DTCP News and Notes

Tipp Partnership October Meeting Announced

October 11, 2007 - The Downtown Tipp City Partnership will hold its monthly meeting on October 16th at 9am at the Tipp Monroe Community Services Building in Tipp City. The public is invited and encouraged to attend these informative meetings and share
their opinions about what is going on in Tipp City. The Partnership will be discussing upcoming projects such as the Tippecanoe HarvestFest, the Old Tippecanoe Holiday Festival and Windows on Tippecanoe, a downtown art show planned for next spring. We’ll also discuss the plans for the 2008 Farmers’ Market and get construction updates on Streetscape, the Veteran’s Memorial, and Menards. Representatives from City Government, Community Services, City Council, Tipp Chamber, Library and interested business owners and residents will be in attendance. The Downtown Tipp City Partnership is a non-profit organization with a mission to enhance, preserve and promote downtown Tipp City. For more information, visit the Tipp City Visitor’s Bureau website at www.visittippcity.org. (Greg Enslen) IV, TH, TD, DN 10/6.

Tipp Partnership October Meeting AnnouncedFrom the Tipp City Herald: Downtown Partnership is now officialThe Downtown Tipp City Partnership, last week, received its articles of incorporation making the organization an official entity. Coordinator for the partnership and Tipp City Chamber of Commerce president Matt Owen said now that the DTCP has received the articles of incorporation, they have applied for their 501(c)(3) - a provision of the United States Internal Revenue Code for non-profit institutions. Owen said the provision could take two to six months to go through.Owen said the DTCP members discussed funding the partnership and decided against applying for a Special Improvement District (SID). “Only businesses in the SID are taxed to support the district,” Owen said. “And Tipp is too small, so a SID wouldn’t work in Tipp.” (Greg Enslen)

July Meeting NotesJuly 2007 - The Downtown Tipp City Partnership held its July Meeting on July 17th, 2007 at 9:00 am at the Tipp Monroe Community Services Building. Full notes are attached below - here is a summary of the topics discussed.

Our organization is official - we just got our EIN and all of our incorporation paperwork is done. We’ll work next towards our official non-profit status
The Farmers’ Market is progressing nicely
Tony’s is putting up a covered area behind their restaurant for smokers (it was approved by the City)
The Visitor’s Bureau website is active and receiving much attention from locals and visitors alike
Planning is underway for the HarvestFest and the Homes for the Holidays 2007 events
Matt Bayman is no longer at the Independent Voice and they are undergoing a change in leadership. They plan to continue to produce the paper and Tour Great Miami, a monthly publication that goes out to 13 local counties
We will work on a logo and letterhead for the Partnership to make it more official. We also may join the National Trust
The DTCP website is on hold until we have a logo
The Antiques and Artisans show went well
The new Tipp City Community Guide is coming soon! Started last fall, the project has been a long time coming, but the books are going to press soon.
Discussion of inviting the Downtown Merchants Association to become part of our group (Greg Enslen)

Tipp Partnership Discusses New Structure and the Future of the Downtown

January 19, 2007 - The Downtown Tipp City Partnership met on January 16th to discuss several ongoing projects and concerns. Several upcoming events related to the City include the dedication of the new Water Treatment Plant on January 28, the largest public works project ever undertaken by the City of Tipp City. The City is moving forward with the Historic Preservation Plan and will present the final report to the City Council and the public at a public gathering at the Zion Lutheran church on February 5th. The Historic Sign Program was a success - six of the new signs, complete with decorative lettering and wrought iron – have gone up in the downtown, and the City is looking at reviving the program if there is demonstrated interest.

The Chamber is planning two ribbon cutting ceremonies for McDonalds and the office for Edward Jones, which is moving from downtown. Matt Owen, the new Chamber Executive Director, is on board and concentrating his efforts on updating the membership, contacting businesses whose memberships may have lapsed, and getting the Chamber office organized.

In Partnership news, the 2006 Home Tour went well and Reed Spencer is well underway in planning the 2007 Home Tour – he already has sponsors and a few homes lined up. The new Tipp City Community Guide, to be produced by Graphic Impact of Kettering, is picking up from a holiday break and letters should be going out in the next two weeks to local businesses for advertising opportunities.

The Visitor’s Bureau website at www.visittippcity.org is posting events taking place in the city and has arranged to publicize the daily television listing of KIT-TV, the local public access channel. Local advertisers have joined and further advertising is available.

The new library director is working on updating their website and is arranging for a more comprehensive newsletter to be mailed out to a larger audience. He is sponsoring computer and other training classes in February, and he’s working on improving their marketing efforts. (Greg Enslen)

Tipp City’s Homes for the Holidays Tour A Huge Success

December 2, 2006 - Tipp City, OH—The Homes for the Holidays Tour co-sponsored by the Downtown Tipp City Partnership (DTCP) and Tipp-Monroe Community Services (TMCS) was a huge success. After a 3-year hiatus, this year’s event sold close to 400 tickets and generated over $1200 for TMCS. “Proceeds from this year’s Tour will go towards Community Service’s Relief Fund to help families in need this holiday season”, said Kathy Taylor, TMCS Director.

2006 marked 22nd year for the Tipp City tradition. Randy Luken and Ellen Cotterman started Tipp City’s first Home Tour in 1981. In previous years, the lighting of the Community Christmas Tree and a band concert followed the Home Tour. “The DTCP would like to bring back this Saturday evening tradition in 2007”, said Reed Spencer, Coordinator for the Homes for the Holidays Tour.

This year’s Home Tour Premier Sponsors included RE/MAX Professionals/Alliance, Countrywide Home Loans, Monroe Federal Savings & Loan Assn. and Evans Title Agency. With the success of this year’s Tour, the DTCP is already looking forward to the 2007 Home Tour. “We have already had several homeowner’s volunteer their homes as well as a few additional sponsors”, said Spencer. “In 2007, we are planning a bigger and better Home’s for the Holidays Tour”. For more information, visit www.visittippcity.org. (Reed Spencer)

Tipp City Partnership - November Meeting11/22/2006 - The Downtown Tipp City Partnership met for our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday at the Grounds for Pleasure coffee shop. The following topics were discussed. Our next meeting will take place on December 19th at 8am at the Grounds for Pleasure coffee shop and, as always, is open for anyone to attend. The Partnership strives to to enhance, preserve, and promote the downtown Tipp City area to bring together diverse organizations and foster growth, business development, prosperity, and good will.

New Chamber Hire - Dave Collinsworth, City Manager, reported that the City Council approved the hiring of a new Chamber employee to serve two functions. Half of their time will be spent serving as the administrator of the Chamber, and the other half will be a downtown director, working with the Partnership and dispirit groups to accomplish goals in and promote the downtown. The position was advertised and several resumes of interest persons were received, so the interview process is to begin next week. Tim Evan, Chamber of Commerce, said that the Chamber hoped to make an announcement at their annual Christmas Dinner on December 6th.
Historical Sign Program - Dave Collinsworth said that there are four businesses and other groups interested in using the City’s Sign Program to receive a new sign and be reimbursed for some of the cost. The city is working to extend the program into 2007 - it currently expires at the end of the year.
ODOT Highway signage - Dave also mentioned that they are working again on some kind of “Old Tippecanoe Historic District” sign to go on the ODOT blue sign.
I-75 Highway Billboard - mockup design was approved and flyers of the billboard concept have gone to Ruth Safreed, business owner, to present to her Merchant’s Association.
Tipp City Home Tour - Reed Spencer, local real estate agent, reported that the Home Tour is on target and everything is looking good. 8 homes will be presented on December 2nd. Greg Enslen, local resident, reported that he was working to get Jim Bucher of Bucher’s Beat to make a live appearance on Friday, December 1st to promote the event.
Tipp City Community Guide - Reed also reported that the Guide is in the hands of Graphic Impact. They have completed their letter and will begin contacting local businesses to sell ad space in the very near future.
Visitor’s Bureau - Greg reported that because the Bureau website was highlighted during Bucher’s Beat Winter’s Gathering event, the site received many hits from people interested in getting more information about the event. He reported that the site is complete and has been announced to several local newspapers, which ran articles about the website.
Organization - Greg also mentioned that it might be important, in the face of growing publicity and more attention being focused on the downtown by the City and Chamber, that the Partnership might want to move to a more formal organizational structure.

Partnership Producing New Community Guide

10/6/2006 - It was 1990, and things were a lot different in Tipp—Kyle Park was just an idea on the drawing board, and every home and business had a 513 area code. That was also the last time a comprehensive Tipp City Community Guide was produced to publicize our town and introduce it to new businesses and home owners.

But that’s about to change. The Tipp City Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Tipp City Partnership, in cooperation with the City, Community Services, and local businesses, are moving forward with producing a new, updated version of the Tipp City Community Guide. The guide is intended to familiarize readers with all aspects of life in Tipp City, from parks, shopping, and restaurants to industrial employers, service providers, and places to live. Reed Spencer and myself, two members of the DTCP, are working with publications firm Graphic Impact to update the guide to reflect all the offerings of today’s Tipp City.

DTCP and the Chamber chose Graphics Impact, a printing and publications company based in Kettering, to create the new version of the guide, which will be reviewed and approved by the Chamber and the Partnership before it is released. Graphics Impact comes highly recommended—they produced Troy’s Community Guide last year, a gorgeous book with tons of useful information and beautiful photography. Graphic Impact will also take responsibility for selling advertising space in the book, which will fund the production and printing of 5,000 copies of the guide.

Julie Chamberlain, VP of marketing for Graphic Impact and the project leader, will begin contacting Chamber members in the upcoming months to solicit advertising in the guide—and make sure that Chamber members will get “first dibs” on advertising. “We’ve already assembled our Tipp City Team,” says Lee Ann Leal, owner of Graphic Impact. “Along with myself, we have Julie Chamberlain as ad coordinator and Tipp City native Christina Brownlee as head designer. We are excited about being part of the Chamber and partnering with the community. We can’t wait to get started.” If you’d like to learn more about the Community Guide or reserve advertising space early, contact Julie Chamberlain at 435-9583. (Greg Enslen)

DTCP Brings Parking Improvements to the Downtown

8/18/2006 - The Downtown Tipp City Partnership has been working hard on several fronts to make the downtown more appealing. One area is downtown parking – you may have seen the new parking signs going up around the downtown. These are the result of our group presenting a formal parking report to the city.

Here is where the new Public Parking signs will be:

* At the Methodist Church at Third and Main (the church can close the lot to the public for private events)
* Along Broadway (to encourage parking in the off-street lots)
* In the eastern half of the Town and Country Grocery lot (this was part of an agreement worked out between Town and Country, the City and Harrison’s)
* At the Eagles lot (still to come once a few issues are ironed out)
* At the Lutheran church at Third and Main (still to come after construction is completed)

These new signs will clearly indicate where parking is allowed in the downtown – a real improvement for Tipp City’s downtown merchants, who need easily accessible parking for their customers. What helps our downtown merchants helps our citizens – who really wants to drive to Target for everything?

Downtown Tipp City Partnership Meeting - August 15th, 8am8/15/2006 - The Downtown Tipp City Partnership held a meeting on Tuesday morning at the new coffee shop on Main Street. Various community groups were represented and reports from each were shared. In attendance were Reed Spencer, Ruth Safreed, Greg Enslen, Kathy Taylor, Dave Collinsworth, Dixie Moore, Tim Evans, Marcia Shum and Matt Bayman.

City of Tipp City report: Dave discussed the Historical Preservation Plan being developed by a consultant for the city. A Town Hall meeting was held but turnout was low. The consultants are still in the information gathering stage and will begin making recommendations in late September or early Oct. They will also be holding town hall meetings and workshops on historical tax credits and understanding historical architecture. Some questions: should the district be expanded? Are there other properties to be protected? How can we answer some of the problems addressed in the DART report?

Dave also mentioned the Special Improvement District concept, which allows a group to assess a special tax on itself for a specific purpose. Greg mentioned that Downtown Dayton uses such a levy to provide marketing support for businesses in downtown Dayton.

Lastly, Dave reminded everyone that Streetscape is about 5 years away from getting to the downtown and that merchants will probably have a two year window to prepare for it. The current plan is to complete the portion from the train tracks to 3rd Street in 2010 and from 3rd Street to 1st Street in 2011, pending budgets.

Community Services report: We decided not to support any political issues such as the Community Services Levy at this time as we need to be focused on ourselves and making progress. Greg noted that there had already been an excellent article in the paper, quoting Kathy on the importance of the levy.

Tipp City merchants report: Greg, Marcia, Reed and Mara will meet on Thursday at 9am at Amaryllis and move forward with plans for the new billboard – they need to come up with sketches that can be presented to local business to solicit funding. They will also involve a professional designer.

The Red Hat Ladies week is coming up, but we don’t know how many are coming. We will try and make this a yearly thing (in August – it’s a slow retail month) and next year will do a better job of getting the word out and advertising. Perhaps we could see about getting some type of mayoral proclamation next year.

Community Guide Task Force report: Reed reported that the Community Guide task force will meet at 2pm in Dave’s office in the Government Center on the 24th with the company that produced the new Troy guide and will find out what’s involved. He reminded us that advertising needs to be limited to keep it from being a tourism book and more of a community guide. It will be smaller than Troy’s – approximately 28 pages. The company we are meeting with will collect the advertising and take care of publication and printing, and any money received by the Partnership will be placed in an account to be administered by the Tipp City Chamber of Commerce.

Tourism report: Someone had mentioned that Steve has a small Visitor’s Center in his bank building but it’s never open – perhaps we could assist him by coordinating staffing via volunteers or high school students. Also, Matt Bayman mentioned that they are creating a small visitor information center in their new building, with maps and a video monitor running some kind of “Welcome to Tipp” video on a loop. They are also working with the city to create a CD about Tipp City for promotional distribution, possibly even overseas.

Dave mentioned that one focus of the Historic Preservation Plan would be to encourage Heritage Tourism in Tipp.

General Discussion:
Halloween: Kathy mentioned that the Halloween parade is on Monday Oct 16th. Greg mentioned that he would like to see a Ghost Walk for Halloween and volunteered to pull together stories and volunteers. It would be best if the fee was nominal. There was also some discussion of some type of adult party downtown but it would need the support of the downtown merchants, especially Harrison’s.

Christmas: The Christmas Open House is the first weekend in December. They will include this in their meeting. Reed mentioned that he would like to look into Christmas Home Tours that will be handled by ReMax. Kathy said there may not be enough time to put it together, and Reed mentioned that ReMax has merged with ReMax Alliance in Vandalia and they will handle everything. If it is not done this year there may not be an opportunity next year. Kathy, Ruth and Reed will meet in the coming days about this. On Winters Gathering, Ruth will chat with Steve Watson about how we can assist him, and Greg will chat with Mike McDermott about the possibility of getting Boucher’s Beat back again.

Downtown Tipp City Partnership July 18th Meeting Notes

July 18th, 2006 - In attendance: Ruth Safreed, Kathy Taylor Tim Evans, Dixie Moore, Dave Collinsworth, Reed Spencer, Rex Spencer, Marsha Schum

Parking signs are up at Town and Country Market and Tipp City UMC—Dave was not sure if the Broadway stretch had been done. Lutheran church will come later when the church is done and the lot is cleared of construction.

Marsha and Reed are working on the I 75 bill board. Marsha talked to LaMar and we have to sign a contract before they will help with design. So we are back to what Dave offered last time, help from a woman who has done work for the city. Marsha and Reed said we should keep it simple with bullets, a pastel streetscape background. Marsha needs a sketch to present to the merchants to get them to commit $$$$ for the sign. Dave and Reed will talk to the person that can make the sketches and get back to Marsha. To start with she said she would make contacts solo and maybe need someone to work with her down the line.

Reed has not brought the Community Guide to the Chamber yet. He is trying to get a hold of the Printer for Troy’s booklet for prices etc. Tim brought a booklet that Vandalia puts out. We looked at the Miami County one. Tim said we need to hire a printer that will sell the advertising. Advertising is what pays for the book. We should not bog ourselves down trying to deal with advertising.

Ruth asked if we were ready for the Main Street program. Dave said we need to work a little longer as a group before we think about committing to Main Street. It would take $50-$60 thousand to establish an office and hire a director. He recommended that we work through our Partnership group to get things going, then hire a director and apply for status. Piqua worked for 5-6 years before they applied for certification. There are steps to go through, Aspiring Main Street is first. We can do lots of it on our own. That is what came out of the original Dart meetings to do what we can ourselves. Tim added that we have to stimulate interest in this and right now we do not have that interest. We need to get a nucleus of merchants together, bury all the hatchets etc and strive for the future. Tim feels there is value in all this and we must stick with and see it through.

We need to promote our Partnership by inviting the newspapers or getting info to them about went we meet and what we are doing. Matt Bayman and Joyel were mentioned. Dave said we need to move forward on promotional items like the billboard and magazine guide.

Finally Dave reported on the Legacy Industrial Corridor, that sort of runs from S and G up to Park Dr. There is an overlay zoning plan that leaves what is in place there. What we can use properties for now stays the same and the overlay adds additional uses. This would put to good use the old buildings that lay in the corridor.

New meeting is August 15th at 8AM, community services and a Public Meeting August 1st at 7PM, place to be announced.

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Tipp Partnership Meeting
June 20, 2006

In attendance: Ruth Safreed, Kathy Taylor, Tim Evans, Greg Enslen, Dixie Moore, Dave
Collinsworth, Marsha, Reed Spencer.

America in Bloom
Ruth began the meeting by saying that America in Bloom judging took place on June 12 and 13th and went very well. They liked the planter idea and next year the America in Bloom group will look to expand on this; unfortunately, few planters were sold and the general consensus was that the cost was too high. Kathy and her group are going to Grandma’s Garden in Loveland to learn her concepts – they hope to start with Broadway school and the garden area out front. The AIB will be having a conference soon and Ruth volunteered to attend. Dave said there was a lot of information available at this conference. Dave also noted that the downtown area looked better when the judges arrived, adding that the city put out some of the planter’s downtown. Pictures were taken and Greg suggested that those pictures be saved and used next year to sell planters. The papers will be running an announcement of the winners - the Post Office won first place in the Business category, and Raymond and Angela Teague won in the Residents category.

Antiques and Artisans Day
The group discussed the I-75 billboard for Antiques and Artisans Day and agreed that it looks nice and professional – it was done by Fred’s signs, who worked with Blake Senseman and Dave Watkins. Ruth mentioned that she’d heard concerns from several people that the sign not appear ‘hand made,’ so she made sure it was professional looking. Tim said the sign was well accepted by council. Ruth suggested that we get a permanent sign for community events or to welcome people to Tipp, and Dave mentioned that a “Welcome to Tipp City” sign is planned for the future as part of Cityscape plans for the highway – perhaps that sign could be expedited and include hooks to hang signs for events. Tim suggested we go to the township for placement of a sign because they have no sign ordinance.

Billboard
Out of the above topic, discussion began on a city billboard – something that might say “Visit Historic Tipp City” and include mentions of shops, restaurants, or particular events. This has been a topic of conversation off and on, but Dave suggested that a possible way to pursue it would be to attempt to find matching funding from merchants, the city, the chamber, or any foundations in town that would support advertising the downtown and the city in general. He suggested that the merchants could pay subscriptions and sign up to support the billboard for six-month or yearly increments. The discussion continued around location, number of signs, and various mechanisms for funding the project. Greg suggested to Ruth that she survey the attendees of Antiques and Artisans day and find out how many people came because of the highway sign, saying that it would be very useful to have some statistics on how effective a billboard might be.

Marsha from Amaryllis called to check on pricing – she was quoted $1,600 to get started and $700/$800 month. Dave knows a person who might be able to help with design and will make the contact to see if they could possibly help. Marsha said she would work on presenting it to the Tipp Foundation. They meet on the 2nd Tuesday of July. Reed said he would make a call to the sign company and get specifics, and then we have to decide what words we want and get something on paper such as a sketch or a mockup of what the billboard will look like to start showing it to potential merchants for subscriptions. Along those lines, Tim suggested that the Chamber could act as collection agency for the funds and assist in the contractual discussions. The Partnership discussed funds and how to handle them and there was some discussion of the past challenges and disagreements that some merchants have had with the Chamber. Tim said that the Chamber would not be able to sponsor the billboard outright or contribute funds at this time, but perhaps if they had some involvement it might help them promote the downtown and help to mend some fences by reaching out to small business in the downtown.

Parking
Dave mentioned that the parking signs are in and ongoing discussions are taking place as to where to place the signs. The issues with the Town and Country lot and its usage by Harrison’s customers have been settled. Letters went out to Dow Street residents to get feedback on the potential switch to one-way traffic, but the response was not positive enough to move forward with that at this time.

Advertising
Reed showed copies of an old Tipp City marketing booklet produced by the Chamber in 1990 and suggested that the Chamber should produce a new version of this booklet. Tim said he would discuss that booklet and the billboard issue at the next Chamber meeting.
Reed suggested that the booklet was extremely valuable for local residents, business owners, and real estate agents and suggested that the booklet be redone on a regular basis, such as every two years.

Historical Preservation Plan
The City is organizing a Steering Committee to meet with their hired consultants to move forward on the Historic Preservation Plan. The group will meet on Monday the 26th at 7PM. Greg Enslen and Reed Spencer are members of that Steering Committee and will represent the Tipp Partnership.
The next Steering Committee meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 18th at 8 AM in Community Services room. Our Public Meetings have been moved to a quarterly schedule, and the next will take place on August 1st at 6:30PM at the Community Services building. For more information, please visit the Tipp Partnership website at www.tippcityblog.com or contact me at greg@dragonflyeditorial.com.

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Downtown Tipp City Partnership meeting notes - MAY 9,2006
Published May 9th, 2006 Meeting Notes 0 Comments Edit

In attendance: Kathy Taylor, Mara Back, Ruth Safreed, Dixie Moore
Adam Blake, Greg Enslen, Dave Collinsworth

Dave and Adam reported on parking: Signs are ordered. Discussions are still going on with Town and Country and Harrison’s. Discussions with Zion and UMC will be taken up after T& C and Harrison are completed.
One way Dow is still moving forward, city has not contacted all the residence.

Dave reported that the city is advertising on Tour Great Miami website. They now have brochures for motel rooms. Flyers will be put in other states and at rest areas. There are websites in other states now, all of this is through Tour Great Miami.

Ruth will be going to Council for approval of a billboard sign on the interstate just south of Rt 571. It will be the use of the Borschers’ sign.
We talked about a large permanent billboard but it is prohibitive at a cost of about $1500 a month. Greg is going to check with the Chamber to see if they are doing anything along the same lines.

We will be changing our meetings and the times. Most people would like a daytime meeting but we should still keep an evening meeting for the general public. We will be having a breakfast meeting once a month at 8AM on the 3rd Tuesday and once a quarter at 6:30PM on the 1st Tuesday.
Next breakfast meeting is June 20th at 8AM at the Community Services Building and the next quarterly meeting will be August 1st at 6:30PM at the Community Services building.

Antiques and Artisans Day is June 24th and will be advertised by posters, flyers, pamphlets and a billboard on I-75. They will advertise on radio, 99.1 or 1290.

America in Bloom is going well but the sales of planters are not going as well. A banner for Main Street has been ordered. Public plantings for the Parks will start May 13th, 8AM at Hyattsville Park and May 20th, 8AM at the City Park.

We need to have an agenda that will “stand out” for August.
Downtown Tipp City Partnership notes for 3/12/06 meeting
Published April 5th, 2006 Meeting Notes 0 Comments Edit

Attending: Matt Bayman, Greg Enslen, Ruth Safreed, Kelley Long, Dixie Moore, Kathy Taylor, Dave Collinsworth, Matt Black, Mara Back

Promotion & Design—Greg reporting. Greg wrote a letter of support for the Veterans Memorial at Main and Hyatt and sent it to Ron Re. He attended the Park board meeting on 3/13 and they approved the Main and Hyatt site for the memorial. It will go to Council for the final go ahead. They are looking into how other towns deal with their baseball diamonds to see if we need to make changes. Roundhouse renovations were discussed. The Dog Park is moving ahead. America In Bloom will meet Friday (17th) at 8AM to begin laying out the plans for this years contests. Last year was our first year and we came in 2nd in our population category. Our low scores were in floral display, so Springhill has created two flower boxes with an historical theme, the Roundhouse and a canal boat. They will go on display at the Government Center, Community Services and Springhill and will sell for $99 each. They can be painted or stained. AIB will also accept donations if you do not want to buy the boxes. All of this will be advertised by poster, in the newspapers and on KIT-TV.

Parking—Dave Collinsworth reported for Adam and Reed. They have put together a comprehensive report about parking which they shared with Dave. Dave said it is all doable. It will be done by early summer. They want standard signage used all around. Restricted parking will be noted by special signs. Downtown will be done first and then Broadway. Council does not have to move on any of this. The December Parking meeting recommended something should be worked out with Bill at Town and Country and Dave said Bill and the City are talking. The staff is evaluating Dow St. one-way, eastbound, 4th St to 1st St.. Twenty-eight parking places will added. The last areas for commitment are busing routes and the residence. Greg said he is doing a one on one with people on the street. Dave said if everything goes well it could be in effect in 6-8 weeks.

City Council—Dave reported the city will interviewing firms for the Historical Master plan for our Historical District. We have a grant from the state to do this and then property owners will get help getting money for improvements. We have to decide what are our goals are and what we will put towards this.

Website—Matt Bayman His Miami County website had an early kick off. Tour Great Miami and Shop Great Miami will be selling things to the world. So far they have 22 members. A printed publication will come out in two weeks and will go to several counties around us. Tour and Shop will be advertised in Ohio magazine soon.

Community Services—Kathy Taylor reported that the Community Garage Sale will be May 6. July 8th will be the Garden Tour and Tea. Two movie nights are planned for June and July. They will be at the park with concessions being offered to Music and Athletic boosters for a fund raiser. The screen will be 15×20 foot in size.

Merchants—Ruth Safreed said she invited Steve or someone to represent his group to the meeting but no one came. There will be no Canal Days as far as anyone at our meeting could tell. Steve has not said no but the people around him have.

Artist and Artisans Day will be in June. There will be a pancake breakfast to start and a Spaghetti Dinner to finish the day. Mr. Borshers said we could advertise on his rental sign that faces I 75 coming north just before you reach Rt. 571 exit 68. Two shops are opening a trophy shop by Tippecanoe Coffee Co. and A Tale of Two Sisters will be going into Carolyn’s Corner. Opening in Keepsake will be Grounds for Pleasure, a coffee house. Another trophy shop is going in Dottie Crowl’s building where a perfume shop just opened. 5/3 Bank will be closing their downtown branch June 1st. And Wealth Solutions, financial consultants, has open up in the red brick building next to Carolyn’s Corner.

Microchips for dogs and cats will be done at the police station on March 18th.

Next meeting Tues April 11th.

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Meeting Notes
Published February 9th, 2006 Meeting Notes 0 Comments Edit

America in Bloom Meeting (Tuesday Morning)
Progress is being made on this project on several fronts, and the City, Community Services, and Spring Hill are all involved. Not sure about the Garden Club’s level of involvement. Some highlights:

1. Spring Hill will offer significant discounts on special packages of plants and flowers - to participate, buyers must obtain a Spring Hill Packet, available at the Library and Government Center.
2. Each local school is choosing a representative to spearhead beautification efforts at each location.
3. The Parks Dept. is busy beefing up all the plantings around town and are working on other projects, including some plantings/cleaning up around the train crossing at Main.
4. Banners and other signage are in the works.

The next AIB Team meeting is in three weeks: Friday, March 3rd at 9am.

Garden Club (Tuesday Morning)
Andy’s Nursery will offer Garden Club members a formal discount on April 27th (must present coupon)

DTCP Steering Committee Meeting (Tuesday noon)
Attendees: Mara Back, Greg Enslen, Tim Evans, Reed Spencer, and Kathy Taylor (Matt Bayman also was present). Many topics of discussion were covered, including:

1. Tim Evans covered recent city-related activities, including the new Community Reinvestment Area that will, hopefully, encourage renovation and reuse of existing downtown structures by offering low-cost financing for repairs and remodeling efforts. Also, Tim talked about ongoing parking issues.
2. Following on the parking discussion, Reed Spencer, head of the Economic Development and Organization Action Group, introduced his formal Parking Proposal for review and approval - it represents a phased effort to get the city to move forward on parking-related signage in the downtown. This portion only pushes for standardized, formal ‘blue’ parking signage at several suggested locations in the downtown. Signs are minimal cost and would replace the hodge-podge signs, barriers, and hand-written signs used by various organizations used in downtown now. Follow-on work will involve out-of-town signage to direct people into town, turning Dow into a one-way street and bus parking options.
3. Greg Enslen, head of the Design and Promotions Action Group, discussed the lack of a city- or chamber of commerce-sponsored tourism website, and Matt Bayman offered to put anything we needed up on his local tourism site. It was decided that, for now, the Partnership would support Matt’s efforts and not push to have the city or chamber fund a separate site.
4. Greg also said that he finished the Letter of Support for locating the Veteran’s Memorial at Hyatt and Main. The letter will be distributed this week for review and approval.
5. Kathy Taylor presented her notes from the America in Bloom meeting. They are actively recruiting volunteers and are working on all of the projects listed above (see earlier meeting notes). Kathy also said planters are in the works for the downtown merchants.
6. Greg Enslen asked about the lot behind Sugdens Furniture store and found out that Verizon owns the location. He wondered if anyone had every discussed with them the possibility of landscaping that corner as a small park.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 14 at 6:30 in the Community Services meeting room.

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Minutes for the Downtown Tipp City Partnership Meeting Held on Tuesday, January 26th
Published January 26th, 2006 Meeting Notes 0 Comments Edit

In attendance: Reed Spencer, Tim Evans, Ron Re, Phyllis Hale, Renie Shefmire, Ruth Safreed, Mike Howell, Kathy Taylor, Mara Back, Greg Enslen, Mike McDermott, Keith Long, Kelley Long, Marcia Shum, Emily Newell, Adam Blake, Dave Watkins, Dixie Moore

Ron Re talked about the clock to be put in front of the Masonic Lodge. The city will not cut the tree down until Streetscape, probably in 2010, so the clock has to be installed to one side and cannot be centered in front the Lodge.

The City is talking to Bill about the Town and Country parking lot. We as a Partnership and individuals we need to put pressure on the City for signage for Parking. The city already has an agreement with the Methodist church for maintenance of their parking lot in return for its use as public parking. Downtown workers need to park off Main Street, parking on Dow St, Walnut, the churches or Canal Park. Tim and Adam will follow up with the city and report back to us at our next meeting.

Tim was asked to look in Vickie’s papers for our committee sign-ups. Reed and Tim complemented Greg on doing a good job with our blog. The blog website is: DowntownTippCityPartnership.blogspot.com. It was erroneously reported without the .com last month.

Greg will get his design team together to decide on a small project. Building pictures are available at the City Offices. Greg will be responsible for reporting to the papers our meeting highlights.

Phil Cox needs and has asked for help in landscaping the front of the old post office building that he has purchased. Renie said the Year Round Garden Club will help and she will contact Phil.

Tim Evans reported there is an Enterprise Zone being created by the City, it is still on the drawing board. Nothing has been done about parking signage. Study is underway for the zoning of a Legacy Industrial Space that would mix retail, residence and manufacturing. This is along the railroad tracks starting on Broadway and stretching to N. Fourth and Park Dr.

Mike McDermott (Chamber) told us Tour Bus lines are contacting the Chamber about stop-overs in Tipp. One is in Toledo and goes to Cincinnati. We discussed making up a baggie with coupons, walking tour guides, history of Tipp, places to eat. Mara and Mike will talk about what is needed and Mara will bring info to the Merchant’s Meeting on Thursday the 26th.

Mike said we need a webmaster in Tipp to design a site promoting the Downtown. Kathy at Community Service said the Tipp-Monroe Community Services has a website that tells of the downtown along with the township. The site is tmcomservices.org. Kathy told us about America In Bloom. It is a national organization that encourages green space, trees and flowers. It has a competition every year. We entered last year for the first time and came in second.

Ron Re spoke about having the Veterans Memorial Park at Main and Hyatt. He said there is some talk of having it at the City Park. Adam Blake made a motion that we write a letter of endorsement to the Memorial Committee for the Memorial to be at Main and Hyatt. It passed unanimously, Greg will write the letter.

The next meeting of the Steering Committee (Dave Collinsworth, Tim Evans, Greg Enslen, Reed Spencer, Mara Back, Ruth Safreed and Kathy Taylor) will be at Harrison’s on Tuesday, February 7th, at noon.

We discussed having a representative at every council meeting to promote and push our agenda. The Council meets every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month. There will be a sign-up sheet at the next meeting to cover this.
We will not meet next month because of the holiday. In March we start meeting the 2nd Tuesday of the month to avoid this next year. Dixie will notify KIT-TV of this change. Channel ten runs a message for our meetings.
Minutes for the Downtown Tipp City Partnership Meeting on Dec 20, 2005
Published December 20th, 2005 Meeting Notes 0 Comments Edit

In attendance were: Greg Enslen, Ruth Safreed, Keith Long, Kelley Long, Carol Elrod, Mara Back, Reed Spencer, Adam Blake, Jerry Moore, Dixie Moore.

Dixie Moore was appointed secretary in place of Jonelle Jaynes who can not attend meetings. Vicky Lowery has resigned from the Chamber and will not be on the Steering Committee. She does not live in Tipp. Ruth suggested Kathy Taylor from Community Services as a replacement for Vicky. She said Kathy was interested in replacing Vicky.
Our Mission statement was presented and will be voted on next month.

Promotion and Design are now one committee and Economic Development and Organization are one committee. This will be voted on in January.
We discussed how to inform everyone what our group is and will be doing.
Greg said we have a blog up and running. DowntownTippCityPartnership.blogspot is the address to log on. There is a link to the DART report on this site.

Ruth told us about the Good Samaritan fund and how it helps stranded travelers with gas, meals and lodging. The money is handled through the Police department and Community Services. Funds come from churches and businesses.
We will take a look at membership in January, some people are not attending the Steering Comm. Meetings. Three persons must be contacted and replaced accordingly.

Design and Promotion met and made a list of projects to work on after going throught the DART report. Greg has gotten a book with an inventory of the buildings on the Historical list. He is aquiring pictures of all businesses in the downtown area to determine what needs to be improved repaired etc. Owners will then be contacted to tell them how they can get monies and expertise to do this. The City has gotten a grant from the State to do this. Matt Spring has this information. The Buggy Whip building was sited as an example, the owners could partner with the city for improvements.

A report was made on the Parking meeting, employee parking on the main streets (Main, Second and First) making Dow St one-way to allow parking on both sides and some agreement between Harrison, Town and County and the City to use the Town and County lot after store hours, and better signage for public parking were the main concerns. Dave Collinsworth led the parking meeting. We decided our group needs to follow-up on the results of the meeting. Adam Blake said he could that.

On the question of Streetscape, downtown has moved from fifth (last) to third. Because of State funding no dates can be set until the monies are freed up. Adam thinks the whole streetscape will finished by 2012. All things are based on a funding calendar and are decided two years out.
It was announced by the Longs that they have purchased the Keepsake Crafts building on East Main and it will be rented out as a retail store.

Citizen of the year is Peg Hadden, business of the year is Heath Park and small business of the year is Evans Title Company.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday January 17, 2006.
Downtown Tipp City Partnership blog mentioned in DDN
Published November 17th, 2005 Press Coverage 0 Comments Edit

There is mention of this blog in Today’s Dayton Daily News, but unfortunately there is no link as they didn’t post the article to their own website. The print article is located on page 2 of the “Neighbors” section.

They do have a short article on the Parks Advisory Board’s decision to revisit the veteran’s memorial issue. “TIPP CITY - Supporters of adding a veterans memorial to a new park at one of the city’s busiest intersections convinced a committee to reconsider park plans.”
Tipp City on TV!
Published November 10th, 2005 Press Coverage 0 Comments Edit

In case you haven’t heard, Tipp City and the Winter’s Gathering were the talk of the Morning News show on Channel 2 this morning as Bucher’s Beat did his morning telecast live from the Hotel Gallery from 5:30 to 7:00 am. Steve Watson talked to Jim Bucher about the Winter’s Gathering and the many events associated with it. Jim even gave out the Chamber website address! Steve did very well, hitting all the bases and making sure to give out the hours and directions. Good Job, Steve!

Steering Committee Members, I taped the broadcasts and will be working over the weekend to edit the tape together for something that we could possibly show at the Monday night meeting - is anyone interested in seeing it ahead of that meeting? I may be able to host if enough people are interested. Thanks to Mike McDermott for pulling the whole thing together, and thanks to everyone who showed up at 5:15! It was cold out there!
DTCP Steering Committee Meeting
Published November 6th, 2005 Meeting Notes 0 Comments Edit

We met a Harrison’s on 11/1 at noon to discuss our mission statement, new projects, and our upcoming general meeting. It was decided to release this DTCP internet blog to the public via press releases in the Dayton Daily News and the Independent Voice and to do a ‘walk-through’ demonstration of the website (via laptop and projector) at the next general meeting. We also decided to work on our mission statement via email over the next two weeks and to present that at the general meeting. Lastly, we discussed the makeup of our “Action Groups” and how those teams would be formed and given direction. I volunteered to get the Promotions Action Group and the Design Action Group started with meetings in my home. We also had a short discussion on the downtown sidewalks, the downtown merchants’ feelings about them and the plans for Streetscape to replace some of those sidewalks.

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Meeting Notes
Published October 24th, 2005 Meeting Notes 0 Comments Edit

Here are my meeting notes. The DART report recommended that Tipp City repair its “dysfunctional” process and come together to work on outstanding issues. Those issues fall into four categories: Promotion, Organization, Business Development, and Design. The general consensus of the meeting it that Tipp City needs improvement in all of these areas, and that with so many disparate groups working cross-purposes, no one knows what anyone else is doing.

The Downtown Tipp City Partnership group was formed as an “umbrella organization” to:

- gather and disiminate information amongst Tipp City’s various groups and to the larger community as a whole,
- collect lists of community issues and concerns, organize them into the four larger areas described above (Design, Organization, Business Development, and Promotion), and recruit volunteer groups to pursue solutions to these problems, and
- pursue 501c3 status in preparation for the gathering of funds or, alternately, “incubate” under the Community Services umbrella for now.

Our Steering Committee was formed and volunteers were accepted to begin organizing our efforts. The steering committee met after the larger meeting ended to discuss our interests, elect a temporary leader, and form a smaller group to begin working on a mission statement to be presented at the next large meeting. The Steering Committee planned our next meeting for Tuesday, November 1st at Noon at Harrisons in Tipp City.

Tipp City Visitor’s Bureau