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06/03/1993 COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY June 3, 1993 The City Commission, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, met in regular session at City Hall, Thursday, June 3, 1993 at 4:30 P.M., with the following members present: Rita Garvey Chairperson Richard Fitzgerald Member Sue Berfield Member Arthur X. Deegan, II Member Fred Thomas Member (arrived 4:35 p.m.) Phil Henderson Ex-officio Member (arrived 4:40 p.m.) Lillian Trickel Ex-officio Member Also Present were: Michael J. Wright Executive Director Milton A. Galbraith, Jr. Attorney Cynthia E. Goudeau Secretary ITEM II. - Minutes: Member Deegan moved to approve the minutes of the May 20, 1993, meeting. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM III. - Unfinished Business a. Res. #93-2 - Rules of Conduct The City Attorney has produced the amendments directed by the CRA at its worksession of June 1, 1993. Chairperson Garvey questioned, in Rule 3, whether or not the reference to the secretary should be left out. Consensus was to leave this in as it was not anticipated the Executive Director would have the duty of producing minutes. Chairperson Garvey questioned, in Rule 6, regarding whether or not a worksession should be scheduled prior to every City Commission worksession. Member Berfield made the suggestion to add the phrase "as needed". Member Deegan suggested as this rule was proposed by Member Thomas and he had not yet arrived, this question be resolved later in the meeting. Chairperson Garvey stated she felt, in the same rule, the phrase "every effort shall be made to provide at least 48 hours notice" should be changed to "there shall be 48 hours notice". This change was accepted. Member Thomas arrived. Chairperson Garvey also suggested, regarding this rule, that no items could be added to special meeting agendas. Member Thomas stated items should not be removed from agendas either. Chairperson Garvey returned to discussion regarding whether or not "as needed" should be added to this rule regarding worksessions. Member Thomas stated he had no problem with this change and this may be self-correcting if changes are made regarding Commission meetings. Member Deegan indicated a concern regarding the first two sentences in Rule 14 in that it would allow prolonged conversation before a motion is made. Chairperson Garvey stated this simply allows information to be gathered. Member Deegan stated his concern was that the board tends to get involved in conversation and in "speech-a-fying". He stated the conversation would be more pointed if a motion was on the floor. Member Fitzgerald stated sometimes additional information is needed in order to make a motion. Chairperson Garvey felt the key was that the members may ask questions and request additional information and the Chair should keep to that. Member Thomas pointed out there was no requirement for worksessions for every CRA meeting and as there is only one hour for each CRA meeting, that meeting needed to be more structured. Consensus was to delete the first sentence of Rule 14. Chairperson Garvey requested the removal of the phrase "arriving at City Hall" from Rule 18. This rule regards correspondence and the procedures for handling same. The Attorney indicated he realized even if this were taken out, there is still no control over mail that is not delivered to City Hall. Member Deegan expressed concern regarding the word "immediately" in reference to when correspondence needed to be copied. He pointed out the memo from the Attorney stated correspondence must be available when requested but not copied to everyone. Chairperson Garvey stated it was not her intent to have it copied to everyone but rather copied and put in a file so it would be available to the public. Member Deegan expressed concern that while he wished to comply with the law, he did not want to inhibit people from saying what they wanted to say. The Attorney stated the correspondence would not be exempt from the Public Records Law if it relates to agency business, however, there was nothing that would prohibit it from being kept at the location at which it is received. He stated the point he is trying to make is that a letter writer should not feel assured of confidentiality if they are writing individual members regarding agency business. Member Thomas expressed concern regarding people writing to members not wishing to be identified or providing some idea that if a member did not like they could simply dispose of. He questioned the requirement that if someone wants to correspond with a member, that correspondence has to be available to the public and press. The Attorney indicated this was the requirement of the law. The Executive Director stated perhaps suggestions should be made to individuals that they not put anything in writing until they are ready for it to be viewed by the public. Member Deegan re-emphasized his objection to the rule was that it required the correspondence be made available to the Executive Director and it was the consensus this requirement be removed but that a statement regarding the responsibility of agency members be placed in this rule. Consensus of the CRA was to make the additional changes agreed to at this meeting and for the resolution to be adopted at the next meeting after a final version of the resolution can be distributed. Consensus of the agency was to consider item IV regarding the Station Square Parking Lot. ITEM IV. - Contract to K & S Contractors, Inc., Tarpon Springs, FL, for Station Square Parking Lot (600 Block of Cleveland St.) for $30,128.50 The CRA recently purchased the Kravas building on Cleveland Street with the intent of removing the building and providing off-street downtown vehicle parking visible from Cleveland Street. Demolition of the building is complete. The Public Works Department prepared plans and specifications for a proposed landscaped parking area known as Station Square Parking Lot. The plans were submitted to the DRC and approved. The CRA recently approved the site plan for the proposed parking lot. The work is for the construction of a landscaped parking lot, including all labor, equipment and materials. The proposed work will include, but not be limited to, paving, curbing and drainage. The new vehicular parking area will transition uniformly to the existing parking area and the existing parking will then be resurfaced. The decorative street brick along Cleveland Street will be completely restored. Because of the complexity of the proposed brick work and the tie-in in the existing brick work, it was determined an on-site conference with pre-bidders would be necessary for a complete understanding of the work involved. Attendance at this mandatory pre-bid conference was made a part of the specifications. MTM Contractors, Incorporated did not attend and consequently, did not meet the contract's specifications. Member Fitzgerald moved to award a contract for the Station Square Parking Lot to K & S Contractors, Inc., Tarpon Springs, FL, for $30,128.50 which is the most responsive bid received in accordance with the plans and specifications and that the appropriate officials be authorized to execute same. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Member Deegan questioned the completion date of the project. The Executive Director reported the project is to be completed 60 days after start of construction. ITEM V. - Financial Statement Dan Deignan, the City's Financial Director, reviewed the financial statement stating this is for 7 months and the revenues are $295,377 over expenditures at this time. He stated interest has not been posted nor has the Kravas expenditures. An estimated balance would be $265,000. Member Thomas questioned whether or not they were being presented year to date cumulatives and Mr. Deignan indicated this was the case. Member Thomas requested a column be added which gave monthly entries for the financial statement. Member Deegan requested the excess from previous years be added in order to give the CRA a true picture of the funds available. Member Deegan questioned whether or not the City Attorney had responded to a previous question of the CRA regarding whether or not specific projects have to be in the plan when it is adopted or if specific projects could be developed as long as they are in accordance with the plan. The existence of specified projects will allow the carry-over of unexpended funds for a period not to exceed three years. The Attorney indicated he had not gotten that answer as of yet. Member Berfield moved to accept the April 30, 1993 financial statement. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM IIIb. Business Incubator Report Jerry Sternstein, Economic Development Director, reviewed the process for an incubator stating first the feasibility is examined and then space is identified. He stated if the space and resources can be identified then the system moves to a marketing plan, leasing plan and staff oversight. He stated he spoke with Gary Sherwin who attempted to start an incubator project in St. Petersburg. Under that plan, the incubator would be allowed in the space for 1 to 4 years, under SCORE guidance and the businesses were provided with marketing and advertising. There was an agreement that if the business proved to be successful, they would move into the downtown St. Petersburg area. It was reported this project did not go forward after the election in St. Petersburg. Mr. Sherwin would be happy to speak with the CRA regarding a market assessment if the CRA decided it wanted to go forward. The Executive Director stated this was to provide some background and insight into the incubator process. Member Deegan stated he felt the purpose should be for more than information. He stated he would like for staff to follow up with Scott Ferris regarding what he has been doing in conjunction with educational institutions. Member Deegan indicated he would like to see hard numbers and facts regarding who is available and what it takes to set up an incubator program. It was suggested Mr. Ferris be invited to speak to the CRA. Member Deegan requested there be a firm proposal that the CRA wishes to do something along these lines. Member Fitzgerald questioned who would fund the incubator and Member Deegan indicated hopefully this would be in conjunction with a public/private partnership. Member Fitzgerald questioned who pays for the services and Member Deegan indicated there could be a sliding scale to be paid by the client, but start-up cost to be provided by the public/private partnership. Member Fitzgerald questioned whether or not the Chamber had been involved in this regard. The Executive Director indicated staff had not gotten into specifics regarding this but have talked to the University of South Florida people. Member Fitzgerald felt it was worthy to get more information but his concern continued to be who would fund the project. Member Thomas indicated direction should be given to the Economic Development Director or Executive Director to research what federal and state funds are available to develop an incubator zone. He also suggested the Economic Development Director go to Ulmerton to an establishment that has been in existence for 20 years but never called an incubator. He suggested putting a similar facility in the North Greenwood area. He also stated this facility should have data on whether or not there was a constant flow of new businesses and information on the growth of others having to move out of the incubator. Chairperson Garvey questioned this being in the private sector and Member Thomas indicated this would be in the public/private partnership in the Greenwood area. Chairperson Garvey questioned whether or not this should be in the downtown. The Executive Director requested direction regarding this issue. Member Thomas felt the focus should be on job creation and the manufacturing field as retail is not successful. Member Deegan did not wish to rule out retail as that is what is needed to be improved in downtown. It was suggested information regarding how to start both types of incubators be brought back to the CRA. Member Deegan pointed out that for now, as the CRA, they could only work in the downtown redevelopment district. Member Deegan moved that the Executive Director, with the help of the Economic Development Director, contact people who are experienced in this and bring back to the CRA specific information relative to how much and how long it would take for the CRA to get involved in starting up the appropriate incubators for the downtown area. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. The Economic Development Director requested the CRA read his May 1, 1993 memo regarding public/private partnerships. Member Deegan questioned a report from the building and maintenance division indicating the STEPPS building was not being maintained. The Economic Development Director reported he has asked Parks and Recreation to maintain the grounds and building and maintenance to do what needed to be done regarding the actual building and these costs be charged back to the CRA. Member Thomas expressed concerns regarding the ad and stated he had some suggestions to improve it which included removing the statement that the building was constructed in 1943 and that it was a two floor concrete building. ITEM IIIc. - Public/Private Partnership - Continued to 6/17/93. ITEM IIId. - CETA (STEPPS) Building Report - Continued to 6/17/93. ITEM VI. - Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:35 P.M.