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HomeMy WebLinkAbout092718 approved minutesON Mee UOMMI 2nd Floor Conference Room City Hall Members: Staff: Others: Councilmember Gutierrez Cliff Moore, City Manager Luz Gutierrez Councilmember Cousens Randy Beehler, Communications & Public John Cooper Affairs Director Andrew Holt Rob Peterson, Airport Director Verlynn Best Cally Price, Assistant to the City Manager Jonathan Smith Deysi Gonzalez Executin Minutes Gutierrez offered to chair the meeting and called the meeting to order. 1. Review draft minutes from September 4, 2018 meeting: The September 4, 2018 meeting minutes were reviewed. Cousens motioned to accept the minutes as presented and Gutierrez seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as presented. 2. Discussions: a. Main Street business development Moore stated that Council had some questions on the Main Street business development and requested that a study session be scheduled to review the Main Street business development concept, economic development plan and strategic plan. The goal is to ensure that Council's priorities are consistent throughout all the plans. Price will find a date for the study session and schedule accordingly. Committee members will meet after the Council's study session. Holt asked for clarification on the Main Street business development concept. Committee members clarified that the Main Street business development is a project for main arterials (road improvements); not a Main Street business development program. Committee members agreed to change the title so it is consistent with Council's strategic priority. b. Downtown Central Plaza Moore reported that the link to the plaza website has been disabled. Beehler added that the plaza committee pays the domain fee; the only fee associated with the plaza website, The City was hosting the site similar to whet it does for Craft Beverage and Downtown Association Yakima. This item can be removed from future agendas. c. Committee reports No updates. d. Partner reports Smith reported that he is still researching opportunity zones and opportunity funds for Yakima. There are some tax issues that need to be worked out, however, an opportunity fund might be a good thing for Yakima and investors. Investors can identify specific projects, invest funds, and differ any capital gains until 2026. As soon as additional information is available Smith will share it with the Committee. e. Staff reports Peterson presented a draft sponsorship letter that could be sent to partnering jurisdictions requesting funds for the FLY YKM campaign. The campaign was originally funded with grant dollars and proved successful in that we increased load factors enough to secure a fourth flight. A few minor corrections will be made to the letter and committee members agreed to have it presented to the full Council at the October 16th meeting. There was discussion about expanding flight service out of Yakima. Peterson will explore other destinations and report back to the Committee. Gutierrez moved that the Committee bring the Economic Development Plan back and have it listed on the agenda. Cousens added that sub committees should provide updates on their topic(s). 3. Other business Cousens mentioned that vacant building item that she previously provided to the Committee and asked that it be added to the November agenda. October meeting cancelled Due to scheduling the October meeting will be cancelled.. The next meeting will be November 15th a. Main Street business development b. Committee member reports c. Partner reports d. Staff reports e. Vacant buildings f. Economic Development Strategic Plan a. Sub Committee updates 5. Audience Participation •a•- distributed information from Oxford Economics that shows how investments in the visitor economy drive broader economic growth, specifically through building transportation • attracting • events, raising • • life, and raising destination profile. Smith reported that City staff will be attending a vacant building workshop and will be able to report back at a future meeting. Guti&rrez suggested that Smith attend the budget discussion when Choose Yakima s 2dditional funding request is up for discussion just in case there are any questions. The next • is scheduled • November 15 at 1:30 in the 2nd Floor Conference Room.