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Home My WebLink About01-20-15 Downtown Tax Increment Finance District (TIF) MinutesDowntown Tax Increment Finance Board Meeting Minutes January 20, 2015 Attending: Bobby Bear, Vonda Laird, Bob Lashaway, Scott Lee, Bill Stoddart, Carson Taylor and Chris Naumann Absent: Bob Hietala, Shannon Haish Public Comments None Disclosures None Minutes ACTION: Bob Lashaway moved to approve the November minutes as presented. Bill Stoddart seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Financial Report Chris presented the finance report as of January 20, 2015. He informed the board that the final FY2014 accounting from the COB Finance Department included a year-end/begin balance of $1,717,200 rather than the previously reported $1,688,000. The $29,200 difference was primarily due to an additional $15,000 from the State Entitlement Share and $5,000 in interest income. The expenses over the last month included: $25,000 for 3 rd quarter Partnership management fee; $10,000 for Dtn Streetscape preliminary engineering; plus approximately $7,500 towards several work plan projects. The board had no questions regarding the finance report. Executive Director’s Report Technical Assistance Program Update The first chart lists the remaining FY2014 grants. The second chart lists grants that have been awarded thus far in FY2015. Keep in mind that the committed grant amounts are only tentative since the actual reimbursement amount will be determined as a one to one match upon completion of the grant work. As a reminder, the Planning grants have a $7500 cap and the Façade grants are capped at $3000. Bold listings indicate completed. COB TIF Update The City of Bozeman manages all of the TIF districts in town except the Downtown TIF. In an effort to increase the effectiveness of all the other TIF districts, the City of Bozeman Economic Development Division as assumed oversight of the North 7 th , NE Neighborhood, and Innovation Campus districts. Therefore Brit Fontenot and David Fine will be the COB staff working with each district’s boards. Montana Legislative Session I am following several bills currently being drafted and/or proposed in the 64 th session of the Montana Legislature. Thus far only one of the three bills has been formally introduced: HB114 "AN ACT CLARIFYING LAWS RELATED TO THE USAGE OF TAX INCREMENT REMITTANCES TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ENSURE A REDUCTION IN LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES” This bill would potentially influence how school districts view TIF districts. Building Project Updates 5 West Building (northwest corner of Mendenhall and Tracy) The City Commission approved the final site plan and other entitlements on December 8, 2014. The developer is projecting to begin construction during the 2 nd quarter of 2015. Dutton Building (131 West Main--corner of Grand and Main) is under construction. The developer has several of the new units available for lease including 5000 square feet of office on the second floor. Block M Residences (on Lamme between Black & Tracy): All 10 units of Phase 1 are complete. Construction of Phase 2—8 additional units—began this fall and should be completed early Fall of 2015. Element Hotel (at old Kenyon Noble site): Projecting to open in June 2015. Lark Motel (formerly the Imperial Inn): Projecting to open April 1, 2015. Downtown Parking Update The Parking Commission and Western Transportation Institute are finalizing the third Downtown Parking Study. Occupancy Rates for the side streets between Babcock and Mendenhall plus for all the public surface lots and the garage were studied. Analogous to the 2010 and 2012 FY2014 Downtown Technical Assistance Program Project Name Project Address Applicant Professional Grant Type 34 North Bozeman 34 North Bozeman Big Sky Beverage Intrinsik Planning Grand & Main 136 West Main Bzn Redevelopment Thinktank Planning Willson Residences 404 West Main Bridger Builders Comma Q Planning Willson Residences 404 West Main Bridger Builders Comma Q Facade FY2015 Downtown Technical Assistance Program Project Name Project Address Applicant Professional Grant Type 101 E Mendenhall 101 E Mendenhall Liane Johnson Intrinsik Planning Owenhouse Bike Shop 25 South Black Eric Bowman Focus Planning studies, data was collected on a week day and a weekend day in July, August and September. The 2014 study juxtaposes all three years’ data to show trends in use. The final report will be released in February 2015. The graphs below show the trends in both garage use and revenue for 2014. The year-to-date entries and revenue for 2014 are up 15% and 22% respectively over 2013. Special Presentation City of Bozeman Storm Water Utility Expansion Project Presented by Kyle Mehrens and Brit Fontenot (COB Staff) Synopsis: Kyle gave a presentation outlining the need to upgrade and expand the City’s storm water system. He explained how the utility would be financially assessed to residential and commercial customers. He also introduced the concept that a large storm water treatment facility could be constructed beneath the Carnegie (Black Ave) public parking lot. The Board agreed that it is important to assess the utility, perform the necessary backlog of maintenance, and enhance the system for future growth. Discussion and Decision Items Do to the Special Presentation there was no time to address the discussion items on the agenda. Chris told the board he would send them a memo with information on each discussion item. The memo is attached below. At 1:15pm Bill Stoddart adjourned the meeting. ******************************************** **MEMORANDUM** TO: BID and TIF Boards FR: Chris Naumann DA: 26 January 2015 RE: January Board Updates Below are written updates of the topic we did not have time to cover at our board meetings last week. Please let me know if you have any questions. Downtown Residential Projects There are three potential residential development projects that I know are in the design and planning stages. Combined these projects could include as many as 60 new housing units downtown. Early informal review by the Community Development Department revealed some conflicts between the Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan and the NCOD Design Guidelines, which are very outdated. These conflicts could jeopardize all three of these housing developments. Therefore I plan to make some very general comments at tonight’s City Commission meeting requesting the Commission and City staff work to resolve the conflicts as soon as possible. The Commissioners are discussing their goals for the year and I want to stress the importance of residential development as a cornerstone of the Downtown Plan. Downtown Fiber Network Update The TIF District is one of the fiscal sponsors of the Bozeman Community Fiber Master Plan which has been completed and will be presented to the City Commission for adoption this evening. I will provide public comment in support of the master plan and proceeding with the downtown component of the plan. The TIF District has committed $100,000 for the final design of the downtown fiber ring which will be part of the city-wide network. Community Development Department Planning Initiatives Related to the update above, the City Community Development Department is currently undertaking three important planning initiatives: 1. Reformatting of the Unified Development Code. The intent is to make the current UDC easier to use and interpret. The City is hiring a firm to perform a comprehensive reformatting that will incorporate graphics and streamline charts within the corresponding text chapters. 2. NCOD Evaluation. The City is going to hire outside consultants to evaluate the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District. I am serving on the selection and project committee. This evaluation will analyze if the NCOD has been effective, what conflicts now exist due to changes in the community and economy, and whether or not the district should be modified or eliminated. This evaluation will take 9 to 12 months. 3. NCOD Design Guidelines. Considering the amount of conflict currently being caused by the outdated NCOD design guidelines, a community workshop is being organized to revise the guidelines as soon as possible. I have partnered with the City to coordinate and facilitate this revision process in the interest of promoting downtown residential development. Downtown Streetscape Project After many good discussions with both the BID and TIF boards and the City of Bozeman, the Downtown Streetscape Project will now focus on upgrading the old streetscapes on the side streets between Mendenhall and Babcock. TD&H Engineering is already working on the necessary surveying, engineering and design. The TIF District is funding all of the engineering and design which will total approximately $250,000. The project will necessitate a SID to fund the construction. I am working with City Finance to plan the SID process. The earliest any construction would take place is October of 2015 but more likely the project will start April of 2016. As always, please contact me with any questions or to discuss any of these updates. ********************************************