June 2024 Minutes
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
PANAMA CITY DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT BOARD
Wednesday, June 5th, 2024 @ 8:30 AM
Panama City Center for the Arts
19 East 4th Street
1. Call to Order - 8:31 AM. Present: Chairman Catherine Shores, Jake Sostheim, Lesli Todd, Catherine McCloy, Allan Branch Absent: Kevin Mitchell, Jennifer Burg
2. Additions or Deletions – 9 e. Fire Safety
3. Chairman’s Report – Catherine Shores welcomed Lesli Todd as a new board member.
4. Approval of Minutes from May 1st, 2024 – Allan made a motion, Catherine McCloy 2nd. All approved.
5. Public Participation – The question was asked about the clock in the plaza on Harrison Ave. and if the chimes were working. It was explained that it was hit by lightning and replacement parts will need to be ordered. An inquiry was made on the public restroom progress. After the bid opening, CRA is giving the award to ICE. The contract is set at $225,000. They are waiting on ICE to sign the award document. DIB will only be responsible for the $100,000 agreed upon for construction. Jennifer Vigil with Destination PC has a Partner Engagement meeting today. She is asking for a letter of support from DIB for the Living Shoreline Project. Allan made a motion, Jake second. Allan, Lesli, Catherine Shores, and Jake approved. Catherine McCloy abstained. July 4th event is coming up. Vendor spots are sold out. This year Octoberfest will be a 1-day event. DPC would like to put out sponsorship opportunities for businesses to decorate their buildings for the event. Vendor applications for the event will go out today. Medhat Elmesky, the architect for the gateways to Downtown as well as Gateway/McKenzie Park would like to be considered to do a short presentation for the board to give suggestions of what can be done to improve the gateways into Downtown. Denise Cox with the Panama City Symphony shared there will be an emerging artist competition, Saturday at 11 – 5pm at Gulf Coast State College at the Amelia Tapper Center.
6. Financial Update
7. Arts Update – Jayson Kretzer shared that a temporary stage was used in the new area in front of the center for the arts and it worked well. Will Thompson had a sold-out concert in the Main Gallery. He would like to partner with Discover Downtown. Southern Watercolor opens in the Main Gallery this week. It will be up for 2 months. There are 5 more weeks of summer camp. The center will soon be offering high level art classes. Christmas light display on the front lawn is on track. Fright Nights will be back at the Center for the Arts. McKenzie house will be used for Songwriters and as part of the Haunted Walking Tour.
8. Old Business
9. New Business
a. MOU from DPC – A proposal was offered to the DIB from Destination Panama City for a marketing campaign for Digital Social, BeachTV, and ECP airport. Jennifer Vigil encouraged the board to find someone to help with organic posting as well as website. Catherine McCloy made a motion, Jake 2nd. All were in favor. Jennifer Vigil also shared that she has $5000 line itemed in her budget to cover the cost of Social District stickers for Downtown.
b. Social Media proposal from Jenny Kelly – A proposal to the DIB to create reels of the Downtown area and post to the 3 social media channels. Jennifer Vigil offered to pay Jenny Kelly to create reels for the DIB for the remainder of the fiscal year. The content would be co-owned by the DIB and DPC. Allan would like a class offered to help educate downtown business owners to market their businesses. Jayson offered the digital studio in The Center for the Arts for classes and would partner with the DIB.
c. Beach Drive parking lot – Catherine shared that the parking ordinance the city was planning did not pass. The DIB owned Beach Dr. parking lot is mostly filled with St. Andrews Towers residents. The board may consider selling permits to the residents in the future.
d. FY 25 Budget – Catherine McCloy made a motion to approve the agreed upon budget categories and amounts, Lesli 2nd. All approved.
e. Fire Safety – Allan would like the DIB to provide a letter of support to the city encouraging them to have a more comprehensive District Overlay, like other cities in FL, that allows them to be more collaborative by being able to use safety equivalents on building/safety codes with businesses in all historical areas of the city. Lesli made a motion. Allan seconded. All approved.
10. Administrative Update
a. EV Charging Stations - Maria shared that the DIB is in a holding pattern with FPL to run the electricity for the chargers before they can move forward.
11. Reminders/Calls to action
a. Next meeting will be Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024
b. Next Workshop meeting TBD
12. Adjournment at 10:02 AM