Meeting for the third time Tuesday, the 15-member Downtown Partners advisory panel to the mayor and aldermen struggled to define its purpose and aim during a disjointed two-hour meeting.

While the group set out to develop a number of subcommittees to look at various issues downtown, it ended up with just one — which will look into the possibility of creating a new business improvement taxing district or expanding the existing Vicksburg Main Street Program taxing district.

“That’s the subcommittee that’s really going to define where we’re going to go from here,” said Vice Chairman Larry Gawronski. “It’s the most critical committee, because from there all the others will grow.”

The essential question facing the subcommittee will be this: does Downtown Partners want to generate an operating budget via additional property taxes or would it rather remain a volunteer advisory board without money to spend on the ideas it comes up with?

Downtown Partners members learned in their first two meetings a great deal about a business improvement district, commonly referred to as a BID, from moderator and Vicksburg native Ben Allen, who as president of the Downtown Jackson Partners was involved in establishing Mississippi’s only BID in Jackson, in 1996.

Like the Vicksburg Main Street Program taxing district, a BID would receive funds for Downtown Partners via an additional tax levied on commercial property owners in a designated district. Allen was not at Tuesday’s meeting, but last month said the BID in Jackson took three years to create and its downtown partners group operates on about a $1 million budget to provide security in its taxing district, as well as promote downtown residency and economic development.

Creating a BID in Vicksburg would require ballot approval by property owners in the proposed taxing district, approval by local municipal boards and bill passage at the state level by a local legislator.

Most Downtown Partners members were skeptical of creating yet another tax on downtown merchants, so the possibility of simply expanding the Main Street taxing district — which encompasses a 20-block radius between Mulberry, Jackson, Veto and Cherry streets — also will be discussed by the subcommittee formed Tuesday.

As they have in past meetings, the members spent much time Tuesday discussing the funding mechanisms and missions of groups such as the Vicksburg Main Street Program and Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“We don’t want to be doing any overlapping work,” Chairman Blake Teller stressed. “That would be a waste of time.”

Some confusion was cleared up, as Harry Sharp — Main Street chairman — and Main Street executive director Kim Hopkins were able to sit in on their first Downtown Partners meeting to explain what Main Street does and what restrictions it faces. Sharp was chosen as an original member but could not attend the first two meetings, while Hopkins was allowed to attend after several members rallied at the first two meetings for her inclusion.

“We’re here to help in any way we can,” said Sharp. “We’re for whatever is best for Vicksburg — period.”

A BID and main street program can be compatible, as has been shown in Jackson, where the downtown partners staff of three shares office space with Main Street program directors. In Vicksburg, the Main Street program is not only funded by the taxing district, but also by membership dues and contributions from the city and county.

Main Street has been working to extend its taxing district along Clay and Washington streets in recent years, and Sharp said it’s also working to get nonprofit status, which would allow the group to pursue grant funding at the state and federal levels.

Downtown Partners was created in mid-March by Mayor Paul Winfield, who announced his idea for the advisory panel on downtown development last fall after a series of heated public hearings concerning a downtown restaurant that wanted to expand to include a bar. The group’s 15 members represent downtown eateries, bars, merchants and residents.

Tuesday’s meeting had been scheduled as a one-hour affair. At times, the discussion was entirely driven by city officials — including the mayor — who were initially identified as mere “observers” of the group. Teller expressed some frustration at the lack of separation between Downtown Partners members and the city.

“Maybe we don’t need the mayor and the city officials in here,” said Teller, who prefaced his comment by saying he didn’t feel the group had accomplished anything in three meetings. “What’s happening with this meeting, it’s kind of getting taken over… and I thought our reason for being here was to come up with ideas on our own and take recommendations to the city.”

Later in the meeting, when another Downtown Partners member suggested Building and Inspections Director Victor Gray-Lewis serve on the subcommittee, Chris Porter asked, “Why do we keep trying to mix the city in with what we’re trying to do?”

Some members also seemed dismayed at the lack of a mission statement for the group or clearly defined goals.

“We still have not defined what our mission is,” said Tillman Whitley about an hour and 20 minutes into the meeting, “and it’s becoming less and less definable.”

No meeting time or place was decided upon for the subcommittee, which will consist of Teller, Sharp, Whitley, David Day and Andrew Dawson. The entire Downtown Partners panel is scheduled to meet next on June 8.

“I don’t want anyone to get dismayed because we haven’t made a lot of progress,” said Winfield. “We’re still in our infancy stage, and it’s going to be long haul.”