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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 09/07/2006DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Directors` Meeting Steve Taylor, Chair 221-0524 (W) Kurt Kastein, Council Liaison 223-0425(W) Linda Gula, Staff Liaison 484-2020(W) MINUTES of September 7, 2006 REGULAR MEETING The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 7:30 am. on September 7, 2006 in the Meeting Room at Home State Bank located at 303 East Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524. PRESENT George Brelig Carey Hewitt, Secretary/Treasurer Kim Jordan Kurt Kastein William Sears Patty Spencer Steve Taylor, Char Jack Wolfe, Vice Chair ABSENT McCabe Callahan Lucia Liley STAFF Robert Steiner, DDA Executive Director Matt Robenalt, DDA Project Manager Linda Gula, DDA Staff GUESTS Darin Attebcny, Chuck Seest, Kathy Cardona, Marty Heffernan, David Short, Karen Weitkunat CALL TO ORDER Mr. Taylor called the meeting to order at 7:35 a.m. Roll call was taken. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Sears moved to approve the minutes of August 3, 2006. Seconded by Ms. Jordan and passed unanimously. 2007 BUDGET Mr. Steiner reviewed the budget information included in the Board packet, He referred to three resolutions: Resolution 2006-04 approves the administrative budget and recommends adoption by City Council; Resolution 2006-05 recommends setting the administrative mill levy at five mills; Resolution 2006-06 recommends to City Council the appropriation of funds for 2007 tax increment debt service obligations. The actual amount of the debt for 2007 will be added. He stated the administrative budget includes projections for Beet Street Cultural Program, however, actual funding for the program will come out of bonds issued after the November election and Council will approve that separately. There was a short discussion among Boardmembers concerning the funding of the Beet Street Cultural Program. Mr. Wolfe moved to approve Resolutions 2006-04, 2006-05 and 2006-06. Seconded by Mr. Sears and passed unanimously. DDA BOARD MINUTES SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 PAGE HOLIDAY DISPLAY POLICY IN OLD TOWN SQUARE (rescheduled for the October Retreat) NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL CONTRACT Mr. Steiner stated that the National Development Council (NDC) contract with the DDA expires this month. He stated staff believes the contract should be extended for a second year with the scope of work to be focused primarily on: 1. Financing package for the downtown hotel; 2. Research and financing package for a downtown amphitheater. NDC has agreed to the same contract terms as last year. Cost to the DDA will be $48,000 Ms. Jordan asked what has happened to the Farmer's Market. Mr. Steiner stated that there are two very large projects on the DDA's horizon - the hotel and the amphitheater. He stated if the DDA could get to other projects that would be great, but the focus needs to be on those two projects. Ms. Jordan then asked Mr. Steiner to describe what Karen Garritson does for the DDA as part of this contract. Mr. Steiner stated she does all the background research, market analysis, and researches similar projects throughout the country She then puts together position papers. She has put together financial pro formas on both the amphitheater and the community market to give the DDA a sense of what it is going to take to complete the projects. He noted that Matt Robenalt and City staff had been trained (as part of an NDC program) on the CDBG Section 108 Program and that the training could be very beneficial to the DDA in terms of putting together financial packages in the future. Mr. Wolfe commented that it would be valuable to the DDA to have the continuity of the contract with the NDC. Ms. Jordan moved to renew the NDC contract with the DDA in the amount of $48,000. Seconded by Mr. Wolfe and passed unanimously. ICE RINK Mr. Steiner reported that the City has estimated that it will cost $40,000 to install and remove the ice rink this coming holiday season and is asking the DDA to pay this expense. He stated staff would support a 50-50 split and referred to the cost breakdown included in the Board packet He went on to note while it cannot be accomplished this year, there has been discussion about installing the rink and chiller on a more or less permanent basis. The chiller could be placed in an underground vault or a permanent screen erected around it. The rink itself could be capped with a removable deck. The deck could be furnished with chess and checkerboard tables, chairs, potted plantings, string lights and function as a beer garden or dance floor during the summer. If the Board is interested in this approach, staff will put together a more detailed proposal. Mr. Marty Heffernan, City Cultural, Library and Recreation Services Director, presented information about the installation and removal of the ice rink. He stated that last year the City and DDA purchased and installed the ice rink fairly rapidly, without a good plan or understanding of what it might cost on an ongoing basis to put it up and take it down. He stated the $40,000 figure came as a bit of a surprise to everyone. This figure may go down somewhat in future years as Parks staff gets better at installation and removal. Some of the ideas that Mr. Steiner presented came out of discussions with Park Planning staff on how to find ways to do this less expensively. Boulder's ice rink costs are in the $25,000 to $29,000 range. They have a permanently installed chiller with a permanent connection to their rink. He stated if they could get to a situation similar to what Mr. Steiner described the cost goes down significantly— probably about half. There was discussion among the Boardmembers concerning the costs of the permanent solutions, the cost recovery from the rentals by the City, possible other locations for a permanent solution and trying to establish the best location, and the ramifications (pro and con) for downtown businesses. The DBA is looking at the possibility of finding sponsorships on the dasher boards as a way to defray some of the costs. Mr. Hewitt moved to support a one time commitment up to $40,000 to the ice rink. Seconded by Mr. Wolfe. There was discussion by the Board concerning the fear of setting a precedent of committing money every year to the ice rink. The motion passed unanimously. DDA BOARD MINUTES SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 PAGE DDA BOND ELECTION Desigtated Voter Mr. Steiner stated the Board needs to designate one member to vote on behalf of the DDA on the bond ceiling ballot issue. Mr. Wolf moved to appoint Steve Taylor as the DDA Board Chair to be the designated voter. Seconded by Mr. Sears and passed unanimously. Who is a Qualified Elector Mr. Steiner distributed an outline from Ms. Liley's office concerning 1.) Who can vote? 2.) How do qualified electors who are not natural persons vote? 3.) How many votes? The memo seemed to raise more questions than it answered for Boardmembers and created confusion about who should be selected to vote on behalf of the DDA (item above). Mr. Taylor stated the outline answers a lot of questions, but it also brings to the surface as many questions as it answers. At that time, Mr. Taylor respectfully declined the voter designation passed above. Ms. Jordan moved to appoint Mr. Wolfe to be the designated voter. Seconded my Mr. Kastein and passed unanimously. The Board discussed the need to have Ms. Liley further explain the voter qualifications at an after hours meeting. What is the Voting Procedure? Darin expressed concerns about logistics at the polling places for DDA voters. He stated he would work with the City Clerk's office to clarify how this will work. HOLIDAY LIGHTS Mr. Steiner explained that David Short, Executive Director of the Downtown Business Association, would provide a status report and update on holiday lighting. Although the Board authorized an expenditure of up to $100,000 to acquire LED light strands, it is too late to order them for this year. Mr. David Short, Executive Director for the DBA, stated the DBA would be coordinating the installation and removal of the holiday lights again this year. It was intended that Parks and Recreation take over the coordination of the LED light installation this year. He noted that next year with the installation of LED lights, many of the problems will be solved. He stated he would like to request an additional $5000 from the DDA for ongoing maintenance and replacement of lights throughout the holiday season. He stated they have not had additional money in past years to do this. DBA will coordinate again with a partnership with the City and DDA far financial support. He stated the split in the past has been DBA/DDA/City each contributing M 5,000 to the program. Ms. Jordan asked about holiday banners and lights for the gateways into downtown. Mr. Short stated there are not any places that would work where poles line up or where buildings are close enough to do that. The banners from last year looked great in the Square but some pretty ferocious winds destroyed 90% of the banners from last year. Mr. Atteberry recapped that next year there will be new LED lights which will be more efficient and brighter, that the program will be managed through Parks and Recreation, and that there is an ongoing replacement budget for the lights. He stated we need to get through this year and then the program is on a long term plan. Ms. Jordan requested for next year to start looking at the gateway/banner issue earlier in the season. She stated it would be great to have banners at the two ends of College and the Mountain intersection. She asked that it be added to next year's "to do" list. Ms. Jordan moved to approve up to $20,000 on the installation and maintenance for the holiday light program contingent upon the partners (City and DBA) coming up with an equivalent amount. Seconded by Mr. Wolfe and passed unanimously. BRANDING BEET STREET Last month, the Board approved $9,000 to come up with a brand name for Beet Street contingent upon a logo being developed within that cost frame. Cultivator, the company intended to develop the brand, cannot do both the brand and the logo for less than $16,000, Staff believes this is a reasonable figure and asked for Board approval of the additional expenditure. Mr. Sears moved to allocate up to $16,000 for the Cultivator to develop a brand name and logo for Beet Street. Seconded by Ms. Spencer and passed unanimously. DDA BOARD MINUTES SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 PAGE OTHER BUSINESS Sales Tax Update — Chuck Seest reported on the July sales tax activity. Mr. Taylor stated the report reflects his restaurant's trends that happen in July. He stated they see sales fluctuations happening every other year as it relates to Campus Crusade coming to CSU. It is a testimonial to the importance of tourism to the downtown economy. Mr. Atteberry commented that every other year approximately 8000 people come in for Campus Crusade and it does create a sales tax trend on those years. It confirms the significance of visitors and conferences and training coming to Fort Collins. Ms. Jordan suggested letting Campus Crusade know how much the DDA and the community appreciate having them come to Fort Collins. Mr. Steiner stated the Board could pass a resolution thanking Campus Crusade for coming to Fort Collins. Mr. Brelig moved to have the DDA prepare a resolution to issue a formal thank you from the DDA that could be coupled with thank you's from the City and the Visitor's Bureau and extending a welcome for future years. Seconded by M. Sears and passed unanimously. Mr. Steiner agreed to send the resolution to Mr. Atteberry so it could be bundled with anything the City might want to do. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CONTRACT— EXECUTIVE SESSION At 9:15 am. Mr. Wolfe moved to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel issues. This executive Session for the purposes stated is authorized pursuant to CRS 24-6-402 (4) (1) (1). Seconded by Mr. Hewitt and passed unanimously. Mr. Taylor reconvened the Regular Session at 10:20 am. Mr. Taylor briefly outlined what the Board had talked about in Executive Session. He stated that the Board is very happy with the job that Mr. Steiner is doing. He stated the Board talked about improving the DDA's relationship with City Council and utilizing the two members of Council on the DDA Board in terms of presentations and information sharing. He noted the primary projects to focus on in the next year are the extension of the TIF District, the hotel, the amphitheater and Beet Street.. Mr. Wolfe moved to Wend the employment contract with Mr. Steiner for another year with an increase in salary of 3% and an additional 5 days of vacation. Seconded by Mr. Sears and passed unanimously. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting adjourned 10:30 a.m. Carey Hewitt Secretary