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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-18-11 Downtown Tax Increment Finance District (TIF) Minutes Downtown Tax Increment Finance Board Meeting Minutes January 18, 2011 Attending: Bobby Bear, Paul Burns, Vonda Laird, Bill Stoddart, Cyndy Andrus, Chris Naumann Absent: Bob Hietala, Bob Lashaway Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes ACTION: Vonda Laird motioned to accept the minutes from December Bill Stoddart seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report Chris presented the financial report. He noted that due to the large number of appeals, Department of Revenue as behind in processing the final increment income figures. Chris noted that he would consult with the City Finance Department and hopefully have some income updates for February's meeting. Regarding expenses, Chris noted that the Partnership Management Fee had been paid for the third quarter. The other expenses this month included: parking study payment and technical assistance grant awards. Program Director's Report None provided Executive Director's Report Downtown Parking Study Update The Downtown Parking Study is in the final stages of revisions and edits. Paul Burns (City of Bozeman Parking Manager), Chris Saunders (City of Bozeman Assistant Planning Director), and I have been working with WTI to make a series of revisions to strengthen and clarify the contents and conclusions of the study. WTI will be giving an overview presentation of the study and its findings in early March, most likely as part of the Bozeman Parking Commission meeting. Several advisory groups will be invited to attend such as the Planning Board, Zoning Board, City Commission, Planning staff, and TIF Board. One issue to clarify is how the report should refer to the TIF versus the DBP. Downtown Improvement Plan Report The Downtown Improvement Plan was adopted by the City Commission one year ago today. I have compiled a report detailing the progress that has been made in the first year under the Plan. I anticipate this will be an important annual exercise to track our accomplishments and refocus my attention to what is next. I anticipate "releasing" the report in the coming weeks complete with a formal press release. I will have small number of the reports printed; otherwise the report will be available to the public as a PDF on the DBP and COB websites. Technical Assistance Program Update As you can see from the chart below, the Technical Assistance Program is proving very popular. I have awarded 10 Planning Grants and 3 Facade Grant totaling $80,100 of the $125,000 budget. Downtown Technical Assistance Program Project Name Project Address Applicant Professional Grant Type Gallatin Building 44 East Main Street Community Food Co-op Intrinsik Technical Downtowner Building 31-37 South Willson Downtowner Group LLC Focus Technical Odd Fellows Building 221-223 East Main City Center Commerce ThinkTank Technical The Willson Hotel Armory E. Mendenhall The Catellus Group LLC Slade Beal Technical Cateye Cafe Building 23 North Tracy Ave Christine & Kevin Huyser Intrinsik Technical Old City Hall Fagade 411 East Main Steve Kleimer CTA Facade Osborn Block 229-233 East Main Chris Pope Intrinsik Technical Bon Ton Building 42 West Main Mike Basile Focus Technical St Paul Rail Building 608 East Main Empire Building Materials ThinkTank Technical South Wallace Site 218 South Wallace Shannon Roberts Intrinsik Technical Bzn Cr Family Health 316 East Babcock Sarah Bronsky ThinkTank Technical Bon Ton Fagade 42 West Main Mike Basile Focus Facade Downtowner Facade 31-37 South Willson Mike Grant Focus Facade Inter-local Agreement The County attorney requested a few changes to the Inter-local agreement. The changes involve the administrative process of redistributing the increment and a few legal language edits. The City, School District, and I have approved the changes. The County and School District are in the process of getting the agreement signed. Discussion and Decision Items Downtown Plan Annual Report Cyndy thanked Chris for sending a draft version to the City Commission for their information as they began establishing next year's goals. She suggested that Chris present the report at a future Commission meeting. The board agreed that this would serve as a public presentation. Housing Incentive Program Chris presented a revision of the Downtown Housing Incentive Program. He indicated that after considering several options for incentivizing housing, partial offset of residential related impact fees would be best. One issue that Chris asked for the board's direction was whether or not to include lodging in this program. He said that his thought was to exclude lodging while acknowledging that incentivizing hotel development should be considered. Bobby felt that this program should be very focused on owner occupied or leased residential units. Vonda agreed but asked if it would be possible to provide a financial incentive for the development of a downtown hotel. Chris said he would draft some hotel incentives for the board's consideration. Bill noted that in order to be very clear, the program materials should better define "housing". Chris agreed and said he would reference the definition(s) in the COB UDO for the B3 zone. Cyndy suggested that Chris send the draft language to Chris Saunders for his review and comments. The board agreed. Streetscape Improvement Plan Chris pointed out that the Downtown Streetscape Improvement Plan still contains missing pieces of sidewalk engineering. In particular, he specified North and South Wallace plus the south side of East Main Street between Wallace and the Library. He said that this came to his attention because Empire Building was considering improving the streetscape adjacent to their property at the corner of East Main and Wallace. Chris suggested that the TIF board consider having TD&H perform the preliminary engineering and design for the missing sections in an effort to incentivize Empire to make streetscape improvements. The board requested that Chris obtain a cost estimate from TD&H for the consideration in February. With no further new or old business to discuss, Bobby adjourned the meeting.