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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 05/10/2007DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Directors' Meeting Steve Taylor, Chair 481.5385(W1 Kelly Ohlson, Council Liaison 219-9814(W) Joanna Stone, Staff Liaison 4842020(W) MINUTES of May 10, 2007 REGULAR MEETING The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 7:30 am. on May 10, 2007 in the Meeting Room at Cache Bank located at 1,00 South College Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524. PRESENT Jack Wolfe, Vice Chair; George Brelig; McCabe Callahan; Kim Jordan; Kelly Ohlson; William Sears; Patty Spencer ABSENT Carey Hewitt; Steve Taylor STAFF Chip Steiner, DDA Executive Director; Matt Robenalt, DDA Project Manager; Joanna Stone, DDA Staff, Carol Bennis, Beet Street, Executive Director GUESTS INCLUDED Darin Atteber y; David Short, DBA; Mike Jensen, Fort Collins Real Estate; Blue Hovatter, Francis Gonazales, FCPD; Scoo Leary, Aggie Theater; Matt Johnson, FCPD; Tova Aragon, Library; Cheryl Donaldson, Museum; Scott Allen, FC Real Estate; Chuck Seest, City Finance Director CALL TO ORDER Mr. Wolfe called the meeting to order at 7:32 a.m. He welcomed new City Council liaison Kelly Ohlson to the DDA. Roll call was taken, APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Sears moved to approve the minutes of April 11, 2007. Seconded by Mr. Brelig, and passed unanimously. BIG IDEAS No Big Ideas were presented. BEETSTREET Logo/Branding: Yesterday was the last day for voting on the Beet Street logo, which will be presented at the next steering committee meeting. Work is continuing on registering the name, eventual tag lines and the logo. Meetings have also been held with legal counsel on establishing a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity for Beet Street. Staffing: Ms. Bennis introduced administrative secretary Maggie Hirko who began work on April 18`h. The other two management team positions, Director of Development and Director of Programming, have been narrowed to three candidates each and interviews will be held next week with members of the steering committee. Ms. Bennis hopes that they will have the top candidates chosen by the end of the month and that both people will be on board sometime in June. Chautauqua Trite Mr. Steiner extended a final invitation to any DDA board member who would like to go to Chautauqua, New York this summer from July 16-21. The topic of the week's seminar is "21' Century Cities." The DDA will pay for one board member and one member of the Beet Street steering committee to attend. Mr. Atteberry emphasized what a positive experience his attendance had been and that even if a participant was only able to attend a portion of the week, it would be well worth it and really give an idea of what was possible. DDA Minutes May 10, 2007 Page 2 MASON STREET NORTH While the DDA believes that Mason Street North is a great example of a mixed use development and beautifully ties the Lee Martinez Park area with downtown, in some instances the development did not use the materials presented to the DDA Board. The difference in what was approved and what was used amounts to $87,580. DDA staff believes that the commitment should be reduced by that amount which would bring revised project total commitment to $453,087. The developers requested that the discussion be delayed for one month because they were not able to attend today's meeting. Mr. Steiner feels that the DDA should release the reduced amount and allow the developers to come back to the Board regarding the reduced amount. Board discussion focused on the importance of keeping the standards that have been set and not getting a reputation in the community for not doing the due diligence and checking to make sure projects are completed as agreed. It was also emphasized that developers need to understand that if they want to make substantial changes to plans, they need to come back to the Board for approval. Mr. Steiner stated that he will make sure these items are clear in the project commitment forms. Ms. Jordan also emphasized the importance of green building and LEED certification and wondered if the DDA could incorporate these practices into our project criteria. Matt Robenalt will follow up on this. Board consensus was that the amount of the commitment to Mason Street North should be reduced by $87,580 bringing the total project commitment to $453,087. It was further decided that the matter could be brought back before the Board if the developers requested a hearing. OTTER INDUSTRIES The DDA Board approved participation in the construction of a new office building for Otter Industries last year. The project should be breaking ground later this spring. DDA staff supports Otter Industries request for a twelve month extension of the DDA commitment. Moved by Mr. Brelig, seconded by Ms. Jordan: To support Otter Industries request for a twelve month extension of the DDA commitment to the construction of their new office building. The motion passed unanimously. CULTURAL DISTRICT OVERLAY The City has initiated a revision to its noise standard that will be applied to an area roughly equivalent to the DDA district The purpose of the revision is to accommodate and encourage downtown as a cultural center. Mr. Steiner encouraged the DDA Board to endorse the proposal. Board discussion focused on the reasoning behind the proposed ordinance which attempts to address the reality of what happens Downtown. It also recognizes that with additional cultural programming in the future, additional problems may arise. While a formal motion was not deemed necessary, the Board expressed consensus in support of the City's proposal. POLICE SERVICES PROPOSAL David Short of the Downtown Business Association presented a proposal drafted by Officer Matt Johnson to provide private security downtown to help with some of the nuisance problems with the homeless population and incorrigible youth, many who come from other areas to hang out in the downtown area. Fort Collins Police Department does not have the resources to provide the needed constant maintenance downtown so suggests that the affected parties partner to help solve the problem. This would be a collaborative effort involving the Library, Downtown Business Association, the Fort Collins Museum and possibly Transfort. Staffing for one year would cost an estimated $62,415 based on discussions Officer Johnson has had with Flemming Security. It is hoped the security person would be eyes and ears for District One officers and could also serve an ambassador function to downtown visitors. They would be armed only with defensive weapons (baton, spray) and would not carry firearms. They would also have low profile attire such as khakis and polo shirts, not uniforms. The hours of operation would be from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m, and the more dangerous hours after 10 o'clock would be handled solely by commissioned police officers. Board discussion was favorable towards the proposal, feeling that it was a good use of resources. Mr. Steiner expressed support of a pilot project for one year with the DDA paying 1/3 of the cost Moved by Ms. Jordan, seconded by Mr. Sears: To fund one-third of the cost of private security personnel for one year equaling $20,800 as outlined in the proposal. The motion passed unanimously. DDA CHECKBOOK Kathy Cardona presented the DDA checkbook which has been developed to give staff and board members a current financial picture including expenditures, open commitments and a running balance. The checkbook addresses each bond issue beginning in 1999. It includes interest earnings as well as project savings, which will need to go to City Council to be appropriated for future projects. Ms. Cardona will bring timeline of future expenditures to a later board meeting. Mr. Wolfe expressed appreciation that the checkbook gives board members a handle of where we stand. Mr. Steiner commented that we have not yet heard from legal counsel whether DDA bond increment drops off in 2011 or 2012. DDA Minutes May 10, 2007 Page 3 OTHER BUSINESS Holiday Displays: Per Kelly Ohlson's suggestion, the City is going to appoint a citizen task force to study the issue of holiday displays. Mr. Steiner recommends that the DDA Board defer to the task force's recommendations. Because of this development, the special DDA meeting on the topic scheduled for May 31' will be cancelled. Robertson Buildine: The subcommittee of board members reviewing revised plans for the Robertson Building approved funding in the amount of $100,000 which included the addition of brick to the Oak Street f tgade. The alley wall will not be part of this project. Beet Street Governing Board: With the development of a 501(c)(3) corporation for Beet Street, a governing board needs to be appointed. Ms. Bennis and Mr. Steiner suggested that the DDA Board also act as the Beet Street Board. Several questions were raised by Board members. Mr. Atteberry felt that we should check with City Attorney Steve Roy regarding Kelly Ohlson's position as City Council Member. He also wants to make sure that it would not put the City at risk in any way. Mr. Sears expressed concern with this possible change and felt that other people should make the decisions about Beet Street. Ms. Jordan suggested the Board look at other similar entities and how they are governed, for example the Housing Authority. Mr. Steiner will try to get Steve Roy, Lucia Liley and James Martell to the next Board meeting to discuss the legal footing, The Board will further discuss the matter when the legal basis is clear. Opera Galleria: Mr. Steiner presented drawings of a redesigned entry for the rear of the Opera Galleria. The designer for Realtec will bring revised plans to the next meeting for Board approval. Ms. Spencer just wanted to know if they were on the right track with the design. She added that they would very much encourage use of the Opera Galleria atrium as a performance venue. Board members expressed approval of the new design. March Sales Tax: Chuck Seest reported that March sales tax figures for the DDA footprint were up 7.2% and the figures for the City as a whole were up over 8%. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting adjourned 9:30 a.m. C Carey He 'tt, Secretary