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Minutes 03-13-12 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY HELD ON TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2012 AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS, 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Woodrow Hay, Chair Vivian Brooks, Executive Director Bill Orlove, Vice Chair James Cherof, Board Attorney James "Buck" Buchanan Steve Holzman Mark Karageorge Mack McCray Marlene Ross I. Call to Order — Chair Hay Chair Hay called the meeting to order at 5:50 p.m. II. Pledge to the Flag and Invocation Chair Hay gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Chair Hay welcomed Mack McCray as a new addition to the Board. III. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was present. IV. Legal A. Recess for Closed Door Attorney /Client Session Attorney Cherof explained that pursuant to the Florida Statute Section 286.0118, the Committee would recess to discuss the case of Lisa Bright vs. City of Boynton Beach, a case pending in Palm Beach County Court claiming wrongful termination. In the closed door session, in attendance would be the CRA Board, the Executive Director, Attorney Cherof, and Attorney Reynolds, CRA special counsel handling the litigation. Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 Motion Vice Chair Orlove moved to recess and was seconded by Mr. Buchanan. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting reconvened at 6:50 p.m. V. Agenda Approval A. Additions, Deletions, Corrections to the Agenda Mr. McCray suggested noting that the Pledge and Invocation should be reversed on the agenda as that was the way it was done at the opening of the meeting. Ms. Brooks advised she wanted to move New Business, E, to Consent Agenda. She also wanted to pull VIII. A, Approval of Minutes for discussion. B. Adoption of Agenda Motion Vice Chair Orlove moved to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Karageorge seconded the motion that unanimously passed. VI. Informational Items and Disclosures by Board Members and CRA Staff: A. Disclosure of Conflicts for Items Presented to the CRA Board on Agenda Items Mr. Karageorge disclosed he met with the applicant for Gulfstream Gardens, Seabourn Cove and the lobbyist, Michael Weiner. In addition, under the New Marketing Initiative Program, he advised he met with business owner, Tracey Powell of Hair Fashions by Tracey. Ms. Ross disclosed she spoke to Michael Weiner by phone for Gulfstream Gardens. Vice Chair Orlove disclosed he spoke to Michael Weiner regarding Gulfstream Gardens as well. Mr. Holzman advised he had nothing to disclose. 2 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 Mr. Buchanan advised he met with Chrissy Benoit and discussed the restaurant. Mr. McCray advised he also met with Michael Weiner on the Seabourn Cove project. He sent an email to Linda Stabile who also sent him an email. He met with Vivian Brooks, CRA Executive Director this date and wanted the public to know that there are many great things happening in the City. B. Informational Announcements Mr. Karageorge advised he attended the concert series, movie night, Sunday Funday, the Art District Event on Industrial Avenue, and the 7 anniversary of Perfect Dental. He also advised the Chamber of Commerce would be having a luncheon dealing with the City's branding. The March mixer with the Chamber of Commerce would be at Cuthill's. On May 17 Mr. Buchannan would chair the Taste of Boynton at Benvenuto's. Lastly, Mr. Karageorge welcomed Mr. McCray to the CRA Board and the City Commission. Ms. Ross welcomed Mr. McCray as well and announced the next Movies on the Avenue would be held on April 6th Mr. Orlove attended some of the events listed by Mr. Karageorge and also attended Heritage Fest. He added that although he felt staff did an excellent job promoting the event, it was a disappointment and should be reevaluated not only by this Board but the Special Events Ad Hoc Committee. Mr. Buchanan attended the workshop for the Kinetic Art Symposium along with Mayor Hay and Ms. Ross. The symposium will be a great event. He expressed his thanks to Debby Coles -Dobay for bringing this event to the City. Chair Hay wanted to mention the Art Expo that took place on Industrial Way and felt it was a tremendous effort. Chair Hay attended the Heritage Fest and advised there were ideas on the table to make that a better event with a better turnout than there had been. He felt it was still successful. Chair Hay attended the Habitat for Humanity event. Students from Bentley University of Michigan were there assisting in the building of the home. They were spending their spring break helping with the project. 3 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 VII. Announcements & Awards: A. Ocean Avenue Concert — March 16, 2012 Kathy Biscuiti, Special Events Director, advised on March 16, 2012, the Ocean Avenue concert would take place. A local band would be playing. It would be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Gourmet food tucks would be on site. B. Sunday Funday — April 1, 2012 The next Sunday Funday would be held on April 1, 2012. There would be a petting zoo, pony rides, inflatable obstacle course, and the steel drummer. It would be held from 1:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m. C. Movies on the Ave. — April 6, 2012 The next movie would take place on April 6, 2012 and it will be "We Bought a Zoo" at 8:00 p.m. There was brief discussion about issues with people bringing their dogs. VIII. Consent Agenda: A. Approval of Minutes — CRA Board Meeting February 14, 2012 This item was pulled. B. Approval of Period Ended February 29, 2012 Financial Report C. Monthly Purchases Orders D. Approval of Interior Build -out Grant to Family Development Partners, Inc. (Subway Regional Offices) E. Consideration of Approval of Commercial Facade Grant to Family to Family Development Partners, Inc. (Subway Regional Offices) 4 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 IX. Pulled Consent Agenda Items: VIII. A. Approval of Minutes — CRA Board Meeting February 14, 2012 Ms. Brooks advised she had a correction on page 7, Item B, under the Motion, the correct amount approved was $38,916.66 not $37,968.07. Mr. Buchanan noted a change on page 8, Item D, " disclose conflicts, contacts and relations...." It should state relationships. Motion Mr. Karageorge moved to approve the minutes as amended. Vice Chair Orlove seconded the motion that unanimously passed. X. Information Only: A. Public Comment Log B. Letter from Harvey E. Oyer, III of Shutt & Bowen, LLP dated February 16, 2012 C. Letter from Lynn Simmons, Splashdown Divers, Inc. dated February 24, 2012 D. Events Recap — February 2012 E. Update of Marketing Initiative Program Mr. Karageorge commented he wanted to commend Margee Walsh on this program and urged anyone who was a merchant in the CRA District to take advantage of the program. Ms. Walsh advised there would be a seminar on March 25 at the CRA offices. Invitations had been sent. Ms. Ross inquired of Ms. Walsh how many of the 800 direct mail merchant contacts had responded. Ms. Walsh indicated five businesses were participating. The program goes until September and the word was getting out. Ms. Walsh advised social media was also being used for marketing. F. Update on the Status of the Promenade DIFA 2012 Compliance 5 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 XI. Public Comments: (Note: comments are limited to 3 minutes in duration) Chair Hay opened the public comments. Mike Campbell, Habitat for Humanity, 181 SE 5 Avenue, Delray Beach, thanked the Mayor for appearing at the groundbreaking for homes 99 and 100. He indicated there were 30 students from Bentley College working there during spring break. He also advised they were in the process of determining how to afford the recycling bins for the jobsite. He would be asking the Commission for support on the bins. Currently, they utilize plastic bags for the water bottles and would take them to a recycling center. Three more builds are scheduled for June, July and August, which would total five homes by August. Twenty -four families are in the pipeline waiting for the homes. He advised Trinity College from Connecticut would be arriving to assist next week. There being no one else from the public coming forward, Chair Hay closed public comments. XII. Old Business: A. Discussion of Jones Cottage Commercial Interior Build -Out Request for Proposal Results Mike Simon, CRA Development Director, advised this was the result of the general contracting services request for proposal for the interior build -out of the Jones Cottage project. On January 10 the CRA board approved the issuance of an RFP for general contracting services. The RFP was released on January 23 and allowed for a 30 -day review by contractors for a deadline of February 23 at 3:00 p.m. Unlike RFPs in the past, there are mandatory pre -bid meetings. To avoid anyone being ineligible to bid because they were unable to attend, it was non - mandatory and took place on January 30 There were approximately 11 contractors in attendance. Seven Requests for Information (RFI) were issued which were made by contractors and interested parties to clarify drawings and notes, materials specified, among other things. At the close of the deadline on the February 23 only two RFP responses were received. One was from West Construction with a proposed project cost of $247,568, and the second from Christopher Johnson Construction (d /b /a C&J Design Build) with a proposed project cost of $324,529.30. Those costs were well above the projected assessment. Ms. Benoit had offered to help offset some of the costs to the CRA for the project, and she had input in the review of the proposals. 6 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 A letter was received from REG Architects, the design firm, after the issuance of the Board packet supporting staff statements on the assessment of the project. He asked for clarifications on a more detailed cost breakdown to see if there were any items that perhaps were over grossly assumed in value. In so doing, C&J provided a response and the number did not match the original number submitted. It was still higher than anticipated. From a budget perspective, staff felt the numbers were too high and should be in the $150,000 range. Mr. Karageorge recommended a motion to reject the two proposals. Motion Mr. Karageorge moved to reject the proposals and close out the contracting services for the interior build -out for the Jones Cottage RFP. The motion was seconded by Mr. Buchanan and unanimously passed. B. Consideration of Entering into a Direct Incentive Funding Agreement with Gulfstream Gardens, LLC for the Seabourn Cove Project Ms. Brooks advised that the item had been before the Board in the past regarding the potential to work in a partnership to upgrade the project to incorporate green elements in such a way that had not been done in the State of Florida, if not the country. Michael Weiner, was present on behalf of the applicant. He introduced the members of all phases of the project. Mr. Weiner explained the project to the Board members through a PowerPoint presentation. He made note that almost 34% of the acreage was green space. The plans, in the newest phase, called for many unique features in order to meet a certain level of certification under the green standards. There would be electrical vehicle charging stations, the first in Boynton Beach. He further explained that Boynton was quick in organizing a Climate Action Plan and green building and in pursuit of these objectives, the CRA staff was allowing the TIF program to be utilized. Therefore, there was a DIFA agreement (Developer Incentive Financing Agreement) which would ensure compliance with the national green building standards at a gold level. That would increase the tax increment the City would receive as a result of the project. As a result, Mr. Weiner reviewed the goals that would be achieved. There would be an increased building energy efficiency, water use reduction, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, water efficient landscaping plan, promotion of alternative modes of transportation, education for tenants as to energy savings, sustainability through ongoing monitoring of compliance, among others that would be set forth in the DIFA agreement. Upon CRA approval, Seabourn Cove would be the largest apartment project in the State of Florida receiving a gold level of compliance. He continued to review all the energy saving elements of the project, as well as the landscaping plans, 7 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 and the processes for the certifications, inspections, monitoring and compliance that would be in place. Vice Chair Orlove wanted clarification on what was meant by "educating owners ". Drew Smith, 4411 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, explained the manual would be more in depth and detail than just a "turning the water off when you are not using it" type of instruction. It would explain to the tenants how the project had gone through the green process and how they could affect it, but in a more detailed version. It would explain in detail the faucets, low flow toilets, the energy saving Tight bulbs, air filtration and even choosing low VOC paint. If any changes were made, they would have to be made so that they were in compliance with all regulations. Vice Chair Orlove inquired what assurances were in place to oversee that there would be compliance with tenants. Rick Lococo, 9282 SE Yardarm Terrace, Hobe Sound, advised the residents would not have the option to arbitrarily paint with anything they want. They would have to follow the guidelines. It would have to be preapproved with a specific paint that would be in the package. As for other maintenance items, other items would already have been installed and would be maintained by the property maintenance program. Vice Chair Orlove commended not only the program aspect but the maintenance aspect as well. Mr. Holzman stated the first phase was on its way to completion. He inquired if it were not approved for the DIFA agreement, would Phase II still be built without these environmental features. Mr. Lococo stated the Phase II portion would still be built. Ms. Ross commended the developers and all involved. She requested Ms. Brooks to address the safety concerns of the residents. Ms. Brooks stated that it was a City road and that signs were put out and the issue was referred to Jeff Livergood. Mr. Livergood stated he would perform a study six months after Walmart was completed and she was unaware if the study was being done. Mr. Lococo added that a sidewalk was being provided along Old Dixie Highway, including alongside two properties that were not owned by the developer. That would alleviate some concerns of safety. There was further discussion on how some of the safety issues were being addressed and the citizens seemed pleased. Mr. Karageorge stated there was $1.968 million over a ten -year period. Usually, when there was that kind of DIFA amount, there would be a public benefit. The main beneficiary would be the residents in this case. Based on information, there would be approximately 1,500 to 1,600 residents and benefit would be to those individuals. He inquired if the swale area was still being considered for a public park. Mr. Lococo 8 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 advised this presentation was not meant to include the landscape area on Old Dixie Highway. That would be the site plan approval process that would be brought to the City Commission. Mr. Karageorge added he would like to see it as part of the DIFA and be a public benefit. It could be utilized by all public citizens and would create more lighting to address potential crime and safety issues. He felt for the amount of money requested, there should be more public benefit. Nancy Byrne, Interim Director of Development, commented on the public benefit concept. Due to the Climate Action Plan, the City requested the developers to deliver greenhouse gas emissions reduction in the community, which would be the first measurable community reduction. When the Climate Action Plan was approved, only a City operational budget was approved. With the concept of reaching out to the community on this level at that point, there was not enough understanding or buy -in. The developer is now committed to delivering measurable greenhouse gas reduction for the Climate Action Plan annually. In addition, the developer was meeting four major goals of the Climate Action Plan on a huge level. With regard to the State recognition and National recognition, the developer had pushed staff to the second phase of the green building program. Some of the safeguards discussed were costs the City added in to assure measurable greenhouse gas reductions were received each year the DIFA was delivered to the developer. If the gold standards were not met in any year, the money would not be received. There was further discussion on the benefit to the public and clarification was requested by Ms. Ross as to that benefit. Bradley Miller, Miller Land Planning, 2501 Corporate Drive, advised that the area was, in fact, a public area. It was part of the public right -of -way, but was surplus area. The improvements being proposed were going to be available for the public. To follow -up with Ms. Byrne, the project was going out to the State, as everyone would hear about it. So, in their opinion, that showed a lot of public benefit. Vice Chair Orlove inquired how many people were projected to lease the 456 multi family units, in both Phase One and Two. Mr. Miller advised there could be upward of 1,500 people. Vice Chair Orlove commented that he felt the public impact would be that there would be 1,500 people in that area where there was nothing currently. That would give businesses a reason to explore the area and possibly relocate to the area. Mr. Holzman commented that he was happy with what had been done on the southern side of the City, specifically with this project. He advised he agreed with Mr. Karageorge in that the purpose of the DIFA agreement was to bring in a use, change an area, and create an incentive for someone to come to the City. As stated before, even if the Board does not approve the DIFA, the project would still be built and the 1,500 people would still come to the community. He questioned whether the DIFA 9 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 agreement, which would only be used to upgrade the environmental standard, provided the entire City with a public benefit. He felt in no way did the citizens look at the $2 million and feel it was money well spent. He added that amount of money could be used elsewhere in the City for improvements that would benefit the entire City. Ms. Brooks added that without upgrading the project to what it would be, it would just be another rental project in the market. It should be the community of choice in Boynton and in the County. Ms. Brooks would like to see more of this type of community in the City. It would tie into the branding of the City as to the image of the City and who it would attract. Motion Vice Chair Orlove moved to approve the DIFA agreement with Seabourn Cove Development. Mr. Karageorge seconded the motion with comments by Attorney Cherof. Attorney Cherof advised that as some alluded to, this was running together with a Development Agreement and a site plan and rezoning on the property that was scheduled for March 20 but was being moved to April 3 to accommodate the continuing negotiation of the document, staff review and proper treatment of it. Within the body of the DIFA, there were a couple of tweaks to be made. He further added he was not suggesting action be delayed; it should be moved forward and approved. However, within the definition section, there was a reference for the site plan for Phase II being adopted on March 20 which would need to be corrected to April 3 There was language in Section 8.1 that had gone back and forth that needed some minor tweaking. Also, there was a reference on page 279, Section 8.7, which discussed commencement of the project and refers to a date in 2010. That language would need to be worked on as well. It should not hold up the approval, but the approval should be contingent upon those items. Amended Motion Vice Chair Orlove amended his motion to approve the DIFA agreement contingent upon staff, legal and CRA staff working out the agreement, and approval at the City Commission level. Mr. Karageorge seconded the amended motion with discussion. Mr. Karageorge supported the project and mentioned this was a great opportunity to market Boynton Beach. Mr. Buchanan agreed with Mr. Holzman as far as spending the money but also added that statements need to be made in the City. There was continued discussion on the pros and cons of the issue. 10 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 The motion passed 6 -1 (Mr. Holzman dissenting). Mr. Holzman left the meeting at 8:14 p.m. C. Consideration of Lease Agreement with Adventurous Palate, LLC d /b /a/ "The Little House" Mr. Simon advised on October 11, 2011, the CRA Board approved Chrissy Benoit as the tenant of choice with her concept for a restaurant in the Jones Cottage called "The Little House ". The project was approved with the CRA funding $150,000 toward the creation of the interior and the tenant providing $100,000 toward the finishing of the product. That was not just drywall, lighting and fixtures; it was getting the restaurant up and running. Currently, there are discussions regarding three key points to address: - The first point was the term of the lease that was provided earlier and was on the concept that the Board approved three five -year terms. However, the City and CRA land leases were two 10 -year terms, of which it was now year two of the first 10. The representative for the tenant and in agreement with the CRA, saw it did not meld nicely. As a result the first revision showed the first eight years and then allowed for 2 five -year options. - The second point was how to protect Ms. Benoit if the City decided there was a better use for the property in the middle of her lease. Mr. Simon felt the public could reasonably assume that the tenant would need some protection in the event that would happen. The terms attempt to give a sliding scale at reimbursement if that were to happen. - The third point was the work letter. The letter initially provided for the CRA and tenant expending dollars, who would be hired, and what they would do. Those terms were contemplated before the release of the RFP and prior to the results of the RFP. The revision contains a better attempt at giving the tenant more of the control of the physical build -out of the CRA's grants, funding or assistance, acting as a partner and not the lead, and giving the tenant the ability to manage the project. The financial aspect was also discussed. Attorney Cherof commented it was very close to a final version of the lease that had been mutually negotiated. Language in certain areas would be polished and better language was needed with regard to the CRA's right to terminate the lease. In 11 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 addition, the method of reimbursement and /or disbursement to the tenant would need to be clarified. He suggested rather than delay the approval and put the business out another month from opening, approve it subject to the right to make additional non- material, non - substantive changes to the document. Motion Mr. Buchanan moved to approve the lease. The motion was seconded by Mr. Karageorge with discussion by Vice Chair Orlove. He queried Mr. Simon as to term and if it was consistent with past conversations. Mr. Simon assured the terms were the same as previously agreed to. Chrissy Benoit informed the Board that her goal was to open within six weeks, but it would probably be more like eight weeks. The motion passed unanimously. XIII. New Business: A. Consideration of Additional Economic Development Grant Funding — Res. NO. 12 -01 Ms. Brooks advised that with the economy improving, there had been an increased interest in businesses coming into the district, but the funding for the programs had been either expended or encumbered. She advised a request for additional funds was made and $18,500 was found from an over - allocation for the Promenade DIFA and $100,000 was left over from money allocated for site work at Ocean Breeze West. Her request was for moving the money by resolution and budget amendment. She indicated there was a lot of interest from businesses in the program. She was requesting a total of $100,000. Motion Mr. Buchannan moved to accept staff's recommendation. The motion was seconded by Vice Chair Orlove with discussion. He inquired of Ms. Brooks if moving the money would make a difference in other programs or projects that are going on. Ms. Brooks advised this was leftover money and would not affect other programs. Vice Chair Orlove suggested that this line item be 12 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 looked at closer in the budgeting process. Mr. McCray wanted to commend the CRA staff for the great job that was being done. The motion passed unanimously. B. Discussion of Media Relations Policy Ms. Brooks advised that many cities and private entities have a media relations policy outlining how members of the organization relate to the media. She advised there was currently no policy and this request for discussion was an idea a Board member had. If there was interest, the item could be discussed. Currently, Ms. Walsh handled all the press releases. Mr. Karageorge advised he was the member asking for discussion due to the branding of the City and the CRA partnering in the branding and that possibly a policy should be in place. He felt that having a point person in the Police Department had worked very well and felt it would work well in the CRA. He added there should be consistency and a practice of conveying positive messages. He felt that Ms. Walsh was doing a good job. Vice Chair Orlove disagreed. He advised he receives a lot of calls from the media, both with his City hat and CRA, and he gets proper data from the staff when he requests it. He did not feel a policy was possible when it came to one of the members of the Board as one may feel strongly about a certain vote or project, but may not about another one. The media was an outlet to express those opinions. Although he agreed with a positive message, which would be what Ms. Walsh and the staff do, but it would be up to the Board members to relate opinion and sometimes, it would not be necessarily what the popular answer would be. There was consensus from the other Board members with regard to Vice Chair Orlove's comments to not change the media relations policy. C. Consideration of Agreement for Use of Property (114 N. Federal Highway — Bank of America Ms. Brooks advised this item was to formally announce that the CRA had been allowed the use of Bank of America's parking for the events at the Marina and the Bank was requesting a formal indemnification agreement. 13 Meeting Minutes Community Redevelopment Agency Board Boynton Beach, FL March 13, 2012 Motion Mr. Buchanan moved to approve an agreement. Ms. Ross seconded the motion that unanimously passed. D. Consideration of Renewal Lease Agreement with Jesus House of Worship Mr. McCray was not requesting a report from staff, but simply wanted to state he was glad there was someone in the building and wanted to approve. Motion Mr. McCray moved to approve the renewal of the lease agreement. The motion was seconded by Mr. Buchanan and unanimously passed. XIV. Executive Director's Report A. Project Status Update and HOB Investment Update Ms. Brooks provided an update on an inquiry from Mr. Karageorge and provided an update on 500 Ocean Avenue. XV. Future Agenda Items: A. Renegotiate the Terms /Fees with the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics (Tabled 11/8/11) XVI. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Chair Hay adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m. 2 L L rr t_CC 2z1�e` Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 14