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<br />City Council Study Session - 01/24/05 <br />Minutes - Page 14 <br /> <br />in February with a shelter design for their review followed by a <br />public hearing and recommendation. <br /> <br />Transtop President Connie Barry <br />Mr. Schwartz introduced Ms. Barry, who in turn introduced the <br />City Council and residents to her firm via a short presentation. <br />Ms. Barry's son and Office Manager, Jason Barry, was also <br />present. <br /> <br />Ms. Barry reviewed her firms' 25 year history of public/private <br />partnership with municipalities; local bus shelter advertising <br />experience with 340 transit shelters in the Mpls./St. Paul area; <br />the company's provision for shelter installation and maintenance <br />costs; shelter illumination; and the company's involvement in the <br />recent Metro Transit study on how to get people to use public <br />transit, with the two highest requests for shelters and lighting for <br />safety. Ms. Barry noted that their firm had an existing agreement <br />with Xcel Energy; and her company's history of paying a <br />percentage of its advertising revenue to the City as a franchise <br />fee, as well as providing public service advertising space. Ms. <br />Barry provided various samples of their advertising agency- <br />created designs; design of their shelters for safety, visibility and <br />setback purposes; bench design for safety and to discourage <br />vagrancy in the shelter; and the option for personalizing the <br />shelters with the City's logo. <br /> <br />Ms. Barry noted that their firm had submitted 24 potential <br />locations for shelter sites, recognizing that there would be some <br />attrition in the approval process due to setbacks and technical <br />reasons; the firm's attempt to balance the needs of the <br />community with potentially saleable locations for advertising; <br />and their co-existence with bus benches during their business <br />tenure. Ms. Barry suggested, as an example, that while it didn't <br />represent a high-traffic location, their firm was suggesting a <br />shelter near Presbyterian Homes, recognizing a community need. <br />Ms. Barry noted that 17 of the 24 locations would co-exist with <br />benches. <br /> <br />Ms. Barry reviewed their marketing formats, 4-week cycles; use <br />of local and national advertising markets; and uses for employee <br />recruitment. Ms. Barry noted that, while their firm was not <br />