Loading...
5. HRSR 04-04-2005ITEhI # 5. t-uver MEMORANDUM TO: Housing & Redevelopment Authority FROM: Catherine Mehelich, Director of Economic Developmen~,~~~ DATE: April 4, 2005 SUBJECT: Downtown Revitalization Project Update Attachments • King Avenue Parking Lot Taskforce, March 3, 2005 draft meeting minutes • MetroPlains Project Schedule Background The City entered into a development agreement with MetroPlains Development at the end of last year. Since that time staff has been working closely with MetroPlains to make progress on a number of activities leading up to the anticipated summer project construction outlined in the attachment. Current Activities King Avenue Parking Lot Improvement Assistant Director of Economic Development, Heidi Steinmetz is working closely with the King Ave Parking Lot Taskforce and their monthly meetings to provide input on the parking lot design and enforcement options. Draft meeting minutes from the March taskforce meeting is attached for the HRA's review. Staff is discussing signage during the construction of the parking lot and other forms of communication for businesses and customers. The anticipated schedule remains as follows: • February Council approves quote for Utilities Building asbestos removal • April Council considers quotes for building removal and authorize bidding for parking lot improvements • April/May Building removal and Council considers bid fox parking lot improvements • May/June Commence parking lot construction • June/July Completion of parking lot construction Bluff Block Properties MetroPlains announced that a purchase agreement with US Bank was fully executed at the end of February. US Bank anticipates vacating its downtown location no later than October 1S`, depending Downtown Revitalization Project Update Apri14, 2005 HRA Meeting Page 2 of 2 on completion of its new facility. A relocation advisor, Conworth Inc., has been retained by the city to advise the property/business owners and residential tenants of their statutory relocation rights and to process all relocation claims. Conworth, Inc. has met with all affected business/property owners and tenants and relocation claims are being processed smoothly. In addition, an ordinance amendment is being processed relating to locations for dry cleaning establishments. Although the city is ultimately responsible for meeting relocation regulations, the relocation costs are being passed directly on to the developer. Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) -Jackson Block Loan A key component of the project financing has included an SCDP grant that was awarded to the city from the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) in 2004. Although the city's application included a funding request for commercial and rental rehabilitation, a $400,000 grant was awarded specifically to the Jackson Block rental housing new construction component of the application. The grant application proposed that the city through its HRA, the designated local development organization, would loan MetroPlains $400,000 to help fill the financing gap that results from the disconnect between the cost of constructing affordable rental housing and cash flows available to repay debt. The application proposed that the loan would be repaid in full at 1 % interest at the end of 30 years consistent with MN Housing Financing Agency (MHFA) financing. The loan documents are currently being prepared by the City Attorney for the HRA's consideration at its regular May meeting. MetroPlains anticipates closing on the project financing for the Jackson Block by the end of June. The items above are highlights in activity from the past month. Staff is open to addressing any other specific questions that Commissioners may have with regard to any aspect of the ongoing project. MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER KING AVENUE PARKING LOT TASK FORCE HELD AT FIRST NATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTER THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2005 Members Present: Keith Holme, property owner, Kemper Drug; Steve Johnson, property owner, Antiques Downtown; Fred McCoy, McCoy's Pub; John Houlton, First National Bank of Elk River; John Anderson, downtown resident; Dr. Tony Jarmoluk, Elk Dental Center; Ty Sunderman, Dare's Funeral Service. Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Engineer Terry Maurer and Assistant Director of Economic Development Heidi Steinmetz Others Present: Lisa Raduenz of LJR, Inc., Transportation and ConSUltants and Planners King Avenue Parking Lot Construction Update, Staging Scli~dule and Construction Issues Mr. Maurer presented an updated listing of design and construction issues and the status of each as of meeting time for feedback from Task Force members. In discussing the first two bullet points under "Design Issues", Mr. Maurcr addressed the closure of King Avenue at TH 10 and potential access to the King Avenue parking lot from the former TH 10 access point, which MnDOT has indicated is not possible. Mr.:~nderson asked Mr. Maurer what other plans MnDOT had for closures along Highway 10~ hlr. Maurer responded that there was a current request made by the City of Elk River and MnDOT for Federal funding through Congressman Kennedy's office in the amount of $500,000 to study the future configuration of Highway 10. Mr. Maurer stated That some of the alternatives for this particular location may include a "cut and cover" of TH 10 in the downtown area. Mr. Holme reported to the group that he had clarified the amount of semi truck traffic that came into the King Avenue parking lot area at the present time for deliveries to local businesses. He said that several trucks a week go into the bakery and about "three semi loads" per week service other businesses, primarily the meat market" and said that most deliveries are completed by 7:30 a.m. for the meat market. The owner of the meat market indicated his delivery trucks could negotiate the island layout. At this point in the meetira~, Ms. Steinmetz reminded Ms. Baduen~ that the group neeeded to formally approve the draft meeting minutes from the February 7, 2005 King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force meeting. Thegroup approved the minutes from this meeting avithout comment or changes. Mr. Maurer continued to report about King Avenue Parking Lot design issues to the group. Mr. Houlton asked if there was an easement issue that may arise with the First National Bank property that will be used for general public parking at the site. Mr. Maurer told Mr. Houlton that he would like to discuss this issue with him separately but it would not impact Task Force business or plans for the site as currently presented. Dr. Jarmoluk asked where the City planned to put lighting for the lot? Mr. Maurer responded that Elk River Municipal Utilities would install lights on each island as noted on his plan (sitting on the table in front of Task Force members) and in the northwest corner of the lot, for a total of five lights in the lot or whatever amount would be necessary for safety purposes. Mr. Maurer also said that the lights will be installed on poles within the concrete islands and aimed at the Highway King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force Minutes March 3, 2005 10 side of the lot. Page 2 Veit Construction was awarded a contract in late February to remove asbestos from the former Municipal Utilities building, according to Mr. Maurer, and he said the bid package for removing the rest of the building would be completed in April. Mr. Maurer told the group that he wanted to go before the City Council on Apri14 for approval of the package and award to the lowest bidder. Mr. Holme remarked that the current parking lot is "cracking up in places". Mr. Maurer responded that it was his intent to patch those areas and then have everything "fog-coated" by the contractor to appear uniform. Mr. Maurer reported to the group that he had reviewed requirements for disabled parking spaces at and around the site and it appeared that there would he a need for one more additional disabled spot in the lot, for a total of six (6), and the final total of spaces available when the lot is completed would be 153. Dr. Jarmoluk asked if his office's disabled parking space could be "changed to the corner near his shop in order to see better" (near the corner of Lowell and Main). Mr. Anderson asked if there was any kind of rule about school buses picking up students at that location? Mr. Maurer said he did not know the answer to that question but asked if the problems would be resolved if a four-way stop sign were to be installed at the corner. Mr. Johnson remarked that another stop sign down the street on Main "wouldn't hurt either" because of all the people cutting through plocal streets. Mr. Maurer asked for the group's thoughts on the addition of a four-way stop sign at Main and Lowell. Mr. Houlton asked if the Cit}''s intent was to slow down traffic along Main or push traffic off of Main? Ms. Raduenz asked Ivlr. Maurer if traffic counts had been done at any time in the recent past in this area. Mr. Maurer responded that traffic counts could be done in the Spring. It1r. Anderson said. that the issue was mobility, but added that there was a pedestrian crossing issue near the Cretex building. hlr. Maurer said that the pedestrian problem could be solved today by extending striping before afoot-way stop sign would be installed at the intersection. Discussing die staging of construction for the~King Avenue Park Lot, Mr. Maurer stated that curb and gutter would be extended to define the drive aisle around the King and Main corner and that pavers would be used to define pedestrian space in the sidewalk by the school district building area. He reiterated that King Avenue would be closed at the northwest corner of the Iung Avenue parking lot site, that the sidewalk was eight-feet wide near the school district building, and that this would be the "bulk" of the non-vehicle space available at that location. Mr. Maurer said that there would be some elimination of parking along the aisle on that side during the construction process, and that construction would begin around the middle-to-end of May and continue for approximately 4-6 weeks, barring any weather problems. Mr. Maurer said he hoped to confine the construction staging area to the west side of the lot, and leave approximately half of the lot open and available for parking during the reconstruction process. He said that he needed to survey the best time for removal of the former Municipal Utilities building, and once that was completed, the crew would first patch the lot, then take out the curbing along the store side, then put up a fence around the reconstruction site on the bank side of the lot. Mr. Maurer asked the group if they thought about whether or not there should be some sort of signage put up during the reconstruction process saying that parking was available, and, if so, where should it go? There was no response from anyone in the group on this question. Mr. Holme said that "everyone was concerned about where construction workers will park" King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force Minutes March 3, 2005 Page 3 during the process. He mentioned Mr. McCoy's suggestion from the previous meeting about using the Jungle Theather/Nadeau parcel for construction worker parking. Mr. Maurer responded that the issue had already been addressed at a City Council meeting several months ago and that workers would be required to park at the project staging area north of Highway 10. Mr. Maurer reminded the group that the King Avenue lot was to be done and ready for use before anything happens at the MetroPlains site and that the disruption time would be about a month in duration given his current schedule. Mr. McCoy asked Mr. Maurer whether there would be a "walkway" for parking lot users to allow access to other businesses along Main Street? Mr. Maurer said that the plans did not call for such. Mr. Sunderman asked if rock was going to be put down in the parking lot to discourage skateboarders on the newly-paved lot? Mr. Maurer responded that he had not considered rock seal coat material because he felt the business o~t-ners would not like the mess tracked into their stores, but that he could specify it and have it on the site for a few days until the surface had hardened. He asked the group for their thoughts and they decided they would prefer to have a rock seal coat material used in the lot to discourage skateboarding on the site. 2. Employee Parking Area Designation At this point in the meeting Mr. Maurer had to leave the group to attend another meeting. He left behind copies of the King Avenue lot configuration for planning for employee parking area designation. Ms. Raduenz asked the group to review the plan and began a discussion of where the most appropriate location may,- be for employee parking at the site. She reminded the group that potential signage designating this area would be installed after the decision was made, approved by the Hl~~, and the lot completed, and that it would be of importance to note both the area of the lot as well as the number of spaces that would comfortably accomodate employee demand during peak hours of business activity. Ms. Raduenz asked members of the group if they knew when the peak time for employee parking would occur. Mr. Holme responded that he thought it would be mainly during "daytime hours". Dr Jarmoluk and several others in the group with employees and/or tenants agreed. Ms. Raduenz asked if it was fair to consider the peak time for both customer and employee parking demand to be between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm Monday-Friday. There was some discussion about evening and weekend traffic, but for the most part Task Force members agreed that these would be the general hours where the highest demand for parking would occur throughout the year, as some businesses closed by 5 or 6 pm, with the exception of the Kemper Drug Store and bars/restaurants. Ms. Raduenz asked if anyone knew how many spaces would cover the number of employees that would need to park at the area. Mr. Holme said that no one knew how many employees and customers would be coming to the area after redevelopment occured, so that question "could not be answered". Ms. Raduenz reminded Mr. Holme that there were separate parking facilities and plans for employees for the new redevelopment and the focus of this meeting was to look at the parking demand for employees and customers of current businesses near the King Avenue parking area. Mr. Holme and Dr. Jarmoluk estimated that there might be 35-40 spots needed for employees. No other Task Froce member disagreed with this number. Ms. Raduenz asked the group where they felt within the new lot configuration would be the most appropriate spot to park employees of their businesses? Mr. Holme and Mr. Sunderman suggested the southwest corner of the lot across the street from First National Bank. No one disagreed with this assessment. Ms. Raduenz asked the King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force Minutes March 3, 2005 Page 4 group if perhaps that corner was a spot where customers of the bank and other businesses like the butcher shop might prefer to park as it was closer to their shopping destinations. Members of the group agreed this may be the case. Ms. Raduenz asked the group if there would be any objections to moving the employee parking areas to the northwest corner of the lot, along Highway 10? Mr. Holme said he would not object to that corner as long as there was "lighting" and a safe area for his employees to park and get to their vehicles after work at night. No other Task Force members objected to this area. Ms. Raduenz highlighted an area of the map that could be easily designated as employee parking and aligned to curb cutouts already planned. She said that the area would contain approximately 45 parking spots after counting spaces denoted on the map, and added a few "carryover" spots along the north side of the lot along Highway 10 for additional employee parking if necessary. Members of the group agreed that the proposed employee parking area made sense and that it appeared the number of projected parking spots for employees seemed reasonable. 3. Meeting Wrap-u~ Ms. Raduenz reminded the group that at the April meeting the Elk River Police Chief would be present and that parking lot enforcement issues would be the main topic of the meeting. She asked the group if there were any other concerns or issues that they felt had not been covered up to this point, and indicated that the final meeting of the group ui May would be used to 'wrap up' all issues and to compose a set of recommendations for the HRA and/or City Council to consider for parking and related enforcement in the King Avenue Parking Lot. Ms. Steinmetz said she would present the map used for planning of employee parking areas to Mr. Maurer. The Task Force members ached that she conduct adoor-to-door survey of the businesses in the area to°iaetter understand how much employee parking would be required for the King Avenue site. ' 4. Adjournment The meeting of the King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force adjourned at 9:20 a.m. The next meeting of the King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5, 2005 at 8:00 a.m. at the First National Financial Center in the 2nd floor board room. Submitted by, Lisa Raduenz LJR, Inc., Transportation and Consultants and Planners O . ~...~ ~--~ CC3 N ~ •~ o ~-~+ o ~ ~ ~ °~ ~ N ~" ~ U U Q~ Q O o U r-' 0 ~ Q ~ U ~ c~ ~ ~ • w ~ ---~ r W a~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ c ~ ~ a~ A C o o .. ~ ^: ~ o ~ ~. C .d ~ ~ ~ ~ a~ ~. a~ a ~ ^d c. ~ ~. o a, C ~- O p V ..., D C7" V RS G C~ h v o ~'-- o ~ v m, U 0 3 ,~ '~ o , 0a ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o c ,~ c c. ~ ~ ~ M~y h+~ L ~.., ~ ~ ~ C ~ ~ h ~ Q ~ ~ t . ~. U ~ C ~ o ~ ""d ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~i er., ~ b o o ~, c ~ o v ~ c ~ . ~." a ~ ~ ., ~ ~,~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o ~ aA ~ c U ~ o, x U