HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 04/10/2008DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Regular Directors' Meeting
Jack Wolfe, Chair 495-1298 (W)
Kelly Ohlson, Council Liaison 219-9814 (W)
Kathay Rennels, County Liaison 498-7010 (W)
MINUTES of April 10, 2008 REGULAR MEETING
The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 7:30 a.m. on
April 10, 2008 at Home State Bank located at 303 East Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524.
PRESENT
McCabe Callahan; Kim Jordan; Kelly Ohlson; William Sears; Patty Spencer; Steve Taylor; Jack Wolfe;
Ellen Zibell
STAFF
Chip Steiner, DDA Executive Director; Matt Robenalt, DDA Project Manager; Joanna Stone, DDA Staff;
Carol Bennis, Beet Street, Executive Director; Kathy Cardona, DDA Staff; Jean Lamm, Beet Street; Lucia
Liley, Legal Counsel
GUESTS INCLUDED
Darin Atteberry, City Manager; Mike Jensen, Fort Collins Real Estate; Julie Keith, Eric Sutherland, Jun
Reidhead, Blue Hovatter, Interested Citizen; David Short, DBA; Ben Manvel, City Council; Bill Kneeland,
417 Mountain, LLC; Chuck Seest, City Finance Director; Paul Mills, Craig Russell, Russell+Mills Studios;
Michael Bello, Urban Development Partners; Alan Ballou, LPC; Doug Johnson, UCC
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Wolfe called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. Roll call was taken.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Taylor moved to approve the minutes of March 13, 2008. Seconded by Mr. Sears, and passed
unanimously.
BIG IDEAS
No Big Ideas were presented.
SALES TAX REPORT
Chuck Seest presented the February sales tax activity collected in March. DDA area retail collections were
up 7.7% and restaurants increased by 12.5%. The City as a whole increased 3.9% retail and 10% restaurant
sales. Mr. Atteberry reminded the Board and visuers that the DDA bo-MA ;, ^eludes Walmart and is
reflected in sales activity.
CONSENT AGENDA
Three items were presented for consent:
1. Coopersmith's grease trap license agreement
2. 366 E. Mountain (Housing Authority) commitment extension
3. Maggie Hirko contract renewal
Moved by Mr. Sears, seconded by Mr. Taylor: To approve all three items on the consent agenda.
The motion passed unanimously.
DDA Minutes
April 10, 2008
Page 2
BEETSTREET
Carol Bennis presented the report from Beet Street which included the first of a quarterly financial review,
Beet Street has filed their trademark documentation. Two governance issues required Board action. First,
the Beet Street work plan, presented as Attachment C of the Board materials, required adoption.
Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Jordan: To adopt the Beet Street Work Plan. The motion
passed unanimously.
With the adoption of the Work Plan, the Beet Street/DDA Agreement was presented for Board approval.
Ms. Liley made some prefatory remarks about the Agreement, which will run through 2009 and provides
an option to extend one additional year.
Moved by Mr. Sears, seconded by Ms. Spencer: To adopt the Beet Street/DDA Agreement. The
motion passed unanimously.
Ms. Bennis indicated that there had been some initial programming successes. Over 5,000 people
participated in the Life on a Shoestring series, with Open Stage Theatre exceeding budget predictions by
16%. Beet Street is currently promoting the April series on social media.
Kelly Ohlson announced that because of his scheduling conflicts, Lisa Poppaw has been as the City
Council representative to Beet Street.
ALLEY UPDATE
Paul Mills and Craig Russell of Russell+Mills Studios presented an overview of the planning for the alley
plan and integrated walkways master plan. There is a workshop scheduled late April to get input for design
recommendations from property and business owners. The goals and objectives are to make connections;
to create vibrant alleys and walkways; and, to address the operational needs of alleys, such as trash, service
vehicles, and sharing the space with vehicles. The walk through held a couple of months ago helped the
planners prioritize the possible locations. It also illustrated that some of the best potential locations also
have the greatest number of challenges.
The hope is to create sustainable strategies to development of alleys and walkways possibly utilizing
sculptural wind turbines, tensile shade structures, porous paving to feed rain gardens, and rain drums to
create sound. The designers want to create spaces for people with seating, lighting, planting, murals and
other Art in Public Places projects.
Board members commented that the Mason Corridor project could change some of the priorities for
connections, as could development to the north of Old Town. Mr. Steiner expressed the view that this
would be a signature project for Fort Collins.
417 WEST MOUNTAIN FAgADE GRANT
Bill and Chris Kneeland, owners of the building at 417 West Mountain Avenue, requested a DDA facade
grant for portions of the street -facing frontage and along the alley bounding the western edge of the
property. The total cost of the project is $26,488 making the grant request $13,244. Staff recommended to
grant $11,036 because some of the landscaping improvements are not adjacent to the public right of way
and do not qualify for a facade grant. The rest of the project involves constructed vertical walls and
upward -sloping landscaping that merges directly into the walls of the structure. For this reason staff
concludes that the walls and landscaping directly around the building integrate with and contribute to the
overall facade.
DDA Minutes
April 10, 2008
Page 3
Board discussion clarified that the landscaping was part of the permanent structural improvement and
therefore qualified for a fagade grant.
Moved by Ms. Jordan, seconded by Mr. Sears: To fund this proposal at 417 West Mountain Avenue
for the amount of $11,036. The motion passed unanimously.
UPDATES
New Racks: Mr. Steiner reported the results of two facilitated meetings between the parties involved in
the debate over news racks. The current proposal to City Council that has been agreed to by both sides is to
approve twelve (12) condominium locations now and also approve four (4) additional permitted future sites
that would not be installed at this time. This will involve an amendment to the ordinance between first and
second reading by Council.
Moved by Ms. Jordan, seconded by Mr. Taylor: To approve funding of four (4) additional
condominium news racks if they are permitted at a future date with the understanding that this is the
final offer. The motion passed unanimously.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Sears: To move to Executive Session to discuss real estate
issues. This Executive Session for the purpose stated is authorized pursuant to CRS 24-6-402 (4) (1)
(1). The motion passed unanimously.
Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Sears: To move from Executive Session back to Regular
Session. The motion passed unanimously. -
Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Spencer: To authorize the Authority to offer $2.8 million to
purchase the Elks Building and, if accepted, to amend the contract accordingly. The motion passed
unanimously.
Further discussion of the Board reached consensus that it would be advisable to postpone the April 22°d
joint work session with City Council on the hotel project.
ADJOURN
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.
George relig, Secretary