Laserfiche WebLink
In response to Councilmember Arkin, Interim Assistant City Manager Ott stated the timeline for building <br /> the new parklets will be truncated by a couple of weeks because of having a pre-approved design, <br /> providing restaurants more time to have them ready for the beginning of May. <br /> In response to Councilmember Arkin, Interim Assistant City Manager Ott clarified the downtown <br /> resident for the advisory group lives on First Street and was selected by the PDA. The non-downtown <br /> resident was Dave Selinger. <br /> In response to Councilmember Arkin, Interim Assistant City Manager Ott clarified other parades such <br /> as the soccer parade could be incorporated into the proposed schedule using the emergency vehicle <br /> access lane. <br /> In response to Councilmember Arkin, Interim Assistant City Manager Ott confirmed the PDA is <br /> confident in its once-per-month recommendation between its capacity issues and the desires from a <br /> majority of retailers. <br /> In response to Councilmember Narum, Interim Assistant City Manager Ott clarified the reason for <br /> Concerts in the Park being proposed for Weekend on Main off weekends is concern for PDA's ability to <br /> deliver on all of these events in addition to staff concerns about traffic and parking with both events <br /> occurring simultaneously. If Main Street is closed for the Hometown Holiday Parade in December, they <br /> could work to expand the closure window for the whole weekend. <br /> In response to Mayor Brown, Interim Assistant City Manager Ott stated any change from the current <br /> water barriers would involve a conversation with Traffic Engineer Tassano and the PPD because the <br /> barriers would have to be strong enough to stop a vehicular impact. Traffic Engineer Tassano stated he <br /> is not familiar with the City owning any of the sawhorse barriers she described. <br /> In response to Mayor Brown, Interim Assistant City Manager Ott did not know the exact number of <br /> retailers added to downtown over the past year. <br /> Mayor Brown opened the public hearing. <br /> Bryan Bowers, PDA President, thanked the City Council for considering its request to bring back <br /> Weekends on Main. He stated there are competing stakeholders with differing opinions of what the <br /> program should look like going forward. He added residents also want Concerts in the Park to return, <br /> leading to PDA's monthly recommendation. The PDA wants to fill the blank space during the day and <br /> engage the retailers. Because of the Main Street closure for the Hometown Holiday Parade it made <br /> sense to try and take advantage of a December Weekend on Main. He stated the PDA would love to <br /> have a conversation with the City about parking enforcement. <br /> Andre Pegeron requested Weekend on Main weekly. He stated Main Street is where you want to see <br /> people. He commended the ideas on programming but stated he does not need it, preferring instead <br /> that there be no cars. He added every car taken off of Main Street adds a table or two per restaurant or <br /> more walking space. He stated the City does not need to throw the weekly concept away because it did <br /> not work for retailers. He suggested the installation of retractable bollards as barricades as a one-time <br /> budget expense and not an annual one. <br /> Jaime Zile stated she needs a way to get customers to her store easier. She thanked the Council for <br /> considering having Weekend on Main only once a month because having them weekly hurt her <br /> business. She requested better signage, noting customers come from different locations and often out- <br /> of-town. She requested using some of the $100,000 sponsorship to better direct customers to <br /> downtown off of Dei Valle Parkway and Santa Rita Road to eliminate a bottleneck. She wished a more <br /> tenured retailer was selected for the advisory group. <br /> City Council Minutes Page 12 of 16 February 15 2022 <br />