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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 10/18/2006DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Directors' Meeting Steve Taylor, Chair 221-0524(W) Kurt Kastein, Council Liaison 223-0425(W)' Linda Gula, Staff Liaison 4844020(W) MINUTES of October 18, 2006 REGULAR MEETING The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 11:00 am. on October 19, 2006 in the Board Room at First National Bank, 205 West Oak, Fort Collins, CO 80524. PRESENT George Brelig Carey Hewitt, Secretary4rcasurer Kim Jordan McCabe Callahan William Sears Patty Spencer Steve Taylor, Chair Jack Wolfe, Vice Chair Karen Weitkunat ABSENT Kurt Kastein STAFF Robert Steiner, DDA Executive Director Matt Robenalt, DDA Project Manager Lucia Liley Linda Gula, DDA Staff GUESTS Darin Atteberry, Chuck Seest, Kathy Cardona, David Short, Mayor Doug Hutchinson, Diggs Brown, Ben Manvel, Carl Glaser, Blue Havater. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Taylor called the meeting to order at 11:10 am. Roll call was taken. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Hewitt moved to approve the minutes of September 7, 2006. Seconded by Mr. Sears and passed unanimously. RESOLUTION 2006-07 — RECOMMENDING BOND INTEREST APPROPRIATION Mr. Steiner stated that the DDA TIF revenues that have not been spent have accumulated interest earnings. He stated these funds need to be appropriated for expenditure. He referred to Resolution 2006-07 included in the packet materials that recommends the appropriation of the funds into the 2005 bond miscellaneous category. He stated some of the appropriated funds will be used for holiday lights and re -installation and removal of the Old Town Ice Rink for the 2006-2007 season. Mr. Sears moved to approve Resolution 2006-07. Seconded by Mr. Wolf and passed unanimously. HOLIDAY DISPLAYS - This item was moved to the end of the Retreat Agenda because of the need to discuss it in Executive Session. (Retreat Agenda directly follows this meeting) DDA BOARD MINUTES PAGE OCTOBER 18, 2006 OTHER BUSINESS Holiday Enertainment Contribution - Mr. Steiner stated that last year the DDA had contributed $80,000 to the DBA holiday entertainment budget. He stated that this year, DBA staff has proposed a contribution of $35,000 towards entertainment, buskers, and ambassadors. Mr. Steiner asked the Board if it wanted to support the request. Ms. Weitkunat stated it was important to encourage people to come to the downtown area. She stated she felt it was important to keep the level of holiday enthusiasm for the downtown area as high as possible. Mr. Taylor agreed. Mr. Wolf moved to authorize $35,000 in support of the DBA Holiday Program. Seconded by Ms. Weitkunat and passed unanimously. Holiday Parking Contribution — Mr. Steiner stated in year's past the DDA/DBA/City have split the cost of providing for free parking in the downtown garages on Saturdays and Sundays during the holiday season. The total cost has been $10,000 in the past. He asked the Board if it wanted to support this effort again this year. The Board discussed the hours of operation, costs, and the value of providing free parking to downtown patrons. Mr. Sears moved to approve support of $3300 or not to exceed $5000 for the Holiday Parking Program. Seconded by Ms. Spencer and passed unanimously. DDA Staff - Mr. Steiner announced that Linda Gula would be leaving at the end of January 2007 and staff have been discussing some proposed changes to the position. He stated the general plan would be for the DBA to hire a receptionis/event assistant for the front office. The DDA would hire a financial coordinator/executive assistant who would also be responsible for administrative assistance to DDA staff and the Board. The Board asked questions about where the person would office, who would be funding the DBA position, and where the money would be coming from. The Board asked Mr. Steiner to come to the November meeting with more clarity on job descriptions and funding of the positions. Sales Tax Update - Mr. Seest , City Finance Director, distributed the Sales Tax Report for September. He stated sales tax for the downtown area was up 3.6% for August sales reported in September. The downtown continues to have a positive sales tax trend. The Board ended this portion of the meeting at 11:40 a.m. to be continued after the lunch Break DDA RETREAT First National Bank Board Room I Floor, 215 West Oak Street October 18, 2006 This portion of the meeting commenced at 12:15 p.m 1. URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY AS A FUTURE DOWNTOWN OPTION Mr. Steiner stated since the City and the Authority are not in a position to introduce changes to DDA TIF legislation this year, and perhaps in future years as well if TIF in general remains so controversial, staff is suggesting an alternative, backup solution; of establishing an overlapping urban renewal authority tax increment district on the downtown. Staff does not yet have confirmation from bond counsel that this is legal and possible, it was, however bond counsel that suggested the idea in the first place. Establishing a URA TIF district on downtown accomplishes the following: 1. It creates a new TIF district with 2007 as its base year. Therefore, a newly created downtown URA district would benefit from the accumulation of tax increment beginning in 2008 and the TIF collection would continue through the year 2033 (URA TIF districts have a life of 25 years as opposed to DDA TIF districts that have a life of 30 years). 2. DDA legislation allows for the continuation of TIF debt beyond its 30-year lifespan if other arrangements are in place to service that debt. If an urban renewal authority district is put in place, it could assume the responsibility of any future debt service obligations of the DDA after its own TIF district expires in 2011. Therefore, having the URA in place allows the DDA to regain its ability to issue long -tern debt. This is important given the financial magnitude of projects on the horizon such as the hotel and amphitheater. URA vs DDA: The fundamental differences between a DDA and URA are: I. URA can issue its own debt Cities issue debt on behalf of DDAs. 2. URAs have condemnation powers. DDAs do not. 3. URAs are usually governed by City Council (although this is not mandatory). DDA's are usually governed by a distinct board (although this is not mandatory either). 4. URA TIF districts have a 25-year lifespan. DDA TIF districts have a 30-year lifespan. 5. URAs cannot levy property taxes. DDAs can levy up to five mills for administrative purposes. Mr. Steiner stated staff is asking the Board of Directors to consider the option of creating an overlapping URA TIF district downtown. If this happens, an Intergovernmental Agreement between the DDA and City would be necessary. This agreement would: 1. Establish the DDA Board to function simultaneously as the Urban Renewal Authority board; 2, Adopt the rules that now govern the City-DDA relationship so that: a. City Council approves the DDA and URA budget: b. City Council approves the issuance of any debt by the URA; c. The URA foregoes condemnation powers; d. The DDA continues to levy five mills for operating purposes for the life of the URA TIF district. Mr. Steiner stated the relationship between the DDA and the City would not change except that the DDA Board would also serve as the URA Board for the URA downtown TIF district. He went on to note because of the possibility of changes to the method and oversight of TIF allocations for urban renewal authorities, staff believes a downtown URA district should be created and approved prior to adoption of any new legislation by the State. That means it should get done in the next few months. The Board had an extensive discussion about this proposal and the need to move forward quickly. It was agreed the first steps in the process were to request that the URA Board consider conducting a blight study and to examine the legal issues surrounding the formation of an overlapping URA. RETREAT NOTES PAGE OCTOBER 18, 2006 Mr. Wolfe moved to request the board to authorize funds necessary to pay for a blight study to be conducted by the Urban Renewal Authority and ancillary to establishing an Urban Renewal Authority TIF district downtown. Seconded by Mr. Sears and passed unanimously. Ms. Weitkunat asked that this information and the request for the blight study be passed along to the URA in memo form so that they are aware of it --City Council is Chairman of the Board. 2.OLD TOWN ICE RINK Staff had been asked to evaluate sites for permanent installation of the Old Town Ice Rink. This evaluation focused on identifying currently vacant sites, considered proximity to electric utility needs, looked for opportunities to integrate with ongoing DDA projects, and considered proximity to retail activity. This evaluation did not examine costs for ice surface expansion or construction costs for permanently installing the equipment. Mr. Robenalt reviewed the site options. He stated the minimum site requirements for the existing equipment are: - 40x60 ft rink, and 8x24 ft compressor (15132ft fenced enclosure) - Proximity to 480 volt 3-phase electricity/transformer - Level topography Old Town Square # 1 —No Change Old Town Square #2 — Larger Ice Sheet Jefferson Street Mini Park Chestnut Street Library Park —NW Corner Integrate w/Hotel Site DDA Parking Lot behind Walrus/Rio Grande Civic Center Park Creamery Building Parking Lot The Board discussed the pros and cons of the various locations along with the importance of the location to be accessible to downtown. Areas of discussion focused on the need for a permanent location, size of the rink, how important the rink is to supporting the retailers, and additional uses for the off-season. Mr. Steiner suggested having Mr. Robenalt target the Chestnut location and come back with a variety of options: a larger sheet of ice, possibly design a park useage, possibly the option of a covered stage, and a possible pocket farmer's market. 3. DOWNTOWN RIVER DISTRICT INFRASTRUCTURE STUDY Mr. Steiner stated that City staff, DDA staff, and the consulting team have done enormous work on the infrastructure study being conducted in the area between the Poudre River and Jefferson Street. Mr. Robenalt and Ms. Kathleen Bracke reviewed the information included in the alternatives for the plan and also reviewed the trends being supported most heavily by the public thus far. They were looking for feedback from this Board. Mr. Robenalt stated the Downtown Business Association Board had seen the same presentation and had voted to send a letter of support to City Council and CDOT outlining specific areas of support and he was requesting the same from the DDA Board., There was extensive discussion and questions among boardmembers about the roundabout at Mountain/Lincoln/Riverside, the proposed brick paving material for Willow and Linden streets, the proposed mill race in the Willow Street right-of-way, and traffic flows in all of the area. Ms. Jordan moved that the Board endorse the letter that Downtown Business Association had written to City Council which includes specific details on the river corridor improvements (see letter attached), Seconded by Mr. Sears and passed unanimously. Mr. Steiner stated he would prepare a Resolution to be forwarded to City Council and CDOT. 4a. BEET STREET EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE Mr. Steiner stated the candidate list has been reduced to five people and the interviews will be held October 24 -25. The intent is to narrow the list to one or two and invite them back for a second interview. RETREAT NOTES PAGE OCTOBER 18, 2006 4b. BEET STREET CAPITAL PROJECTS PACKAGE Mr. Steiner stated it was suggested at a Beet Street Committee meeting by Chris Osborn, First National Bank President, that the DDA develop a capital projects package demonstrating the breadth and scope of the larger program. The idea would put what might seem like isolated capital projects into the context of developing a comprehensive program. The purpose is to put individual projects — an amphitheater, hall of philosophy, hotels, educational facilities, recreational facilities, alley improvements, community market, the Mason Street multi -modal redevelopment, river district infrastructure, and other improvements — into the context of the larger vision. Staff thinks this a great idea. A capital projects package knitted into the Beet Street program will make the entire effort easier to understand and much more tangible to those not familiar with Beet Street. He suggested the Board, at some point, take time to brainstorm the kinds of capital projects that are considered necessary to the success of Beet Street and that would also enhance the general interest and excitement of the central business district. UNATTENDED DISPLAYS Mr. Steiner stated last year an issue arose over the display of a Menorah on public property. Neither the City nor the DDA had written policies in place that governed private unattended displays. Since then, the City has adopted a formal policy that leaves the status quo in place. The DDA has the option of doing the same thing or it can: 1. Declare Old Town Square a public forum, in which case, any display would be permissible; 2. Decide that the DDA will install its own displays, in which case, it can control what can and cannot happen. He stated legal staff would provide the Board with details on the options in Executive Session COMMENT - Doug Hutchinson stated he was sharing personal thougths and was not speaking as a councilperson. Mr. Hutchinson referred to Richard Florida and "The Rise of the Creative Class." He made the case that cities that prosper tend to attract the creative class and that generally leads to a robust economy . He stated robust economies/cities tend to have true diversity. — (multicultural diverse outreach). He made a case that true diversity is a pretty important thing to people that are in the creative class. He stated he thought it is possible to be inclusive in the holiday display policy. It is one piece of things that makes Fort Collins unique- it is not just a politically correct thing to do, it sets the stage and makes it a greater city. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 3:40 p.m. Mr. Wolfe moved to go into Executive Session pursuant to CRS 24-6-402 (4) (1) (1) for the purposes of receiving advice from legal counsel on holiday displays. Seconded by Mr. Sears and passed unanimously. Mr. Taylor reconvened the Regular Session at 4:15 p.m. The Board discussed the existing policy regarding private unattended displays and its vote was to retain its existing policy regarding private unattended displays in Old Town Square and directed its legal counsel to draft a resolution formalizing this policy for adoption at its next regular meeting. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting adjourned 4:20 p.m. Y` Carey Hewitt, S retary