CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

Here are some of the items the council considered at its meeting Monday.

?

VISITORS INFORMATION KIOSK AT PIER PLAZA

The council voted unanimously in favor of changing an ATM kiosk at Pier Plaza downtown into an information booth run by the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau. That vote follows up earlier approval of the project in a more general form.

WHAT IT MEANS

A specific location for the kiosk has now been chosen, and the plan will now go forward with the bureau maintaining the new booth.

“As the city of Huntington Beach is transformed into an even more world-renowned destination, we need to make it prominently known that we welcome guests to our town,” visitors bureau President Doug Traub said.

He added downtown was the No. 1 spot residents took visitors to in town, according to surveys.

BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD

The City Council voted to amend the ordinance creating the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) to allow council members to appoint an official advisory board. It also made a resolution appointing that BID as the official Downtown BID Advisory Board.

WHAT IT MEANS

Before the Downtown BID incorporated as a nonprofit organization last year, a separate advisory group gave recommendations to the council about downtown business issues. Now that the district has grown significantly and has more power, city staff recommended council members use the BID itself for advice about downtown.

The Business Improvement District has a direct relationship with the council as an advisory group. According to staff reports, that will give the two bodies greater flexibility in communication over the many issues facing the downtown economy to come.