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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 12/11/2008DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Directors' Meeting 4 Jack Wolfe�Chatiperson. 95 12981 f! Kelly Ohlson Cotincil litaison 219s 9814z , _ •' fKathay Rennels County Liaison 498 7010;' . .. , Joanna Stone, Staff Liaison 484 2020) MINUTES of December 11, 2008 REGULAR MEETING The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 7:30 a.m. on December 11, 2008 at Home State Bank, 303 E. Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524. PRESENT George Brelig; McCabe Callahan; Ryan Keiffer; Ben Manvel; William Sears;Patty Spencer; Steve Taylor; Jack Wolfe, Ellen Zibell ABSENT Kim Jordan; Kelly Ohlson STAFF Chip Steiner, Executive Director; Matt Robenalt, Project Manager; Joanna Stone, Administrative Manager; Carol Bennis, Beet Street Executive Director; Kathy Cardona, Financial Coordinator; Lucia Liley, Legal Counsel GUESTS INCLUDED Darin Atteberry, City Manager; Blue Hovatter, Judy Sherpelz; Rocky Mtn. Raptor Center; Tina Morris; Richard Haro, Ft. Collins Coloradoan; Tom Hacker, NCBR; David Gruesel, HOK Venues; Susan Sieger, Crossroads Consulting; Ian Menzies, RC Special Events; Julia Martin, Tim Merriman, Micky Willis, Lisa Brochu, Nature Charter School; Gary Odehnal & Randall Provencio, Northern Engineering; Doug Johnson, UCC; Ken Draves, Library District; Mike Jensen, Keller Williams; Carl Glaser, Advocate Inc.; David Miller, Brinkman Partners; Marty Heffernan & Ken Marmon, City of Fort Collins; Carey Hewitt, The Cupboard; Craig Russell & Shelley LaMaster,Russell Mills Studio; Heather Bisetti, Bisettie's; Julie Keith, Urban Art venues; Melissa Chalona, CTL Thompson; Jim Clark, CVB; Bruce Freesetone, Open Stage; Joshua Liley, Liley, Rogers & Martell; Vivian Armendariz; Jean Lamm, Beet Street CALL TO ORDER Mr. Wolfe called the meeting to order at 7:33 a.m. Roll call was taken. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Taylor moved to approve the minutes of November 13, 2008. Seconded by Mr. Sears, and passed unanimously. BIG IDEAS ' Tim Merriman spoke to the Board about the Nature School, a proposed charter school to be housed adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Raptor Center. He spoke about the importance to children of contact with nature, the increased interest in environmental education, and the need to boost math and science levels in the U.S. The school would house 450 students in grades K-8 just a few blocks from downtown. He also addressed the importance of schools to community vibrancy and the possible benefits to central Fort Collins. The supporters of the charter school are in the appeal process of having the school approved and hope to hear by December 16th. DDA Minutes December 11, 2008 Page 2 BEET STREET Carol Bennis presented the new Thought Leaders series which was launched with an appearance by Morgan Spurlocic on December 2nd. That program will be followed in January with a presentation by Jean -Michel Cousteau. With Morgan Spurlock's presentation Beet Street gained its twelfth cover story this year. Ms. Bennis also summarized other programming efforts. As an important feature of their communication plan, Beet Street is producing a Report to the Community. for 2008 to highlight their contribution to audience development and improving access to the cultural arts and to clearly articulate the vision for the initiative going forward. They will work closely with DDA staff to bring this to the community in the first quarter of 2009. CONSENT AGENDA: Elks Building: Staff is planning for the departure of the Elks at the end of their lease. DDA is working with City Operations staff and DDA legal counsel and will present plans for different levels of use at a later meeting. No Board action was requested at this time. Railroad Quiet Zone Study: The firm Felsburg, Holt & Ullevig has been selected.by DDA and City staff to conduct the railroad quiet zone study. Staff recommends the approval of the contract with FHU in the amount of $100,0.00. Project Manager Contract: Interviews for the Project Manager position were conducted by staff and members of the Executive Committee. Anne Aspen of the City's Planning Department has been selected and the Board is asked to approve her contract. The main provisions of the one year contract are a proposed salary of $73,000, with a 7.5% DDA contribution to the ICMA retirement plan, fifteen days vacation and other leaves in accordance,with usual DDA and City practices. Moved by Mr. Sears, seconded by Mr. Keiffer: To adopt the Consent Agenda as presented. The motion passed unanimously. REGULAR AGENDA Alley Master Plan: Craig Russell of Russell+Mills Studio spoke before the Board for the third time to present recommendations for the 2009 enhancements. Three alleys were recommended as priorities for funding. They are W. Laurel through W. Myrtle Streets, E. Mountain Avenue through E. Oak Street; and, Pine through Linden Streets. Reasons for choosing these three particular. alleys include opportunities for the rearrangement of private parking to create design and functional benefits; the integration of private spaces for patio dining and rear faeade improvements; the consolidation of trash/recycling; and the establishment of a physical connection of CSU to Downtown. Business and building owners along these alleys have been most enthusiastic and engaged in the planning process, and also most willing to consider and.offer creative solutions to challenges. Discussion focused on the selection of the three priorities Staff also requested the Board consider two other recommendations. The first is the hiring of Russell+Mills for final design and construction oversight of the next phase of the project. Upon the completion of these three alleys, further work would be open to competitive bid. Mr. Robenalt also presented the concept of preparing a proposal for a "design granf' to encourage building owners to hire a designer and coordinate with the DDA efforts along these alleyways. At the conclusion of discussion Board members approved the priorities and the concept of creating a design grant. Moved by Mr. Keiffer, seconded by Mr. Callahan: To hire Rusell+Mills Studio for to begin the final design phase and provide construction oversight for these first three alleys. The motion passed unanimously. Amphitheater Feasibility Study: Susan Sieger of Crossroads Consulting and David Gruesel of HOK Venue reviewed the amphitheater feasibility study and addressed questions and comments from the Board and public. The oversight committee formed at the November DDA Board meeting, met with Ms. Sieger and Mr. Gruesel yesterday and a summary of that meeting was given. The committee discussed DDA Minutes December 11, 2008 Page 3 competition in the marketplace, seating capacity, overlapping performance seasons, net new revenue, and costs. Ms. Sieger was asked to provide more information on comparable venues regarding audience demographic, climate/season, and a breakdown of revenues for those venues. The overall opinion was that it was premature to ask for an alternate audit at this time. Rather it was felt that it was most productive to take comments and questions today at the DDA and Beet Street meetings, and then go from there to determine the scope of the audit. Mr. Keiffer, who is on the oversight committee, summarized his response to the previous day's meeting stating that he now felt more comfortable with the financial analysis and praised the unique qualities of the project. Marty Heffernan commented that there were still unanswered' questions. Ms. Sieger summarized her findings in the original feasibility study. She discussed the decision to reduce the seating capacity from 5,000 to 4,000, remarking that it was felt this was the lowest number for economic viability. She also discussed the performance season, which would generally run from April to October. It was noted that the current design calls for radiant heat in the floor which would extend the season and there would be events such as First Night in the off season. The scheduling of traditional event programming of other local arts organizations was taken into consideration and would not conflict, because the height of the amphitheater season occurring during a time when traditional arts venues are slow. David Gruesel commented that with the future performing arts center on the same site, an exciting public space will be created with an emphasis on public access. Mr. Atteberry noted that while he was very supportive of the concept, City staff still had many questions about cost, capacity and revenue streams, and were still far from comfortable with the proposal. Ms. Sieger noted, in response to a question about comparable venues, that the element that differentiated this project was the Chautauqua concept ofthemed programming, which makes it hard to compare with venues that are purely commercial concert venues. The combination of commercial and themed programming is what will make the amphitheater viable. Following the presentation Board members were each given the opportunity to comment or ask questions. The public and staff were also invited to comment. Discussion focused on financial viability with some participants advocating construction of the amphitheater as a "leap of faith" and an investment in the future of Fort Collins. The economic development aspect to the project was also discussed. Many advocated sharing the vision with the public and having better public outreach. Mr. Wolfe concluded the discussion, encouraging the oversight committee to meet in January and for the DDA board members to explore what it means for the future of Beet Street if the amphitheater is not built. TIF AGREEMENTS: Legal counsel Lucia Liley and Chip Steiner have met with each County Commissioner and the County Manager to discuss, TIF under the new legislation. They have a concept agreement that the County will allow the DDA 100% of the TIF in special development projects. It will be discussed at a meeting of the Commissioners on Tuesday, December 16e and Board members were encouraged to attend and to comment to either Ms. Liley or Mr. Steiner before the meeting. BOARD RETIREMENTS: Board members Steve Taylor and Kim Jordan are retiring after eight years service to the DDA Board: Mr. Steiner presented Mr. Taylor with a handcrafted commemorative gift. Ms. Jordan was not able to attend the meeting. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Atteberry distributed the latest sales tax reports. EXECUTIVE SESSION Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Keiffer: To move to Executive Session to discuss personnel issues. This Executive Session for the purpose stated is authorized pursuant to CRS 24-6-402 (4) (1) (1). The motion passed unanimously. It was moved to move from Executive Session back to regular session. The motion passed unanimously. DDA Minutes December 11, 2008 Page 4 Chairperson Jack Wolfe expressed thanks to Chip Steiner for his many years of service as Executive Director of the DDA, specifically noting his efforts on behalf of Senate Bill 170 extending the life of DDAs in Colorado. The Board recommended a retirement/ thank you gift in the amount of $10,000. Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Keiffer: To approve a thank you gift for Chip Steiner in the amount of $10,000. The motion passed unanimously. ADJOURN There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 10:50 a.m.