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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-19-11 Downtown Tax Increment Finance District (TIF) Minutes Downtown Tax Increment Finance April Board Meeting Minutes April 19, 2011 Attending: Bobby Bear, Paul Burns, Bob Hietala, Bill Stoddart, Cyndy Andrus, Chris Naumann Absent: Vonda Laird, Bob Lashaway Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes The March minutes were not available for the board's consideration. They will be reviewed at the May meeting. Financial Report Chris presented the financial report. There was a small amount of income, $3250, received from the sale of benches to the Library Foundation. Regarding expenses, Chris said the final installment of the Partnership management fee was paid, $18,500. Otherwise, a payment, $4763, was made for the Parking Study and two technical assistance grants were paid upon completion, $8100. Chris pointed out that he added a "Projected Year End" column to the finance report which indicates an estimated year-end balance of $1 ,261 ,659. There were no questions from the board. Program Director's Report None provided Executive Director's Report Technical Assistance Program Update As you can see from the chart below, I have awarded 14 Planning Grants and 5 Fagade Grant totaling $114,300 of the $125,000 budget, leaving a remainder of$10,700. Downtown Technical Assistance Program Project Name Project Address Applicant Professional Grant Type Gallatin Building 44 East Main Street Community Food Co-op Intrinsik Planning Downtowner Building 31-37 South Willson Downtowner Group LLC Focus Planning Odd Fellows Building 221-223 East Main City Center Commerce ThinkTank Planning The Willson Hotel Armory E. Mendenhall The Catellus Group LLC Slade Beal Planning Cateye Cafe Building 23 North Tracy Ave Christine & Kevin Huyser Intrinsik Planning Old City Hall Facade 411 East Main Steve Kleimer CTA Facade Osborn Block 229-233 East Main Chris Pope Intrinsik Planning Bon Ton Building 42 West Main Mike Basile Focus Planning St Paul Rail Building 608 East Main Empire Building Materials ThinkTank Planning South Wallace Site 218 South Wallace Shannon Roberts Intrinsik Planning Bzn Cr Family Health 316 East Babcock Sarah Bronsky ThinkTank Planning Bon Ton Facade 42 West Main Mike Basile Focus Facade Downtowner Facade 31-37 South Willson Mike Grant Focus Facade Klare Building Facade 234 East Babcock Morris Klare ThinkTank Facade Bozeman Armory 24 West Mendenhall Thomas Nygard Bechtle Planning East Willson School 404 West Main BSD7 Comma Q Planning Rialto Theater 8 West Main SRO Live Cikan Planning Baxter Parking Garage 126 West Mendenhall Baxter Main LLC Intrinsik Planning Baxter Sign Renovation 105 West Main Baxter HOA Intrinsik Facade Relocation of Downtown Partnership Office The relocation is nearly complete. We will be completely out of the old office space by Friday, April 291h 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 Bridger Park Garage Update Paul Burns presented the usage statistics from the Bridger Park Garage for the first two years of operation. The Average Daily Entries were consistently up 20-30% in 2010 as compared to 2009. Average Daily Revenues were trending in a similar pattern. Both showed a significant increase during July, August and December. Carnegie Parking Lot LOI Chris updated the Board that the City received a Letter of Intent in mid-April to purchase the Carnegie Public Parking Lot in order to develop a boutique hotel on the site. The City Commission voted on May 2nd to acknowledge receipt of the letter but did not authorize the City Manager to sign it until the public "need" hearing had been held. Chris informed the board that the Parking Commission would be considering whether or not the surface lot was needed for the purpose of providing adequate parking on May 11th. The board discussed the contentious nature of the issue. Several board members agreed that the presence of the garage across the street provides ample public parking in that area of downtown. Bill Stoddart added that the Downtown Parking Study clearly indicates a relative surplus of parking in the vicinity and therefore a "higher and better" use should be considered. Bobby reminded the group that the garage was constructed to leverage considerable private investment in the surrounding blocks. She said the multi-million dollar investment needs to spur private development in order to see a considerable increase in the taxable value of the district as a result of the construction of the garage. Bob Hietala suggested that the TIF board craft a recommendation to the City Commission in regards to the need of the Carnegie Lot. The board agreed to do so in anticipation of signing such a letter at the next meeting later in May. Downtown Partnership Assistant Director Chris presented the idea of the Downtown Partnership hiring an Assistant Director, as this is something that all three boards have been discussing for several years. He provided the board with a draft job description for the new position. In essence, this position would be financially possible if the TIF board would be willing to increase their portion of his payroll expenses from the current 60% to 90%. This increase combined with the annual rent savings from relocating the office would cover the payroll expenses associated with the new employee. Chris said the BID would continue to pay 10% of his payroll costs and he would continue to serve as the BID Director. In return for the increased payroll costs to the TIF, Chris said he would have more time to initiate TIF and economic development objectives--essentially implementing the Downtown Improvement Plan. Bobby said she fully supports this move as natural and overdue growth of the Downtown Partnership. Bob Hietala agreed that it makes strategic and financial sense. Bill noted that even with the increase in the TIF management fee, the organization would be spending less than 10% of its annual budget on administration expenses which is very commendable. The board agreed to the concept of assuming a greater portion of Chris's payroll expenses contingent on the creation and hiring of an assistant director. Chris noted that the Partnership Management Committee was going to meet on May 10th specifically to decide on whether or not to proceed with hiring a third employee. FY2012 Draft TIF Budget Chris then presented a draft of the FY2012 TIF budget reflecting the proposed increase in the management fee associated with the assistant director hire. Chris said that he anticipated the board would discuss the budget in detail at the May meeting in two weeks. The board said the draft budget looked good at first glance. In the interest of time, the agenda item regarding the Linx Transportation Cooperative was again tabled to be discussed at a future meeting. With no further new or old business to discuss, Bobby adjourned the meeting.