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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-18-10 Downtown Tax Increment Finance District Minutes Downtown Tax Increment Finance Board Meeting Minutes May 18, 2010 Attending: Bobby Bear, Bob Hietala, Vonda Laird, Bob Lashaway, Bill Stoddart Cyndy Andrus, Chris Naumann Absent: Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes ACTION:Bob Lashaway motioned to accept the minutes from April Vonda Laird seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report Chris indicated that there were no new expenses since April’s financial report. He did point out an updated revenue figures for Interest Income and the COB Interlocal Share as provided by Anna Rosenberry. Chris also informed the board that the City reports the current account balance for the TIF to $26,000 in excess of that he has calculated. Chris said that he will follow up with City Controller Brian LaMeres. Program Director’s Report Ellie Staley gave a verbal Program Director’s Report. She indicated that the Bobcat Fest was a huge success with increases in attendance and sponsorships over previous years. She continued by outlining the upcoming DBA summer event schedule: the Artwalk Series and Music on Main concerts. Ellie informed the group that First Security Bank will begin to sell Downtown Dollars. This will provide more opportunities for people to purchase the dollars considering that Ellie and Chris are not always in the office and the Bank is open on Saturdays. Executive Director’s Report “No Plywood on Main Street” I worked with City Attorney Greg Sullivan to develop an agreement between the TIF, COB and Jalal Neishabouri stipulating the terms upon which the TIF would replace the windows at 201 East Main Street (see handout). I presented the agreement to Mr. Neishabouri on May 4, 2010. I have stopped in to see Mr. Neishabouri on three occasions, called twice and sent one e-mail inquiring about the agreement. He has yet to respond. I will continue to engage him. Lake Glass is ready and available to begin the replacements and repairs. I have yet to make contact with Sue Doss and the Rialto Redevelopment Group regarding the repairs discussed for the façade of the Rialto Theater. I will continue to pursue that contact as well. Streetscape Improvements Update Tire-Rama and Heebs have replaced their sidewalks between Church and Wallace Avenues. Both projects have ordered LUMEC streetlamps consistent with the prescribed downtown streetscape design. Both have submitted applications for the Streetscape Assistance Program. I am coordinating with the BID board to provide new trees adjacent to Tire-Rama. The Gallatin Building will be replacing their sidewalk with the downtown streetscape in the coming months. Holy Rosary Church has expressed interest in at least installing the LUMEC streetlamps. The church property is within the TIF district, but is not included in the Streetscape engineering plans. I have provided their architect with all the lamp specifications, but have not informed them about the assistance program. Downtown Explosion Alley Project I recently wrote the proposal for the alley improvements that will take place between North Bozeman and Rouse Avenues as part of the HUD-EDI appropriation funded project. In addition to bridge railings, new asphalt, dumpster enclosures, pedestrian lighting, and employee bike racks, I included side street streetscape improvements. There was enough funding to propose improving the streetscape on the east side of North Bozeman from Main Street to the alley and the west side of North Rouse from Main to the alley. I anticipate that this work will take place next year at this time. Soroptomist Park Work I debated whether or not to hire Greenspace to do spring maintenance and landscaping versus having the BID maintenance employee to some basic work. Considering how much people notice Soroptomist when it is in top shape (and how much they notice when it is just on par), I decided to utilize some of the available budgeted funds for the park to hire Greenspace. The following work began last week and will be completed this week: installation of large granite “boulders” (reclaimed from a quarry) in areas where foot traffic has consistently damaged any plantings; new plantings of shrubs and perennials; recharging of the irrigation system; and repairs to the water fountain (it actually works now). Soroptomist is the City’s only landscaped park and they do not have the resources to properly maintain the beds, therefore I think this is an important responsibility of the TIF. Discussion and Decision Items FY2011 Draft Budget Chris began by reviewing his FY2010 year-end budget projections. He reported that all incomes and expenses were going to be at or below the budgeted amounts. The only expense that was not included in the original FY2010 budget was the impact fees associated with the downtown explosion. Chris indicated that he and Anna Rosenberry agreed to post that expense in the “Non-Allocated Reserve” category. Chris then presented the FY2011 draft budget. Bobby suggested that a line item be added to account for paying additional impact fees in the next few years. Chris agreed and added that the impact fee MOU would expire January 1, 2013. He noted that some of the budget decisions for next year would be influenced by reduced TIF incomes in coming years due to the stipulations of the interlocal agreement, which would go into effect for FY2012. The board requested that Chris add a line item “Impact Fees” under “Planning Expenses” to allow for the payment of the remaining impact fees from the explosion site reconstruction. They also recommended lowering the dollars allocated to the “Parking Study” from $40,000 to $30,000. Depending on other budget considerations, they noted that the “DBIP Implementation Funds” might need to be lowered from $125,000 to $100,000. Budget Projections to 2020 Chris then presented a financial projection of TIF revenues and expenses out to the fiscal year 2020. He wanted to create a realistic picture of what the finances might look like once the Interlocal agreement goes into effect. He admitted that he had trouble calculating how the “Non- Allocated Reserve” would perpetuate itself from year to year. He pointed out that for the purposes of this exercise all the program expenses (with the exception of an increasing management fee) remained the same from 2013 through 2020. He also noted that the “COB Interlocal Share” was a bit of an unknown figure at this point. Vonda said that she thought I had indeed miscalculated the “Non-Allocated Reserve” and Bobby agreed and offered to rework the formulas if Chris would e-mail her the spreadsheet. New or Old Business Chris presented some potential new streetscape elements: recycling bins and cigarette receptacles. He said that the BID maintenance employees regularly report a significant amount of recyclables in the trash cans. He would like to buy two recycling receptacles as a pilot program in FY2011. Chris also showed a cigarette receptacle that he said could replace the plastic versions that have been placed outside of several downtown bars since the mandatory smoking ban went to effect. Cyndy Andrus said she is very excited to be the City Commission Liaison to the TIF Board. She requested that at a future meeting we discuss our expectations of her as our liaison. And she would like to offer her thoughts about the role she can play for us. Chris said he put it on the June agenda. Chris reminded the board that the Partnership Management Committee will be conducting the th annual employee reviews on May 24. Bobby adjourned the meeting.