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4.1. DRAFT MINUTES (2 SETS) 12-02-2013Members Present. Members Absent: None Staff Present. Economic Development Director Brian Beeman, Community Operations and Development Deputy Director Jeremy Barnhart, Community Operations and Development Director Suzanne Fischer, and City Clerk Tina Allard Meeting , Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Housing and Redevelopment Authoritywas called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Chair Wilson. -. •' , The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. .- i. �. Moved by Commissioner Chuba and seconded by Commissioner Kuester to approve the November 4, 2013 agenda. Motion carried 5 -0. • - . rmrrmu Moved by Councilmember Motin and seconded by Councilmember Chuba to approve the following consent agenda: 4.1 October 7, 2013 regular minutes. 4.2 Check register as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Balance sheet as outlined in the staff report. 4.4 Revenue /Expenditure report as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5 -0. RIMEN21 No one appeared for Open Forum. There were no public hearings. Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 2 November 4, 2013 ----------------------- - - - - -- Mr. Beeman presented the staff report. Fred McCoy, Downtown Business Owner and Chairman of the Rivers Edge Association- stated the project Rivers Edge is most interested in is decorating the downtown. He stated their goal would be to decorate all the trees, the street light poles, and adding more lights to the Christmas tree and Rivers Edge Park. He stated the Association would like to have lights working year -round for the trees and lights along the streets. Chair Wilson questioned who would be installing the lights. Mr. McCoy stated the Association would do it this year but would like the city to handle it in the future. Commissioner Motin questioned if lighting was quoted at a bulk discount rate. Mr. McCoy stated no but if this item were approved, they would look into it. Chair Wilson questioned who would be responsible for the electricity costs. Mr. Beeman stated Elk River Municipal Utilities is currently writing the expense off, but if lighting were to be maintained year - round, there would need to be a discussion on who is responsible for payment. Staff was directed to work with the Association on getting a better price for the lights. Moved by Commissioner Kuester and seconded by Commissioner Chuba to approve $2,600 for Christmas lights. Commissioner Motin requested to amend the motion to cover sales tax and suggested bumping the amount to $2,800. The maker and seconder of the motion were amendable to change the amount to $2,800. Motion carried 5 -0. Commissioner Chuba asked Mr. McCoy what the Association's thoughts are on implementing a Business Improvement District. Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 3 November 4, 2013 ----------------------------- Mr. McCoy suggested staff come to a future meeting to discuss the district. He stated he can't speak for the Association and they would need more information on what the amount of tax would be and what it would be used for. ME There being no further business, Chair Wilson adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Housing and Redevelopment Authority at 5:40 p.m. Stewart Wilson, Chair Housing & Redevelopment Authority Tina Allard, City Clerk Me Members Present: Mayor Dietz, Councilmembers Westgaard, Wilson, Burandt, and Motin HRA Commissioners Chuba, Kuester, and Toth Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Community Operations and Development Deputy Director Manager Jeremy Barnhart, Director of Economic Development Brian Beeman, Finance Director Tim Simon, Community Operations and Development Director Suzanne Fischer, and City Clerk Tina Allard Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 5:50 p.m. by Mayor Dietz, The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. pill 1111111 1111 1111 111��111 11111111 111111 • - • Mr. Beeman presented the staff report. He introduced Springsted Consultant Mikaela Hout, Ms. Hout discussed the following: ® Role of an HRA/EDA. ® Mission/ objectives for tax increment financing. ® Importance of establishing criteria /policies based on what the market will support. ® Public purpose benefits. ® City's policy for use of Tax Increment Financing ® City's project qualifications. ® What drives the need for public financing assistance. ® What role the community wants to play to encourage development. ® Development efforts a city makes may affect the city's financial reputation. Ms. Hout reviewed a survey that was sent our earlier to Council and Housing and Redevelopment Authority members. Joint Special City Council & ERA Minutes Page 2 November 4, 2013 Councilmember Wilson questioned the minimum numbers and when they were established. Ms. Hout noted the policy was amended in May 2006 but adopted in 1991 and stated staff could check on how reasonable the numbers are for current tax increment financing projects. Mayor Dietz questioned Council and HRA on whether and how TIF should be used for housing. Ms. Hout stated they should consider if it is their objective that TIF be used for housing. If so, then the policy should have some language to allow the city to explore options. If no, then this change should be made clear in policy. She further stated the city could limit the types of housing they would like to consider, such as making it available only for senior housing. Commissioner Toth questioned the criteria for the scoring sheet and had concerns with it being too flexible and setting precedence when allowing exceptions. Ms. Hout stated the policy acts as general guidelines for the city and would be flexible and dependent upon community need. Mayor Dietz suggested the policy be flexible enough so each project can stand on its own. Councilmember Westgaard stated he is not opposed to keeping housing as a consideration in TIF districts but he is not sure if the city should narrow down to development versus a redevelopment scenario. He'd like to allow for TIF for housing but put it as a lower priority over other types of applications. He'd like to stay more on the conservative side from the risk component. Commissioner Kuester stated the commission hasn't covered much with housing and believes the current project is an opportunity to go to market when there is a need in the community for senior housing. She stated the Mayfield Study backs up the need for senior housing. Commissioner Toth commented he likes the set up the city has with the MN Central Housing Partnership. He agreed on the need for some housing work done in the city. He stated TIF maybe an avenue worth exploring but it needs to be done carefully with a new evaluation criteria and looking to the long -term benefits for the community. Commissioner Chuba stated he feels it is important for the city to have life cycle housing with a range of affordable housing for the young and elderly. He stated the TIF financing should be flexible, but issues need to be worked out, such as how much TIF to allow, how long it should be good for, and how much increase in value is expected. Joint Special City Council & HRA Minutes November 4, 2013 Page 3 ----------------------------- Councilmember Motin stated he would not like to see TIF for housing purposes but if the city votes to have it, then the developer would need to meet some other need such as being in an area that also needs redevelopment or close to where it will help a commercial area. He stated the Maxfield Study was done from the viewpoint of, if you build it, they will come, rather than based on a community need. He also noted there are other funding options available for developers. Councilmember Burandt concurred with Commissioner Chuba regarding life cycle housing and felt the need for having different types of availability for all income levels. She felt there is a need to be flexible with the TIF policy and that TIF for housing should be included. She stated there will be more seniors in the near future and the city needs to plan for them coming back to their community. Councilmember Wilson stated housing has not been addressed over the years by the HRA. He stated he would like to address the city policy and limit TIF to senior housing. He stated there is a gap between what Guardian Angels offers, which is low income housing, versus affordable housing. Roger Derrick stated people are already here and they need help now. Commissioner Toth stated he has no issue with using TIF but the city needs well maintained criteria. Ms. Hout stated they would look at the changes that are needed to the existing policy and prepare a new scoring worksheet based on the discussion tonight. OEM I There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m. John J. Dietz, Mayor Tina Allard, City Clerk