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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-15-10 Downtown Tax Increment Finance District Minutes Downtown Tax Increment Finance Board Meeting Minutes June 15, 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 May Bob Hietala seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report Chris indicated that there was very little financial activity since the May meeting. He suggested that the board focus the financial discussion on the FY2011 budget later in the meeting. Program Director’s Report In Ellie’s absence, Chris presented the final schedule of summer events including: Music on Main, Art Walks, and the Cruisin’ on Main Car Show. Executive Director’s Report “No Plywood on Main Street” I still have yet to get the owner of Rocky Mountain Rug Gallery to sign the window replacement agreement. I will continue to engage him in hopes of securing his permission to proceed. On a more positive note, I will be meeting with Sue Doss as a representative of the Rialto Redevelopment Group to discuss the minor improvements to the old theater façade. She was very receptive to our offer so we will work out the details in the next week or two. I also met with Chris Pope regarding how to make his property as aesthetic as possible once the building is taken down. We discussed a plywood wall painted with a mural (Bridger Mountains or a rendering of the historic Osborn Building) that would look good and ensure the sidewalk is completely open. I am still in negotiations with Ann Bates and Mike Hope regarding creating temporary public green space at 221 and 223 East Main Street. Streetscape Improvements Update Tire-Rama has completed their streetscape improvements including all new streetlamps (yet to be installed), trees, bike racks, trash receptacles, and a bench. Heebs was in the process of replacing their sidewalks when asbestos was discovered. Reclamation efforts have been taking place over the past two weeks. The sidewalks are expected to be completed this week. Both property owners have submitted applications for the Streetscape Assistance Program for streetlamp reimbursement. The BID board funded the planting of 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. Development Assistance Update To date I have awarded a total of five Development Assistance Grants and one Façade Assistance Grant. The three firms participating include Intrinsik Architecture, CTA Architects and Engineers, and High Plain Architecture of Billings. The total funds committed equal $38,700. In processing these six applications several “what if’s” have arisen. I have made some revisions to the application and program documents to further clarify several points. I will present the revised program to the board at the July meeting. Downtown Alley Project In light of the Downtown Improvement Plan’s emphasis on enhancing our alleys for improved aesthetic and pedestrian use and the funding available for the alley adjacent to the explosion site, I convened a workshop about alley design. The workshop was attended by Don McLaughlin (Place Architects), Paul Bertelli and Ashley Sullivan (JLF Architects), and Rob Pertzborn (Intrinsik Architecture). The group had a constructive conversation about what makes alleys unique and how they might look and function better. Topics included: greening the south face of the garage with foliage; what to do or not do about dumpsters; pedestrian lighting; alley signage; and revising the COB UDO to allow “shotgun” Main Street retail spaces to be subdivided thus facilitating alley side businesses to open. Soroptomist Park Work The spring work on Soroptomist Park is complete. This included: placement of granite boulders to discourage walking through beds; planting of additional perennials and shrubs; re-mulching; repair of the water fountain; and charging of the sprinkler system. I have had preliminary discussions with members of the Gallatin Art Crossing board about locating a third sculpture in the park. I will be meeting with Tate Chamberlin and Bill Halpin soon to select a location. The Gallatin Art Crossing would like to make a presentation to the board in July about purchasing one of the existing sculptures downtown as a permanent piece of art. Discussion and Decision Items Budget Projections to 2020 Chris presented the revised financial projections of TIF revenues and expenses out to the fiscal year 2020. He thanked Bobby for helping him reconfigure these projections. Chris recalled how the “non-allocated reserve” concept proved convoluted in the projections, so he decided to no longer use that category. He justified this due to the recent downtown improvement plan, which provides a laundry list of future projects and investments for TIF funding. The board agreed that the reserve line item was no longer needed and eliminating it did make the projections much easier to understand. The other major change in the revised projection was a more exact calculation of what the COB Interlocal Share would be beginning in FY2012. Chris worked with Anna Rosenberry to estimate that in 2012 that income line item would be approximately $251,000, considerably higher than previously estimated. Chris concluded that with these two changes, the financial outlook for the TIF is clearly a strong one. He provided two versions of the projections: Conservative and Aggressive. The Conservative projection included modest project expenditures and resulted in annual year-end- balances in excess of $1 million. The Aggressive projection proposes higher program and project expenditures while still maintaining annual year-end balances in excess of $700,000. The board agreed that these projections clear demonstrate that the TIF is in a strong position to continue investing in downtown once the Interlocal Agreement goes into effect in 2011. FY2011 Draft Budget Chris pointed out that the strong 2020 financial projections inform the FY2011 budget discussion. He reviewed the projected incomes for the upcoming year that should total $1.92 million (which includes a carryover balance from FY2010 of $839,500). He reiterated that the Partnership management fee would remain at $74,000. Chris concluded his review of the proposed budget by outlining the remaining expenses: Street Improvements $80,000; Planning Expenses (Parking Study, Development Assistance Grants, Downtown Plan Implementation) $230,000; Parking Garage Debt Service $426,188; and Explosion Impact Fees $60,000. With these projected incomes and expenses, the TIF year-end balance would be in excess of $1 million. The board discussed how the 2020 projections make it clear that the TIF can and should continue to invest heavily despite the impending Interlocal Agreement. They agreed that funding the Downtown Parking Study is important to inform the discussion as new post- recession developments are proposed. They also agreed that increasing the Development Assistance Grant total and providing significant funding for the implementation of the Downtown Plan were both important. ACTION:Vonda Laird motioned to approve the FY2011 TIF Budget as presented. Bill Stoddart seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Development Assistance Program Chris updated the board on the recent applications for Development Assistance. He indicated that he has approved X projects to date involving 3 different professional firms. He reminded the board that the program is extremely flexible in anticipation of a wide variety of proposed projects with unique circumstances. Chris asked for the board’s direction regarding several potential applications. He stated that one development grant had been awarded to Baxter Main LLC to analyze the development potential of the Baxter’s upper floors. David Loseff has asked if that grant would preclude the Baxter Homeowners Association from applying for a grant to rehabilitate the Baxter Hotel sign and/or he himself from applying for assistance to redevelop the two-tiered parking lot just north of the Baxter. Essentially there was the potential to award three grants to three separate owners for what is essentially the same property. The board discussed that many “properties” downtown have multiple owners. They also spoke about the same project could potentially apply for both a Development grant and a Façade grant. Vonda felt that a major project should be allowed to apply and potentially receive both grants. Bobby said that in the case of the three potential Baxter applications she feels it would be appropriate to consider all three since they are in fact owned by separate entities and are three distinct taxable parcels. New or Old Business Other Financial Assistance Programs Chris informed the board that he was drafting the documents for a financial assistance program specifically to provide incentives for the construction of downtown housing. He feels it is important to consider a program that would support the emphasis in the Downtown Improvement Plan on increasing residential density. The board agreed that some sort of housing incentive would be a good idea. Chris said he would e-mail a draft of the program the following week so that it could be discussed at July’s meeting. City Commission Liaison In the consideration of time the board will postpone the discussion of Cyndy’s roll as liaison until the July meeting. Bobby adjourned the meeting.