MEETING RECAP - 2nd May 2016
Submitted by Will Arscott 3rd May, 2016
APRIL 18th MEETING RECAP - REGULAR MEETING AT THE BESSBOROUGH - Speaker: Brent Penner speaking on the Downtown Business Improvement District
The meeting was presided by Incoming President Jack Brodsky who did a mostly competent job but who will get much better once he has more practise.
Greeter - Peter Zakreski
Cashier - Joanne Fisher
Set-up - Al Morton
Visitors and Guests - Dave Sundby
O Canada was led by Jack from the tape recorded and sung by Roger Ducette who was in fine voice considering that he has passed on.
Grace - Al Morton - reminded us that we live in a peaceful part of the world and have an obligation to give back through our commitment in Rotary.
Visitors and Guests - Dave Sundby
Quentin Frieson guest of Wayne Storozuk who is looking for a service club.
Brent Penner our speaker to be introduced later.
Announcements
- Incoming President Jack recognized the huge success of the recent Badge Shield and Star Dinner and thanked the club for so many that participated in so many different ways.
- Jack thanked Steve Wilson for his continued work with the Adventures in Technology program. Jack recognized that Steve has graciously agreed to a further two year term with this program which will include our being the club sponsor. It was great to have all the A in T people at the meeting last Monday. Jack mentioned that all our meetings would be better if we had a fuller room.
- The President’s dinner is scheduled for Monday June 27th at the Saskatoon Club. More information and prices to be available in the coming weeks.
- Wayne Storozuk distributed membership renewal forms. Fees can be paid by cheque or credit card and sent by mail or handed in at the meetings. The club would like fees paid by June 15th ahead of our remittance to RI.
- Wayne has handed off the grocery card Sales to Gary Rusu. Please buy grocery cards. This is as simple a fundraiser as we have and provides a good return.
- On Sunday May 15th the Rotary District 5550 Exchange students are passing through Saskatoon and require billets. I believe places for 6 males and 4 females are required. Please contact Jack(?) if you can help out.
- There is a District 5550 vocational training team travelling to Guatemala in
February 2017. A team leader and four or six teachers are required. It is hoped that experienced teachers will apply. The ability to speak Spanish is an asset. There may by only a few that can meet these two requirements within our district.
- There will be a meeting for the Becas project (first of 2016) on Wednesday May 3rd at 7:30. This will take place at Jim Weber’s house. All members would be welcome even if you have not been involved in this program previously. Jim indicated that strong refreshments could be served.
- Further to Becas, Dave Sundby announced that the club would be earning $1,000 this year (today) acting as bartenders at the Ernst and Young tax party. They have paid more each year we have done this and this year their payment was increased again on the basis of our commitment to the Becas project. Thanks to all taking part.
Sergeant at Arms - Adriana Van Duyvendyk
- Members were fined for not wearing their club badges.
- reminded the club of our long commitment to youth. The club sponsored the first Rotary youth week in 1935.
- Also reminded the club that we made a significant contribution to the cost of building Saskatoon’s first public swimming pool. Members know where it was but it took a couple of attempts to get the name correct. It is now the Riversdale pool but was previously known as the Municipal Pool and the Avenue H Pool.
HAPPY AND SAD
- Jim Weber Happy for the singing of O Canada which brought back memories of a better time in Canadian hockey.
- Mark Gryba for the Raptors moving on for the first time since the early 1990s.
- Wayne Storozuk for the end of tax season. Given that he had extra time Wayne offered to prepare any members’ taxes for free so long as you got them to him the afternoon.
GUEST SPEAKER - Brent Penner speaking on the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID).
Brent was introduced by Bill Johnson. He is relatively recent in his current position having taken the reins from Terry Scadden. He is the son of former city councilman Glen Penner, went to Evan Hardy Collegiate and spent nineteen years on the city police force before taking on his current position.
Brent thanked Bill for his introduction and pointed out that Bill was an excellent hockey manager when their sons were on the same team.
The Downtown Business Improvement Zone is known to most Saskatonians as The Partnership. There is a re-branding and name change coming but it is still under wraps so wait for a big announcement.
The Downtown zone is one of five business improvement zones in Saskatoon (the others are Sutherland, 33rd St., Riversdale, and Broadway). It is financed based on a levy on the business licenses in the area. This makes it different than a purely voluntary association such as the Chamber of Commerce or the North Saskatoon Business Association. The organization is run by a board which currently has eight members but which will be increased as several new projects come on line.
The downtown district is bordered by 19th St, Spadina (the river), 25th St and Idylwyld. They are also doing some projects taking them north of 25th street. In the future the area north of 25th is going to become much more important particularly as the city yards move out and the infill project gets underway. There is a possibility that a new arena might go into the city yards area.
The Downtown BID is the city’s first BID organization and dates from 1986. It grew out of the debate over the location of the new arena (now Sask-Tel Place). Brent views the location of that arena as a mistake and believes the city could have achieved a higher economic multiplier by having the arena downtown close to shopping, hotels and restaurants.
Today the mandate of the Downtown BID is to promote downtown. This mandate is most visible in the work to clean and beautify our downtown. Five workers are employed year round with an additional three students hired in the summer to maintain the downtown to a level beyond what the city could do themselves. Starting this year the Downtown BID undertook a greater commitment to snow removal though it turned out not to be necessary with the winter we experienced. This season expect to see improvements along 21st street. This was the first street beautified but is now in need of renewal.
Other parts of the mandate are not as visible. The BID seeks to promote downtown. In most cases a city is defined by its downtown. Saskatoon is blessed with a wonderful downtown. The level riverbank on the west side means that the riverbank and its trails are immediately accessible from the downtown. In the summer downtown is surprisingly green. We have a downtown that would by the envy of many cities. However we must continue to pay attention and continue to upgrade.
The Downtown BID promotes activities in the downtown core and we all know of the many events that take place from the Children’s Festival in May, the Jazz Festival through Taste of Saskatchewan and ending in the fall with the downtown car show. The BID wants downtown to be the place to come for people visiting Saskatoon.
A longer term project for the BID is to team up with tourism to make downtown Saskatoon a brand and a tourism destination. A new ambitious plan in this direction was approved by the Downtown BID in March and will be unveiled in the next month.
We have a good start on creating a tourist destination. The midtown is the premier fashion mall in the province with stores that are otherwise unavailable. It is also our cultural centre with TCU Place, Persephone, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan and the opening of the Remai Art Gallery. These together are not just attracting tourism but are encouraging people to move into the Saskatoon community.
Two issues always arise in a consideration of downtown: safety and parking. With safety it is more a perception than a fact. Downtown Saskatoon is very safe. Brent can talk from personal experience spending nineteen years on the city police. Incidents do happen but they are rare and mostly not serious. There have been serious incidents and will be some again but downtown is as safe as any part of Saskatoon and safer than most cities. The Downtown BID has regular contact with police and would always welcome a more visible police presence but there are limits to what is possible.
Parking is also significantly a matter of perception. Downtown has about 20,000 parking spots. The city is a relatively small provider to the whole. People here have come to expect to park very close to their destination and this is not always possible. There is a chance that pay parking will be instituted at Sask-Place. In part this is because it costs money to maintain the parking lots. If this happens it negates one of the chief advantages cited in having the arena out in the north end. We may see the time limits on parking extended slightly to make downtown more friendly as a destination. Retail is mostly in agreement with this proposal. Perhaps it would have been best if the city had used more of its parking revenue towards building parking infrastructure such as parkades but this was not done and the city has limited funds for this purpose.
Downtown does have some challenges. It is possible to build for $0.50 on the dollar in the suburban areas. A choice will have to be made between continuing to build out or getting serious about creating population density. The north downtown infill is an opportunity to create density. With density comes opportunities for better public transport and even items like bike lanes become more practical with density. Overall we need more residential growth downtown. Right now most residential is north of 22nd street through to 25th street. We need it throughout downtown.
Following his talk Brent took questions from the members. Obviously many have concerns in these areas as there was no shortage of good questions:
Peter Z wondered how things stand with panhandling issues downtown. There is little that can be done to end this problem. The courts have ruled that asking for money in a public place is not a crime - though harassment is. Panhandlers are smart enough to realize their best take will be where there is the most traffic. Brent’s advice is simply to refuse to give but to give to charities who can direct the money much more appropriately.
Bill Johnson asked how the Downtown BID is able to keep everyone working together towards the same goals. Brent said this can be a challenge but they have been pretty successful overall.
Mark Gryba asked about how food trucks are working out downtown. Brent said despite some reservations they have been introduced and have been successful and are now supported by most. He believes an effort must be made to maintain a level playing field between the food trucks and the fixed restaurants. The food trucks also have a season and cannot operate all year. Overall things seem to be working.
Jim Weber asked about buskers and whether the Downtown BID is promoting them. Brent said they would like to have buskers as appropriate. Sound can be a problem that all need to be sensitive to. Noon hour would generally be a good time for busking.
Brent was thanked by incoming President Jack for his presentation that obviously was of interest to the club. The regular donation will be made to Bethany Homes.
Adjournment
Next Meetings:
May 9th: Vaughn Wyant VWAG & The Car Business
May 16th: President Bev Club Assembly
(report on District Conference)
