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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 03/12/2020DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Directors' Meeting MINUTES of March 12, 2020 The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 12, 2020 at Rocky Mountain Innosphere, 320 E. Vine Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80524. PRESENT Chris Aronson; Jenny Bramhall; Susan Gutowsky; Dwight Hall; Rebecca Hill; John Kefalas; Bevin Parker; Jenny Schultz; Mark Williams; Cheryl Zimlich; Angel Kwiatkowski ABSENT N/A STAFF Matt Robenalt, Executive Director; Todd Dangerfield, Project Manager; Tom Dent, Technology & Maintenance Manager; Derek Getto, Project Manager for Policy & Programs; Kristy Klenk, Financial Coordinator; Bonnie Ward, Administrative Manager; Josh Liley, Legal Counsel GUESTS Drew Brooks, City of Fort Collins; Jason Dennison, Downtown Business Association; Eric Keselburg, City of Fort Collins; Diane Jones, Formation Group; Andrew Williams, Downtown Business Association; Cara Scohy, Norris Design CALL TO ORDER Jenny Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:33 a.m. Angel Kwiatkowski and Susan Gutowsky arrived at 7:33am after Roll Call was taken. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chris Aronson moved to approve the minutes of February 13, 2020; seconded by John Kefalas, the minutes were approved unanimously. ALL IDEAS: BIG AND SMALL UPDATES: N/A DDA UPDATES: N/A ALLOCATION OF BUDGET FUNDS FOR 2020 PRIORITY PROJECTS FROM THE 5-YEAR INVESTMENT PLAN Kristy Klenk introduced the discussion of the allocation of budgeted funds to projects for the fifth and final year of the current 5-Year Investment Plan. Matt Robenalt explained to new Board members that the purpose of this allocation process is to provide additional transparency in how the Board intends to Susan Gutowsky, Council Liaison 970-416-2447 John Kefalas, County Commission Liaison 970-498-7001 Jenny Schultz, Board Chair 970-660-9028 allocate proceeds, interest earnings, savings from previous projects, and other revenue for expenditure in 2020. This action does not change the formal budget and appropriation actions of the DDA Board and City Council that occurred in November 2019. Ms. Klenk explained the budgeting process often requires end-of-year adjustments because the final valuation for tax increment revenue from the Larimer County Assessor is not received until the end of December. Total revenues for 2020, derived from tax increment, are $6,630,081. After committed funds are deducted, there is $4,593,499 uncommitted for projects and programs. There is also $93,651 to be reallocated from interest earnings and project and program savings, which brings the total available uncommitted funds to $4,687,150. Mr. Robenalt described that in 2016 the DDA began placing committed funds in the Capital Asset Reserve after the remodel of Old Town Square. The DDA did not need to add additional reserve funds this year for Old Town Square or the alleys since we were fully funded at the beginning of 2020. Ms. Klenk reviewed the proposed uses for the allocation of funds for the 5- year Investment Plan. This included programming for Old Town Square, including the return of the Lego Festival and the addition of a Recycled Arts Festival. Additional support for the Sculpture on Loan Program and one-time leadership training for the Program Director for Outreach Fort Collins was also recommended. This is a 9-month program through Employers Council. Alley Budget: Mr. Robenalt provided details of the enhanced alley budget. This budget will cover items such as Ditesco’s services as CM/GC for Tenney Court North and West Oak alleys as well as the cost for the urban design architect team and other services. Staff requested $523,852 for completion of the design phase in 2020. Although the new alleys have not been constructed, Darin Atteberry inquired about the estimated budget for the project. Mr. Robenalt explained it could range from $800,000 to $1.2 million per block but due to the size of the two upcoming blocks, the DDA is estimating approximately $2 million to $2.5 million for the upcoming project. 140 E. Oak (Elks Lot): Mr. Robenalt went over the project budget for the Elks Lot, making a note that the value of the land the DDA purchased previously was not included. With the December 31, 2019 ending balance for pre-development and construction totaling $2,866,347 and the addition of the 2020 allocation of $3,960,870, the total cash available for the project is $6,827,217. Cheryl Zimlich suggested placing the $2.8 million for the valuation of the land in the total cost to show the DDA’s contribution. Mr. Robenalt informed the Board that when presenting the full presentation, they will include the commitments of all the contributors to the project and its team. Ms. Klenk and Mr. Robenalt thanked the Finance Committee consisting of Bevin Parker, and Jenny Schultz, as well as the Executive Committee for taking time to review this agenda item. Moved by Cheryl Zimlich, seconded by Chris Aronson: To adopt Resolution 2020-01 to allocate $4,593,499 and reallocate $93,651 for a total of $4,687,150 for expenditure for projects and programs during the fifth year of the 5-Year Project Investment Plan. The motion passed unanimously. INTERGOVERMENTAL AGREEMENT REGARDING REDEVELOPMENT OF 140 E. OAK STREET Matt Robenalt discussed the need for an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) regarding the redevelopment of 140 E. Oak to help provide clarification on the working relationship between the two organizations as well as compliance with the requirements for the tax credit application. The IGA presented to the Board would supersede the interim IGA that had previously been approved for purposes of covering payments on early phase land use approval consultant work. This primary IGA also establishes the respected roles for preconstruction development activities, points of decision for the DDA Board and organization and anticipated roles and expected responsibilities for preparing the property for the legal structure that has to be put in place for the tax credit application for submission later this year. The IGA establishes a 1-million-dollar fund from the DDA’s preconstruction service budget towards preconstruction expenses associated with design team activities. DDA Legal Counsel, Josh Liley and Mr. Robenalt expect there could be amendments made to this IGA in the future as well as new documents needed for the process to create a long-term ground leases, condominium declarations, deeds, operating agreements. In future meetings, Mr. Liley will bring forth to the Board documents to establish a limited liability company (LLC), which will be controlled by the DDA Board for purposes of managing the land ownership, and an operating agreement with the future entity that must be created to satisfy the tax credit program requirements. Afterwards a deed will be submitted for the transfer of ownership of the property and then a long-term ground lease with the tax credit entity. All the aforementioned items are required to achieve in compliance with the LIHTC program requirements. Mr. Robenalt described the rationale for the DDA’s retention of ownership of the land and described why it makes sense to place the land into the project partnership through a 99-year ground lease. This approach was discussed by Jenny Shultz among her colleagues in the commercial lending profession as the industry’s preferred timeframe for land leases in commercial real estate projects so that it does not cause complications relative to obtaining construction and traditional financing. Moved by Mark Williams, seconded by Cheryl Zimlich: To approve the Intergovernmental Agreement regarding redevelopment of 140 E. Oak Street, and provide the Board Chair with authorization to execute the agreement with Housing Catalyst, and authorizes the executive director and legal counsel to make changes to the IGA and attached exhibits, provided that such changes do not substantially alter the rights or obligations of the DDA thereunder. 2020-2021 ALLEY ENHANCEMENT PROJECT PHASES 1: DESIGN & ENGINEERING CONSULTANT CONTRACT AWARD RECOMMENDATION UPDATE Todd Dangerfield provided an overview of the five proposals for the design and engineering consultant submissions. Of those five proposals, three teams were interviewed on March 10 and Norris Design was awarded the contract for the 2020-2021 Alley Enhancement Project. Rebecca Hill and Bevin Parker were participants in the review panel and are appreciated for their input and time. Mr. Dangerfield provided a background summary of Norris Design and his excitement for working with this design firm to bring new ideas to the alleys design. Norris Design showed very detailed narratives in an analysis’ for addressing physical issues and opportunities in alleys, which included their knowledge of Fort Collins history. Other characteristics that the interview panel enjoyed about Norris Design was their approach to community engagement, economic vitality, and a fresh new story to bring to each space while designing to an approved budget. Mr. Dangerfield reminded the Board that the alley project goals were to be able to create an equal or more exciting alley using past alley projects as the basis and is excited to see what new concepts Norris brings in their design. Moved by Chris Aronson, seconded by Angel Kwaitkowski: To approve to enter into a professional services agreement with Norris Design in the amount of $258, 936. DRAFT 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW The draft Year in Review was distributed in the meeting materials for Board comment before the document is scheduled for final publication. This report is compiled to highlight the DDA's accomplishments of the previous year and will be submitted to the Mayor and City Council and is published on the DDA website. It is also used to provide a general overview of the work of the organization for presentations, and to visiting groups. Matt Robenalt thanked Bonnie Ward on her first year producing this document and staff is already looking forward to producing the 2021 Year in Review. Angel Kwaitkowski suggested swapping the alley award photos for a better layout. “Interim” was removed before Jenny Schultz board title. The Board endorsed the draft, with the few recommended changes. PARKING SERVICES UPDATE Eric Keselburg of the City of Fort Collins Parking Services provided a brief overview of Parking Services’ in-ground parking sensor program and discussed parking structures, payment kiosks, parking time frames. Recommendations by the Board were made to improve payment processes, time frames for arrival and departure, and general management of parking structures. Mr. Keselberg presented information on the in-ground sensor technology that was installed 4th Quarter of 2018 and discussed the recent failure of many of the sensors. As a result of the failing sensor technology, Parking Services has developed a sensor replacement plan and will begin implementing that plan in March. The plan is to replace 250 sensors in the core of downtown, which should be completed in short timeframe with minimized disruption. Once the technology failure was discovered, the on-street parking portion of the smart phone app was turned off. However, the parking structure data continues to be accurate and remains functional on the smart phone app. Mr. Keselburg provided information on the cost to implement the new technology throughout the downtown parking system. In the Old Town Parking Garage, owned by the DDA, the new technology cost $166,389 to install. Since the technology was instituted hourly parking revenues has decreased by approximately $96,000. Mr. Keselburg expressed that the Old Firehouse Alley garage has shown an increase in revenue since its completion in 2018. Jenny Schultz suggested that the increase in revenue data could be due to the fact the garage was not open the entire year of 2018. Susan Gutowski inquired about gated vs. gateless garages across the country and asked why there was differences in the industry. Mr. Robenalt described that there are two different models in our region, and questions whether the gateless model was as universally deployed in the region as parking services expressed when the gateless concept was chosen several years ago upon the opening of the Old Firehouse Alley garage. Ms. Kwaitkowski expressed that the pre-pay model is backwards, and it is more natural to pay after services are rendered. There was discussion around license plate recognition (LPR) technology and the benefits the gateless system offers if LPR were deployed, which includes 24-hour management technology and reduced staffing time for patrol. The cost to deploy this new system would be an additional $36,888. Mr. Robenalt asked whether this technology would continue to work with the recently installed kiosk technology. Ms. Schultz asked how this LPR technology would work for rental car users. Mr. Robenalt expressed concern with this technology not being the best customer service model, especially with consideration of over 1 million visitors to Fort Collins that many could inevitably have rental cars if beginning their Colorado travels through DIA. Board members widely discussed different ideas around receiving garage user feedback and non-garage user feedback. Suggestions around staffing an ambassador at the garage to receive real time feedback should be considered. John Kefalas emphasized feedback from all demographics, especially those that are not tech savvy is important. Mr. Robenalt expressed users of the garage come from near and far and should not focus only on Fort Collins residents in receiving feedback, and reminded that enforcement and tickets do not create a memorable experience for patrons if tickets would be issued via mail. The discussion transitioned into understanding the complexity or ease of having the garages go back to the old system with gates rather than perusing LPR technology and issuing tickets via mail. The idea of “pay as you use” versus “pay before you use” was the model preferred by the Board. Drew Brooks, TransFort Director expressed that this is definitely an option, but wanted to express unreliability of the gates was the initial reason for pursuing current dateless model. Further discussion was had around parking validation compatibility with the new kiosks. Mr. Keselburg transitioned into discussing elevator maintenance issues with the Civic Center Parking Structure Garage. Parking Services is currently working to have the elevator shafts waterproofed and has requested additional funds from Parking reserves to have pursue a permanent fix. Mr. Keselburg shared that Parking Services was considering extending 2-hour enforcement from 6pm to 8pm to allow for greater flexibility in enforcement. Both Board members Ms. Zimlich and Ms. Hall raised concerns with this approach and felt it was not reflective of the restaurant and nighttime uses downtown. Mr. Robenalt expressed that parking turnover was needed to support a thriving retail environment, but parking turnover at night conflicted with the adopted parking plan. He also discussed the need to rebalance the underutilized garages by looking at where City employees park. Currently they are receiving discounts to park in high demand garages where there are waitlists, while other garages are at much lower occupancies. Ms. Schultz suggested that Parking Services come back to the Board as conversations develop about future plans and initiatives. Diane Jones, member of the public, complimented the Board on being able to discuss difficult topics and it was refreshing to watch. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Robenalt informed the Board that the DDA is preparing to set up online meetings in the event there is a Stay-At-Home order issued by public health officials to ensure it is in place for the next meeting. Staff will be in contact with each member to coordinate their technological needs if this takes place. ADJOURN There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 10:04 a.m. ______________________________________ Cheryl Zimlich, Secretary