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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-22-22 Public Comment 0 E. Stahley - Fire Station on Sale Public CommentFrom:Ellie Staley To:Cyndy Andrus; Terry Cunningham; I-Ho Pomeroy; Jennifer Madgic; Christopher Coburn Cc:Agenda Subject:Fire Station One Sale Public Comment Date:Tuesday, March 22, 2022 6:53:53 PM Attachments:image003.png CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Good evening, Mayor Andrus and City Commissioners. Below is the URD Board Public comment regarding tonight’s Fire Station One Sale URD Funding agenda item. I am sorry for the delay on getting this sent before tonight’s meeting as the turnaround from our board meeting discussion this afternoon was quick. I will plan to read this at tonight’s meeting. Thanks in advance for your consideration. Ellie The 1.6 million in funding requested by the city for the Fire Station One sale has been discussed at the last two URD board meetings as well as at a “Special Meeting” where board members were able to ask more specifics from the city staff and the potential developers who submitted the proposal you all are reviewing this evening. We had robust discussions regarding this request and how it impacts our current and future budgets and priorities. And although not all our board members agree on the requested 1.6 million in URD funding for this specific project, there are items in reference to workforce housing that the board does agree on and would like to note this evening. First, all of the Downtown URD Board members are in favor of URD assistance for workforce housing, which is why we have an established Residential Housing Program built into our current budget and work plan. Promoting a range of housing options within our downtown area is also among our established board priorities. On the other hand, the URD Board was not favorable about the process of the city requesting funding for this project. The information presented to the URD board by City Staff and the Offeror during our board meetings regarding this agenda items, was incomplete and outdated thus challenging the URD board’s ability to approve the resolution based on reasonable and proven rationale. While we understand why this project was different than most in regard to the safety center allocation and the workforce housing component request by the Commission, we feel that there should have been a more developed process to request this funding from the URD knowing it’s budgetary affects regardless of the timeline and sale details. Some of these details include specific deed restrictions and a current proforma in order to make a fiscally responsible decision with fair availability and distribution for all potential developers and property owners interested in building workforce housing. Additional thoughts from the board included concern about the “all or nothing” approach to the 1.6 million in funding while others suggested combining efforts into a benefit package for all potential workforce housing projects including parking reductions, code variances, cash in lieu reductions, reduced impact and submittal fees. Finally, the URD board would be in favor of going through structured process as mentioned above, even after the funds have been formally approved, the sale is final and site plans are developed in order to receive the full 1.6 million reimbursement in order to review and fully understand the deliverables from this project and the impact to the Downtown Urban Renewal tax district. Thank you, Mayor and Commissioners for your time. Ellie Staley Executive Director Downtown Bozeman Partnership 222 East Main Street #302 | Bozeman MT 59715 406-586-4008 | www.downtownbozeman.org Thanks to our Platinum Sponsor: The Downtown Business Improvement District and Downtown Urban Renewal District are City of Bozeman entities administered by the Downtown Bozeman Partnership. City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law.