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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRestaurant Association BID Minutes 01/23/20131 Minutes of the Newport Beach Restaurant Association Business Improvement District Board of Directors Meeting January 23, 2013 Newport Dunes Marina 1. Call to Order Mr. Walker called the meeting to order at 9:50 a.m. at Newport Dunes Marina Clubhouse. Directors Present: Jim Walker The Bungalow Thomas Giulioni Newport Dunes Ali Zadeh The Port Sheri Drewry Wilma’s Patio Ron Schwartz Muldoon’s John Robinson Amelia’s City Representatives: Tara Finnigan Public Information Manager Dan Matusiewicz Finance Director Matt Lenton City Financial Consultant Public: Peggy Fort CMC, Inc. Joe Stapleton Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce Scott Palmer Citizen Jim Mosher Newport Beach Resident 2. Roll Call Mr. Walker invited everyone in attendance to introduce themselves. 3. Public Comments Mr. Mosher noted that the September meeting minutes were missing and the November meeting start time was incorrect. Ms. Finnigan clarified that the September meeting minutes were submitted after the agenda was posted and cannot be approved at this meeting. 4. Approval of the Minutes Mr. Giulioni made the motion to approve the November 14, 2012 meeting minutes, noting Mr. Mosher’s comments. The motion was seconded and the minutes were approved. 5. Current Business 2 A) President’s Report Mr. Walker asked members in attendance how they felt the promotional program was going so far. Ms. Drewry said that her reservations system is not reflecting NBRW reservations; however, the food on the menu is selling and business is higher than normal. Mr. Giulioni and Mr. Zadeh have seen an increase over their restaurants’ normal January business. Mr. Walker visited a participating restaurant and thinks NBRW should not include “to-go” orders or splitting meals in the future. Mr. Giulioni wants to conduct a thorough review of the benefits received from holding NBRW to ensure it is a program worth continuing. NBRA BID Organization – Mr. Walker told the group that he has been in ongoing discussions with the City and with Don Anderson, a strategic planning consultant, to work with redefining the NBRA BID structure and working with the City. He said there needs to be a City liaison to interact with the BIDs (perhaps shared by NBRA and Corona del Mar BID), take meeting minutes, and interact with the City’s staff. He recommends moving forward with hiring Mr. Anderson to help the NBRA refocus, remain a 1989 BID, and work out some of the outstanding issues. Mr. Giulioni feels that would help to reduce City staff time, and supported the BID’s development of a five- to six-year strategic plan. He wants to see if the City would participate in sharing the costs of the strategic planning effort. Mr. Walker stated the issue needs to be submitted to the City Manager for consideration and the proposal amount is $7,500. Mr. Giulioni motioned to approve the contract with Destination Consulting Group, LLC (DCG) based on the October presentation and the proposal dated December 10, 2012 and to arrange a meeting with City staff to seek potential underwriting of the plan. Mr. Mosher expressed concern about spending money on DCG due to a past conflict with Visit Newport Beach (VNB). Mr. Walker clarified that the president of VNB is no longer affiliated with DCG. This effort is completely separate from VNB. He noted that the timeline is to be determined because it is contingent upon Mr. Anderson’s availability. Mr. Walker noted that this is a significant time commitment for the NBRA Board members as it will involve approximately five to six meetings. Approval of the item needs the commitment of the board to attend and participate. The goal is to start as soon as possible. Mr. Zadeh wants to understand the willingness of the group and participating entities (City and Visit Newport Beach) before moving forward with the plan. Mr. 3 Walker does not believe the VNB would be a part of this planning process. The NBRA BID needs to understand its vision first. Mr. Giulioni thinks this will be a true test of how the board communicates with its members. Ms. Fort stated that the strategic planning efforts have been undertaken, but never completed mainly due to the fact that the BID is renewed on an annual basis. Ms. Finnigan informed the group that the BID is formed under the 1989 Law which requires annual renewal. Having a five-year outlook and contract is a good idea and would have to be reviewed by the City Council. Mr. Mosher noted that the renewal each year is the levy not the BID. Ms. Finnigan noted that without the levy renewal, the BID would have no money. The motion was re-read by Ms. Finnigan, seconded by Mr. Zadeh and approved. A letter will be sent out to all board members to inform them of the upcoming strategic planning. CMC, Inc. Renewal – Ms. Finnigan stated that the current month-to- month contract with CMC expires at the end of January per the NBRA BID’s direction. President Walker requested to continue CMC’s contact for an additional 90 days to cover the oversight of the strategic planning efforts. A motion was made by Mr. Zadeh, seconded by Mr. Giulioni and approved. B) City Report Ms. Finnigan stated that the City’s budget process has begun for next fiscal year and that any requests should be made as soon as possible. The Civic Center move is scheduled for late Spring. City Council meetings are now taking place at the new Chambers. Mr. Giulioni told the group that the NBRA BID has been asked to participate in the Civic Center opening on May 4 and the NB Chamber may not host Taste of Newport this year. He wants approval from the board to move forward with seeing if the NBRA BID can help with the event. Ms. Fort inquired about special event funding process for this year. Ms. Finnigan informed the group that the Special Events Advisory Committee was disbanded by the City Council and the City Manager has directed staff to open the application process soon. C) Financial Report 4 Mr. Matusiewicz noted that there are several restaurants that have not paid their assessments for years and he wants to get direction from the Board on how to proceed. Mr. Palmer, the former BID accountant, was asked to speak on past practices, successes and failures in collecting past due assessments. He stated that in the past it was tied to the business license process, but it was not supported by the City Council. Mr. Giulioni thinks a separate financial meeting should take place to review and address the aged receivables to set up a protocol for collecting. The currently $59,000 in past due assessments have not been collected. Mr. Walker understands that some do not want to be a part of the BID and that a board member should contact them to discuss the benefits. Ms. Fort asked questions about the reports, including the City’s approved contribution to Restaurant Week. Mr. Lenton referred to the P&L report and noted the check has not been deposited. Ms. Finnigan will look into the matter. Mr. Lenton provided a brief overview of what his firm will be doing moving forward. He thanked Mr. Palmer for his cooperation in the transition. He explained the simplicity of the new online payment process and some future improvements. His firm is still in the process of cleaning up and reconciling records. Once his firm has an understanding of what the Board wants, he will work on producing those reports. Mr. Lenton went on to say that several invoices from CMC have missed being paid during the transition period and should be paid shortly. Restaurant buy-in payments can be set up via credit card if needed. Discussion ensued regarding the associated fees and Mr. Lenton indicated he would research the matter. D) NBRA BID Marketing Report Ms. Fort reported that the Dining Guide is ready to print. Mr. Stapleton announced that Richard Luehrs, CEO of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, retired after 30 years of service and the organization is currently restructuring and rebranding. Steve Rosansky is serving as interim CEO on a volunteer basis for three to six months. He said the Christmas Boat Parade was a success and announced that the Police Appreciation Breakfast will be held on March 21 at The Island Hotel. Mr. Walker added that the Chamber will still function as a community organization that supports local business. Out of the Chamber’s 685 5 members, 75 are restaurants. He has not yet had a chance to meet with Mr. Rosansky. He will report back to the Board after that meeting occurs. E) Newport Beach Restaurant Week Report Ms. Fort reported on the success of Restaurant Week and said that 70 restaurants are participating. She has received good feedback from the participating restaurants and many were so busy that they had no seats available. She said the OC Register, as the media sponsor, conducted an extensive campaign that included full-page, color ads. Advertisements were also placed by the NBRA in Independent, Daily Pilot and Locale, Orange Coast Magazine and other publications. She reported on the other marketing campaign components such as the launch event, culinary newsletter, Open Table & Yelp, radio and television spots, social media and on the live cooking demos that were held at Bloomingdale’s. She plans to host a post-event recap meeting for all participating restaurants and will distribute electronic surveys to participants next week. Mr. Walker asked to have some quantifiable results to present at the recap meeting. He congratulated Ms. Fort for her work in making the launch party a success. He believes this Restaurant Week is on track to be the most successful in the event’s history. 6. NBRA BID Announcements Mr. Walker asked for the approval of the September 27, 2012 meeting minutes to be added to the next agenda. He said he will provide information about the strategic planning effort after he speaks to Mr. Anderson. 7. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.