Downtown Lakeland Partnership, Inc. - Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

MidFlorida Federal Credit Union, 7^th Floor Conference Room

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Present: Kevin Jones, Julie Townsend, Ellen Simms, Dan Stetson, Bill Hatten, Jean Bunch, Kay Morgan, Sandy Serletic, Lori Powell, Jim Nixon, John Hutto, Frank McCaully.

Kevin Jones called the meeting to order at 8:10AM.

Minutes: Minutes from the February Board meeting were reviewed and accepted as presented.

Treasurer’s Report: Ellen Simms gave the treasurers report in Gloria’s absence. She reported that we have a balance of $42,484.79. Cost cutting measures are still in effect and dues are slow in coming in. Treasurer’s report was reviewed and approved.

President’s Report: Kevin passed out the new version of the BDC brochure that we reviewed last month. Changes have been made including pictures and content. Ellen continues to tweak the piece and we will review the final piece next month.

Committee Reports:

Events: Julie reported that the First Friday for May will be the Public Works themed event on May 1.

Downtown at Dusk: The event at Linkster’s was quite successful and had a great turnout. The next one will be in July with the date and site to be determined.

Mayfaire: Dan Stetson said the event is coming long wonderfully and briefly reviewed the Lake Mirror Party on Saturday night that will be capped off with fireworks. The DLP has their booth fully staffed at this point.

Programs: Bill Hatten has Brad Parrish of Florida Southern College booked for May to discuss enrollment at the general membership meeting; and June 3 will be Doug Thomas, City Manager of Lakeland.

Advertising/PR: Julie said that the newsletter is out and on the streets. The new and improved website will be ready by May 4 and hands on training will take place with members so they can update their portion of the site as things change. Julie spoke with the Ledger regarding the back page of the Polk Voice as a place for the DLP to advertise through co-op with members. 40,000 pieces are distributed weekly. The big drawback, which was brought up by Anne Furr, was collecting the money for the ads from members. It could turn into a nightmare. Ellen was in agreement. Idea was tabled for now.

Membership: Ellen Simms reported 146 members to date. Ellen said that we have businesses from outside the downtown are joining.

CSX: The bill is still on the floor and could be voted out. She will keep us posted. A decision should come soon.

Executive Director’s Report: Julie covered everything in her previous reports.

LDDA: Anne Furr reported that the 2010 grant application with VisitFlorida has been submitted. The Day & Night brochure will include the Polk Museum of Art, Explorations V, Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Child of the Sun” at FSC (these activities are currently listed in the brochure thru the end of May) and the Polk Theater (new). Grants will be awarded in June. Current gift cards discounts are valid through April 30, 2009 because the LDDA has to report the tracking of them to VisitFlorida no later than 5/15/09. The listing for Downtown Destinations continues to be current and is a good source of information.

Also, a draft of the Downtown Signage for sidewalk signs was handed out and reviewed. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Anne at 687-8910 or go to www.ldda.org

Executive Director Report: Julie said she had nothing else to report.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Powell

Secretary