don't hang around to discuss, cause trouble sometimes, maybe The Customer They go to social to get answers to their questions We have a lot of those Then we have our Protestors Something happens and they're not happy about it,so they take to social media Then we do have a few Trolls that are deep-seated hatred They'll attack us for certain topics or whatever it is that we post I like to say that we just move on and let the community discuss and play out those attacks and bury it 1 The Town does have a social media policy It can be found on the Town's website under the Government tab,Terms and Conditions,and Social Media Comment Policy We recently made updates to it with Town Attorney Chris Spera,who can answer any questions you have regarding that You also have a copy in front of you. Many local governments have social media policies posted online, but this is an area where one size does not fit all Each government must take an individual approach to ensure that all these diverse parts come together to meet their unique needs. Where does Leesburg fit in?We are a government sector We operate on behalf of the public, and this is where it can get a little dicey The Town considers all of its social media accounts to be moderated online discussion sites Content on the Town's social media accounts including comments posted are public information They are subject to the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, including FOIA We need to make sure that we're keeping it legal, it came up a lot during my training last spnng The US Supreme Court says government social media accounts that invite or accept public comment create a public forum, which is subject to First Amendment Rights This means citizens have the right to disagree with whatever d is that were posting. They can express their opinions without fear of censorship When local government opens a forum on social media, it invites speech including criticism The protective space on government social media sites are the interactive space where the users are interacting We have to be careful not to remove or ban their protected speech, such as inappropriate comments, colorful language, negative critical comments When I was at my training, I was surprised, but I guess it was a big enough case study that Davison versus Randall appeared as one of the things that was shared with us For those of you who are not familiar with this case, a Loudoun County's supervisor was sued after she blocked people from her Facebook page that she personally created for communication Tne Court found this page to be a public forum subject to First Amendment Rights because it was a public forum that I just had a repeat on that slide after so many of us looked at that I'm sorry Anyhow she used it to inform of County business County staff posted to this page County promoted the page in its newsletter and Facebook also linked to the County website A couple of other case studies One was in South Pittsburgh They were sued after adopting a social media policy that prohibited any negative comments about the town or any of its officials or employees on social media This settled lawsuit had a rewrite of the social media policy Then one more to share with Honolulu Police,just to show you exactly how far across the states this goes They were sued after removing all critical negative comments from the Police Department's Facebook page and blocking a user That settled lawsuit was for$31 K Where are we with managing our conversation?The Town-elected officials If you have your own page, and if you're representing the Town, you should not be deleting or hiding comments You should not be blocking someone If a statement is needed,keep it to one professional statement,addressing the entire thread, and move on Of course, you can always come to the Public Information Office, and we can help you craft that message Often time, as I said earlier, the conversation is buried by others We don't want to share too much though Social media allows us to cross-promote, but we have to be careful with what it is that we're sharing We have to keep three things in mind Perception,who did this information come from? Is it yours? Did you make it up or are you actually sharing it from a valuable source? Copynght Were you given the okay to share images or logos? Our Public Information Office has to do this all the time where we have to make sure that any images that we're taking are our own or that we do have the rights to them Inaccuracy, do you have the facts straight? Sometimes it's as simple as just miswording one sentence and then it just creates a huge fuss If you are using social media to represent the Town and if you have questions about what you should or shouldn't be doing, please do not hesitate to reach out to one of us One thing we also want to make clear is that your pages,again,when doing business for the Town, it could be FOIA-ed All content on the Town's social media counts, including comments posted, are public information They're subject to laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, including FOIA 2 Again, this includes posts you make regarding Town business, no matter where you shared it Social media, email, or texts One asterisk sign here Simply sharing a post from the Town does not make a personal account a public document However, if your practice is to engage with the public at large on a personal page about Town business, it would likely be subject to FOIA Another thing that gave me an,oh my goodness moment during my training,were Open Meeting Laws Officials have to be mindful that even when you're posting content regarding Town-related matters, it could be inadvertently in violation of Open Meeting Laws,even online on social media If enough public officials are engaging on a post in real-time, if this occurs, the conversation should immediately cease with no further posts by officials Then, of course,the Town Clerk should be notified immediately How do you know your personal versus professional? Personal pages are for close friends and family You share pictures of your children, whatever Professional pages related to your role on the Town Council They're utilized to monitor and respond to comments and messages They're open to whoever, they may be managed by staff, and they're promoting the town event and news A few other factors for personal forums, the government does not maintain the site or moderate posts or comments The staff does not utilize the page and activity is not confined to normal business hours. Again, if you share Town business on this page, it is still subject to FOIA.Then the government forum factors for professional pages,official included title position is on your site. Contact information is listed, site that link to local government, official businesses conducted, and so on There are three layers of ownership Town agency for multiple departments to share That's what I mentioned all different departments have Elected officials, most of you have your own page where you can take this page with them wherever you go, no matter what position you're holding Then there is always an option to have an office of a mayor That page would belong to that particular person and office no matter who is elected Just to close things up, some helpful tips and strategies if you'd like to look at them, you may, so I don't keep any more of your time Of course, Kara and Mike Drogin is here from the Police Department Should you have any other questions as well as Chris Spera for any iegaimes Mayor Burk: Pretty good Thirteen seconds I do have to say that the increase in the Town's social media presence has been dramatic It's been very, very good, and lots of comments and very positive comments Thank you both for your hard work on this Does anybody have any questions, Mr Steinberg? Vice Mayor Neil Steinberg: Early on in one of your slides, you said that Facebook outpaces all other social media Exclusive of the neighborhood or whatever that one is called, does it outpace all of the others combined? Leah Kosin: Yes, according to the statistics that I had looked at prior to the presentation and during last year's training, Facebook is still surprisingly number one, just because you can share so much more You can share videos and more content.Twitter's limited and it's more for like newsworthy tidbits Instagram is just a photo album of things that are taking place Oftentimes we're limited with where we're going to share our information just based off of what the content is that's going to be needed for those outlets For the Town itself though,that's where we continue to see the most interaction We get the most questions, comments, shares, and we've started to actually keep track of every single post and just kind of seeing exactly who's seeing them and what the popular times of days are Again, it comes down to Facebook for the Town of Leesburg Vice Mayor Steinberg: I presume you could mount a page that does not allow comments of any kind, and that's not a problem Is that correct? Leah Kosin: It would be a problem,yes If you open up anything that has to do with the Town, if you're talking about any Town business, it has to be open for comments, questions- Council Member Steinberg: It has to allow comments Is that correct? Leah Kosin: It has to I believe so 3 Christopher Spero: Well, certainly, the Town website doesn't necessarily have to be interactive You can certainly Just post information I think that a social media account that by its very nature has that interactive feature, I think that's what Leah's referring to If you have a website where you're just sharing information, you're not required to accept comments or have a public forum for that Vice Mayor Steinberg: Well,that's what I'd like to-- I know even in the political realm, you can mount a Facebook page, not permit comments from anybody, and then it's a level playing field It is simply an informational page I'd like clarification on that to know if that's true Christopher Spera: If that's allowed by the vendor Vice Mayor Steinberg: It is Christopher Spera: Then 1 believe it's fine Vice Mayor Steinberg: On Facebook, you can turn off all comments Christopher Spera: If you accept none,you're simply sharing information, you're not creating a public forum If the services vendor allows you to do that and make that choice, but I think it gets a little more gray if it's a situation where you can't turn that off,but you simply just delete everything when they come in I think that's the distinction Vice Mayor Steinberg: Thank you Leah Kosin: I think too, it would also be helpful to just have that noted on that page that it's not something that allows for public comment,just so that way nobody's confused Mayor Burk: Dr Cimino-Johnson? Council Member Todd Cimino-Johnson: Thank you for your presentation i Just have one question Do we monitor all comments across all of our social media? Leah Kosin:Yes, we have to Council Member Cimino-Johnson: How often? Leah Kosin: We are on social media daily Now, there are times where people will comment after hours, late at night. We always try to go back every single day at least and just scroll through to see, what new comments have been made For instance, that we made one last week with, one of our officers that Just exploded, and we weren't keeping track of all 300 comments, but as long as they're not negative,we try to respond to them or like them or monitor them Really the rule is that if we need to make a response, Its going to be one professional response to everybody who's commenting We're not tagging anyone specifically, that way we're showing that we are here, we are watching, we'll answer a question, or we can direct them to a specific department for more information or to the Town website Council Member Cimino-Johnson: Thank you Mayor Burk: What if you have a campaign site but you do post things about the Town? Leah Kosin: Sure Again,it's still able to be FOIA-ed You still have to be very careful with the copyright and what information you're sharing If you are sharing your own opinion, again, as I Just mentioned to Mr Steinberg, I would put something at the beginning, on the side of the social media account that you're using, and Just say, all these opinions are my own That sort thing, if that makes sense Mayor Burt Anyone else?All right Thank you very much Leah Kosin: Thank you, guys, so much 4 Mayor Burk: Very good update that we need to really look over and remember those tips The next item for discussion is the Virginia Main Street Program Mr Seymour Russell Seymour: Oh wait, we clear house there for a moment? Good evening Madam Mayor, Members of Council I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss the Main Street Program as following up to the discussions we've had before In addition to myself this evening, I've gat Ms Allison Wood, one of our new staff members that'll be also presenting I also wanted to take a moment just to introduce Ms Stephanie Slocum Ms Slocum has been volunteering with this program I knew of her in Williamsburg,where she has run these types of programs up and down the East Coast, and she volunteered to work with us through this, out this process I wanted to quickly introduce her as well I'll skip through these as we're time-based but the main focus with the Main Street Program is that it is a preservation-based economic and community development program And it does have both state and federal guidelines Why the Main Street Program? We're talking specifically about stakeholder groups These are groups that both, these are people that both live and work in the designated area and they are the ones that would then be participating in really their own neighborhoods That's both business and for residents The value of the Main Street Program or the benefit of the Main Street Program We've got eight things we really laid out here, but I can really sum it up in three different areas Partnership, communication, and marketing Those are the three main areas that really fit under any successful Main Street Program We talk about what is the Main Street Program We talked before about independent non-profit organizations, State and Federal Also, I'll draw your attention to numbers four and number five on this slide Local community,established and driven.This is not a locality dnven, it is not a governmental program It is something that is developed and put together by the local business community Number five is very dependent upon active community support. That is a support that must be maintained throughout this process.The four-prong approach, if you will, it's going back to what we talked about earlier Main Street projects fit into one of these four areas Any project that's generated under a Main Street Program is really going to fit into one of these four categories Design, economic vitality, organization. and promotion Changes and updates Since I was last here earlier this year, there have been three changes that I wanted to draw your attention to The first one is we are no longer a tier four program Main Street now has gone into three separate tiers Basically,what they did was every locality was viable or optional for a tier one They've dropped that program. We were a tier two, we are now a tier one Still remaining though,with that exploring Main Street initiative What are some of the benefits? Now, each tier as you go through, the benefits go up Everything that's included in tier one goes to tier two, and also in tier three,focusing on each tier providing access to different additional resources and that's the main focus Very quickly,the advancing or tier three programs in our region is to just give you a touch on some of the ones that are within our region that are close to what we're doing I'll talk very quickly about the two- year cohort- Now, I mentioned we are a tier one right now We've got two other tiers The way it has been set up by the State this past year is that while we are currently a tier one, we will not be able to apply for a tier two status until November of 2024 We would use the opportunity between now and November of next year to get everything in line and prepare for that should we move forward Once that starts in January of'25, the two-year process would begin Then we would be in that two-year program for a minimum, two years,we would not be in a position to apply for tier three until January of 2027 The Community Vitality Grant is the grant that we have applied for We have received the grant. we have received approval for it It's a $7K grant We are approaching it with $2K from the DED budget this year as a match, and then also$3K from in-kind The focus is going to be developing that structure and our goal is to have the plan and everything put in place Should we decide to move forward with it, all of those things will be set and in place The money must be expended or accounted for by May 31st of this year I'll skip over the Council timeline With that, wanted to draw Ms Allison in to go over the rest of the program 5 Allison Wood:Good evening, everybody For those of you who have not had the pleasure to meet yet, I'm Allison Wood I started with a department in August Then I began our outreach process in September with our volunteer, Stephanie Slocum We began the process by reaching out to business owners for individual meetings Then we moved to hosting two small group sessions in October, two larger format public open forums in November All the while we've had an online survey that's been open on our website since the first press release went out In September. The main goal of our outreach has been to reach as many stakeholders as possible through a comprehensive outreach process, utilizing face-to-face interaction,digital and print media You can see some of the numbers here We did reach over 12K people with our two press releases that went out We reached over 8K people with two different email and text campaigns and 700 people through direct email Also,for our open forums,we did some social media where we created Facebook events,which were posted in five separate Leesburg and Loudoun County-specific Facebook groups, which that's where you'll see that 36K people Really our goal of outreach besides reaching as many people has been that education component We want to be able to educate the public on what is Main Street, as well as receive that feedback Our overall response We collected responses online through the survey,as well as verbally throughout our meetings You'll see here we received a total of 37 responses Of that, we did have a total of 56 unique people that attended at least one meeting Ofcourse,not all of those people gave us a response We also received six responses from people that did not attend any meetings In total, we have 37 responses, 81% of them came back as being positive in supporting moving forward to a tier two program You'll also see that 81%of those people were business owners and 19%are residents Those are just coincidences that 81%, it just so happened to be the same number It's not the same exact people We did collect a ton of valuable feedback from our business community and residential community Here you'll see eight categories where most of that feedback fell into and I'll just point out appearance improvements, more events, and activities collaborative planning, that's huge, and then collaborative advocacy We also created a steering committee this past December, made up of five individuals of our business and residential community These people were selected based on their level of participation and enthusiasm throughout the process We also considered factors in order to create a well-rounded committee This committee will work with our consultant should we move forward with the grant, and then it should be noted that should we decide to move forward with tier two, it is required to have an established either 501(c)(3)or an established steering committee in order to be eligible for tier two Here is the list of our steering committee members Again,this is made up of our residents and business owners We actually have a few here in our audience today I'll pass it back on to Russ Russell Seymour: Mayor, we've timed this out We're going very quickly here We've been practicing. With that, the staff recommendation this evening, if you'll take a look at the slide, pursue tier two and tier three,the Main Street community status by utilizing the grant that we have received to prepare for the potential development of a 501(c)(3) Main Street management organization Typically, these are established at the tier three level, and these organizations have an operating budget of somewhere in the neighborhood of $150K and $225K which does include at least one, if not other full-time staff positions These are after these positions have been well established and set up for these organizations Typically, the local governing body does provide a larger percentage of the budget for these, certainly during the first three years or initiation years with the idea that as fundraising continued and as they were involved in more things,the local government would be able to slowly wean itself off of that I think the numbers that we were looking at recently,you're in about that 35%timeframe Wth that,we'd also like to continue to work with our steering committee to continue to provide guidance and communication throughout this process Staff also did come up with three other options you may be interested in, but our recommendation is the one that we do,as I mentioned, recommend for this evening With that,we'll be glad to answer any questions Mayor Burk: Thank you very much We really appreciate that Anybody on this side have questions? Mr Steinberg? 6 Vice Mayor Steinberg:Yes That was the nature of the negative comments in the 11%7 Allison Wood: A lot of it seems to be-- well, there is a preconceived notion that Main Street is for impoverished areas, which we've tried to combat that It's clearly not the case That's also partly why we've included that list of our regional advancing Main Street communities, and then a lot of the feedback has been we just don't need it That's really been the negative, but I'll tell you, the majority of the positive is that we do need it Our business owners particularly are looking for ways to collaborate together, and I see this as a solution to that problem Russell Seymour: Mr Steinberg, I'll add to that When you're talking about the negative comments that we don't need it, a lot of people focus on the fact that it's strictly for redevelopment and this is not a program, I think we all can guarantee that our Downtown is an important area for us If it's something that in addition to redevelopment, you need to make sure that you're maintaining that, and these localities are putting information or putting funds into maintaining those areas so that they don't ever need to get redeveloped Vice Mayor Steinberg: Obviously, as we go along, it's really important that people have a very clear understanding then of what this program is about and how it works Okay Thanks Mayor Burk: Dr Cimino-Johnson Council Member Cimino-Johnson: Thanks for your presentation I do have a question The timeline seems to me to be very long We're talking years out Could we in theory, bypass that whole system and set up the exact same Main Street Program without calling it Main Street on our end? Allison Wood:I'll actually say that even though there's a timeline to apply for tier two,it actually,doesn't matter for us moving forward with the program Actually, it's a very competitive process to apply for tier two and to her three The further along we are in creating this organization,the better off we are in being accepted into the program There's plenty of work that can be done in establishing an organization, getting things moving There are grants that are available to us in using the program, it's not like we're stalled and just sifting and need to wait until 2024 Council Member Cimino-Johnson: What is the cost of the program for us?Anything? Russell Seymour We had varying costs Right now,we have received a grant, as I mentioned for the $7K, which we will match moving forward I would say that that budget number that I have in this presentation is a budget number that we should look at probably once we get well into tier three but until that time, I believe that you're looking at some of the initial numbers We're looking at about$20K to $30K, to get those up in their early years but its my intention to cover certainly this year, and next year with the money that we have in our budget and by that point, we'll be able to tell, by the time we get to November of next year, we will be in a much better position. The steering committee will have had a chance to work with the businesses,they'll be organized moving forward,we will be able to come back with a much better understanding of whether or not this thing is going to work I think at this point, we have pushed it as far as we can, and again, with the money that we're talking about, I truly believe that with everything that we've talked about in research, we will cover it for the next two years. Council Member Cimino-Johnson: Could we start the 501(c)(3) immediately? Russell Seymour: The 501(c)(3) can be started at any point in time and the only thing that I would recommend, and I know we've talked before about this is that we don't want to get out in front of the business community and that's a critical factor for us One of the other comments that was had by the negative comments, I should say was the fact that this cannot be a government-run program and so the establishing of the 501(c)(3), I put it back from a business standpoint, we really need to move this at the speed of business and if that means that as we're educating,we're moving them forward with this and they are understanding, if they're ready and feel confident to do that, I would love to be in a position to come back and start talking about those budget numbers next fiscal year Council Member Cimino-Johnson: Okay 7 Allison Wood: I'll actually also add to that The consultant, what would be included in that proposal would be all of that setup, and really creating a toolkit so that a steering committee or any organization can go ahead and start the 501(c)(3) once that's been completed Since we touched on costs, I'll also add that the fundraising plan creation is also included in that Mayor Burk: Mr Wilt? Council Member Patrick Wilt: Thank you Going back to a comment a moment ago, it was something along the lines of negative criticism or a need for businesses to collaborate together What's the feedback?What prevents business owners from collaborating today on their own? Russell Seymour: Not a thing Nothing at all I think one of the things that we've talked about both even prior to this program because you've got a different group of business owners Downtown than you did 10 years ago and so you're looking at--the issue that we're finding out and a lot of this has come even out of our one-on-one business meetings with them is they're not connected with the business next door to them Now why that is, it can be for a number of reasons but there's never been, at least in the time that I've seen a Downtown community that is working to coordinate those groups together Wien they talk about one of the advantages of Main Street, there's absolutely nothing that would prevent that from happening today, it's just something that you would anticipate happening as part of this program Council Member Wilt: So, one of the objectives is to help somehow facilitate collaboration and recognition of common interests or business needs? Russell Seymour Absolutely Council Member Wilt:Okay Along that line,on slide 10,there's tier two benefits and such,and maybe its a briefing outside of this forum but I'd love to understand what specifically is meant by assistance and grants and from who, to who, on what basis and what topics and what would they accomplish? I looked over specifics about those benefits Russell Seymour I'm sorry,which benefits?You're talking about this slide here Council Member Wilt: Specifically, I'm looking at tier two as the next one Russell Seymour: The needs assessments with Virginia DHCD, access to additional larger grant awards, organizational development assistance? Council Member Wilt: Right What would those look like? Who are those from? To who? Who's the audience for that?What elements do those contain? Allison Wood: Yes, sure That would be coming from VDHCD, which also kind of doubles as Virginia Main Street, that assistance is coming from the State The audience would be you know if there is a 501(c)(3) established they would be assisting the board members, or if it's a steering committee, then it would be the steering committee, but pretty much the stakeholders, whoever that is, that audience They would do a needs assessment visit where they're coming in person to do walk arounds and see and as well as meeting with that leadership body to figure out what they need help with The organization development assistance is kind of what we've talked about that's included in our grant It's assisting with organizing the committees,there's a committee for each of the four points It could be to help with job descriptions, things like that Really just the organization of that body Council Member Wilt: Okay I'm thinking as a business owner If a State organization is advising a steering committee of five people,or whoever is the board of the 501(c)(3),then how does that actualize itself and the several 100 business owners of a diverse variety to instigate collaboration and action and tasks How does that rubber hit the road? That's the detail I'd like to understand on how this tangibly operates in the future to get a better understanding of that Russel Seymour Well, I'll just start out and Allison jump in Reverse it around and think about it going uphill One of the things that we talked about is this is grassroots, so nothing is generated. This is not something where the State group would come in and say,"Here's what you need to do"They are strictly 8 an advisory position They will be at--we've had a number of meetings, where we brought in multiple business owners from that community We had a lot of the meetings that Allison talked about We had people from the State come in and lust basically answer questions,give suggestions, listen to what the businesses have to say This would be set up and operated by the local group that's out there These different alternatives,whether its the grants that would come from the Main Street Program,any potential assistance that would come from them, any advice that would come from them, would be at the request of the businesses that are here That steering committee is only an initial committee that was set up by staff made up of residents and businesses that are already in the Main Street area to act as our sounding board moving forward I would see if this would be successful We talked about opening it up to all other businesses within that corridor These are the ones that have responded to us We would now take the next two years to work with that steering committee to extend or expand on that group Council Member Wilt: Thank you for now Mayor Burk: Okay, have all your questions been answered? Council Member Wilt:Yes Thank you, Mayor Mayor Burk: Mr Bagdasarian? Council Member Ara Bagdasarian: Yes,thank you both of you Yes, I think it's important to continue the process that has already been started building on the momentum with the steering committee I don't think that we need to wait to get into tier two and tier three Those will happen eventually Like you said, Russell,the further ahead we are with this process,then the greater the probability of moving into the program The key thing, and I've mentioned this before, which I want to reiterate, is that this is a stakeholder organization I know there's been concern about the Town operating this and the Town's involvement Well, the reality is the Town is a stakeholder in this organization, so our businesses, so our merchants, so our residents, as a resident of the Downtown, I want to support this, I'd like to be a member So does Visit Loudoun and Loudoun County, they're also stakeholders in this We all benefit from the Downtown doing even better It's great I mean, Downtown is great As Allison once said, this is about strengthening our Downtown and how can we get them help from a collaboration side of things How do we collaborate to get the greatest outcome when it comes to events, promotions,marketing this as a destination,making it easy for visitors and residents to find things that are happening with the Downtown and benefit from that? It benefits everybody and that's the key thing The other key factor is that this organization, it acts on behalf of its members because we've tried things before The Downtown merchants, I say we the business community has tried things before with Downtown associations or whatnot When you have a purely volunteer-based organization,you can only go so far I have a question, so the request tonight is not to allocate$200K to the budget, is that correct? Russell Seymour That's correct Council Member Ara Bagdasarian: Okay Russell Seymour Not in FY 24 Council Member Bagdasarian: Okay, not in FY 24 but when the time comes, because that is approximately what it would cost to have a staff person and some of the programs, I certainly hope that through membership dues from members,from Visit Loudoun and some of the other stakeholders,they can also contribute to this, banks, et cetera Russell Seymour And I think--go ahead Allison Wood: I'll lust wanted to say, lust remember that $200K is the total budget, not the Town's contribution Council Member Bagdasarian: Okay Exactly, because that would not be good 9 Russell Seymour: I wanted to add to that One of the things that we looked at in doing this as well is keep in mind that when you get to that point, these are well-established organizations These are not ones that are in the tier two process or initiating the tier three These are ones that have staff that have been operational for a while That I was surprised at in looking at some of the numbers that even with this, localities are about that 34% Whenever you're looking at these numbers, localities across the board we're presenting or paying into this roughly about 34%of that number Once they're established, they get to those numbers, then you start looking at it roughly 34% Those numbers were put in there just to give you an idea of what the total budget would be so that we are preparing for that so that were not caught off guard at any point Council Member Bagdasarian: Exactly That's something to work towards With this steering committee looking at developing other partnerships in the community with other stakeholders like I mentioned, I think it's important over the next several years You look at, well, what's the benefit of doing a Main Street Program versus just well do our own thing? I've wrestled with this for many, many years What it really comes down to this is the Leesburg Community's Organization Main Street is a program that provides resources and grant opportunities for specific projects I think there's leveraging some of the experience that other communities have It's not about we need to revitalize our Downtown because our Downtown is doing extremely well The thing is though,can it do even better?That's the question that we have here As far as timeline, as I mentioned, personally, I think that the steering committee should become a board of directors I know we have a consultant, we have $7K I'm hoping that also that one of the deliverables can be like delivering bylaws for the organization's operating agreements Hopefully, by let's say September 1st, there is a non-stop corporation that has been established, and it's not a major feat, but at least having an organization that does have a board of directors that has that's an actual entity, they that can start developing some of the programs Crawl, walk, and run from that perspective We're not going to have 100% of participation in this, but there needs to be value There needs to be value for people to participate in this I'd love to see this move along and form that non-profit It takes about a year for the non-profit to actually be established, but at least get that process started this year It might be even good to have a local attorney, that's a stakeholder that's part of the board too I just think that the recommendation makes sense We can move this thing forward in conjunction with the Main Street Program and start small Just get this thing started and see what type of response that the community has That's the key thing too The community needs to drive this, not the Town We're a stakeholder We're one stakeholder, but we have some resources, staff resources that can assist during this process, during the incubation, and during the earliest phases of this project Russell Seymour Mr Bagdasarian and I'll add to that My position in going through this from the beginning has always been talking to the business community and finding out what the business community wants to do with this Never wanting to be in a position where we're trying to push something out and say, "Hey, this is a great idea Business community, you should do this" I think as we go through this, going back to what we were talking about earlier, we will move at the speed of business on this As long as there's information out there,we will continue to support that moving forward Council Member Bagdasarian: I've had conversations with at least one person on the committee There's certainly support for it, but it needs to--like I said, if its a purely volunteer-led organization, ot'll only go so far At least getting those early phases going and demonstrating value through benefits is absolutely critical during the next year Thanks Mayor Burk: Ms Nacy? Council Member Kari Nacy: That was a lot Council Member Bagdasarian: Too much coffee Council Member Nacy: I'm just curious, obviously this Main Street Program is meant for Downtown, right?Was there any feedback from the community or anyone wondering how this could apply to other parts of Leesburg or how we could use this model to revitalize other business areas in Leesburg? 10 Allison Wood:Actually, the district is always expandable We had to create a distnct to start out, and we were told to start small We can always expand upon that Then. I'll also add that there are stakeholders that are not in the district A lot of sponsorships usually happen with businesses that are outside of that, but they obviously would benefit from a strong Downtown There's definitely an interaction with maybe some outlier areas Its not just a focus within the district Council Member Nacy:That's great I think that would be one of my major concerns was that we didn't seem like we were just focusing on one area of Leesburg It makes sense to start small, but if we could expand it so that all of our Leesburg businesses could benefit and we're just that much stronger Russell Seymour: Well, and keep in mind the nature of this program is that Downtown area As you broaden yourself out from that,you're really talking about you need to have a defined community I don't know that this is a program that we could just cover the entire Town with it I don't think there's anything that says we can't, but I think it goes against the nature of that community feeling or that spirit, if you will, of the small business community Council Member Nacy:My thought was could we create a couple of these with certain areas?Villages of Leesburg would have their own little program Downtown would have its own little part You know what I mean?Applying-- Allison Wood: The difference with the Villages of Leesburg is that it is a town center and so they already have a management company which is actually one of the huge benefits of Main Street because you have a Downtown that has different property owners, it has different businesses, and so you lack that cohesion This is almost an answer to the town centers How do we organize? Council Member Nacy: That makes sense Thank you Mayor Burk: Mr Cummings? Council Member Cummings: Thank you I want to focus on this to your cohort just so I can fully understand,why are we waiting two years to go it looks from tier two to potentially tier three Allison Wood: This is a new established program The reason being that VDHCD realized that some of the communities that were getting to that tier three weren't quite ready for it They didn't really understand what it entailed They've created this two-year cohort program so that they can really walk them through the process and make sure that once they get to tier three, they can have a successful tier three The first time that they opened it up was actually this past November, November 2022 We obviously didn't want to put the cart in front of the horse,and so we did not apply That cohort just started in January They've told us at this point that they are waiting for the full two years before they open it back up because it is the first time that they've done it and they don't know if they have the resources or bandwidth to be able to facilitate two separate cohorts at the same time That could always change, but right now, we've been told that that next application date is 2024 Russell Seymour: Okay Mr Cummings, I think that that time makes sense One of the things that we've learned from talking with, I'm going to mess it up, VDHCD has been that localities have rushed into this without a lot of the organization, a lot of the, we talk about grassroots, but there was that management component that was not there They jumped into it They had a lot of studies done, everything looked great They got out there and it failed in the first year I understand that the way that they're setting this up was to do that and I think it will build on the strength We will not stop Had we not moved forward with even doing anything, Main Street or downtown, I should say, is critical for us Our office will continue to do and manage and put those pieces together This gives us something, but we will utilize the entire time period Okay Council Member Cummings: You answered some of my next questions with what would be the ramifications of this extended time period, but it sounds like we can still move forward just not officially with VDHCD Russell Seymour Yes 11 Allison Wood:VDHCD, yes Russell Seymour: Yes We've been going back and forth on them, and we will We will continue to move forward, and they will be very big They've told us sort of offline, "We're going to move at your pace 'The grant was a perfect example.We received this grant several months ago but did not find out about it They told us, "Well, you can just go on, you've got the grant,just keep moving with it," before we had it They're very willing to work with us I know we were talking to them today prior to going to this, and so they're very excited about working with us They won't slow us down on this Council Member Cummings: The conversations you've had with either our volunteer who's helping, who's done this before or other communities that have put this in place, do they see a lot of your initial startup with your steering committee where a handful of businesses come together or community members?Then as success is created and more folks join in the effort here? Russell Seymour You want to give your number?She's been giving me this advice about when people start the initial group Allison Wood: Oh, yes I can tell you that Russell Seymour There's a lead report right there Allison Wood: Okay. I don't know the correct name for it, but there is a bell curve when talking about adopting new technology The first group of people at the bottom of the bell curve, those are your pioneers Those are the people that are the most interested,that are the most engaged with the subject Then you have your early adopters Those are the people that are just behind the pioneers that are interested and are excited Then at the top of your bell curve, you have the majority of people and then of course you have your late adopters and then the people that don't care to adopt technology at all I see this as we have that core pioneer group right now, of course, you look at 37 responses, but I see that as those of those people that are the most engaged, that want to know what is Main Street, that want to come to the meetings and talk about it, they want to hear their voices heard That's what I see as this initial group Council Member Cummings:Okay, perfect Then sorry for such an elementary question After all this, I feel bad at following Ara What do you need from us?What are the next steps? How can we keep this moving because I think it's going to be like the snowball We need the success, and we need to show organization to move forward What do we need to do as Council to move this forward because Russ, not to quote you, but back at you, but you just said you've pushed this as far as you can go What can we do to help you get back to pushing? Russell Seymour:Tomorrow's Council Meeting approve the recommendation that staff has put forward today Council Member Cummings: Okay Russell Seymour:That will get the ball rolling on our piece That will allow us to immediately we have a proposal in for the consultant We'll get that started, get that process going There's a pretty quick time turnaround on that We have to expend the funds out of that program or that grant by the end of this fiscal year, May 31st.That'll be a fairly quick turnaround on that Once we have that document,that will give us our marching orders to start then working because at that point it will literally be about 12 months before we need to be in a position to apply for tier two Council Member Cummings: Okay Tier two we don't need to have—the organization does not need to have its own staff member Russell Seymour: No Council Member Cummings: Okay Someone from Economic Development will continue to be the staff liaison to the steering committee and to others 12 Russell Seymour: I'm sure we'll find someone within our department that would be able to do that Allison has been doing that If we're able to keep Ms Slocum one as well to do that from a volunteer standpoint,they'll be the driving force behind it Council Member Cummings: My only reason I ask is because I agree with Council Member Bagdasanan's calling We have to be a stakeholder in this, but we can't be pushing the car down the road We have to make sure others are helping push with us I just want to make sure that we're not being cautious and not saying let's put some money forward to get this moving quicker just because of budgetary Issues You feel that we're moving forward at the right pace to do it correctly? Russell Seymour I do We are putting money into it Like I said, we put in between the $2K in cash and $5K in in-kind services We'll be doing that again if we're successful with our budget request was for$5K, I think to go after now a $10K grant for next year That will be something that will be -- and I think the business community has seen a lot of the Town's contribution has been in addition to that, has just been the time, the staff time that goes into that That does rack up pretty quickly when everybody is looking at that value Council Member Cummings: Okay Thank you Mayor Burk: Mr Steinberg? Vice Mayor Steinberg: Well, someone who has also been a business member in this Downtown area for quite some time and has seen any number of business organizations come and go, I would offer that this is actually a pretty good approach One of the difficulties in maintaining momentum in any business group when we have such a disparate organization in the Downtown area is that businesses come and go oftentimes in the span of one or two or three years There aren't that many actually that stick around for 10-15 or 20 years So, this type of a program, I think, offers great potential for organizing all these different businesses in the Downtown area and wnatever other stakeholders wish to get involved Perhaps somewhat in the same manner as we see in the shopping centers where they do have a centralized management, and promotional, and so on We're going to find out right away if the business is registered because if they're not, then that will be that and we don't need to go any further I think with this organization and outreach to the various businesses, they hopefully will see the value of it, and get excited about it They will push it forward which case we can say job well done It should be good for the business, not only Downtown area but Town-wise I think it's a good direction to go and we'll see if it works Thanks Mayor Burk: It's hard for me to not show my excitement here because we have been talking about this for 20 years. We've had various business groups, set up organizations, and seen their enthusiasm immediately die out because they couldn't run a business and a volunteer organization They're there to take care of their business Having it just be volunteers was lust not even feasible Then you had the whole issue of the volunteers didn't get along with each other because they're very different businesses Then you had businesses break off and start other organizations that didn't last either Then other organizations would come back up, and then they would die off They never lasted very long and they never were able to get things--They had great ideas,they just couldn't get it going They couldn't make it work When Ms Nacy made the reference to the Village of Leesburg,that's exactly right that this is a management type of activity There are so many businesses that have spoken to me and to others about how they would love to have some organization like this, that they'd like to see different things done They have ideas They'd like to be able to work with them, but they can't take on the lead role of it To have this opportunity to participate in this program is I think long overdue and I'm very excited at the prospect of finally getting it moving forward to get to this point I think everybody's comments are right on that there's no guarantee of this We need to make sure that the businesses are all on board As Mr Bagdasarian said, not all businesses are going to get on board There'll be that core group that will start everything and from there,you'll see things grow The one thing that came out of the one business association, Downtown Business Association was music on First Friday and that has been led by one person 13 She has organized all of the music and all of the venues all over the Downtown for First Friday Everything else fell away from it because the businesses again have to run their business and that's what's taking their interest and their time I think this is a great opportunity I think having the two years, I think its a wonderful opportunity for us to get organized, as you say,and to make this something that's really ready to go I know having talking to the mayors in other towns that have these programs, they are very pleased with them and feel that they have made a huge contribution to their businesses downtown Most of them are downtown as I've observed them It's most certainly something that I think it's long overdue I think it's a great investment Its a great investment in our businesses and I think it'll help them to be able to work together and to get some things done that they might not have been able to do previously Thank you for bringing this up Mr Bagdasanan2 Council Member Bagdasarian: Yes,thank you It's the technology adoption lifecycle, by the way Mayor Burk: Oh, get out Council Member Bagdasarian: You have early adopters There's fewer people that join early on, but as you start showing some successes,then you have the later majority that come on board Allison Wood: I should have added it to our presentation Mayor Burt I won't make a comment Anyway, yes Dr Cimino-Johnson Council Member Cimino-Johnson:Thank you I think I have more comments and from my experience seeing a Main Street Program brought to a Downtown it really changes Downtown because the point of this isn't for the business is just to meet and talk and discuss It's to have events like you said First Friday, Madam Mayor, bring those events, bring more people Downtown which is what we want to do right. In turn,from my experience watching this in another town,another city,the city very quickly it gets out of the business of providing a budget line item for this organization on its own, and it thrives and it works if we hire Not if we, if the 501(c)(3) hires the right executive director I see those costs if we provide, what was 175 to 225 as a very short-term investment into our Downtown I am bullish about this That's why I keep asking, can we set up the 501(c)(3) tomorrow? Because I see this as nothing but plus, plus, plus Thank you Russell Seymour Thank you, sir Allison Wood:Thank you Mayor Burk: Okay It is on the agenda for tomorrow We will be taking a vote on it tomorrow Russell Seymour Thank you Allison Wood:Thank you Mayor Burk: Just for the new people's information Number five, there are three information memorandums Please take the time to read them They are information that has been asked for in the past That takes us to the adjournment Does anybody have any future Council meeting agenda items? Mr Bagdasanan' Council Member Bagdasarian: I have two that I'd like to see if there's interest in The first is I would like to add an agenda item to discuss the addition of public parking wayfinding signs in H-1 District Included with a discussion is a staff report that provides locations of current parking signage, and an estimated cost for additional signage This will help facilitate the need for parking and address the perception of a lack of parking opportunities in the Historic District Mayor Burt All right.Are there four people that-- basically what you're asking for is a study of parking signs to identify where there is parking for visitors to the Town? 14 Council Member Bagdasarian:Yes, where there's current public parking signage, and the addition of additional public parking signage to direct people to the parking garage or/and lots in the Liberty Street, not just the parking garage, public parking that is available Mayor Burk: I will support this with some hesitation because it wasn't that long ago that we did a study to get rid of signs and found that we have so many excess signs in the Downtown area but I will be willing to be one of the people that would be willing to support the study at this point Are there four people that would be willing to support this?Okay, its everybody. Kaj Dentler: Madam Mayor, may I ask just a clarification? Are we talking study or just basically an inventory report of what we already have? I think it's the latter Council Member Bagdasarian: It is the latter Yes The inventory of what we currently have and propose addition,where additional signs can be located Mayor Burk: Yes Council Member Bagdasarian:Yes, that is correct Mayor Burk: Your second item? Council Member Bagdasarian: Oh, second item Yes, of course How can I forget? I did I request an agenda item, an upcoming work session to discuss the zoning ordinance section 11.4 Alternative Parking Provisions to expand opportunities for residential and non-residential projects,in the B-1 District to use offsite municipal parking facilities within 500 feet to satisfy on-site parking standards. I further move to direct staff to prepare an impact analysis and map of the effective parcels from the subject zoning ordinance revisions under consideration Basically, looking for a discussion based on the data, the impact of reducing the minimum parking requirements for 500 feet within the parking garage as it currently exists for commercial Mayor Burk: I will go on record as saying that I am reluctant to support anything that would allow there to be any development,residential development without parking as part of that development However, if a study is what's needed to show that then we'll go with it Are there five people that would be willing to have a--did you want a discussion at a work session or are you asking for a study at this point? Council Member Bagdasaran:A study and then a discussion based on that study based on the data This one is an actual study and analysis and impact analysis Mayor Burk:Yes, Mr Wilt?Oh, you're saying yes or no Council Member Wilt: [unintelligible] Mayor Burk: Okay All right All in favor of this? Vice Mayor Steinberg: I have a question Just a point of clarification As it stands now, there are allowances for even residential development to satisfy parking requirements if they are within a certain distance of the parking that is now available I'm not clear as to what we're going to study as far as the rest of the residential area where there's already surface parking I'm just looking for a little more clarification on that I know we had a discussion earlier, but this occurred to me later Council Member Bagdasarian:Yes,this is specifically 500 feet from the parking garage I'm not aware of any other parking provisions Mayor Burk: This is offsite? Vice Mayor Steinberg: Well, for example. Paul Reimers little development there on Loudoun Street qualified for zero parking because it is residential,and it was within the walking distance,so the required distance from the Liberty Lot and probably the Town garage I'm not sure what other areas might fall into that, but I guess that might help solidify the study 15 Council Member Bagdasarian:Yes, and that's what I'm requesting is to look at the map and if are we even able to do that based on the current parking situation within 500 feet Is it even feasible to add additional in lieu of other parking alternatives within 500 feet? Mayor Burk: All right Are there four people that would be willing to have this discussion on the study and the discussion of the study on parking alternatives to when residences are within 500 feet of a parking garage?Okay,that's everybody Okay Anyone else have anything they want to add?Yes, Ms Nacy Council Member Nacy: I know, you're working on a response based off the email that one of our constituents sent but I would,after his email, it did seem to me like there was some conflict in our code about the motorhome parking I would like to hear about that and look at it if we need to on revising it Christopher Spera: Ms Nacy,our plan is to-- In the interim, before we bring it to you what we're going to do and I've consulted with the Town Manager and with the Police Department,there's a provision in our current ordinance with respect to the motorhomes started with respect to commercial loading and unloading, there's a 48-hour period where an active unloading can take place As an interim measure, we're going to apply that to motorhomes when they're loading and unloading has to be in proximity to their home and then we're going to bring staff together with a recommendation in the coming months, but we have an interim plan in place to allow under current code and interpretation to allow something to happen, that there can be active loading and unloading and then we're going to bnng a recommendation to you for something more specifically tailored to motorhomes Council Member Nacy: Okay, thank you Mayor Burk: This originally came about because of commercial vehicles were parking in neighborhoods and taking up multiple spots for long periods of time Christopher Spera: Right and as I understand it,the Town Code was changed to require that there be some active loading and unloading for that commercial vehicle to be allowed to park in that situation We're going to just apply that as a short-term measure to a motorhome that's loading or unloading because I think that's one of the primary complaints of the citizen is that if there's a restriction, how do they if they're going to pack up their family and all the food and supplies that they need, how do they do that if they can't park their vehicle? Mayor Burk: Does that mean you don't need anything? Christopher Spera:That's the plan There's a short-term solution, and then we're going to come back to you with a recommendation Vice Mayor Steinberg: So moved Mayor Burk: Seconded? Council Member Cummings: Second Mayor Burk: By Mr Cummings All in favor> Council Members:Aye Mayor Burk: Opposed? Now, I do want to warn people, do not expect that the meetings will end this early most of the time because that won't happen You've got a lucky first start Vice Mayor Steinberg:The vote is tomorrow at six o'clock 16