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06/28/1993 COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY June 28, 1993 The City Commission, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, met in regular session at City Hall, Monday, June 28, 1993 at 10:00 A.M., with the following members present: Richard Fitzgerald Chairperson Rita Garvey Vice-Chairperson Sue Berfield Member Arthur X. Deegan, II Member Fred Thomas Member Phil Henderson Ex-officio Member Absent: Lillian Trickel Ex-officio Member Also Present were: Michael J. Wright Executive Director Milton A. Galbraith, Jr. Attorney Cynthia E. Goudeau Secretary Prior to calling the meeting to order, Chairperson Fitzgerald indicated that, as Chairperson, he wished to set some ground rules. He stated he felt his job as Chairperson was to conduct the meeting, keep the focus to activity on the agenda and expeditiously cover that ground. He stated he would like to emphasize he wants to keep the focus on the agenda presented. He stated items are provided two weeks in advance and the Executive Director is to adhere to that. He also wished to advise the CRA members if information is not provided, he would defer the item until the information is provided and properly presented. He called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. ITEM II. - Minutes: Member Deegan requested an amendment on page 5, next to last paragraph, to change his request for quarterly reports to he reminded the members that they had agreed in 1992 to have such reports. Member Deegan moved to approve the minutes of the June 17, 1993, meeting as amended. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM III. - Unfinished Business The Executive Director requested direction regarding how the agency wished to proceed regarding the search for the full-time Executive Director as the closing date for applications is July 1, 1993. He indicated he had been told over 100 applications had been received. They have been separated into those meeting minimum qualifications and those not. Member Thomas requested this item appear under unfinished business until a director is hired. He also recommended all CRA members receive copies of the resumes to do their own screening. Member Berfield requested the resumes of those not meeting the minimum qualifications not be copied. Vice-Chairperson Garvey suggested setting up two members to be the initial screening committee to bring the number of applicants down to 10 or 20. Both members Deegan and Thomas indicated they would want to see all the resumes of individuals meeting the qualifications. Vice-Chairperson Garvey suggested members Thomas and Deegan be the screening committee. Member Berfield moved that members Deegan and Thomas be appointed as a screening committee of those candidates meeting minimum qualifications. The motion was duly seconded. Vice-Chairperson Garvey questioned the number of resumes to be brought back to the full CRA. Member Thomas expressed concerns regarding the two members working individually being able to come up with a number. Member Deegan stated he felt they could look at them separately but then have a meeting with Human Resources Director, Mike Laursen, to come down to a number. It was the consensus there be a minimum of five and a maximum of ten candidates. Upon the vote being taken upon the motion, it carried unanimously. ITEM IV. - New Business a) May 93 Financial Statement Dan Deignan, City's Finance Director, indicated the changes requested at the last meeting had been made to the monthly financial statements. He stated monthly activity and carry over balance for last year are now included. He stated he was aware of two expenditures which have not been noted as of May and that $60,000 should be subtracted from the funds available. Member Deegan questioned whether the funds carried over had been committed to debt service. Mr. Deignan indicated not the $7,960 shown as available. Member Deegan questioned whether or not there was a restriction on the debt service dollars. Mr. Deignan indicated it had to go for paying off the bond issues. Member Deegan asked if it was the Attorney's opinion that the debt service could only be for existing debt. The Attorney indicated he had not looked into the bond covenants. Member Deegan requested that by the next meeting, it be found out whether or not these funds could be used for future debt. Member Thomas questioned whether or not the CRA was allowed to establish reserves for future projects. Mr. Deignan indicated a change in the law seems to allow that. Member Thomas suggested a list of future projects be established in order to set up the reserves. Member Deegan expressed concern that this was opposite of the Attorney's memo which indicated unless a specific project is in the downtown plan, monies carried forward can not be used for that project. Member Thomas and Vice-Chairperson Garvey questioned whether or not a list could be established of things that are wished to be accomplished. The Attorney indicated the projects should be in the plan. Member Deegan indicated that he and Member Thomas had spent three days in Sarasota at an economic development seminar conference. He stated he had submitted a ten page summary and advised that specific things be the order of business for the CRA. He requested there be a interpretation of the laws to see what can be done. Chairperson Fitzgerald stated it was the consensus to ask the Attorney and the Executive Director to bring back this information. Vice-Chairperson Garvey expressed concerns regarding the two week deadline for information for the next meeting and stated this does not allow staff time to follow up. She suggested a new timeframe for submittal of agenda items to members be two days after the previous meeting. The Executive Director and Secretary indicated this could be more confusing than the current deadlines. It was the consensus to continue with the two week deadline and that if it is determined to be a problem, it can be addressed in the future. Chairperson Fitzgerald expressed concerns regarding revenues coming in lower than had been anticipated. Mr. Deignan indicated this was as a result of the tax base being down from projections and the tax rate was lower. Member Deegan pointed out that although they were short of revenues, there was still a projection that there are $200,000 plus that can be appropriated for use. b) CRA properties The Executive Director stated there are three properties owned by the CRA, the CETA building, the Bilgore property and one half of the parking garage connected to the Sun Bank building. He indicated the individuals wishing to purchase the Sun Bank building have expressed a need for additional parking and will be making a proposal to purchase the Bilgore site or an option on the remainder of the parking garage. He stated that should the CRA approve the purchase of the parking garage, the debt on it would have to be liquidated. He stated the offer on the Bilgore site will probably be less than the $690,000 the CRA paid to obtain the property. He indicated he would be asking for a special meeting once the proposal is received. The Attorney indicated he is investigating to see whether or not the two 30 day waiting periods can be overlapped. The Executive Director emphasized he has asked for a proposal in writing regarding these purchases. Chairperson Fitzgerald questioned whether or not the proposal would revolve around Bilgore as the primary site and the parking garage as an option. The Executive Director indicated this was his understanding. Chairperson Fitzgerald questioned what would be done at the special meeting. The Executive Director indicated the CRA and the City Commission may need to meet in order to hear the proposal. Member Deegan questioned the need for the meeting. The Executive Director indicated staff was not provided room to negotiate in the sale of the Sun Bank building and he has indicated to the potential purchasers that they need to make an offer and it will be brought forward to the CRA or Commission as appropriate. The date of July 7th was mentioned and it was indicated two members are not available on that date. The Executive Director indicated a special meeting of the City Commission had already been established for July 8th. Member Deegan made a suggestion that they appoint one member to do the negotiating and he asked that Member Thomas be the CRA's agent for this negotiation. Chairperson Fitzgerald disagreed stating he would not be comfortable with this process. The Executive Director indicated the purchasers are adamant regarding parking. Member Deegan questioned how we got to this point. The Attorney indicated the property was advertised on a as-is basis. Member Deegan questioned whether or not the City had been presented a binding purchase offer and the Attorney indicated he did not know that they could be taken to court if they were to back out on the deal. Chairperson Fitzgerald expressed concerns that they were far afield of a CRA issue although it was a collateral interest. He stated the purchasers are to come in with a proposal and that will come forward to the CRA. Member Thomas expressed his familiarity with the issues and stated he had been in contact with the potential purchasers along the way. He stated it would be helpful if he were granted the right to work with the Executive Director/City Manager to bring the issue to closure. He stated at the time of bid, there was no provision for earnest money and had the party had to have put money down, it would have given the CRA/City more negotiating power. He stated this is a significant problem that can be brought to a conclusion to benefit the City and the CRA. Chairperson Fitzgerald expressed concerns that this was sale of city property. Member Thomas stated the garage was CRA property. Chairperson Fitzgerald stated they are to bring forward a proposal and at this time, the proposal is not known. Vice-Chairperson Garvey expressed concerns that there were no parameters for negotiation. Member Deegan stated he disagreed as the Executive Director is already negotiating. Vice-Chairperson Garvey pointed out that as of yet, no offer had been submitted. Member Deegan stated he was uncomfortable that they would be able to negotiate in a meeting. Vice-Chairperson Garvey stated it could not be done in private. Member Deegan stated it would be one member versus five and Member Thomas questioned why that would have to be public. Vice-Chairperson Garvey stated that if the CRA delegates a member to represent them, it is then a public meeting. Chairperson Fitzgerald stated he was not in favor of one member negotiating. He indicated the City Manager/Executive Director has stated that by Friday, a proposal should be in from the potential purchasers and they want to come to a meeting on the 7th or 8th and make a presentation. He stated at this time, the CRA did not know what the proposal is. Member Deegan questioned whether or not there was anything on the table. The Attorney indicated not specifically however, they had talked about a lot south of the building and the fact that the purchasers are reluctant to pay all closing costs. The Executive Director indicated there had been no specific dollar offer. Chairperson Fitzgerald recommended the information be obtained and then follow-up be done if needed. In response to a question, The Executive Director indicated he had been told he would have the information by Friday. Member Deegan stated there would be a Commission meeting Thursday night and questioned if the information were provided prior to that, whether or not the CRA could have a meeting that night to take some action. Chairperson Fitzgerald requested the process as stated be followed and the information be obtained. He stated he did not want to rush to judgement on the issue and he had concerns that he did not know what the proposal is. Member Berfield suggested the Executive Director find out whether or not they will have information and set a special meeting for July 1st, Thursday, to discuss this. The Executive Director indicated the issue is the sale of the building and the bottom line is what is the CRA willing to do to conclude this proposal. Chairperson Fitzgerald stated there is also the fact the purchaser has agreed to purchase the Sun Bank building and one half of the garage. He questioned the value of the remainder of the garage and it was stated this was never broken out. The Executive Director indicated that the appraisal did not divide out the garage but the tax roll does. Member Thomas stated he was interested in selling the garage and not the Bilgore site. He stated if the Bilgore site was made into a parking lot, it would not add to the tax growth. He stated selling the lower part of the garage and the outside lot to use as a park would put the property back on the tax roll and the City and the CRA would recover some of their cost. He stated there is a long term need for 600 spaces. He emphasized he would prefer to sell the parking garage with adjacent land and not the Bilgore site. Vice-Chairperson Garvey questioned the sale of the adjacent land for a park as some of the strip stores along Cleveland Street use this parking lot. The Executive Director indicated this was metered parking. Chairperson Fitzgerald questioned whether or not it served small businesses. The Executive Director indicated it served whoever was in those buildings. Vice-Chairperson Garvey suggested the offer be obtained and then see if a special meeting is needed. Member Thomas stated there are two drawbacks to downtown, that is, the lack of green space and the lack of parking. Chairperson Fitzgerald requested they come forward with the proposal and it was requested that in order to expedite the issue, a special meeting be set for Thursday night and if the proposal is not obtained, it can be canceled. Consensus was to set a CRA meeting for Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. and that if a proposal was not obtained from the potential purchasers, this meeting would be canceled. c) Use of DDB property inventory Ex-officio member Henderson stated the inventory would be presented to the DDB today. He stated the CRA needs to be involved regarding what to do with the package. He stated the DDB has appointed Helen Wheelis to work with the realtors and Mr. Henderson will get the direction of the DDB at its meeting tonight. Member Deegan questioned whether or not there was a procedure to keep the inventory current and Mr. Henderson indicated there was. He stated an individual will be assigned to monitor the inventory and this could be a realtor. Member Deegan questioned the process that once leads develop, that economic development has nothing more to do with the contact and it is turned over to a realtor. Mr. Henderson indicated this was one of the proposals but option #4 had the DDB working with the CRA director and Judy Hackett on this. He stated item #3 would bring it back in place with the CRA. Member Deegan questioned whether or not they had decided on which option. He expressed concerns regarding option #2 with the 76 property owners representing themselves with the leads going to them. He encouraged the continued involvement of economic development and/or CRA. He did not feel it was smart to go through all the work and then when the leads are obtained, that it is passed on to others. Chairperson Fitzgerald questioned how often the inventory would be updated and Mr. Henderson indicated he thought it would be done quarterly. d) Update on retail recruitment The Executive Director indicated information had been provided regarding the follow-up as a result of the mini recruitment program. It states that 146 packets have been mailed out and there have been 62 follow-up calls. Chairperson Fitzgerald questioned whether or not these people had actually been contacted and whether or not someone was assigned the task to follow-up further. The Executive Director indicated the people were actually contacted and that Jerry Sternstein, Economic Development Director, was assigned the task of follow-up. Member Thomas questioned with 146 packets having been mailed out, whether or not we were striving to call all of them. It was indicated this is being attempted. Member Thomas questioned the timeframe and The Executive Director indicated he would get that information. e) Incubator Status The Executive Director indicated it is anticipated that a proposal will be received shortly. f) Report re: use of County parking lots after hours The Executive Director indicated the County had indicated a willingness to make the former Fortune Bank building parking available. He also stated that this will be a lot with a control arm. He stated there are agreements with the churches for their use on Sundays and it is his understanding they are currently negotiating with Cafe Madrid to lease some parking to them. Mr. Henderson indicated the DDB had also approached the County regarding obtaining parking, particularly in the lot across the street. He stated he had gone to Sally Parks and will be taking the issue up with Fred Marquis, the County Administrator. He stated there are other County lots that are open and there is no problem with liability. Chairperson Fitzgerald questioned whether or not the merchants knew that the current lot was available and Mr. Henderson indicated the security guard would not let anyone use the property after hours. The Executive Director will follow up regarding why the remainder of this parking lot is not available. g) 7/12/93 Joint Meeting with DDB The Executive Director indicated the City Commission meeting is slated to start at 1:00 p.m. and it was doubtful they would finish by the 5:30 p.m. start time of the joint meeting. It was suggested rescheduling this meeting wait until after the results of the ballot regarding whether or not the DDB should be dissolved. ITEM Member Thomas requested that on future agendas, there be discussion items for members as there is for the City Commission. He stated that would provide an opportunity at each meeting to have items brought forward. Vice-Chairperson Garvey stated items should be agendaed before action is taken on them as had been indicated the Chairperson at the beginning of the meeting. Member Thomas indicated this is the reason he was bringing this issue forward now. Chairperson Fitzgerald indicated he had no problem with items being brought up as long as they were not being asked to make a decision. Member Thomas expressed concerns that the CRA rules which were just adopted, do not support Chairperson Fitzgerald's position. Chairperson Fitzgerald stated he would object to an item being brought forward for decision without it being on the agenda. Member Thomas stated the rules allow for the members to agenda items at will. Member Thomas requested that an item be added "Other Agent Business" and this be brought forward at the beginning of the meeting to see if the members wish to agenda it. Chairperson Fitzgerald indicated he had a problem as more and more decisions are being made that are unprogrammed and he objected to that. He stated he had no problem with comments at the end of the meeting but to put an item on for decision, he would object to. Member Thomas stated the majority of the members still ruled. The Chairperson questioned whether or not, as the Chairperson, he could determine to stick to the two week rule which would require information to be provided in advance of a decision. Member Thomas stated this was not a part of the rules. Chairperson Fitzgerald felt that an item could be added but not to that particular agenda. Member Thomas questioned whether or not the agenda in rule #1 referred to the current agenda. The Attorney indicated it provides a mechanism for the Chair to make a ruling but it can be appealed by the membership. He did indicate that rule #5 is referring to the meeting at hand and not a future meeting. Chairperson Fitzgerald questioned whether items could be added at any point. Member Thomas moved to add, at the end of CRA agendas, Other Agent Business. The motion was duly seconded. Vice-Chairperson Garvey expressed her opposition to the rule stating she would like to uphold the two week rule and she needed the information ahead of time. She stated when items are added in this manner, the public has no idea of what is going on and they need to know. Member Berfield stated that if someone wants to bring forward an item, the CRA can then decide if it wants to vote on the issue. She said there may be times when action is needed. Vice-Chairperson Garvey expressed concerns that decisions are being made on something that has not been provided ahead of time. Member Thomas stated that to add Other Agent Business is not changing the rules of order. Chairperson Fitzgerald stated the problem is that more and more decisions are being made on items brought forward at the end of the meeting. He stated this is not serving the public's best interest. He stated the public has not had an opportunity to express an opinion. He wants to take a firm stand and that the CRA not do this. He stated there are times when they will have to take action but a decision made in haste is not in the best interest of the City. Upon the vote being taken; Members Deegan, Berfield and Thomas voted "Aye", Vice-Chairperson Garvey and Chairperson Fitzgerald voted "Nay". Motion carried. Chairperson Fitzgerald stated he felt very strongly on this issue and that based on this vote, he had no position as Chairperson and therefore withdrew from that position. Ex-officio member Henderson reported regarding the update to the inventory program, that the DDB had signed a contract with the property appraiser through the end of the calendar year and there would be one update between now and then. He also reported he would be asking the members of the DDB to change their meetings from Monday evening to Tuesday evening in order to avoid possible conflicts with the City Commission meeting. Member Deegan questioned the progress on the CDC and requested that it be routinely listed under unfinished business as in his opinion there is no more important project to be worked on at this time. He indicated he saw where information had been requested regarding the census data. The Executive Director responded the request for information had been made and staff is proceeding to file the application however he had not followed up in any detail in the past few days. Member Deegan requested more specific information at the meetings as he wished to monitor the progress of this closely. ITEM V. - Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:45 A.M.