January 6th, 2020 Neighbors Meeting Minutes
Doylestown Borough Hall Meeting Room
In attendance: County Theater: Mary Bingler, Chris Collier, Danielle Flowers, Jim Sanders, John Toner; County Theater Board of Directors: Stephanie Benjamin, Beth Clark, Ellen Happ, Leigh Lockwood, Dick Patterson, Ron Strouse, Lou White;
Karen Hyland (Director of Building and Zoning – Doylestown Borough), Gus Perea (Adams Bickel);
Merchants: Alisha Binder (POSH), Mary and Vincent Bocchino (Nonno’s Café), Paul Boger (Mind Your Design), Debra Camarota (Anthony Robert), Annette Coletta (Zen Den), Jona H. Franklin (Lilies of the Field), Michael Kendrick (Discover Doylestown), Nerice Kendter (Busy Bee Toys), Erin McLaughlin (Lotus Apparel & Home), Jeanelle and Derrick Morgan (Monkey’s Uncle), Meghan and David Pierson (Vintage Vibe), Alexis Zanias (Nina’s Waffle),
Immediate Take Aways
1. County Publicizing Local Businesses
Slides – general “Support Local” style theme
Videos – talk to Brendan about video details – create one every two weeks – partner with Lauren for shooting video
2. Email – weekly email for theater updates and highlighting our neighbors
3. Fact Sheet for Neighbors
4. Window Display PDF – “Love Your Local” style message
5. Patch article – Mary
6. Large “Stop Sign” Banner – dedicated to neighbors
7. Website Update with Detailed FAQ – Update staff with information as well
8. Share value of increased business model of 3rd screen at the end of the process in future meetings
Minutes
John Toner – Introductions and reminder that County Theater had pushed off construction for after the holidays. The meters have been removed and the traffic lines are being drawn.
Gus Perea – Shared information about sidewalk signs (“Side Walk Open for Businesses”), concrete barriers & fencing will come soon. Fence will be 8ft tall. Demolition will begin on the 13th, will last 2-3 weeks. General work schedule will be Monday through Friday from 7:00AM to 3:30PM with room for exceptions.
John – The website will remain updated as construction progress occurs. A live feed will be available for viewing.
John - Regarding Neighbor Advertising – The county is committed to supporting, highlighting, and promoting our neighbors’ businesses via slides, videos, and emails.
Jona Franklin – We should present a “United Front of excitement and optimism over the project”. Jona expressed her experience of sharing additional parking options with her patrons, and having it be easy and helpful.
Neighbor – The fence space that faces traffic as you approach (the “stop sign banner”) would be a great opportunity for marketing. County decided it can highlight local businesses. John Toner & Karen Hyland – Discussion of Whether 15-minute spots will be made available? Some people thought that two 15-minute spaces would be helpful (“we lose 2 with construction thus want 2 to replace them”). Toner said we’ve also had neighbor feedback not to add any new 15-minute spots.
Gus – Contractors and their employees have specific orders to park outside of downtown, thus leaving the parking in downtown available to patrons.
Neighbor – Reiterated that all local businesses should follow suit ensuring the parking available goes to patrons.
Neighbor - Recommendation to share parking information and construction updates with “Doylestown Patch” in order to spread the information as much as possible to community members.
Neighbor – Would like an FAQ handout that they can give to patrons which will answer general questions about “what is going on” regarding the construction and the County Theater. This can be in addition to the parking pamphlet we created. – Can we provide a pdf version as well?
Neighbor – Recommended that any neighbor who regularly updates their website might include information on their website that highlights various parking options and that they are “open for business”
Derrick Morgan – What type of ad campaign/marketing campaign will the County Theater be doing to promote local businesses and neighbors during construction?
John – The County does not have the funds to do paid advertising but is committed to promoting our neighbors as much as possible via our own social media, videos, and emails.
Vincent Bocchino – “Strongly feels it is the County Theater’s responsibility to handle the promotion of the neighbors that are being impacted”. John answered by saying that the County doesn’t have funding to do paid advertising. The County is committed to promoting local businesses in its own outreach and is willing to help organize others to promote downtown merchants.
Neighbors – General consensus that it will be a team effort, which the County can guide, to promote the blocks continued business during the next year by promoting each other, tagging on Facebook, calling attention to one another, etc.
Paul Boger – concerns regarding the impact of construction on the town events. Plans for adjustment are in place for most events but the impact on the Arts Festival is the most concerning. Karen gave Paul a copy of the measurements for where the fence is placed, and a conversation regarding how to proceed was started. This will need additional conversation with Paul. Key Question: how will we pull the crowds through the construction section to the portion on the other side.