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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-27-11 Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) Minutes Downtown Business Improvement District Board Meeting Minutes April 27, 2011 Attending: Mike Basile, Eric Bowman, Mike Grant, Dan Himsworth, Ileana Indreland, Steve Stinson, Buck Taylor, Cyndy Andrus, Chris Naumann Absent: None Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes ACTION: Buck Taylor motioned to approve minutes from March as presented Eric Bowman seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report Chris presented a few expenditures, mostly the anticipated expenses of the maintenance program. Chris said otherwise there was very little financial activity. Chris estimated that the BID year-end cash balance would be approximately $85,000 between the checking account and Certificate of Deposits. Per the board's request at the March meeting, Chris presented the BID's projected the financials for the next 10 years comparing the anticipated expenditures versus the savings reserve. Chris noted that while the $85,000 reserve seems sizeable, the projections shows the reserve holding at current levels but then being aggressively drawn down over the final five years of the BID term. The projections show a cash balance of$9,900 at the end of this BID term. Therefore, Chris recommended maintaining a reserve amount of$80-$85k for the next few years. The board agreed that the reserve is necessary until we see how the pre-determined assessment amounts compare to expenses during the next two or three fiscal years. Program Director's Report Chris distributed a written Program Director's Report for April. Executive Director's Report Maintenance Program Update The maintenance staff work 5 days a week. Staff makes the rounds 3 mornings during the work week and each weekend morning. Their primary duties include emptying trash receptacles, picking up garbage, banner installation, and graffiti removal. FY2010 Y-T-D FY2011 Y-T-D Trash Emptied 1661 2078 Graffiti Removed 210 80 Relocation of Downtown Partnership Office The relocation is nearly complete. We will be completely out of the old office space by Friday, April 29tH Robyn Erlenbush and I signed a comprehensive MOU to co-brand and enhance the ERA Landmark visitor's center at 8 East Main as the "Downtown Visitor's Center'. We anticipate co-hosting a "grand re-opening" of the visitor's center in early June. "Economic Impact of Downtown" The Sonoran Institute commissioned Joe Minicozzi to prepare a study: "The Economic Benefit of Downtown Bozeman--A Profitable Investment of Our Tax Dollars". Mr. Minicozzi, nationally recognized nationally for his work in downtown revitalization and community design, presented the findings of his study of downtown Bozeman. Mr. Minicozzi's research compares the property tax revenues returned to the community from various types of commercial development, and demonstrates the extraordinary return taxpayers receive for the investment we make in our downtown. Mr. Minicozzi presented his initial findings at two events in Bozeman on Tuesday, April 26th . The first presentation was attended by three City Commissioners, the City Manager and Finance Director, City Planning staff, the County Planner, downtown board members and the press. The evening presentation was attended by property owners, developers, architects, planners, and citizens. In all over 50 people attended. The Sonoran Institute will be producing a video of the presentation as well as a printed report documenting the study's findings. Downtown Police Sub-Station Open The re-purposed downtown police sub-station is now fully open and operational. The station features a public receptionist during typical business hours Monday through Friday. In total 18 police officers will work out of the downtown station-3 shifts of 6 officers. This is great news for downtown as we will not only see more officers working the downtown beat, but will have a stronger relationship with the Police Department. All of these benefits will particularly help with coordinating security for downtown events. Discussion and Decision Items "Economic Impact of Downtown" Ileana asked what we [downtown] do with the data presented in the Sornoran Institute study. Chris offered that he thought one way to leverage the impressive tax revenues generated per acre downtown was to request lowering the impact fees charged to new development and changes-in-use downtown. He said the taxing entities make a very healthy ROI downtown considering the public infrastructure is in place and mostly upgraded to modern standards. Mike Basile said if the impact fees could not be reduced then we should request that a portion of them be invested in a downtown redevelopment fund. The board agreed that these ideas would be worth pursuing. Carnegie Lot LOI The board began discussing the recent Letter of Intent to purchase the Carnegie Parking Lot. Chris provided a synopsis of what the next step are according to City policy. He said that the City Commission would be considering whether or not to authorize the City Manager to sign the LOI and order an appraisal of the property. Ileana expressed her concern about the City's willingness to entertain a random LOI to purchase publically owned property. She said the City policy should be to first hold a public hearing to determine whether or not the lot is needed. She said the City should ask the current "owners"—neighboring business and property owners—if they are interested and willing to sell "their" property. Eric Bowman asked how you determine whether or not it is needed as a surface parking lot if you do not know what the alternative use would be. He continued that you need to know the specifics of proposed alternative to determine if the current use is still needed. Eric concluded that some consideration should be given to the idea of"higher and better use." Another concern voiced by Ileana was that another large scale construction project would have unintended consequences. She referred to the instance of constructing the garage which caused North Black to be closed for two years. Chris assured the board that he would continue to talk to business and property owners to learn about their thoughts and concerns regarding the LOI and the need of the Carnegie Lot. Downtown Partnership Assistant Director Chris presented the idea of redistributing his payroll expenses to be covered 90% by the TIF and 10% by the BID. This would accomplish two objectives: 1) Allow the BID Partnership management fee to be reinvested in hiring an Assistant Director; and 2) Subsequently Chris would have more time to work on economic development initiatives and implementation of the Downtown Improvement Plan. Chris distributed and outlined a draft job description of the potential new position. The board discussed how it has been discussed for years that the organizations needed a third person, but until this point there was no way to pay for a personnel expansion. Several board members said it seemed to make sense considering the BID would essentially retain Chris as their director and gain an additional employee at no additional cost. Chris told the board that the Partnership Management Committee was meeting in early May to discuss the merits of the proposed position. He said the BID would discuss it further at their May meeting. New or Old Business None With no additional new or old business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.