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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Development Authority - Minutes - 05/08/2008DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Regular Directors' Meeting MINUTES of May 8, 2008 REGULAR MEETING The Board of Directors of the Downtown Development Authority met in Regular Session at 7:30 a.m. on May 8, 2008 at Home State Bank located at 303 East Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524. PRESENT George Brelig; McCabe Callahan; Ryan Keiffer; Kelly Ohlson; Kathay Rennels; William Sears; Patty Spencer; Steve Taylor; 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; Blue Hovatter; Peggy Lyle, DBA; Paul Mills, Russell+Mills Studios; LPC; Doug Johnson, UCC; Chuck Seest, City Finance Director; Anne Aspen, City of Fort Collins; Scoo Leary, Aggie Theatre; Bruce Hendee; Rick Shannon; Pinnacle Consulting; Dave Edwards, UCC; Bud Frick, W. J. Frick Design Group; Ian Menzies, RC Special Events; Eric Nichols, Realtec; Emmanuel Diblier & Brad Smith, EDAW; Mike Rodriguez, David Greusel, Daniel Wood & Sandy Eeds, HOK Venue CALL TO ORDER Ms. Spencer 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 April 10, 2008. Seconded by Mr. Sears, and passed unanimously. BIG IDEAS Two Big Ideas were presented. Bruce Hendee and Rich Shannon outlined their vision for completion of the river district improvements with the DDA as the driving force, playing a leadership role. They hope to create a bold new vision; build relationships to create a public/private partnership; create a financial model; and, use public and private resources to strategically phase in the project. Ms. Spencer agreed that they should pursue the project, engage more with staff and bring back a full presentation for Board consideration. Rene Liebow's Big Idea fit right in to River District improvements. He presented a plan to showcase Jefferson Park as the gateway to the District along Linden as well as a nice shady park for the public. Board members expressed approval of the concept. DDA Minutes May 8, 2008 Page 2 BEETSTREET Ms. Bennis summarized recent governance changes at beet Street. Lisa Poppaw was elected as the City Council representative to the Board and Ms. Bennis is preparing orientation materials for her. The Beet Street Board will hold an all day retreat on July 10 to brainstorm a 3-5 year plan. Jim Martell will serve as attorney. Policies and procedures that have been worked on for the past few months will be presented at the May 22nd meeting for adoption. Ms. Bennis repeated Mr. Steiner's invitation for Board members to participate in a trip to Chautauqua in New York this summer. Beet Street programs are going very well. The Social Media series was extremely successful; the Peace Corps reunion is coming together and promotional materials are starting to go out; planning for the Jazz Experience is well underway. The programming committee is busily working on the 2008-2009 programming calendar. ODELL ANNEXATION Odell Brewing Company submitted a request to be annexed into the DDA district. This would generate approximately $3,600 in tax increment. Mr. Brelig recused himself from this discussion. Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Ohlson: To adopt Resolution 2008-05 to include Odell Brewing Company property into the DDA district. The motion passed unanimously. ALPERT BUILDING Rear improvements are planned for the Alpert Building. Bud Frick, building owner, requested a DDA tax increment investment in the amount of $50,000 for the conversion of a single -story alley garage into a two- story residential unit. Mr. Steiner spoke in favor of the project. It is well designed, uses lots of recycled materials, and places a residential unit in an alley scheduled for improvement. Mr. Steiner added that he believed that only about $15,400 of the proposed improvements qualify for the use of tax increment. Because of the quality of the project, staff recommended a total DDA investment of $20,000. Mr. Frick informed the Board that he had hoped for a larger amount because his project would be one of the first on Montezuma Fuller Court and that he felt it made the building both more usable and created a more personal presence. He also stated that he was not aware amount of the staff recommendation. Mr. Sears requested that applicants be notified in advance of staff recommendations. Moved by Mr. Rennels, seconded by Mr. Sears: To approve tax increment investment in the amount of $20,000 for improvements to 142 S. Montezuma Fuller Court. The motion passed unanimously. OFFICE LEASE Both Beet Street and the Downtown Business Association are adding to their staffs. An office suite across the hall from our existing offices is available. It includes a small kitchenette and an additional meeting room. DDA and Beet Street now have 2,904 square feet of office. The additional space adds another 1,100 square feet. Rent for both spaces would be $10.68/sf gross plus utilities ($42,756/year). Staff requested Board approval to rent the additional suite. Moved by Mr. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Zibell: To approve the rental of the additional office suite for DDA/Beet Street staff. The motion passed unanimously. DDA Minutes May 8, 2008 Page 3 THANK YOU RESOLUTIONS Resolutions 2008-03 and 2008-04 are resolutions thanking State Senators Bob Bacon and Bernie Buescher for their support, sponsorship and leadership in the successful passage of Senate Bill 170 amending Colorado's Downtown Development Authority legislation. Kathay Rennels expressed her appreciation of the good conversation and hard work on the subject and stated that she was glad to be able to approve and support the change in her conversations with others. Steve Taylor congratulated Chip Steiner on his hard work and persistence in pushing for the change in legislation. Mr. Steiner noted that he had also drafted a letter requesting that the Governor sign the legislation in Old Town Square. He also would like all Board members to sign the newly adopted `thank you" resolutions. Moved by Mr. Keiffer, seconded by Mr. Brelig: To adopt Resolutions 2008-03 and 2008-04. The motion passed unanimously. AMPHITHEATER HOK Venue conducted a charette on the amphitheater design in Fort Collins the past two days and presented the results of those conversations to the Board. Computer renderings showed how the amphitheater would look from the intersection of college and Mountain and then zoomed closer to the structure. They presented designs for the bowl of the amphitheater and how the preferred design allowed the maximum flexibility and audience participation. The structure will be built to shield the facility as much as possible from train noise, while maintaining openness along the western side. Preliminary work has been done on roof design and the architects will be back next month with more schematic designs. UPDATES Mr. Steiner passed out the latest sales tax report. There was no discussion. ADJOURN There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:35 a.m. i George relig, Secretary