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Board reviews strategic plan priorities: parking projects, ambassadors hired and upcoming construction
Summary
The Downtown Management Board reviewed strategic plan implementation, including parking initiatives: three part-time ambassadors were hired, the Park Avenue project is set to start March 31 and the Seville lot April 7, and the board continued discussion on parking technology, validation and long-term parking-deck financing.
The Downtown Management Board used its March 18 meeting to review progress on strategic-plan action items with a significant focus on parking management and related projects.
April, a downtown staff member, reported the board has hired three part-time ambassadors whose primary role is customer service and acting as downtown greeters. April said the new staff will visit businesses so ambassadors understand offerings and can greet guests.
City staff reported construction timelines: the Pennsylvania (south block of Park Avenue) project is scheduled to begin March 31 and work on the Seville lot is scheduled to start April 7. Ms. Wheaton said the Seville-lot work being done by the city excludes major excavating but includes site-level changes; she referenced prior estimates that the Seville-lot improvements exceed $300,000. Separately, Emmet County’s renovation of the county portion of the lot was described as likely to cost about $1,000,000.
The board discussed parking-technology options: some in the parking committee have proposed pay stations across downtown; members of the design committee opposed universal pay stations. Board members stressed communicating the validation program and its intent — that customers should be able to park and not pay if they are shopping and a retailer validates the stay. Ms. Wheaton emphasized education about why parking is managed and how parking revenue is used.
On long-term structured parking, staff told the board that the current TIF district will not capture sufficient revenue in the remaining 12 years to fund a parking deck. Ms. Wheaton said the board could partner with a private entity and explore tax-increment financing or brownfield TIF mechanisms, but cautioned that a brownfield TIF would be subordinate in revenue priority to the DDA’s TIF. The board discussed keeping the parking-deck location planning in the strategic plan while clarifying that parking revenues alone are unlikely to fund construction.
Other strategic-plan items reported included marketing- and events-related updates: the “Staycation” promotion runs March 24–April 6; Sounds of Summer has bands lined up with five weeks of programming; the Toast to Downtown event is being discussed for April. The marketing and promotions job posting remains open through the 28th; staff reported receiving several applications weekly.
