Selma City BID approves event sponsorships, farmers market planning and new officers

The Selma City Business Improvement District Advisory Committee met to review its year-to-date finances, approve several event sponsorships and contracts and set direction for downtown activation projects. Members approved a $1,500 sponsorship for Selma Live, a $2,000 full-page arts-center sponsorship, authorized a $1,500 Moreno’s sound-and-lighting contract for the May 8 Food Truck Friday and voted to move forward with planning for a low-impact farmers market and to manage beer-garden sales through the BID's enhancement corporation.

Why this matters: The committee’s votes fund and promote downtown events intended to bring foot traffic to High Street businesses and to use existing sponsorships and a $100,000 façade-improvement line to encourage building upgrades and marketing. Staff said the BID is transitioning to a new financial system (OpenGov), is following up on unpaid BID-assessment fees and is revising the façade-grant guidelines for legal review.

Members began the meeting with roll call and a brief welcome to new appointee Isabelle Vargas, who introduced her downtown vintage and thrift boutique and said it has been open about six months. The committee then reviewed financial reports: staff and the finance manager outlined revenue sources, noted the assessment is calculated on a graduated revenue scale rather than a flat business-license charge, and reported ongoing efforts to collect unpaid assessments identified during an internal audit and an ERP transition.

On sponsorships, the committee debated promotional reach and logistics before voting. After Selma Live organizers described their event model and private sponsorship revenue — "all our events have been paid through sponsorships; we haven’t used any city monies to pay for our events," a public speaker said — the BID voted by voice to sponsor Selma Live for $1,500 (motion carried). The committee also approved a year-long $2,000 full-page sponsorship with the Selma Arts Center that will allow rotating half-page slots for downtown businesses.

For Food Truck Fridays, staff confirmed four dates (May 8, May 22, June 5 and June 19) and presented a quote from Moreno’s for sound and lighting for the May 8 show. The committee approved the $1,500 quote and directed staff to proceed with permits and vendor arrangements. The committee also discussed scheduling conflicts (city theater opening nights and movie nights) and options to reposition entertainment to minimize overlap.

On new programming, staff proposed a low-impact farmers market in the parking lot behind Foster Freeze focused on artisans and handcrafted goods rather than large food producers; Maiden Voyage was identified as a potential partner to lead vendor recruitment. The committee voted to move forward with planning and authorized the BID (through the enhancement corporation) to manage alcoholic-beverage sales at events under the one-day beer license process used in prior years.

Members discussed a standardized downtown holiday-decor program funded by sponsorships (example mockups for Easter were provided) and voted to form an ad hoc committee to develop decoration plans and associated sponsorship requests, using funds currently allocated in the "downtown improvement" line.

The committee elected officers for the year: members approved the nomination for chair (the roll call and the nomination used slightly different last-name spellings in the transcript: the roll call listed "Richard Bridal" and the nomination recorded "Richard Braden") and approved Ramsey/Ramza Corey as vice chair (the roll call lists "Ramsey Corey" while the nomination appearance used "Ramza Corey"). The chair then invited members to volunteer for event staffing and infrastructure suggestions for future agendas.

Staff updates: Communications staff described progress updating the façade-grant program and said revisions — including removing a required local match to make the grant more accessible — were sent to the city manager and will go to the city attorney for legal review before returning to the BID. Staff noted roughly $100,000 remains in the façade grant line and encouraged eligible downtown businesses to apply once guidelines are finalized.

What’s next: Staff will continue collections work related to BID assessments, complete the ERP implementation tasks, advance event permits and vendor contracts, reconvene the façade-grant revisions with the city attorney and return recommendations to the BID at a future meeting. The committee adjourned at 7:04 p.m.

Votes at a glance: approve minutes (voice vote, motion carried); Selma Live sponsorship $1,500 (voice vote, motion carried); Selma Arts Center ad $2,000 (voice vote, motion carried); Moreno’s sound & lighting $1,500 (voice vote, motion carried); farmers market planning and BID-managed alcohol sales (voice vote, motion carried); holiday-decor ad hoc and budget direction (voice vote, motion carried); chair and vice chair nominations (voice votes, motions carried).