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09-07-2021 HRA MINRegular Meeting of the Elk River Housing and Redevelopment Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Tuesday, September 7, 2021 Members Present: Chair Larry Toth, Commissioners Denny Chuba, Nate Ovall, Jayme Swenson, and Jennifer Wagner Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Cal Portner, Economic Development Director Brent O'Neil, Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy, Public Works Director Justin Femrite, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, and Recording Secretary Jennifer Green I . Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Housing and Redevelopment Authority was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Chair Toth. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider September 7, 2021, Agenda Moved by Commissioner Ovall seconded by Commissioner Wagner to approve the September 7, 2021, HRA meeting agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consent Agenda Commissioner Ovall asked for clarification on the regular HRA meeting minutes from August 2 regarding the hanging baskets discussion, noting he thought they were waiting on a report from Suzanne Fischer about the effectiveness of the water saver baskets before the HRA proceeds with purchasing. Ms. Eddy explained the current downtown flower baskets were paid for by the DERBA group and the baskets holding them were not the water saver baskets. She stated there are funds budgeted in the 2021 budget to purchase the water saver baskets and they will be ordered soon. She stated those water saver baskets will then be stored at YardWorxs for use in 2022. She stated Ms. Fischer has tried out a few at her house and the larger pot worked and does meet the weight limitations of the downtown hangers. She recalled the HRA approving the purchase of them previously after Ms. Fischer, who was unable to make the May HRA meeting, reported the success with the pots and the water saver basket's Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 2 September 7, 2021 ----------------------------- effectiveness. Commissioner Wagner also understood that to be the case. Commissioner Ovall felt the cost of watering went up with the new contract and wondered why they would change things now if things worked well this year. Ms. Eddy stated the contract approved with YardWorxs was for three years of maintenance. She stated Parks staff maintaining the downtown baskets was only approved for 2021 due to staff and labor shortages and their participated wasn't anticipated to continue for 2022, so that's why the contract was sought. Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Chuba to approve the consent agenda as follows: 4.1 Meeting Minutes: ■ August 2, 2021, Closed. ■ August 2, 2021, Special. ■ August 2, 2021, Regular ■ August 2, 2021, Closed Joint with EDA. 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. S. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. 6. Public Hearings There were no public hearings. 7.1 2022 Budget Mr. O'Neil presented the staff report. Commissioner Swenson asked about the budget line item for holiday cards and the plan for improving the HRA marketing, stating they discussed that at last month's budget meeting. Mr. O'Neil recalled that discussion and thought he understood the priority of the need for increased marketing efforts for the HRA and its programs would include a detailed plan to determine the proper allocation of those funds a bit differently and more effectively in the future. Commissioner Wagner stated she recalled also discussing this and taking time to develop a marketing plan. Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 3 September 7, 2021 Commissioner Ovall wondered why there weren't any funds allocated for 2022 for Professional Services and Property Insurance. Mr. O'Neil stated he spoke with Finance Director Lori Ziemer and because the HRA does not currently have any structures, she stated there wasn't a need to allocate funds for 2022 to cover Property Insurance. He is still learning the history of the budget and may need Ms. Eddy's guidance on her knowledge of why there weren't any funds allocated for Professional Services. He stated it might be because there aren't any anticipated expenses to continue forward, such as consultant expenses or TIF items, and may need some time to determine historically what's been included in this line item. Ms. Eddy concurred with Mr. O'Neil that some history is needed to answer this question. Commissioner Ovall stated the HRA reserves will cover some of these expenses should they come up. He asked for clarification on the Goals and Performance for Residential Property Reinvestment. He asked if those are tied to the rehab loan funds and the value created, or the number of improvement projects created as a whole. Mr. O'Neil stated this goal is more global to the city. Commissioner Ovall understood and felt the HRA has added tremendous value with their relationship with CEE and their ability to offer funding sources to our community above and beyond the HRA loan programs. Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Swenson to adopt Resolution 21-01 approving the 2022 HRA Budget and establishing the HRA Tax Levy of $331,600 for collection in the year 2022 as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. 7.2 Downtown Traffic Study Mr. O'Neil presented the staff report. Public Works Director Justin Femrite discussed the traffic study and pointed out three main keys to the traffic study that were addressed: -169 Redefine and how it's anticipated to affect the downtown area -Parking downtown -Consideration for one way options downtown Mr. Femrite reviewed each item as outlined in the study. He explained the study noted the one-way conversion options along Jackson Avenue between Highway 10 and Main Street, the primary benefits included an increase in on -street parking (approximately 9 spots) along Jackson Avenue, improved intersection operations at the Highway 10/Jackson Avenue intersection, and the opportunity to provide enhanced multimodal facilities and crossings. He explained it would be costly to implement one-way options and have short-term impacts to businesses, along with a negative impact on traffic operations along Main Street between Parrish Avenue and Highway 10, and finally circulation challenges for downtown users. He stated the study shows the benefits of the one-way conversion options do not align with the Housing and Redevelopment Minutes Page 4 September 7, 202] infrastructure cost and subsequent impacts to other areas of downtown. He suggested revisiting this topic in five years after the 169 Redefine project is completed. Chair Toth asked if the Highway 10 project will ever happen and how will it affect downtown. Mr. Femrite indicated it would depend ultimately on what was built. He stated the original MnDOT geometrics presented in 2010 were constructed to show the realignment of Jackson to come out through the King Avenue parking lot and reconnect with Main Street, so many things would be changed. He felt it would be a completely different study and a new review would be required. Commissioner Ovall stated the parking assessment study data sets were interesting from 2015-2019 and noted the data also included multiple days and times, including Saturdays. He stated he felt crossing Highway 10 would be challenging. He suggested the 104 parking spaces could be removed from the study since they didn't provide a high level of parking supply because they aren't easily acceptable. He stated by no means does this diminish the report and its findings and liked going through this report. He appreciated this report and liked that they did this study. Commissioner Wagner discussed when taking away the scientific data, she asked why the HRA did this study. She stated it was because they listened to residents at an open forum and their desire for a more pedestrian -friendly crossing, and downtown business owners wanted the same thing. She wondered if the study would grade the same after the 169 Redefine if the one-way were implemented on Jackson. Commissioner Wagner expressed her thoughts on how dangerous Jackson and Highway 10 is with traffic patterns and speed and was hoping to increase the safety in this area. Commissioner Chuba asked for clarification of the configuration of the Jackson one way and Mr. Fernrite pointed out the example configuration on Page 15 of the study. Commissioner Swenson stated this was great information to have and doesn't want to change things until after the 169 Redefine is completed. Commissioner Chuba stated he questions the increase of traffic from Otsego over the Parrish Avenue bridge due to their population growth and development. Commissioner Ovall stated the study provided the data to show we really didn't provide the clear beacon we were hoping for, and now we can show the study and is huge for priority projects and get shovel ready as it stands out as a high priority and changes everything. He stated he appreciates the report and feedback from Mr. Femrite. Chair Toth stated they need to provide this information to the city council based on their request regarding redevelopment of downtown. He stated there's still lots of work to do. Commissioner Swenson stated the HRA can take this information and digest it. Housing and Redevelopment Minutes September 7, 2021 Page 5 Commissioner Wagner stated she will ask the rest of the council if they have a deadline to get information and feedback from the HRA. It was the consensus of the -HRA to put this on the agenda next month for discussion on what to present to the city council. Mr. Femrite appreciated the HRA doing this study. He noted he could present it to the council if they so choose. 7.3 HRA Housing and Redevelopment Loan Program Update Ms. Eddy presented the staff report. 7.4 Main and Gates Request for Information Mr. O'Neil presented the staff report. He stated he is ready to send this out after HRA approval to cast a level of interest and receive potential development concepts. Chair Toth asked if staff had any progress with the resident living on Third Street. Ms. Eddy stated they have not had any progress. Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Swenson to approve the proposed Request for Information for the Main and Gates Development project as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. 8. Adjournment Chair Toth adjourned the meeting at 6:22 p.m. Minutesprep, -d by Jennifer Green. Tina Allard, City Clerk rry To hair Housing & Redevelopment Authority