001for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. First up tonight would be to approve the agenda as presented. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor with an I. I. Any opposed? That motion carries. Item four would be public forum. Sarah, are there any cards? There are no cards. We're going to move right on. Um item five tonight would be reports. And the first report would be from Sean Williams and um Lisa Cochran from the city of Otana. We have Troy Cler here as well. If the three of you would like to make your way up. And under normal circumstances, Dr. Champa would also be doing a bit of introduction here. because all of this is
002rather new for all of us as a board. Both of you, welcome. If you'd like to come on up, make some introductions of yourselves. And um do you want to turn on the mic? Would it be easier if we slide another chair up there for you? We can stand. You don't mind? Whatever you prefer. You'll just have to turn on the mic there. Like that. Green. Can you guys hear us? Okay. Okay. Um and we will just double check. And Ben, Ben, are you able to pick it up? Okay. On the mics when they're speaking. Yep, he's got it. The good thumbs up. All right. Lisa Cochran, Main Street Director here in Owatana um with the chamber. I'm Sean Williams. I'm the executive director of the Owatana Area Business Development Center. All right, cool. It's
003all yours. Take it away. It's all ours. Perfect. Um well, we're bringing a really cool idea. We want to tell you about it. And so this is where we start. Yeah. So, uh, this whole concept started with, um, Urban Loft closing downtown and us, um, Lisa specifically identifying the need for a retail incubator space, like what can we do with these open spaces downtown and especially the Urban Loft building. If you know where Urban Loft was located in the Zamboni building, such a beautiful building, a very large space. So my first thought without talking to anybody like building owner or anything, you know, my first thought was, oh, what a cool space to have a retail incubator and have like little compartments for people to sell their what what they make um in there. And
004so I brought that to Sean and we kind of talked about it, but then it kind of grew into yes, something bigger. So, um, just to give you all some like background on how we've gone about this process, um, it started out just like Lisa described where staff talking to staff. And then as we move forward, we identified potential roadblocks, barriers, speed bumps, that kind of thing. And so we looped in more staff to with the appropriate partners, organizations to basically test the waters, see if, you know, our idea was still viable, that kind of thing before eventually getting to the point we're at now, which is advancing the conversation to the board level. So, um, so where we landed is, and the slides aren't exactly lining up with the screen, I apologize, but, um,
005yeah, partnering with you all with for the Rose Street Center and the shops on Rose Street as we're calling it. So what spurred the conversation after we talked about a retail incubator in that space and after talking to the building owner and his vision for it and he was open to different ideas but um he had already had somebody in his ear um talking about what they wanted to do which is in fruition at this time. Um, I saw a presentation when I was at the National Main Street Conference about a retail incubator that was like shops and so it's located in Betavia, Illinois. Um, this is a picture of their retail incubator um there and so shared that with Sean and and we're like this maybe could be something that we could see happen.
006So the big question then was kind of like where to put it, right? Yeah. And then that's when we landed on uh the Rose Street Center. Yeah. Um why do we think this will work in Owatana? Um well, first off, I know that we have lots of lots of entrepreneurs and small business people in Owatana. That's just we've always had that and the high school has it um and other people. So that was our first do we have people that will come? Yes, they will come. Um, so the research was done um with Betavia being a town of about 26,000 and about 45 um miles to 60 miles away from a major metro area. So kind of like us. Um they're in the same season uh climate as we are and so the seasons are
007very similar. Um so what they did is they built eight shops. They did that um obviously with the date right in the midst of co they had a lot of volunteers that were willing to come and build these shops. They put theirs on an empty um space that the city owned that they at that time were not using. So there was no fee for them to go there. Um however they do know that if the city decides to do something with that area they have to up and move. But she said at this time there is no discussion. So she feels pretty safe about that. And when I say she, it's the main street director at Betabia. Um they added two more shops for a total of 10. They're not really looking to expand. 10
008is a good number for them. Um and it's really um become a tourist attraction and destination besides helping their entrepreneurs. So, after four years, and I haven't updated this, but I have talked with Beth since this since that, um, they've had a total of 35 tenants come in and out of the shops. 19 are currently in brick andmortar locations within their downtown area. Um, and they did $1.5 million in sales, um, total. And so, when I talked to her, I asked, "Are those businesses all still in business?" and she said we had one move to a bigger location that isn't downtown. So, pretty successful. Pretty successful. That doesn't mean they had 19 empty buildings to fill. Um it meant that some of those entrepreneurs are working together now and in a building together sharing this
009the expense of um running a business. And that success with the brickandmortar stores was really kind of the lynch pin for us that like okay this is something we need to pursue because having the empty retail storefronts downtown is a goal that you know the entire city wants to see filled. So having a path forward for that um made this a viable option for us. Absolutely. Um so the in addition to the shops which would be located outside obviously um we would have a number of other uh functions within Rose Street Center including an indoor uh retail incubator that would be open year round and we'll talk to that uh point a little bit later. Um a co-working space which is something we've identified um for a number of years as there being interest in
010town for that. uh a maker space which we already are in the process of growing out at the OABDC that could be located at the Rose Street Center as well as well as a welcome center for all of Oatana uh including all the different populations um within our city and then also a food truck spot um which uh we hit on a couple of different structures uh just recently that we're super excited about and then in the future potentially a commercial kitchen as well which is another need that keeps coming up on a regular basis for us and the food truck, you know, the food trucks, it's not just to have a food truck there to serve food. These are people that have been running a food truck that really want to open a brick
011and mortar or feel that that's their next step. So, those are the food trucks that we would be inviting in to, you know, test the waters a little bit more and see, you know, what kind of feedback they get as well. So the path forward or the funnel for entrepreneurs basically is that they would um go through our educational offering um which is co-starters which we do in partnership with community ed and then um they would also sign up as small business development center clients which is free to them um through the OABDC and then if they needed the maker space and co-working space functionality they'd have access to that as well. Then as they're making stuff to sell, they could have a booth at the indoor retail incubator site, which would be again a
012small booth before graduating to a shop outside, which could then lead them to a brickandmortar store downtown. So, Road Street Center obviously is where we're looking to house this. Um, obviously you all own it, so that's why we're here today. Um, and then this is kind of an overview of how we're envisioning it. Um we've had some conversations with the city about some logistical stuff that um there's going to be some tweaking to this, but basically the blue rectangles would be the shops. Uh the red rectangles would be uh parking spots for the food trucks and then the yellow rectangle is citymandated uh additional parking to cover the additional occupancy. I was it was hard for me to understand this. So this is Rose Street out here up at the top of the up at
013the very top. And then um this is the building of course and um something kind somewhat of a new development um would be to start with we're going to put the shops all on one side there up to the build not right up to the building but next to the building cuz is isn't the entrance in the yellow over there. The entrance is up here lot top sorry the entrance to the lot. Isn't that the entrance to the lot? Yeah it's right there. Yeah the entrance is up at the top of kind of go in. Y um and so we would be opening up an exit on the south end of the lot. So it would be a one-way parking lot and we've walked all this with the city and handicap accessibility is all feasible
014there. Um we're meeting all of the needs um on the city side of things. And then we'd also be putting in a handicap accessible ramp um up at the north end of the shops um where there's currently a wall um and a little like flag display. So that would make that accessible as well. So is lot two owned by the school district or is that it's owned by the city? It's a city parking lot and then that butts right up to the Eagles. Okay. So if you kind of thinking along those lines. So yeah, that's that will be extra parking as well as the lot that we'll have in the yellow. Yeah. So again, those that'll stay one way as well. Uh yes, it is. Yep. And so the um again like all of these
015conversations basically went with okay is this accessible is this feasible. So we went to the city and talked with Ken Beck and um were able to validate that yeah we could actually pull this off and have it function legally. So, we also worked with an architect um as well. And that's why to start off, we're going to have all the the shops along the building because um it will be easier for electricity um to put in electricity, which the shops will have electricity, no water, but electricity. So, um just some sample uses for the spaces inside the building for those of you who aren't familiar with it. Um, we'd have the retail incubator in here. There's a restroom off of here that would be available anytime the shops outside are open. Um, the retail incubator
016inside would be open as well. Um, so those restrooms would be accessible. Um, we'd have a co-working space inside, um, maker space up where the print shop used to be, and then the welcome center and some offices there. Um and again like the the big thing that kind of got us excited in addition to the you know outcome of having brickandmortar stores you know be generated through this process um was the collaboration just across the entire community and all the organizations both public and private uh in order to make this happen. This is my favorite screen right here because it shows how many entities that will be working together to make this happen. Um, of course the public schools, not only are we coming to you asking, you know, to lease this building from you,
017um, but we plan on this, the shops themselves are like a shed, an upgraded shed. And so we've already, um, spoke with the building, um, teacher and the building class will be building those. Um, we have the materials for four shops, sheds sitting out at the business development center right now thanks to a deed grant. And so that's really exciting as well. Um, the city of Owatana of course has been a huge um part of this from almost the beginning. um a ton of public utilities because the city would be leasing um they will do contributed services which is huge um for that um chamber of commerce of course that's where I come from um Main Street and full support there and then of course Sean's um the maker space and the development center um
018but back with the the schools we really want to utilize students we they'll be building the shops. We want to utilize DECA students or students that are maybe interested in marketing or retail or business. Um, we really want that to be a huge part of this partnership in bringing students down to a a business that's, you know, a business. um hoping to use them to help out some of the shop owners if if for some reason they can't be there, working with them, training them, kind of mentoring um and possibly having a second site for the school store to sell things down there, especially around the holidays, I think, or homecoming. Um and so we've been talking about all the different ways that really we can have those students involved in this um above just
019the building of the shops. Um so yeah so as we were hinting at the city of Owatana what we're proposing would hold the lease for three years um OP would be contributing services so um we wouldn't have those expenses um with utilities to cover um Main Street program would oversee the shops, food trucks and the retail incubator. OEBDC would oversee the co-working space and the maker space and then we have a partner identified with the welcome center who's put together a proposal and submitted it and would be a great again partner to subleasase the space. Um the shops, do you want to elaborate getting the specifics? Yeah. Um so the shops actually are 12 by 12 um and they have a 4ft porch if you will on the front um with double doors. So, they're
020opening to a space that will contribute to their little 12x 12. Um, and it does have an overhang. Um, they, you know, they have to provide their own insurance for these, but they can do whatever they want to inside that fits what they're selling. Um, there will be a a lease or rent payment. Um we haven't got in the nitty-gritty about that, but um there will be a lease that they will have to sign. Um and then they will be paying for that. Um the electricity obviously we're um we've got the OPU on board with that. And the air conditioning and heat is a unit that goes into each shop. um and can cool and heat as much as we'll need it to um you know during the hot and the the cooler months. Um
021like Sean said, the bathrooms will be accessible. Um they'll have to do their own point of sale system um and insurance. And the big thing that I really like about this as well is because Main Street is kind of overseeing it, we are going to have enforced hours. And so it's a big thing that I get talked about or people ask me about a lot is I brought friends over to, you know, we had lunch at Roma's and then we went wanted to go shopping and there was nothing open um on Saturdays. So we we don't have it, you know, pin pinpointed, but we're looking at Thursday evenings and Fridays kind of like normal. Saturdays at least, so four or five, and then three or four hours on Sunday. Um, and we're hoping that by
022doing that, the businesses that we have downtown will join in that fun. Yeah. Um, so again, as Lisa uh identified earlier, um, before you guys jump ahead, can you talk about the calendar year that will also be embedded for Yep. Or did I jump ahead? I'm sorry. Uh, we we're kind of jumping around, so it's all Okay. No, pause. I take back my question. I will wait till the end. Sorry. I can't remember exactly where we have it, but since I mentioned it, I might as well. Yeah, exactly. Um, we plan on the shops being open May through mid December or somebody I think at the last presentation said December 24th because we do have people that shop. Yeah, there you go. I remember. Um, yeah, totally married to that. And then and then closed
023for January, February, March, and April. Um, you know, it's dependent on weather so much. April could be a month that they could be open, but we're we're just saying May through December right now. Um, and that's just because of where we live and uh the coldness and probably not as many people wanting to go out and walk around some shops um when it's that cold. Um, is that similar to the group in Illinois then too that they're kind of made to December? Yes. Yep. Exactly. And the leases would be for one season. So then the goal being for that they graduate beyond that. So this isn't like somebody, you know, leases one shop and stays there forever. Like there is, you know, a path out as well. Yep. Did that answer. Yes. Thank you. That's
024what you meant. That's what I was. Thank you. Um so yeah, so as Lisa said, um we've secured grant dollars and then secured the materials to build for the uh shops uh that are already out at the OEBDC. Um, again, as I mentioned earlier, we've identified those accessibility issues and have a partner organization that has um offered to make those accessibility issues get addressed. Um, the we've also identified a couple of grants and there's potential for the Oatana Foundation as well to to come on board for any additional ones, but as of right now, we have all the costs covered. Um the local partners um again if we need additional materials are an option. And then with the trade classes at the high school, carpentry 1, carpentry 2, being able to build the sheds in
025succession so that the students get that full experience of putting the frame together and then insulating it and then having overseen electrical installed so it's all up to code. Um we've already had those discussions with the trade classes. So, um, so then, yeah, so the enforcable hours, um, you know, just to have that activity that's happening downtown that's not during those hours. Now, um, we also wanted to be a tourist destination. We, of course, we want local people to shop, but local people can't keep stores locally, small owned businesses open. It's not just the community. So, um, we have to bring in people. And so, Glenda Smith, our tourism director at the chamber, is so excited about this as well and is already thinking about different ways that we can, um, you know, put this
026out there and to entice people to come to Owatana. Um, and then it's really a nice anchor at the north end of Cedar there. Um, the location, I think, is spot-on. Um, it's not right on Cedar, but it's right around the corner. and uh there's some other retail businesses there, but I think it's a great way to get people down there um on that end and just to encourage them to walk our pedestrian friendly streetscape down to the farmers market or you know the Zamboni Center. We want to work together so that when people come they're like oo this is fun. We've got a lot of stuff that we can do. We can spend the day downtown. So yeah, so again, as we've already kind of hinted at, just like the um the community support
027around the entrepreneurship that goes along with this project as well. So um we heard from uh organizations like businesses downtown already that said it would be great if I had had this when I was coming up. And then on the flip side, I would love to be the mentor for folks who are coming through this. So, um, already validating that opportunity there. Um, the other feedback that we heard from talking with entrepreneurs and landlords downtown is that they see this as an opportunity to scout potential tenants to either give them like a discounted rent coming into it. Um, you know, knowing that they already have a viable business that, um, you know, is solid and built on solid foundations. And then um uh yeah, it helps fill that problem on both sides of things. And
028then also with um we've heard from local businesses that want to experiment with um potential new product lines that conflict with their existing brands and this would be a way to try it out small and then grow it into its own business separately. So um great for existing businesses and landlords as well. Will there be like an online presence for this then too? So like people could like scout it out, you know, before coming there or is there We'll definitely have an online presence in the fact that that's how we'll market, you know, um if if one of the shop owners wants to sell online, that's totally up to them. Um but we'll be marketing it that way and um and using it as a whole to entice people. Pictures, you know, special events. I've
029already got somebody that said, "I'll be a Santa for you." Um and so we can have Santa at the shops on Rose um and stuff like that. So definitely we'll be using that as marketing, but each retailer will have its own online store obviously if they want that or not. Yep. and and we talked um we didn't put every single detail in this but you know just that marketing what we can do and what uh tourism visit Oatana can do um is going to help them as well. You know there's a lot of things to think about and we're hoping that we're alleviating some of the monetary stress and some of the time maybe put into some of these. We expect them to do a lot of their own marketing as well, but we will
030be marketing for them as well. Yeah, just to piggyback on that, um, because that is one of the major hurdles that we see at the OEBDC and that you see too is going from, hey, I've got this online store in my house and now I'm going to paying, you know, 2500, $4,000 a month in rent plus insurance plus everything else. Like, that is a huge leap. And so this kind of eases those retailers into growing their own store and validating their their customer base. So um so yeah obvious yeah quick quick question. Yeah. Do you foresee it being just retail shops versus services you know such as somebody wants to do massage therapy or hair or you know something like that. I think we're we I would like to start with retail just because we're
031calling it a retail incubator, but that doesn't mean that other businesses can't. Um what I've learned from Betavia is they do have a pretty lengthy application form and they have non-main street people looking at that and then making the decision of what may be the best fit. Um they like I said they have 12 sheds and they had what did I say? 32 applications this year. I mean, there it's still a thing. It's still a place that people want to be. So, I I'm I wouldn't rule it out. Maybe just to follow up on that, do they um provide you any indication of the life of this larger vision and project? In other words, they've been doing it what, five years? 2020. Yep. Yeah. Anything slowing down? They still have applicants or what? Yeah. I
032mean, like I said, they still, she said, we still get applicants that we have to turn away because it is it is still very viable for new entrepreneurs. Um, I think she said they've had a couple repeat um with like a new brand or they're expanding something and they want to try it just that. So, um I mean really there's we'll have rules obviously um and and guidelines but you know we want it to be a place where entrepreneurs can start out whatever they're starting out with. So to your question about services though like um you know we're not going to have water in the shops. So if it's like a hairdresser who needs access to water that's not going to be viable. Um, but you know, with the co-working space inside, if it's, you
033know, somebody who's a carpenter and they just need that business address to, you know, be based out of, take meetings from, either at the co-working space or out at the OEBDC, like we can already serve those entrepreneurs. So, and the Rose Street Center would be open year round. Yes. Yeah. So, the the retail incubator inside would be open year round versus the outside um shops, which would only be those, you know, May to December seasonal. Um, and then the co-working space obviously and the maker space would all be year- round as well. Is this maker space distinct from the one I recall hearing about maybe at the It would be it would be the same. We would relocate it um out to Rose Street Center. Um, so right now we have a full lapidary um
034service that's out there as well as 3D printer, laser cutter. um they just reconstructed a loom um for weaving. So we would just move all those classes and everything out to Rose Street if it was appropriate. Um so yeah, so benefits for the public schools um obviously no cost to you all. Um we would be covering the insurance first through the city and then all the subleasases from there. Um the we'd be handling all the deferred maintenance. We know that the HVAC system is getting to its end of life. So, if that goes kaput in the next three years, obviously we'd be handling that. Um, accessibility improvements, again, we already have partners identified to cover those costs and improvements. Um, but then as Lisa was talking about earlier, just the real world opportunities for the
035students, both with the carpentry classes, building the sheds, and then also with the entrepreneur classes and DECA and those kinds of things. Um, being able to, you know, cover for the shops for the mandated hours, right? um if somebody wants to take a Sunday off um you know we can have DECA students fill in to be that retailer essentially um and then the mentorship too of like this is how I'm growing my business you know um we taught a um an entrepreneurship class um through options this past spring um at the high school and um so that kind of partnership would be very valuable very viable at you know Rose Street as well um and again opening up the high school store out on Main Street, so they're interacting with real customers and not just
036other students and teachers um is obviously invaluable as well. Um and then also too just from from my own experience um in uh pitch coaching the DECA students and judging the regional competition as well. Um this gives those student businesses a real pathway forward where um you know in the past it's it's a lot harder for students to create businesses either because um you know their parents need to sign off on stuff or um you know signing a lease or whatever. you know, the barriers are higher for high school students. So, having this partnership would allow those barriers to be lower to make it easier for folks to move forward if they want to. That's our presentation. All right. Board members questions. I just have one if that's okay. Yeah. So you mentioned a possible
037incentive being um you know Oatana business Otana land owners getting to offer incentives first. What other incentives will be um in place to kind of prevent successful businesses in this incubator to alternative cities? That's a great question. Yeah, that's the first time anyone's asked that. Um so he actually came from IU. Yes, he does that a lot. So, uh, obviously the city needs to create new incentives. Um, no. So, uh, that's a great question. So, we, uh, help oversee the, um, EDA loan programs. So, um, and just from personal experience, I can speak to Owana having really good incentive packages to keeping folks local. But then, I mean, we don't have anything enforceable that we can say you can have a shop here, but you can never leave. Um, so all we can do is
038just support those entrepreneurs as we, you know, can as a city and, you know, hope that they don't go elsewhere and have candid I think having candid, um, conversations with our building owners, um, and seeing what they're willing to do when it comes right down to it. They're the ones that make the decisions for their buildings. Um, and so maybe just having those conversations and, you know, just keeping that line of communication open because that's one of the biggest barriers I hear. The two big biggest barriers I hear and I I talk with people that want to come here and open a business or I mean I I get calls all the time. Um, and the two biggest things are the cost to rent or lease a building and the um amount of years on
039the lease. Um, some landlords are asking now for five years. And in this economy, nobody is ready to to just say, "Oh, yeah, I know I'm going to be awesome in five years." Because nobody knows that. And so those are the two biggest barriers um that what I see from entrepreneurs coming. And so just having those um you know those open conversations and and letting our building owners know this is what we're hearing and what would you be willing to do. Mhm. And I think using this whole process as a validation mechanism for those landlords will incentivize them to lower their cost, lower the terms of the lease, you know, the length of lease to make it easier for entrepreneurs to move in and to stay in. Great question. Yeah. Any other questions? Because here's
040what Go ahead. I have a couple just but not as good as his. Just a couple. follow that one. Yeah, I know. I can't. Um I thought I heard you say applicants uh renew each year. So, do you foresee somebody spending one season and sort of getting up and running or do you expect in fact that they'll reapply and potentially we hope they get up and running. Now, we we do understand that that may be hard in that short of time, but we don't want the shops to become their permanent home, you know, and so we would take applicants each year and again, you know, make those decisions based on how many applicants we have and how many buildings we have and um kind of go from there. you know, we it might be unrealistic
041to do that in 9 months, but it might not be. So, you know, we're not going to cement something down and then have to backpedal. Um, we'll we'll keep it open. But to that, the the flip side of that is that after having the retail shops um open for 9 months is that they have that track record to then take to their lenders and say, "Look, you know, we've been growing over the past 9 months. will you give us, you know, a loan in order to move out into our own space? And for a lot of the entrepreneurs, especially like the bakers and that kind of thing, like that's what they need because equipment's so expensive or um, you know, making sure that they have enough runway to to take on that lease. And we
042can help them with that. We have recently gotten Placer AI, if anybody has heard about that, but that is an application that tracks people's cell phones. And so if anybody was at Downtown Thursday last Thursday, July 3rd, and you had your cell phone with you and it was on, you were counted and you were one of 4,360 people. So that's pretty cool. Um, and so we will continue to be able to use that. I know it's a little scary, but it's a great application for those types of things. And we can use those numbers. I think I said 4,000. Sorry. last last month was 4,000 this was 3,600 sorry you know 1,000 off but um we can use those numbers to help um you know this is how many people were in this area at
043this time um this is how many people have visited and so on so I I foresee using that um as a tool as well and also just to track our own internal numbers for Rose Street and see how the visitors are ebbing and flowing and where they're coming from Yep. cuz it it gets it all. How many people came to the parades last year? You know, um last year 5,000. It was it was about 5,400. Is this the homecoming parade or which parade? Oh, I didn't do the homecoming parade. Sorry. The um the light parade. Oh, the winter. And we can do the homecoming parade as well. I mean, we can we can go back five years. I think it's five or seven, but we can go back quite a few years. I don't know
044if they got my permission to collect the call signing on your phone. I didn't sign anything. It's a little crazy to think about, but um you know, we don't see d we don't see personal data. We do see where the that phone lives. So, we do see where people are coming from, you know. And for June, we had people coming from all over. I mean, I think there were like eight different states that people What I would like to suggest is if Bob could pull together a facilities committee meeting that would happen before our next work session. So issues because we're going to walk out of this meeting and we're going to think of something in the parking lot and say, "Oh, I should have asked them." So, if we can pull together a facilities
045meeting between now and the work session, we revisit this at our work session, really roll up our sleeves and and get a sense that we feel um as though most or all of our questions have been answered and to the extent that the this the board wants to take action on that, we have then the op the option in the August meeting to proceed. So, it it gives us a nice runway. This was a great presentation and I really like the manner in which you've laid it out, given us the high, you know, bird's eye view of all of this. Um, but if that sounds okay with all of you, I think that this is a a good way for us to proceed. You all right with that? And if you do have questions, reach
046out. Um, we're both our information is available at the chamber website and the business development center website. Some of you may have my cell phone. Whatever. Doesn't matter to me. If you have questions, please ask because um that's what makes our presentation work and we've changed it because of questions that have been asked. We've got all the contact info for Sean. I I have one other quick question though too. And your goal is to start in May. Is that right? Next year then hopefully. Well, our goal is a lofty goal, Ron. Um, it would be nice because the building classes are quarterly and our goal is to have at least two sheds built by the end of the first quarter or yeah, the first quarter of school um and then have potential tenants that would
047be willing to be in there for a month um and capitalize on the holiday season or in December this year. Yeah. Okay. So, so do you besides our approval is there any other significant challenges that you have right now for starting this? No, we've we are very fortunate to have many again many people you know helping with this um to to make it happen. So, we can we can start whenever we get the lease done. And before you leave, it's a good opportunity, Dr. Champ, anything in the very very short period of time that you've been with us, but you had a little bit of an on-ramp and and this was talked about any questions that you might have right now. Yeah. No, I don't think so. I we do have all the utilities, all
048of that prepared. So, I think that'll be a good place for the facility committee and then the work session to review that too. Yeah, because you won't be paying utilities if we're there. You will be if we're not till you sell, right? So, Lisa Sean, thank you very much. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. And then the second item that we have in reports tonight, item B would be nutrition services and wellness update. This gives us an opportunity to have Dr. Champa make an introduction of Maria Terry. All right. So, welcome. Come on up. So, tonight we have Maria Terry, our director of nutrition services, going over a presentation for us. Maria, you have a look on your face like, "Oh, I'm going to sit up in front
049and present." Yeah, I think Sarah has all your technology queued up for you up here. Thank you. Do you mind if I sit here? Please do. Okay. Welcome. Thank you. We're glad you're here. I'm Maria Terry and I'm the nutrition services director and I took on the position last May. So I have Can I interrupt you just really quickly? Will you pull that microphone closer to you or maybe set it on in between the the keyboard and you There you go. Perfect. Thanks. There. Can you hear me now? Um, no. It's still was You're going to have to use your teacher voice. My teacher voice? I'm not a teacher. Can you hear me now? Yeah. Better. Okay. All right. I'm Maria Terry and I'm the um director of nutrition services and I've been in this
050position for um since last May, so just over a year. Um, and I just wanted to give you an overview of what we have been doing in this past year. So, okay. Sorry. This is new to me. You're fine. Is it not working? What's that? The arrow on the on the keyboard. Try the arrow right there. Okay, we've had issuance not on there. Okay. All right. So, uh we have the seven selfoperating kitchens and uh we operate under the USDA child nutrition programs. Uh we do the um school breakfast and the um national school lunch program, the summer food service program which we have going on right now. And in addition, we cater for St. Mary's school for the lunch. And um we have I believe this is our third third year that we've completed
051with that. So So uh we have 46 total employees. myself. Um there is a coordinator, a secretary, we have one courier and uh each of the kitchens has a kitchen manager and we have one assistant kitchen manager and she is um at the high school and that is a new position that um got started uh like last May I believe. Um in addition we have the 34 cook cashiers and uh right before the previous director left she had created these positions this assistant kitchen manager and she had moved um everybody else the food service um assistants up into the cook cashier um position. So that's been nice. Um we've been doing a more cross trainining for all of the employees there. And then in addition we have um our we have a few substitutes. So
052when I took on the role as director, I just looked overall where are we at? Where are where do we want to go? Um obviously we want to be providing those nutritious and delicious meals to the students and staff and maintain a fiscally responsible operation. Um the staffing has been a challenge um pretty much since co um there were I believe 10 positions that had not been filled um prior to me taking um the director position and I my goal was to get us filled up because if we don't have staff how can we feed the feed the students? Um so with that I really wanted to you know look at the staff that we had and how can we maintain that staff you know build some more comm camaraderie and also boost the morale
053of these um individuals. Um the attendance I really wanted to focus on that too because we have some staff who are wonderful. They are very um conscientious about working. They're there um every day. There are some staff that aren't there on a um as as a good of attendance, I guess, um as others. So, just wanted to see how we could make some improvements there. And then as as I said before, just retaining the staff that we have. So some of the training that we do um before school starts, we get all the staff together. We do an all day training. And um this year we this last year um we in addition to going over the handbook and talking about our procedures and all the little details that we talk about every year um
054I wanted to focus on communication in the kitchens. So we talked about that for a while and then we broke up into our different kitchens and we did some role playing. So we had different situations that come up like we have so many different personalities in the kitchens. So um some of the scenarios were regarding that. You know you have the person who comes in and they chat and you know they want to chat to find out what everybody did over the weekend and you know do all that socializing. and then you have another person who's, you know, they come in and they just want to get to work and they just want to do their job and that. So, it was just an opportunity for us to have some fun, really bring some of
055those situations to light because they do happen. And um I think you know that it was we were pretty successful with um everybody participating in that. Um, in addition, we had um a speaker come from the food safety guy um program. Her name was Michelle Hill and she did um a phenomenal job of talking about the food safety fundamentals and then she also did a a wonderful job of um going over allergen management in school nutrition. So, it was very worthwhile having her come and I can talk about all of those things, food safety, allergens, that type of thing to the staff, but hearing it from somebody else, I thought I think was, you know, very important for our staff to hear about. Um, in addition to that all day, um, staff training, the kitchen
056managers, I meet with them every um, month. And this year we also focused on the lead to succeed program which is about a 24-hour um video program that is um provided through the school nutrition association. So it gave us some opportunity to do some more deep diving into the communication styles and and that. So so that is some of the some of the highlights of our training. So, what all did we accomplish this year? It was a busy year. Um, with me taking on the director position, that opened up the coordinator position. So, I had to hire a new coordinator. With that, we our secretary actually moved into the coordinator position. So, that opened up the secretary position. I had to hire someone new there. And then, as I mentioned before, there were several positions
057that had not been filled um for a while of the cook cashiers. So, we hired two for the high school, four for the middle school. We really had to build up that team. We lost um both of our head cooks, the main the main cooks for that. So, um we built them up. Uh we uh got two more or hired two cook cashiers for McKinley and one for Washington. So that was a big job. That was kind of my first couple months into um the school year. Um our courier also had an older truck and he's the one that is bringing the meals um um every day from the um OEC over to St. Mary's. And then he also is delivering food from um our main kitchens, the high school and the middle school and
058bringing it over to that um OEC and then also the elementary kitchens. So he is putting on lots of miles in that and he needed a new truck. So that was um a big project that we worked on and we got we finally got him a new truck and um he was very instrumental in getting a really good um truck and you know taking care of all of that information that uh things that I wasn't very familiar with. So um we purchased new combi ovens for the Lincoln Elementary School. We got those um up and running and uh we did some we had um some training on the combi combi ovens also. Uh one of the things that um money was spent on was also a washer and dryer. We looked at what we were
059spending um per month and uh our linen our laundry expenses was really high. So, the previous uh director um ordered a washer and dryer. So, that got um installed and we've just been working on developing our procedures in that. So, this summer we're um we're doing a trial. We're trying to figure out work all those little kinks out so that um come August, end of August, we'll be able to provide all of our own linen um services. Um can I ask a quick question on this slide? Yes. um all of the positions that you filled as you look ahead now to this fall and the start of the new school year, any open positions that you're aware of that are are still open positions. Yeah. Uh one of the kitchen managers is retiring, so that
060position is open and uh two of the cook cashiers are not returning. So, and what's a combi oven? Um it's a high-tech oven. It's um like a convection oven and also like a steamer. So, it's a combination. So, you can do the different modes of cooking. Thank you. I thought that was a typo and it was supposed to be combo oven. So, thank you for explaining that. Yes. Thank you. Yes. um last summer with me just on new on board as a director um and new to the summer food service program. We had an administrative review. So that I was kind of hit with that right away, but we were successful in completing that. So um and as I mentioned, one of the things that I wanted to focus on was uh the staff morale
061and building activities. So, we provided lunch for all of the staff um when we did our back to school workshop. Um a couple of the kitchen managers um um got together. They um scheduled a get together at one of the local restaurants. So, um several of the employees um were able to get together there and then she had reached out to different businesses um to give prizes. So that was really nice for the staff to just get some little prizes and that. Um, so those are just, you know, two of the big things that we did. And then I know in the kitchens, the kitchen managers have also tried to do some other the staff building things. So one of one of the big things um that we focus on are the dietary needs, special
062dietary needs. And this is an area that has really grown over the last years. Um, and it's really grown just in the time that I've been in Owatana. I think we've almost doubled how many students are receiving um, a special dietary menu. And so I just thought I'd highlight that this is something that does take quite a bit of time. Um the coordinator and I both work on making um monthly carbohydrate counts for the menus for um those individuals that uh require that. We do have lac lactose reduced milk and specialty milk um for 18 students. So some of those things we have to run to the grocery store to pick that up. And then um writing up the specialty or the specialized dietary menus. Right now we're doing it for 49 students. So it
063I believe when I started we were in the 20s. So we've added on, you know, a good 20 in the last year. And these are just some of the variations of what we do. Gluten-free, that's become really big. Um dairy free, egg free, peanut, nut, soy free, sesame. We have modified texture, a low protein, and then we have a high calorie, high protein. And of all of these, we get some of the combinations, too. So, it you can see that. Um, can I ask a question there? So, when you say you're doing specialized menus for 49 students, are those 49 unique menus or are they 10 menus or six menus that accommodate 49 students? Well, it's it's 49 students. So, there are some that are repeats. So, some of the elementaryaries, we might have um
064five gluten-free elementary, but then we have gluten-free on a high school, which is going to be different. So, um so when I counted the one time, I did like 83 menus one one month. So because I'm doing both breakfast and lunch for some of the students and so yeah and how how do they request that it needs to come from their medical provider. Okay. So it we are required to to accommodate these when um when it is medically necessary and it's within reason. We can't have obviously if a person has a specific type of food or milk that they drink that brand that type of thing um we don't necessarily have to provide that but if they need a like the coconut milk then that is what we're required to provide. So that's a lot.
065So, I I just went back uh for the last few years to show you the total reimburseable school meals that we've done. And you can just see from the um from last year to this year, our breakfast dipped down a little bit. Um our lunches um increased a little bit. So you can see when we were paid meals, obviously that took a dive down, but um you can see how it's growing just with what we're doing in the kitchens. So the wellness um this year has been busy just with trying to get that staffing together and everything. And I feel like now that I kind of have that situated pretty well, um I really want to focus more on the wellness. Um we were able to meet three times this last year. Um we things
066hadn't been done previously or since COVID I mean CO kind of threw everything off and I know in my previous district it the same thing happened to us where we just co just kind of wellness went out the window. So we're kind of starting from ground zero. Um again we're establishing our committee. Um, we are currently conducting the CDC school health index for each individual school. And that's really the point that we're at right now where we need to evaluate each school. What do we need? You know, where are our strengths? Where are our weaknesses? What do we need to be focusing on? I know that there a lot of things are being done in the schools. Um, I've had, you know, different, um, teachers reach out to me and, you know, they've got some
067school gardens going or they, you know, some of these types of things. So, I know that there are a lot of things going on in the school. But just um, you know, from the wellness committee standpoint, we just need to start, you know, really seeking see what is being done and then really build from there too. And then we are also in the process of completing our triannual assessment which um we're we are required to do from MDE. Um so and that is tied right into that school health index. So so that is a work in progress. So what's next? As I mentioned, just building up the wellness committee and over um promoting the overall wellness in the district. Um as I mentioned too, prioritizing the still team building by focusing on staff retention, strong
068attendance and boosting morale. Um hiring that new kitchen manager and that'll be um you know good to get somebody new in there and build that up and then fill those other couple positions. and then looking um at doing a kitchen upgrade for Wilson. That's definitely a kitchen that needs some um some updating and that. So, so that is my presentation. I want to thank you board questions. I'm grateful for the work that you do, especially around the allergies and my son doesn't need a special um menu at this point, but um his allergies have changed over the year years and definitely gotten better. But it's just really helpful to know as a parent that your kid is taken care of. So, thanks for all your attention for that. Thank you. All right, Maria. Thank you
069very much. Thank you. Good report. Thank you. We're going to move on. Item six tonight would be general information. And there's one item in there. It's called Association of School Business Officials International. I'm going to turn things over to Dr. Champa for an explanation here. Thank you. All right. As you said, this is a general item, but certainly an opportunity for us to recognize the work of Director Stats and his entire finance team um with the work that you do. And just an opportunity to also say thank you questions you have. Um yeah can you tell us what the what? Yes. So there's certain criteria um certificate of excellence means. Yes. So through the school business officials um organization there are criteria and if those thresholds are met um the district receives that certificate of
070excellence and so it's not to be taken for granted and uh certainly want to acknowledge it and celebrate. Mark, congratulations. Yeah, that's awesome. Have we has the district is is it tied to the district or the individual director? Do you know? It's tied to the um finances of the district and how they're Okay. How they're handled. I don't recall having seen it before, have we? Yeah, it's um the district has been in receipt of this for quite a long time. Yes. Yes. Every year for Okay, this is that same award. Okay. Awesome. Okay. video. Excellent. Terrific. We will move on. Item seven tonight would be discussion items uh board forum and if you don't mind uh Ron, I'll start down on your end. Sure. Um just like one thing I thought of that I could
071bring to this is talk a little bit about the marching band. They had a very successful season this year and uh my daughter participated in that and um they they won grand champion several parades. They beat Wakonia for the first time ever according to Mr. Gther. Um, and so this had a very successful season. Just got back from a trip from Colorado. Um, so they had they had a lot going on this year. They were in the Memorial Day parade this year first because I came back. So that was the first time in quite a while. So they they've had they had a really very successful season and they're only losing I think like nine seniors. So and then finance we we haven't met I don't think so should be it. Yep. I don't have
072much to add. A couple um meetings ago, I was absent and that was because I got to attend the showcase performance by our high school um Mamame Mia um group and it was fantastic and so many of our individual students got awards um through that opportunity and it was it was really great to see them on a professional stage doing doing their thing. It was great. Okay. Um just one comment. I heard from a parent whose child was on this Peru trip that we approved a while back. A fabulous experience. I understand. So really exciting to see opportunities like that opening our young people's eyes and minds and ears and I imagine we'll see more. Good. Thank you. I have nothing for board forum. I can come back to policy when you're done. Okay. You're
073going to come back to policy? Yeah, unless you want to. No, that's okay. Okay. I don't have anything else. I don't have anything either. Add a couple of things. First being a few student organizations, particular student council, have began preparing for the upcoming school year. Uh student Aub can you do me a favor? Flip that microphone toward you. Thank you. A few student organizations have began preparing for the upcoming school year. One of them being student council who has uh the honor of putting on homecoming for the school year. Um so yeah, we've started with that. Uh, additionally, the fall sports have started their unofficial training seasons, which is fun to see. Uh, but yeah, that's that's all I have for now. Thank you. Um, also in this area, we have uh uh uh policy
074revisions. So, I'll maybe jump in here and then my teammates, committee mates can can add to it. So, the first item here you'll see um is again first reading, fairly straightforward, three policies. Um Sarah's got that nice summary for you uh to take a look at those changes, but really nothing particularly um noteworthy some clarifications um particularly on student boundaries. Um and then I would just mention as explanation. So, in item 8 D, policies for review within that consent agenda, um, and remember we can pull this out if you don't want to approve it as a whole, but essentially that item D is really um, just bringing policies to your awareness that the committee has looked at, but we have made no changes. So we have a cadence and expectation that we look at policies
075on a regular basis and we've done that but there are no changes there which is why technically we don't even have to bring them to the full board but we just felt as a committee that it was appropriate to put them in front of you um in the event there was anything you wanted to discuss but that's why they're kind of just moving right through if that makes sense. Anything else you guys would add? No, you got it. Good. Yeah, that is okay. Thank you. Um, uh, item B in this area would be the administrative report. It's an excellent opportunity to say welcome to Dr. Champa. We're glad you're here. It's day six. Day six. It's just a great opportunity for Dr. Champa to introduce herself to the community and say hello and bring us
076up to speed. All right. Well, Dr. Champa, um, just so incredibly excited to be here. This is day six and I sit here uh just filled with gratitude because I have been asking a lot of questions and meeting with a lot of people many of you as well and uh just from economic development to Rotary to um just so many areas and I just have to say thank you to Lori Sarah is outstanding and just the entire cabinet. So, I have felt um very welcome and also just a thank you to Superintendent Stead because the transition has been good and I'm just so excited for what's to come. Uh this truly is a special place and I have met so many amazing people already and I am so anxious again to continue. So, thank you.
077Welcome. Good. We're glad you're here. Thank you. Uh we're going to move on. Item eight tonight would be the consent agenda and as indicated we are we will be approving the minutes from June 16th the dispersement personnel as well as the aforementioned policies for review. Anybody have any reason that you would like to see that pulled out voted upon separately short of that we'll entertain a motion to approve. I move that we approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion hearing? None. And I'll turn it over to Tim for the roll call vote. Ron I. Andrea I. Toain I. Lorie I. Mark I. Elizabeth I. And I have an I. 70 pass. Motion carries. Excellent. Item nine tonight would be a couple of items
078that require board action. The first would be the item A, the long-term facilities maintenance. Bob Olsen is here. He'll be making his way up and making a quick presentation. The quick reminder, we always approve the long-term facilities maintenance um forwardlooking report at this time of the year. And Bob's here to give us a a good bird's eye view of exactly what we're looking at. Hey, thanks Bob. Yeah, thank you very much for having me tonight. Appreciate it. Is that on? Can you hear me? Not very loud. Not very well. Hello. That's pretty close. And you can't hear me that well, so I apologize for that. Um, thank you for having, like Mark said, we are, I think this is about our eighth year coming forward to do our LTFM tenure expenditures. Um, bottom line on
079this one is we get about $1.3 million a year um, from the state to bring into our district to help take care of all of our our um, needs that we have. Um, looking at our district right now, I will say we are working with Site Logic and I'm gonna not necessarily brag, but I'm going to tell you how good our facilities department is and what our district looks like right now. But they said out of the a lot of schools that they work with, there's only one that they feel has better facilities. When you look at um external stuff, you have the internal stuff, you have the HVAC systems, you got your roofing systems, everything like that. There's only one other one, and that's Hopkins that they said. And Hopkins has a lot more
080money than we do. So, um, as a facility director, I feel pretty proud and very grateful to our community that they've stepped up. Our community has really stepped up with that first, um, bond that we had, the $76 million that really got us over the hump on that one and then with the new high school and the next one. So, um, we are actually sitting in great shape right now as a district and, uh, we have some other projects that we're doing right now as you've already that you know about. So, what we're looking at right now is a 10-year plan on the expenditures asking for your approval. Um, you've taken a look at it. I know the print was probably this big and Jolene, I know you had to raise the raise the font
081a little bit. Um, but we're looking for an approval tonight to and then I will have this turned in before July 31st to the state um as they require. So, Bob, anything noteworthy that for instance, this coming school year, anything noteworthy that you guys are working on? Yeah, there's a big one that you'll see about $600,000 in interior surfaces. Um right now Lincoln Elementary, their um cabinets are terrible, right? Um so we will be looking at replacing all the cabinets in in there. That's probably going to be the largest project that we have um for next year. But then it's all then there's carpeting and there's flooring and things like that throughout other buildings that we'll be looking at as well. What we try to do is not have little projects going on at every
082school because as you know during the summer we don't shut down totally. We still have a lot of summer school and a lot of things going on. Middle school will have some uh we'll be taking out the 9 by9 um asbestous tiles and getting those out of there and replacing them with uh LVT um that we're putting in and uh getting all that stuff taken care of. So slowly but surely we're working our way to having zero asbestous in our district and we're not there yet but we're getting close. So, those are the those are two of the big ones. Thanks. And this is a a side thought. Um, but we did have that presentation regarding the Rose Street Center, and it has nothing to do with your LTFM presentation, but um for all practical
083purposes, pretty much everything's out of Rose Street, right? Uh, for all practical reasons, we'll have it out by the time they need it. It's This is a We still have some things in there, but we can get that thing taken out that fast. But yeah, we'll be ready for them if if they end up um going through with it. Yeah. Board, any other questions regarding long-term facilities maintenance. Can I just ask quickly, how's the pool coming along? The pool's coming along great. I actually just went over there um today to take a look at it and the the tile is all in on the the floor of the pool and now they're working their way up the sides. And once they get to about this far from the top, they'll stop for a while and
084then the new gutter system will go in and there's welding and stuff that has to happen on that. So they don't want to get too close to it to wreck the tile. Then when that's done, they'll finish up with the tile. They'll get the lights in and then we'll start filling it up with water. So knocking on wood, we're still on time and on budget. So we'll keep our fingers crossed that we're ready to go for swim season. Mhm. And when is the start of swim season? Are talking August? I knew you were going to ask me that. Yeah, like middle of August. I I believe it's like the 9th or the I would imagine 15th or something similar to that. Yeah. Yeah. Practice starts that second Monday. That second week, isn't it? Yeah. Second
085Monday. So, we told them they need to be done over a week before that because it you can't just put a garden hose in and fill it up in 8 hours. It takes a long time. And then to heat it. Yeah. So, it it's looking great, though. You're going to walk in when you walk in the doors, you're going to see a 7 by7 Husky in the tile, and it's going to look pretty cool. I've seen a picture of it. I haven't seen the It hasn't come in yet, but I told our custodian when that thing gets there, call me cuz I want to go get a photo of it right away. Should look pretty neat. Good. Any other questions? Hearing none. Would one of you be kind enough to introduce this motion for us?
086I move that the board approve the long-term facilities maintenance plan for its facilities for 2026 to 2035. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor with an I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Bob, thank you very much. Lastly, gifts to the district. Uh, your report included um a very nice gift to the district that showed up on this report. Um, any questions as it relates to that? Looked really nice. Would one of you kindly introduce this motion? I move that the board approve the resolution for acceptance of gifts as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second. Tim, if you would please. Roll call. Ron, I. H Andrea. I. Jolene I Lori I Mark I Elizabeth I and I am an I carries. Thank you very much.
087I will make the motion that we adjourn. Second motion in a second. All in favor with an I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Good meeting. Thanks folks. Thank you. Where is?