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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-30-19 Minutes - Northeast Urban Renewal Board (NURB) NURB Meeting – April 30, 2019 1 Northeast Urban Renewal Board (NURB) Regular Meeting Tuesday, April 30, 2019 The Northeast Urban Renewal Board met in regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in the Conference Room, Professional Building, 20 East Olive Street, Bozeman, Montana. Present: Absent: Voting Members: Robert Pavlic, Chair Bobbi Clem Dan Doehring John Usher (arrived at 6:33 p.m.) Jeanne Wesley-Wiese Non-Voting Members: Ethan Barlow Dalton Brink Nolan Campbell Corwin Dormire Commissioner Liaison: I-Ho Pomeroy Staff: Brit Fontenot, Economic Development Director David Fine, TIF Specialist Anna Rosenberry, Assistant City Manager Robin Sullivan, Recording Secretary Guests: Chris Nixon, 719 North Wallace Avenue Call to Order – Chair Bob Pavlic called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Changes to the Agenda – No changes were made to the agenda. Public Comment – No comment was received under this agenda item. Minutes – April 2, 2019. It was moved by Dan Doehring, seconded by Jeanne Wesley-Wiese, that the minutes of the regular meeting of April 2, 2019 be approved as submitted. The motion carried on a 4-0 vote. NURB Meeting – April 30, 2019 2 Discussion/Action Items – Staff updates on items of interest to the Board. David Fine announced that, at their April 22 meeting, the City Commission unanimously approved the Cottonwood & Ida project as an urban renewal project and the associated development agreement. Update on financial status of NURB fund. Robin Sullivan distributed copies of the FY2019 revenues and expenditures to date as well as the revenues and expenditures from inception to date. She briefly reviewed the information in those spreadsheets, noting that there were few expenses this past month. She then noted that she has also distributed a spreadsheet that shows all of the projects included in past work plans and has highlighted those projects that have been completed to date. Responding to questions from Bobbi Clem, Bob Pavlic stated the railroad has decided it will not rent the old Treasure State Oil building and will not immediately open offices in the old depot; rather, they will bring in a caboose to serve as an office. He noted that at this time, the railroad plans to keep the depot and whether it remains in its current location or is jacked up and moved is their decision. He confirmed that it will take about $260,000 to make the building rentable because it needs plumbing, heating, lighting and electrical work. Discussion regarding items to be included in work plan and budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020. Robin Sullivan distributed copies of the draft work plan and budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 as revised to reflect discussions at the last meeting. She noted that the work plan and budget include monies for any outstanding bills for the East Peach Street and East Tamarack Street projects. If all of the bills are paid by the end of this fiscal year, the balance carried forward will be lower than currently projected, but the monies budgeted for those two projects will have been expended. David Fine noted that the budget reflects the priorities and decisions made at the last Board meeting. He stated, however, that every year, City staff reviews the costs of staffing the urban renewal boards. At this time, this district is funding a small portion of one person’s time, and it has been determined the amount paid is inadequate. Based on discussions, staff has determined that an additional person is needed in the Economic Development Department, with the costs to be funded by the tax increment financing districts and parking. Anna Rosenberry stated that, when considering the Department’s request, administration identified possibilities for funding. She noted that one of those is the General Fund, which has supported activities of tax increment financing districts for several years. She stressed that various staff members provide support for those districts, including people from the Finance Department, the legal department, the Clerk’s office, City administration and the Commission, in addition to the staffing that the Board sees. She stated that there are not monies in the General Fund to pay the salary of the additional person that the Economic Development Department has requested, so they have developed a creative solution to cover the costs. That solution includes contributions from the Northeast Urban Renewal District, the Midtown Urban Renewal District, the Downtown Urban Renewal District and the Parking Fund because staff is seeing a lot of parking concerns in the tax increment financing districts. Brit Fontenot reminded the Board that both parking and the neighborhood program have been placed under Economic Development, and they have found several overlapping circles in NURB Meeting – April 30, 2019 3 concerns and workload. He then stated that staff is proposing 50 percent of the costs of the additional person be paid by the Parking Fund and that the remaining 50 percent be spread among the three identified tax increment financing districts with this district paying 10 percent and Midtown and Downtown each paying 20 percent. David Fine stated the estimated additional cost is $9,235. He then indicated that staff will be asking both the Midtown Urban Renewal District and the Downtown Urban Renewal District for $22,000. Jeanne Wesley-Wiese stated she does not dispute staff’s contributions and support to this Board; however, she does not feel this Board should pay for the planning work that staff may do to forward a project. Bob Pavlic noted that this Board is currently being charged $14,000 for staff support. He stressed that this area is a “little dead end road” and does not have much going on. He then questioned how much City staff support this Board needs. He observed that, if the Cottonwood & Ida project moves forward, it will be at least two years before this district starts receiving any revenue; in the meantime, it has no monies. Responding to Jeanne Wesley-Wiese, David Fine stated the development agreement for the Cottonwood & Ida project identifies various issues that must be addressed to ensure the project meets all requirements for reimbursement of public infrastructure improvement costs and impact fees. Those include ensuring that public procurement requirements are met when bidding for the work and reviewing invoices to ensure they are appropriate. David Fine reminded the Board that tax increment financing districts are designed to spur redevelopment and to increase the taxable value in the district while diverting the tax revenues from the city, county and school district to the district for a certain number of years. He stated it is important to consider the benefits to not only the district but the community as a whole. Brit Fontenot stated that staff does a lot of work outside of these Board meetings, including talking to other staff members and outside consultants. He noted that the projects this Board has approved to date have made this area fertile for reinvestment. Jeanne Wesley-Wiese acknowledged that the projects completed to date could not have been done without staff’s help; however, she does not want this district to fund the work that staff is doing for a developer. Dan Doehring asked if there is a sunset on this request for increased staff funding; David Fine responded there is no proposed sunset. He then stated that this Board makes a recommendation to the Commission; and the Commission will budget the amount it finds appropriate based on City administration recommendations. Responding to John Usher, Brit Fontenot confirmed that the proposal is to hire a third person in the Economic Development Department. That person will work with the various tax increment financing districts and with parking. He noted that having a third person in the department will allow staff to provide better services. Nolan Campbell asked if any of the other boards face the liquidity problems that this Board does. NURB Meeting – April 30, 2019 4 David Fine responded that the South Bozeman Technology Urban Renewal District and the North Park Farm Urban Renewal District have no monies because there has been no activity in them. He confirmed that neither the Midtown Urban Renewal District nor the Downtown Bozeman Urban Renewal District faces liquidity issues. Nolan Campbell suggested that, since this district has a cash problem, 5 percent of the new position be funded from this district at this time and increased to 10 percent once the Cottonwood & Ida project is complete and additional tax revenues generated. Brit Fontenot stated that once development generates tax increment revenues for the two districts that have no current activity, the formula for funding of the new position will be recalculated. Responding to questions from John Usher, staff indicated that this is the first district they have approached with this proposal for funding of a new position. They will talk to the other two districts at their upcoming meetings and expect approval from both boards. Anna Rosenberry stated this is a reappraisal year. She noted that the City will receive taxable values the first week of August, and those values will reflect the reappraisals. Following a discussion about where to find monies to fund the additional request for staffing, the Board determined that the $1,000 budgeted for the depot rehabilitation and the $7,500 for the quiet zone study should be removed and that the remainder of the monies be taken from the pedestrian bridge. Ethan Barlow asked the Board to consider minimizing the damage of reallocating monies rather than defunding projects that have a potential of occurring during the upcoming fiscal year. He also questioned the need for earmarking monies for a project that will not occur this year because it is not adequately funded, stressing that he is speaking in generic terms and not addressing a specific project. He asked that the Board give this issue consideration, both now and in future budget discussions if monies need to be reallocated to cover unanticipated costs. Jeanne Wesley-Wiese responded that the pedestrian bridge project started nearly fifteen years ago with a $10,000 budgeted amount and monies being added whenever possible to reach the current $82,000 level. She then stated that the $82,000 was adequate to fund the bridge construction; however, the City’s Engineering staff also required the installation of sidewalks along one side of East Aspen Street between the creek and North Rouse Avenue and that raised the cost of the project by $11,000. John Usher suggested that the monies needed to fund the district’s portion of the staff position be taken from the bridge funding but that it remain approved and be fully funded after the Cottonwood & Ida project is completed and the tax increment generated. Brit Fontenot reminded the Board that the estimated cost of $82,000 for the bridge is two years old; and he does not expect the $82,000 will fund it now. Responding to additional comments from Ethan Barlow, Jeanne Wesley-Wiese stated that the pedestrian bridge has had the most community support of any of the projects this Board has identified and funded. NURB Meeting – April 30, 2019 5 It was moved by John Usher, seconded by Dan Doehring, that the $1,000 for depot rehabilitation be deleted from the work plan and budget. The motion carried on a 4-1 vote; Bobbi Clem voted No. It was moved by John Usher, seconded by Bobbi Clem, that the $7,500 for the quiet zone study be retained in the work plan and budget. The motion carried on a 3-2 vote; Jeanne Wesley- Wiese and Bob Pavlic voted No. It was moved by Bobbi Clem, seconded by Dan Doehring, that the monies budgeted for the pedestrian bridge/East Aspen Street be decreased by $12,250 to fund the requested increase in administrative support. The motion carried on a 5-0 vote. It was moved by John Usher, seconded by Dan Doehring, that the monies budgeted for administrative support be increased by $13,250 as requested by staff. The motion carried on a 5-0 vote. It was moved by Jeanne Wesley-Wiese, seconded by John Usher, that the Board adopt the work plan and budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 as revised by the previous motions. The motion carried on a 5-0 vote. Set agenda for June 4, 2019 meeting or cancel meeting. Since there are currently no pressing agenda items, the Board cancelled its June 4 and July 2 meetings. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on August 6. FYI/Discussion. There was no discussion under this agenda item. Adjournment – 8:00 p.m. There being no further business to come before the Board at this time, Chair Pavlic adjourned the meeting. Bob Pavlic, Chair Northeast Urban Renewal Board City of Bozeman