Board members reviewed edited language for a proposed Downtown Improvement District ordinance and voted to move the updated draft forward to the City Commission for advertisement and first reading.

Staff presented multiple word changes recommended by the chair and the drafting team intended to clarify the DID’s role and to avoid creating mandatory obligations. Revisions the board approved include replacing the verb “ensure” with “support” in several duty statements, removing a named business reference in favor of “retail establishments,” and changing the position title “district manager” to simply “manager” to limit unintended duties implied by the longer title. Staff also proposed adding two “whereas” clauses to emphasize that the ordinance’s lists are goals rather than mandatory obligations on the district.

Directors discussed whether to seek a third-party reviewer and whether to hold a workshop to discuss the ordinance further. Multiple directors said the board had completed sufficient review and voted against engaging another external attorney. The board then voted to accept the recommended edits and to advertise the ordinance for presentation to the City Commission.

Next steps: staff will advertise the revised ordinance and present it to the City Commission for consideration; the DID also discussed adding a workshop-style check-in meeting among directors in the future, to be scheduled in compliance with public-meeting rules.