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Minutes 06-12-01MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY REGULAR MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2001 AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT Larry Finkelstein, Chairman Jeanne Heavilin, Vice Chair Al DeMarco Don Fenton Michelle Hoyland Henderson Tillman ABSENT Jos~ Aguila ALSO PRESENT Quintus Greene, Director of Development Lindsey Payne, Board Attorney Diane Reese, Director of Finance I. Call to Order Chairman Finkelstein called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. Agenda Approval A. Additions, Deletions, Corrections Vice Chair Heavilin requested that th e presentation to former Commissioner Bruce Black be moved up to follow the approval of the minutes. She also wished to add a discussion of a proposed CRA article in the City's newspaper under New Business. Motion Mr. DeMarco made a motion to accept the agenda as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fenton and carried unanimously. IV. Approval of Minutes of the Regular May 8, 2001 Meeting Mr. Tillman moved to accept the minutes of the May 8, 2001 meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fenton and carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Boynton Beach, Florida June 12, 2001 V. Announcements and Presentations Chairman Finkelstein presented former Commissioner Bruce Black with a plaque from the CRA honoring Mr. Black's devotion and dedication as a true servant to the citizens of Boynton Beach and his loyal support of the goals and objectives of the CRA. Mr. Black accepted the plaque with thanks. VI. Director's Report CRA Budget Mr. Quintus Greene, Director of Development, addressed the financial statement for the month of May, noting the CRA's available balance of $1,023,466. Mr. Greene then pointed out a transfer from the CRA budget to the Community Improvement Fund in the amount of $32,678, stating that subsequent months would show further reductions until this year's financial requirement of $49,017 was met. This represented the CRA~s portion of the City's mandatory 20% good-faith contribution towards the SHIP Program/Community Improvement Fund. Ms. Diane Reese confirmed that this would be an annual financial requirement from the CRA's budget, the amount to vary according to the amount received from the SHIP grant. Chairman Finkelstein sought assurance that there would be no more surprises concerning the budget as the CRA was trying to budget for a loan from its TIF funds and it had to know how much money was available. Ms. Reese did not know of any further budget impacts and was to forward copies of the 2000 - 2001 City budget to the Board. TIF Update The projected 2001-2002 TIF revenues to the CRA were $829,900 compared to $305,000 for the current fiscal year. Over forty percent of this increase came from the Manatee Bay apartment development that came onto the tax rolls this year for $17.5M, increasing the ability of the CRA to carry out its mandate in the district. $3M Financing for CRA Mr. Greene referred to a series of discussions being held among staff, the City Manager, City bond counsel, Bank of America and others concerning the ways and means of securing $3M for the CRA so that it could carry out its mission. Mr. Greene presented a preliminary proposal from the Bank of America with associated amortization schedules. All of the rates were taxable rates. Tax-free financing was not available because the CRA intended to purchase properties that would be subsequently sold for redevelopment. Chairman Finkelstein was in favor of a line of credit that would be drawn down by the CRA as needed. Mr. Fenton was in favor of zero coupon bonds which, according to Ms. Reese's advice from the City's bond counsel and investment advisers, were very expensive and hard to sell to investors. Ms. Reese advised against a line of credit, saying that if the money were used within six months and not invested, the CRA would have lost an opportunity to increase its funds by gaining interest on its money. Ms. Reese cited the City's practice in issuing bonds where it took all the money up front, invested it, used it as needed, and gained interest on the money. Ms. Reese strongly recommended that the CRA enlist the services of a financial adviser to assist them in making a decision on the financing of the CRA. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelop ment Agency Boynton Beach, Florida June 12, 2001 The Board discussed financing methods at length and decided that it wanted to have a response from at least three banks to include all the relevant factors such as points/fees/indexes/rates and have these facts put into a matrix from which they could make their decision. If a Board member wanted to ask a particular bank to make a proposal, they could do so and have that proposal submitted to Mr. Greene. Project Update MLK Mr. Greene advised that a Start Work Notice was issued on this project on June 1, 2001 to the Strategic Planning Group of Jacksonville, Florida. Stakeholder meetings were scheduled during the day on June 15 and 18 with a community meeting hosted by Commissioner McCray planned for 7:00 p.m. on June 18 at 7:00 p.m. at St. John's Missionary Baptist Church at 1900 N. Seacrest Boulevard. Marina, Phase One The Casa Loma work should begin in one month and an item will appear on the June 19 City Commission meeting extending the completion of the project from May 7 to October 15, 2001. FEC Property/Shared Use Parking Agreement/Fee-In-Lieu-Of The City has th acquired the FEC railroad property on 4 Street and First Avenue. It also has a Shared Use Parking Agreement with the Congregational Church on Federal Highway. Between those two parcels, the City now has approximately fifty-five parking spaces that can be made available to the public. This related to a Proposed Fee-In-Lieu-Of Parking Regulations Ordinance scheduled to appear on the June 19, 2001 City Commission agenda, an updated version of which was distributed and discussed at this meeting. Economic Development & PID Ordinances The Economic Development Ordinance 096-46 for the CRA Area and the Ordinance for the Planned Industrial Districts were being updated and were also scheduled for the June 19, 2001 City Commission meeting. Chairman Finkelstein brought out the fact that if the incentive fees were to be paid by the City, the money would probably come out of CRA funds and there was no provision for CRA review of the incentive applications. Mr. Greene affirmed that the City Manager was the person who took the responsibility for making a recommendation to the City Commission on these matters. Chairman Finkelstein deemed it difficult to manage funds when others had control over them and he asked Mr. Greene to pass his comments along. Commission Action Update Mr. Greene reported that the City Commission approved the Federal Highway Redevelopment Plan at its May 15, 2001 meeting. They delayed a decision about abolishing the old high school to allow further inspection, analysis and fundraising by the preservation group. At the July 10, 2001 meeting, the Federal Highway Corridor Land Use Map Amendment would be put before the Board. It was important that this item be kept on schedule so 3 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Boynton Beach, Florida June 12,2001 thatthe amendmentcould beincludedin the current cycle. Also, three variances willbe on the agenda. Federal Highway Corridor Community Redevelopment Plan Mr. Greene referred to the consultant agreement with Michele Mellgren wherein she was to complete a draft of the amendments to the Land Development Regulations, implementing the recommendations of the Plan. The amount will be $9,990 and Mr. Greene recommended that the CRA pay for this item since it was for amendments that lay entirely within the CRA's boundaries and jurisdiction. Motion Mr. Fenton moved to approve payment of the Consultant agreement for the Federal Highway Corridor Zoning Code Amendments in the amount of $9,990. Mr. DeMarco seconded the motion. Mr. Tillman believed that the City should pay for this since the City had initiated the study and he did not want to see a precedent set. Chairman Finkelstein reminded everyone that the result of all the redevelopment that would be done pursuant to the MLK Study and the Federal Highway Corridor Study would be increased TIF income for the CRA. Vice Chair Heavilin believed that most such studies in the future would probably be initiated by the CRA. Chairman Finkelstein said the Board wished to make a change to the Scope of Services section of the Consultant Agreement where it talked about regulations concerning single family areas along the Intracoastal Waterway. The Board preferred to strike this language and insert instead, "...regulations concerning Planning Areas I and V...". The motion passed 5-1, Mr. Tillman dissenting. Draft Ordinance on Parking Regulations and Fee-in-Lieu Mr. Fenton asked about the prohibition against private and commercial parking facilities and Mr. Greene referred to Ordinance 99-07 that delineated the prohibition. Mr. Greene added that the Ordinance was put in place to prevent private operators from occupying land that was potentially valuable to the City in its redevelopment efforts. This Ordinance did not prohibit the City from building a commercial parking facility since it would be a publicly owned and maintained structure. Mr. Greene explained that the ordinance was being presented to the Board for its information since it pertained to something that was within the CRA's jurisdiction. He offered to forward any comments of the Board to the City Commission and had already included some Board comments from the workshop in a staff letter that he had sent to the CommissiOn along with the ordinance. Some members believed that the ordinance should have been sent to the CRA for their review before putting it on the City Commission agenda for approval. The Board discussed the draft ordinance at great length but no firm consensus was reached. At the request of the Chairman and the Board, the essence of the individual Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Boynton Beach, Florida June 12, 2001 member's comments are listed below. Mr. Tillman: Mr. Tillman did not believe the CRA should be drawing up specific criteria and deliberating about them since it had not been formally asked to do so by the City Commission. The item was placed on the CRA agenda for purposes of information only. Mr. Fenton Mr. Fenton's opinion was that there was no problem with parking downtown and the CRA had already taken steps towards securing property for a future parking garage. The ordinance was premature and the fees would unfairly burden the early entrepreneurs. There were other ways to handle the parking situation without assessing fees. If the fees were approved, he believed they should be cut in half. Mr. DeMarco Mr. DeMarco wanted to study the parking situation and continue the "land banking" the CRA had already begun. He agreed with Mr. Fenton that the fees were too high and suggested extending the "0" for two years instead of one. Chairman Finkelstein Chairman Finkelstein believed that the discussion and comments on the draft ordinance were appropriate and within the purview of the CRA. Also, he believed that the City had already gone an extra step by going from a 35% reduction in the CBD to a 50% reduction and that there were plenty of incentives for developers now, especially with the "0" requirement in the fee-in-lieu option for the first year. He was in favor of expanding the requirements through Ocean Avenue and Seacrest so that area could be included. Chairman Finkelstein favored the fee structure suggested by Ms. Hoyland and contained in the draft ordinance of $0 for the first year, $3K second year, 5K, third year, 7K fourth year, and 10K from then on. He also thought the issue should be addressed now, rather than later on when it became a problem and they might not have the money or land to handle it. Vice Chair Heavilin Vice Chair Heavilin agreed with Chairman Finkelstein's view, adding that she thought the fee-in-lieu option should be offered as a last resort, on a hardship basis, after exhausting the on-site, 50% reduction, shared parking, and any other means of meeting the needs of the business. She did not know enough about what other cities were charging for fees to suggest changes to them. In Section 2, Item #1 she asked that "off-site" be added to the following: "When the Community Redevelopment Agency finds that the property owner seeking an expansion cannot effectively or economically provide for the additional on-site parking,. .... ". Meeting Minutes Community Redevelop ment Agency Boynton Beach, Florida June 12,2001 Michelle Hoyland Ms. Hoyland also believed that the options should go in descending order with fee-in-lieu being the last option available. She believed the "0" requirement should be in effect for one year from whenever the Commission approved the Ordinance, and then go up annually $3K, 5K, 7K, and 10K thereafter. She strongly believed in this increase in fees, considering the $7K price tag on a surface parking space today. Also, Ms. Hoyland wanted to see the fee-in-lieu application process include a listing of public parking spaces available in reasonable proximity to the applicant's business. VII. Unfinished Business None VIII. Public Hearings None IX. New Business Vice Chair Heavilin mentioned the desire of the Board to do a marketing statement about the CRA, letting the residents know the reason for their existence and what they planned to do. Mr. Segal suggested that City Visions would be the best vehicle and the next issue will come out in July. Vice Chair Heavilin offered to draft an article that Chairman Finkelstein would look at and pass on to Mr. Greene, who would be responsible for the final approval and publication in the newsletter. X. Public Audience Robert Ensler, 26 Woods Lane, Boynton Beach, addressed the Board and suggested that the CRA consider moving Public Audience up to the early part of its agenda so that people would not have to sit through an entire meeting before having an opportunity to speak. He also was concerned that the agenda was not specific as to what was up for discussion. He thought it would be helpful to the public to have specific topics for discussion so that the public could be prepared to speak. Mr. Ensler agreed with the comments he had heard suggesting that the CRA should have been formally directed to review this ordinance as part of the approval process. Xl. Other The Board settled on a date for its next workshop of July 28, 2001 in Conference Room C from 9:00 to 3:00 p.m. They were to continue work on fine-tuning their Goals and Objectives. Ms. Hoyland wanted 'to forward back-up material to Mr. Greene so it could be distributed to the members prior to the workshop if possible. Vice Chair Heavilin commented on Mr. Ensler's request about moving Public Audience to the early part of the meetings. She thought there was a lot of merit to this idea and asked for comments from the other Board members. After discussion, the Board agreed Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Boynton Beach, Florida June 12, 2001 to leave itthe way it was and addressitin the future ifthey began to have more public hearings. Ms. Hoyland agreed with Mr. Ensler's comment about the lack of detail on the agenda and asked that the agendas be more specific as to the topics to be discussed. Xl. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Res pectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (two tapes) (06/13/01 ) 7