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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-16-11 Downtown Tax Increment Finance District (TIF) Minutes Downtown Tax Increment Finance August Board Meeting Minutes August 16, 2011 Attending: Bobby Bear, Paul Burns, Bob Hietala, Vonda Laird, Bob Lashaway, Bill Stoddart, Cyndy Andrus, Chris Naumann Absent: Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes ACTION: Bob Hietala moved to approve the June minutes as presented with the correction noted to his statement regarding the Technical Assistance Program and moved to approve the July minutes. Vonda Laird seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report Chris presented the first financial report for FY2012. No revenues had been received. He reported the following expenses: 1st Quarter Management Fee $23,937.50; Furniture and Park Maintenance $1355.44; Streetscape purchases $1585.90; Phase 3 Streetscape Engineering $1587.20; Technical Assistance Grants FY10 $14400.00 and FY11 $17100.00. There were no questions from the board regarding finances. Program Director's Report None provided Executive Director's Report Technical Assistance Program Update As you can see from the chart below, no Planning Grants or Facade Grants have been awarded yet this year. Downtown Technical Assistance Program Project Name Project Address Applicant Professional Grant Type Operations Manager Update I received 90 inquiries about the Downtown Operations Manager position which yielded 24 applications. Ellie and I selected six finalists for consideration by the Hiring Committee which included the two of us, Eric Bowman (BID), and Kate Wiggins (DBA). The Committee evaluated the six final applicants and chose three to interview. The interviews were conducted on August 10th. From the interviews and subsequent deliberation, the committee chose Jess Edelen who has worked for the DBA and Downtown Partnership for the past three years as part-time event and office help. Development Updates The owners of the Imperial Inn have submitted redevelopment plans to the City Planning Department. The Armory is under the ownership of First Interstate Bank who has retained a real estate agent. I am meeting with COB, FIB and agent on August the 23rd. Santa Fe Reds are planning to open the first week of September. Barrel is closing first week of September...Homepage Cafe is closing by the end of the month. No activity on the Rialto. Numerous attempts to contact the owner regarding his Technical Assistance Grant have gone unanswered. Powder Horn is going to do some considerable facade renovations and replace their Black Avenue sidewalk with the full downtown streetscape. Ward's Building/RMRG windows...Chris Kukulski met with Jalal to discuss how to resolve the issue of his plywood windows. Sitka is considering the F&H Building as one of their two potential relocation sites. Discussion and Decision Items DURT Rendering Project Chris reminded the board that the political winds and financial realities seem to be necessitating a phased approach to the Downtown Urban Route Transformation project. As previously discussed, Chris made inquiries about how to initiate a phased approach that would focus on streetscape improvements and traffic calming elements without addressing the direction of traffic flow. Chris presented a proposal to contract with Alta Planning, a national multi-modal transportation engineer firm with an office in Bozeman, to generate some graphic visualizations of what the streetscape and traffic calming improvements would look like. Chris distributed some renderings from other Alta projects that give an idea of what the visualizations would show. The proposal estimate is $3950 and would yield 3-D modeling of Mendenhall from Bozeman Avenue to Tracy Avenue (three blocks and two intersections). The 3-D model would then be replicated in include photo enhanced facades of the actual buildings. The renderings would also include some street configuration alternatives. Bob Lashaway said it is extremely helpful to have images and renderings when presenting a new idea to communicate the scope and aesthetic of a project. Bobby Bear said she feels it is important to do these renderings in order to maintain some momentum towards improving the Mendenhall and Babcock corridors as prescribed by the Downtown Improvement Plan. ACTION: Bob Lashaway moved to approve funding the Alta Planning DURT visualizations as presented. Bill Stoddart seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Funding Proposal for Downtown Public Art At the previous meeting Chris informed the board that he would be bringing before them a proposal to fund several public art initiatives in the downtown district. At that time the board acknowledged that public art is an important type of"cultural" infrastructure that made downtown unique. Chris presented a proposal recommending the board approve $1000 for three public art projects: A.R.T. Artistically Reclaimed Trafficboxes; the Gallatin Art Crossing; and the Bozeman Sculpture Park. The board discussed the merits of all three projects and agreed that the TIF should support them financially. Bobby Bear asked how Chris arrived at the $1000 figure. Chris replied that there was no specific logic behind the dollar amount and encouraged the board to fund the projects as they deemed appropriate. Bob Hietala indicated that he felt the board should fund $2500 to complete phase one (paint five boxes) of the A.R.T. project to be matched by the Downtown Enhancement Fund. Bobby agreed and suggested that the TIF also provide $2500 toward the purchase of the "Fish Face" sculpture in Soroptomist Park as a permanent piece of the Gallatin Art Crossing. Chris said this could serve as an initial match as the price of the piece exceeded $5000. ACTION: Bobby Bear moved to approve the following funding to support public art downtown: $2500 to be matched by the Downtown Enhancement Fund for the first phase of the A.R.T. Project; $2500 to be matched by the Gallatin Art Crossing for the purchase of the "Fish Face" sculpture in Soroptomist Park; and $1000 as a Patron level contribution to the Bozeman Sculpture Park. Bob Lashaway seconded the motion. All voted in favor. New Business Chris told the board that he would be bringing them a financial analysis of the Downtown Partnership. He said that several issues came to light during the Operations Manager hiring process. The Hiring Committee agreed that Chris should prepare an analysis and brief all three boards to insure a clear understanding of how the Partnership is financed. With no further new or old business to discuss, Bobby adjourned the meeting.