HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-09-17 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes � BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2002
Meeting Minutes
Councilors Attending: Frank Farrington, Joe Baldacci, David Nealley, Gerry Palmer,
Dan Tremble, John Rohman
Staff Attending: Ed Barrett, Jonathan Daniels, Rodney McKay, Rebecca Hupp,
Mike Dyer, Sally Brewer
Others Attending: Ken Buckley, Doug Clendenning, Jon Dawson
Meeting convened at 5:03 p.m.
1. Consent Agenda
a) License Agreement— 4t" Annual Octoberfest— Bangor Center Corporation.
Licensee requests right to occupy premises on October 19, 2002, for the purpose
� of production and presentation of an Octoberfest event.
b) Trail Use Permit— Paul Bunyan Snowmobile Club —The Snowmobile Club
requests use of City property to establish and maintain trails on City owned
property, a portion of which is on the golf course.
The committee approved the consent agenda.
2. Bass Park Report
a) Bangor State Fair
Mike Dyer provided an update on the fair. Total attendance was down 5%, or
3500 people. Sponsorship monies were down from last year. Some traditional
sponsors were moved to the Folk Festival, however, they have no complaints.
The fair had approximately $40,000 operating profit for the 10 days of the fair.
The expenses were down a little, in payroll and fringes. The Brad Paisley concert
was successful and offered a cushion.
Tremble asked about the changes in the rental column. Dyer responded that it
depends on whether the Civic Center is used in any one year. This amount
� represents the payment that the fair makes to the Auditorium and Civic Center
• for use of the building. Tremble asked about the ride commission fluctuation,
and that even with a $1 increase in ticket prices, that he expected to see a larger
operating profit. Dyer said that expenses are pretry consistent year to year,
however $10,000 was added to the entertainment budget, however we do not
get any return at the gate for this. The paid shows (concert revenues) were up
this year, and this offsets some of the lower gate admission.
The councilors discussed that in order to generate more revenue, the fair may
need to look at taking some risks and changing things a bit to attract a different
audience.
Brewer pointed out that the fair offers a lot of entertainment on the fair grounds,
for which the fair does not receive additional revenue, and which are brought in
under a limited budget.
3. Bangor International Airport Report
a) August statistics.
b) Air service update.
• Hupp noted that passengers are up 11% year to date, monthly passengers are
down 1.1% vs. August 2001. She attributes this to a decrease in capacity of
7%. For passenger loads, American and US Airways were down. Compared to
nationwide, Bangor has been up 11% ytd, however we will be impacted at some
point by the industry. An indication of what is to come, is the fact that our
capacity was reduced by 7% in August. U.S. Airways has filed bankruptcy, Pan
Am has announced layoffs and changed their schedule significantly in Bangor.
�While Bangor has been successful, and we have attracted a new carrier this year,
and a new Canadian service, we are cautiously optimistic about the future of the
airline industry.
Baldacci asked if Continental was happy with their numbers. Hupp said so far
they are satisfied, but it is too early to tell for the long term. Continental will be
making a commitment to the area with the operation of their own ticket counter.
Pan Am has assured Hupp that Bangor is one of their best markets, and that the
changes are as a result of the industry nationwide, and no reflection of Bangor.
Daniels noted the jump from 500 passengers in July to 900 passengers in August
for Continental, and wondered if there was something to be looking for here.
Hupp said that the jump was most likely due to the other airlines being
• overbooked.
� Palmer asked for comparisons to our competition, such as Portland Jetport.
4. Discussion of selling advertising space in Pickering Square Parking
Garage.
Barrett presented a copy of the City's current advertising policy and a memo
concerning the recently submitted report of this year's parking advisory
committee suggesting that the City consider selling advertising space in the
Pickering Square Garage. Part of the parking advisory committee's
recommendation is the issue of whether the advertising, if permitted should be
limited to downtown businesses.
Barrett said that the primary places that we allow advertising are enterprise fund
facilities or service which is attempting to cover significant portion of its cost
through revenues generated by that service. Barrett said that the parking
garage certainly falls within that category. Any advertising revenue that comes
to the garage will offset a portion a portion of the general fund subsidy parking
fund.
Barrett recommended that we give priority to downtown businesses, however,
• not to restrict it in the event that the total advertising space would not be utilized
by downtown. Restrictions would be no political, tobacco, or alcohol advertising.
He suggested that the committee put together an amendment to the policy and
bring it to full council.
Farrington agreed to the advertising, and asked that the downtown district
businesses receive a discount. Barrett said that it is a possibility, however
downtown business tax is relatively small, and there is great disparity of
organizations some of which a discount would not necessarily be a big thing.
Bates noted that not all business owners are property owners in downtown.
Farrington said a reason to allow a discount, is a way to say thank you for your
business in downtown, and to encourage businesses to come. Nealley said that
he would move for stafF recommendation, however he would like to see an
incentive for downtown merchants. Baldacci agreed with Farrington and Nealley
to allow some kind of incentive. Rohman said that the motion was to approve
the advertising, and that we need to come back to the full council for the rate
approval. Palmer agreed that the advertising should be limited to downtown,
unless it is a national product such as Coca-Cola, or EMH because they use the
parking garage. Bates said that advertising in parking garages is still a fairly new
phenomenon, even nationwide. Rohman asked why we allowed political
advertising on buses but nowhere else. Barrett said that the general feeling was
• that there should be some distance between city buildings and politics. The bus
_ _
• system is multijurisdictional and not directly the City's and not in a fixed location.
Palmer recommended that the City utilize the space to advertise the airport, etc.
Tremble suggested that as in the bus system, when we have open space to use
it for city advertising.
The committee approved the recommendation to sell advertising space in the
parking garage.
5. New York Street— Development Review.
Barrett noted that Dawson needed to come before the committee to get approval
for his preliminary plans for the development including the subdivision plan,
infrastructure plan, and a number of examples of various housing types. He has
provided the planning office with a subdivision plan, which includes the
infrastructure plan, and the committee has been provided with a variety of
housing plans with elevations and room layouts. The subdivision plan is
tentatively scheduled for the Planning Board review on October 16th, at which
the planning board will hold a public hearing on the plan.
Dawson said that the concept design of homes was the only new information he
� had to provide.
Farrington asked if the houses would have basements. Dawson noted that their
preference would be for basements, however some may owners may elect to
have crawl spaces or slabs. Farrington asked the price range for the houses.
Dawson said that he did not have solid numbers on the houses, however, he
estimated $190,000 and up with a full basement.
Nealley noted that the plans presented were minimum requirements/prototypes,
and that actual construction may be more extensive.
Barrett pointed out that the plans range in size from 1650 sq. ft. to 3000 sq. ft.
The committee approved the acceptance of the plans and to move forward with
the next step.
6. Executive Session — Land Disposition —Airport Land — Griffin Road and
Hammond Street
(Information under separate cover)
The committee went into executive session.
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