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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-19-10 Downtown Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Board Minutes Downtown Tax Increment Finance Board Meeting Minutes 1/19/10 Attending: Bobby Bear, Thail Davis, Vonda Laird, Bob Lashaway, Bill Stoddart Chris Naumann Absent: Peter Bertelsen (resigned from board 12-21-09) Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes ACTION:Bob Lashaway motioned to accept the minutes from November and December 2009. Vonda Laird seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Special Presentations Bruce Grubbs—Bozeman School District—Opportunities, Planning and Challenges Mr. Grubbs, a School Board Trustee, covered a variety of topics including: student performance on standardized tests like the ACT/SAT and NCLB AYP; the state and national recognitions; finance issues; capital improvement plans; new school construction goals. He thanked the TIF for supporting the schools, in particular Hawthorne Elementary. Gary Bloomer—Director of Development—TechRanch Mr. Bloomer gave the board a brief history and overview of the organization. He outlined the challenges they are facing due to a dramatic decline in federal and state funding. Mr. Bloomer indicated that the organization was looking to relocate into a “rent-neutral” facility in order to drastically reduce operating expenses. Therefore, they have been in discussions with the City of Bozeman to move into the old City Hall building. He outlined the benefits to the downtown of such a relocation and asked the board to consider supporting this idea. Financial Report rd Chris outlined recent financial activity for the TIF account. He noted that the 3 quarter management fee to the Partnership had been paid. The only other expenditures this month were some nominal costs of replacing streetlamp light bulbs and fuses. Chris mentioned that the increment would be paid late this year due to the property reappraisal process. Program Director’s Report Winter/Spring Events and Programs: thth  Winter Crazy Days, President’s weekend Feb 12 – 15 Unbelievable sales on winter merchandise at over 100 businesses o th  Bridal Walk, Saturday, April 10 Same-day Registration at the Baxter Hotel Ballroom o st  Annual Breakfast, Thursday, April 1 @ 7:30am Presenting the DBP Annual Awards, still finalizing a keynote speaker and/or o presentation th  Bobcat Fest on Main – Friday, April 30 (last day of classes) Event to celebrate the students and faculty that live and play within our o community…updates to come! th  Art Walks – first one June 11 6-8pm Other Items: Holiday Marketing Campaign a success! - Holiday shopping numbers were good. Most businesses up from last year. - Many New businesses opening and vacancies filling. Check out the Downtown - Newspaper for these monthly updates! Working with other media’s to develop some more collaborative marketing avenues for - downtown businesses as we go into the spring/summer season. 2 DBA Board terms are open and we currently have 2 nominations to fill the vacancies: - Jon Edwards (owner of Schnee’s Inc.) and Jodie Delay (Director of MSU Public Relations). New Board members to be voted in at the February Board meeting. Executive Director’s Report Tax Increment Finance District Board Downtown Improvement Plan On December 14, 2009 the Bozeman City Commission unanimously voted to adopt the 2009 Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan. On January 25, 2010 the Commission will pass the resolution formally adopting the Downtown Improvement Plan. This will be on the agenda as a consent item. The adopted Plan is, and will continue to be, available for download as a PDF on the downtown website and will soon also be on the City of Bozeman Planning Department webpage. Downtown Explosion Recovery Appropriations There have been two meetings to discuss the specifics of the two federal appropriations that have been awarded to the preservation and reconstruction of the explosion site. The first is a $150,000 grant from the Save Americas Treasures program of the National Park Service for the preservation of historic buildings. The second is a Housing Urban Development grant of $974,000 awarded for reconstruction at the explosion site. The meetings thus far have included Senator Baucus and Tester staff and City staff. We submitted a series of questions to Baucus’s appropriations specialist in Washington DC to learn more about the qualification requirements funds. Northwestern Energy Downtown Funds Following the explosion on March 5, 2009, Northwestern Energy contributed $50,000 to the City of Bozeman Clean-Up Fund (which also included funds from the COB revolving loan and the affordable housing funds). None of these funds were used by any of the property owners at the blast site. Bob Rowe, Northwestern’s CEO, approached me about investing their $50,000 from this clean- up fund in a downtown project. We agreed that the Downtown Partnership could administer the money in a similar fashion to that of the Downtown Relief Fund. To that end, I established a “Downtown Enhancement Fund” under the Partnership at First Security Bank. The City and Northwestern are finalizing an agreement to dissolve the Clean-Up Fund which will result in the $50,000 being transferred to our account. Mr. Rowe and I decided that we would form an oversight committee to administer the funds. This committee will include myself, Mel Kotur (NWE Public Relations Director), and a representative from First Security Bank. Although not decided at this point, Mr. Rowe and I have spoken at length about investing these funds in the Bozeman Creek park project that has been discussed adjacent to the public parking lot behind the Eagles. We also discussed the idea of using this money as seed funding for a Downtown Revolving Loan Fund, and while Mr. Rowe acknowledged the long-term benefits of such a use his preference is to invest the money in a public improvement project that could be initiated sooner rather than later. Board Vacancies Update I met briefly with Bob Hietala regarding the board’s interest in his service on the TIF Board. He said he would seriously consider applying. We discussed that if does not then we would like his recommendation of another Prospera board member that would be a good fit for the TIF board. Discussion and Decision Items TIF Impact Fee Payment Chris updated the board that back in December he submitted the TIF’s Letter of Intent to pay the impact fees associated with any reconstruction at the explosion site in the 200 block of East Main Street. He then met with Chris Kukulski and Anna Rosenberry to discuss the particulars of how that process would work. Then Chris told the group that he drafted a Memorandum of Understanding to ratify the agreement between the TIF and City. City Attorney had reviewed the MOU and asked that the TIF board formally approve the agreement at written. ACTION:Bob Lashaway motioned the MOU between the TIF board and the City of Bozeman stipulating when and how the TIF will pay the impact fees of the properties directly impacted by the March 5, 2009 explosion as allowed by state TIF statute. Vonda Laird seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Bobby then proposed the idea that the board consider extending the same offer to the businesses that were forced to relocate due to the disaster. Chris indicated that as far as he knew only Starky’s had incurred any impact fees as part of their new restaurant build out. Vonda asked if Chris knew the amount of the Starky’s impact fees. Chris responded that he thought the fees totaled approximately $1500. The group agreed that this would be appropriate and instructed Chris to talk to the City about how to best proceed. No “Plywood” Project Chris introduced the idea of the TIF taking the initiative to eliminate all plywood from the exterior of buildings downtown and in particular those instances along Main Street. He said his rationale was that the occurrence of plywood was visual blight that could easily be eliminated with either the purchase and installation of glass or even the application of paint. He concluded by indicating that there are four buildings that currently have visible plywood: Osborne Building, Rug Gallery, the Rialto, and the Armory. Bob noted that the Osborne building was destined to be demolished, thus mute. Bobby said she thought that the instances on Main Street were of the highest priority. Vonda added that perhaps discussing the issue with the property owners might result in them replacing glass or painting. Bill asked about the current ownership of the Rug Gallery building. Chris indicated that he had not heard any update about the foreclosure proceedings, but he would inquire. In general the group liked the idea. Chris said he would contact the mentioned property owners and assess the situation. He concluded by saying he would report back to the board and would like to see this project completed this spring before the summer season. New or Old Business Chris reminded the board that the City Commission would consider passing the Resolution to Adopt the Downtown Improvement Plan at their January 25 meeting. He noted that the resolution was on the consent agenda and he anticipated it to pass without discussion. With no future or old business to discuss, Bobby adjourned the meeting.