Board Meeting – Wednesday, January 20, 2020

Meeting Agenda

1. Call To Order, Attendance, Agenda Review & Additions | Informational

2. Approve Minutes - December 16 Special Board Meeting | Action Required

   • December 16, 2020 Minutes

3. Financial Report | Action Required

   • End of Year Financials

4. Bylaws Review, Discussion, Possible Approval | Action Required

   Bylaws have been reviewed by local attorney, Jake Maxson. His comments are available in the GoogleDoc linked below. Areas where he provided comment include:

   • Board Size & Adjustment: Recommendation — We should probably fix the Board at a certain number as an adjustment will require a bylaws amendment regardless.
   • Waiver of Notice — This is deep legalize for sure, but Mr. Maxson’s recommendation is to drop Article XIII and focus on the Waiver of Notice language in Article V, Section 5 Notice.
   • Virtual Action – We proposed giving the Board authority to act outside of meetings, Mr. Maxson had no problem with granting this authority.

    

   https://docs.google.com/document/d/19VL2tjcFhNpzt_rsdzQ3ASw6wi_nPmQjl4Lvb037zaM/edit?usp=sharing

5. Facade Improvement Program | Informational

   An update will be provided on the progress of the City-initiated facade improvement program. Action on whether the DBPA should write a letter of support may be considered.

6. ND Hospitality Association & Outside Memberships | Informational

7. Conditional opportunities dependent on staffing: | Action Required

   • BinaxNOW Rapid Testing for member businesses
     • Background: The State of ND has offered an opportunity to businesses with 40+ employees to implement COVID-19 rapid testing (15 minute results) systems for employees. Tests, training, and technical assistance are offered at no cost to the businesses. Conditional approval was given to the Minot DBPA to offer this on behalf of its small business members pending the application.
       • BinaxNOW_Information
     • Recommendation: {TABLE ITEM} If adequate staffing is secured for beyond January 31st, survey member businesses to gauge interest in the program. Make application by mid-February if business interest and DBPA staffing are sufficient; program demand will diminish as control of the pandemic improves.
   • Downtown Minot gift card program
     • Background: After seeing other downtowns promote gift card programs during the holiday season, information was requested from national provider, Miconex, that offers a closed-loop Visa system  compatible with merchants’ POS systems. The implementation timeframe is 6-8 weeks and the initial cost is $9,750 which comes with 2,500 branded cards; ongoing cost is $400/month + $1 for each participating business. The representative suggested a minimum of 30 participating businesses and shared that program success is best with promotion of the program and participating businesses, as well as promoting the purchase opportunity to larger businesses looking for local employee/customer incentives. Most associations cover costs by increasing the activation fee beyond the $1/card charged (i.e. Fargo charges $4/card).
       • Miconex_Information_reducedsize
       • Information has also been requested from Town & Country Credit Union to see if a local institution can offer something similar.
     • Recommendation: {TABLE ITEM} Survey member businesses to gauge interest in program participation. When more full-time staffing is secured, determine a promotion strategy that covers the program cost over a 1-2 year implementation.
   • Seasonal beautification plan
     • Holiday Lighting
       • TrimLight offers permanent, color-change lighting to both improve downtown holiday lighting and to customize neighborhood lighting throughout the year (i.e. green/red for MSU Homecoming week). The Minot representative is Wyatt Goodman.
         • TrimLight_Information
         • Recommendation: Assign 1-2 board members to meet with Goodman in the downtown neighborhood to discuss potential installation locations and optimal system coordination. Then, request a cost proposal based on phased installation. Estimated cost is upwards of $100k, so grant funding should be explored.
     • Summer Hanging Pots / Planted Beds
       • Coordination with Minot Parks & Lowe’s Floral – when does this discussion begin?
     • Lightpost Banners / One Brand Coordination
     • Grant opportunities to explore
   • Downtown Matters – An Advocacy & Educational Podcast/Show/Discussion about the elements that contribute to and diminish a thriving downtown environment.

8. Staffing Discussion | Action Required