Downtown Development Authority - Regular Meeting

John you ready I don't want to run you over me over oh okay good evening everyone am I on here today is February uh 18th and I'd like to call this meeting to order uh let's first start with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mr Miller will you take the roll call yes uh chairperson Walker is is asked to be excused and so uh in his stad uh we have secretary wonus Lord wonus is the chair for the meeting so then we will go with mayor Jacobs here frusty walona secet is presid uh truste Barry he usually does come a little late uh truste bom here trusty Clark here truste Haider has asked to be excused truste n deem still waiting on him and then trustee Taylor here right okay you do have a quorum with five okay then we'll move for an approval of the agenda I make a motion to approve the agenda as presented second by Dr

Clark and all those in favor signify by saying I hi hi hi opposed abstained the motion carries okay presentations yes good evening I just really a real quick uh presentation there's really not a formal presentation here at the DDA but I just wanted to let the board know that on January 27th at the council meeting we did do a presentation to our community groups that volunte here at the Chile Cook Off and so we gave them a certificate and thank them for their participation and also uh listed the total price that they did receive if you can recall we approved a rate of $15 per hour for the uh for the each group by hour so and so we uh listed all of those and we have those amounts uh if you can recall we did the uh hour hourly rate in exchange for a service that they provided to us as a volunteer for the for the chili cookoff and we then in turn donated that money to the service organization and this just um again we're doing a recordkeeping and we wanted to recognize them and of course invite them to be volunteers next year too is the biggest thing as you know the chili cook off requires a lot of volunteers and this is a a recording of all of those volunteer hours so so I just wanted you to be aware that we did it and uh what's going on when you're not here how about that so okay I move to uh items for consideration the consent agenda items

one two and three is there a motion I'll make a motion to accept uh the consent agenda as presented A1 2 and three I'll second we have a motion in a second all those signify by stating I I I opposed abstained right the motion carries any discussion oh I forgot the discussion a discussion on that sorry no no discussion no discussion we're good okay thank you and uh B action items with public comment items one through format yes so the first item is before you is a business incentive assistance program uh and included in your packet you'll see that is item 7 B1 and um a while ago I had talked to you know to the board one of the goals that we were going to that I was going to do was to review each of the incentives that were out there that the DDA at one point in time had had approved or uh maybe approved I some I wasn't 100% sure I couldn't find the minutes it did it but that we had um some of these programs out there but all of the programs were dependent on whether there was available funding and also how it was implemented and so I just wanted to real quick go through kind of the programs that we had that we have or have had how about that and and then give a suggestion maybe how we could go forward uh one is the facade and parking lot

improvement loan program that was a program that's established to uh loan $35,000 for facade improvements or parking lot improvements uh for a certain property the loan was set up at a 0% interest for the first three years and then a half of the current prime interest for the remainder of the loan period um often the loan the loan period was established as a seven-year payback uh for a total of 10 years so it's kind of three free seven then payback time for that loan um and it could be used for a myriad of items uh demolition brick cleaning patio awnings Ada compliance um parking lot improvements anything like that um and of course uh all of it had to be approved by the director and the board and the council had to also approve because in fact we were loaning the money out and we also were responsible for the distribution of that $35,000 uh so um that is kind of in place still um but it's not being used a lot and also we don't we've not set aside fun fing for a number of years for the program so we do have currently though three are out there and I just wanted to let you know the one of course at pierce place uh is active and they're paying it back but the other two were given for Maplewood Lumber and the Maplewood Lumber received two but they have not gone forward with anything in a three-year period so we still are under contract but we have not uh he the owner has not chosen to go forward um we still have not done a formal we're going to stop this contract um but we're working on it we may be adjusting it where the

contract is over the other item is is that if if say they come to do it um we do have to then fund it we would have to take it from the fund balance to fund it because we didn't have any money set aside for the program years for that the other is an architectural cost Grant which we most recently used for Family Heating and Cooling if you can recall and that is a $44,000 and it's reimbursable it's for an architect to prepare plans uh one of the things in the original program was that we would have a DDA designated architect um but we don't have we don't have an architect designated at this time but um we would have to if we chose to implement it we would have to of course kind of revitalize the program to do that uh a signage Grant uh program and that's $1,000 to be used for signage improvements and also to bring in non-compliance signs uh into compliance uh it can be a total of $1,000 and 25% of the total cost um of the sign per applicant there were some caveats in there about you can't extend the size um you can't be an existing business and then want to enlarge there was a few C avots in that signed program and then we also have uh interior Improvement grant program and again that was one I couldn't find that we had ever funded and I don't know if it was ever fully approved so I wanted to say that we did at one point in time was discussed a total of $5,000 for interior improvements and uh those would be physical in nature which I explained um and then with any of the programs we you know we have some eligibility requirements that they of course tax delinquency they can't you know they can't owe the city city money um also the property owner couldn't have

other properties in the city that there were tax delink delinquent on property and litigation any condemnation or receivership and then also wasn't offered to franchises or retail uh chains so I was you know as I reviewed all this I thought well what is a way maybe we could look at changing the programs to where we could uh put forward maybe an incentive program to where we could kind of bundle these all together for any new businesses coming in or existing businesses to say that you know why don't we do a grant for $55,000 for the facade of the building um couple that with our architectural Grant and then the sign program for a thousand say at each address would be $10,000 that we would Grant to the owner of and I think it could be a good incentive to come forward and say you know I'll if we do up a brochure we can say this is a a program that we're offering to locate in Garden City and to help with kind of those early startup costs and even if say you're an existing business uh and you want to fix up the facade you know $5,000 could help get you down the path to something you may want to do that you didn't think you could do or something like that and I just wanted to you know talk about that a program like that and also that if we allocated $50,000 for next year we marketed it and we you know reassess in a year to see if it worked or maybe people thought well I don't want that or it didn't help but I thought we certainly could try you know if you think about we allocated say two loan programs that that's $35,000 $35,000 that's $77,000 and we didn't get much we only have one out really currently maybe if we allocated $50,000 total as grants as opposed to repayment which we have the

right to do to offer an incentive to locate in the in the district uh to try and go forward and see if that would work so I don't know what your thoughts are about that um but I did uh you'll see in the budget I did set aside some money for programs like that uh one of the things that I think would be a benefit also in the program is is that uh if say the business goes out after a year or something but they've made a physical Improvement we still have the down the district looking better and I don't know if we can chase a business that's closed it's been difficult it's been proven to be difficult on our behalf um but I think that the benefit would be that the work was done you know was designed by an architect and then the physical work was done to the structure in the district so I I don't know what your thoughts are or uh if you want to have further discussion of course I'm certainly open to questions the other item is is that then if say we go forward with this I would like to also have a motion where we suspend the other programs while we're implementing this new program so that we kind of have a clean slate to go forward so does that sound good or or what are your thoughts so anyone could any of this be reimbursement for work already done um I didn't think about that uh I don't know you know example I'm not saying but like I did replace all my windows we did do our sign we did do we're doing interior improvements right now where how long ago well the only issue those was middle of last year I'm doing the front room and part of the garage now cuz we had a little small fire there that's all getting done the sign that was done four or five years ago but like even with the sign thing in here uh on the old one at least it says 1,000 or

25% is that like whichever is the lesser of the two correct the signs like my estimate was 38,000 that's okay well yes make sure it wasn't sure just as far as even how we word it in there if it was to stay in there CU it says 1,000 or 25% not like up to 1,000 or 25% or maximum a thousand it was a maximum okay um and in the kind of in the maybe in the description that's the next page I do talk about the business incentive programs and I put it all in one spot okay and it did the only thing with work that's already done is that uh prior to any work being started that the board has to approve the the grant so that's where we may have an issue there but I you know one of the items in there again I just put them I put it all together as what I'm calling a business incentive program to try and attract people to come into the district and these would be grants not loans correct correct correct except if it's a parking lot pardon except if it's a parking lot parking lot would be a loan um I didn't no it would just according to this the 35,000 the 35,000 for parking lot but we would we would suspend that program so you would allocate $50,000 only it'd be capped off at 50,000 ,000 annually that would be for example if we did um five separate grants for five different locations that's what I'm asking so let's say we get because we got a lot of business coming down for Dr and we get 15 people trying to get grants where is it kept off at well that's um it would be dependent upon funding and we would allocate the first year $50,000 so once it gets to 50 say of

them come in each one's at 10 for instance the six one we tell I'm sorry the funds have been already dispersed and we kept off at 50 understood I think it would be easier to do a grant than a loan because then you have the responsibility of chasing a loan correct after that this is liberated and make sure it stands by the standards from the architect well it's also yes and it's also reimbursable so we would we would reimburse as the the work is completed according to the agreement they've told the board for Mr Mayor did you have a comment I think uh I know there's a couple businesses I can think of right off hand that I would hope would be interested in the grant to fix up their facade area and and that um so I don't think anybody was taken advantage of the the uh The Loan program so my I'm I'm I think I'm with uh Mr Miller on give it a try for a year see what we got I don't know we have five or 10 businesses if they're moving into the city I would think you've already got your plans and you probably already have your money all set up this could help but I don't know that we uh I think the the 5 thou 10 up to 10,000 would be a good incentive to get people to fix up their properties uh I would think they would take advantage of it first and then I think uh moving forward we see how it goes if if nobody takes advantage we suspended for next year uh how how has been our spending for the grants in the past couple years well we haven't had any money for them haven't had any money

correct and so they've not been funded so we we've had very little we've had I mean a little bit of money has has anybody applied no so there we had Family Heating and Cooling okay and they were denied or they were approved or they were granted they were granted an architectural Grant up to $4,000 to cover so the past couple years we've only had one applicant yes we Al we also haven't advertised that's what I we haven't advertised it at all there's been no you know other than verbal sure if somebody once you do there going be lines outside well just forication purposes are you capping it at five businesses or would you take the 10 the $50,000 and disperse it amongst however many businesses applied if they fit the criteria so would you take five and divide it up into 10 if 10 applied or 50,000 or would you cap it at a certain amount of you can will only accept certain amount of Grants I had set it up so that we it's first come first serve up to $50,000 uh to see I one again the caveat I put in there is that it's this is all subject to funding you know so we can allocate this year we might not have the money to allocate next year you know that's the other issue so um all of the programs all along have been that that we we only say that they're available if we have the funding allocated ma what about so you're saying that it's for new businesses but as well as existing businesses correct so would you give them each the same amount of money or would you give new businesses coming in say 10,000 and um maybe set a time frame for that and then if that hasn't been used

then uh more established businesses can apply for maybe a lesser of a grant maybe the 5,000 instead of 10,000 I um just to just to keep you know to help uh keep downtown looking clean and and and neat well I had thought about I had thought about that but I thought that um we would it's $10,000 but it's kind of 5,000 facade 4,000 architect 1,000 sign so it's kind of broken up the 10,000 you don't have to take advantage of all of them some people may say my sign's fine I just I want it I want some ideas of what to do with my facade and you know maybe they'll pay an architect whether they implement it or not we're not sure but um and maybe they don't take the 5,000 or they take they take all three you know so it's kind of a buffet I guess or you know a plan where they could take some or not take it but it I think it's important um to once we you know advertise it some number one um and we do get people that come into the building department new businesses do you have anything I and I don't like to say well we don't and I think this would be easy to implement also you know they you know and on top of it it will assure that the work is getting done properly we do require permits and we do require them to front the money but we will pay it back as soon as we get the receipt and you know we have a short turnaround time for reimbursement so and then I guess the second thing is is there a time frame on this um are you going to let this run from January through December or you I mean because of course we have to have a cut some point cut off at some point so we can uh establish where we're at for the following year I would do it on the fiscal year July 1 to June 30th is how

we would have to kind of do it because the funding would established beginning July 1 okay okay so we want to make a motion to vote on that anyone it's up to the board to the what your thoughts are um I guess just I I guess I think we just what's what's what's our long-term goal for these grants that's the question we got to ask like what are we trying to get out of these grants we want to beautify the downtown cor and we just come up with an idea to implement that so if our main purpose is to beautify and make the downtown look nice and welcoming how do we get clients to come in here and I guess that's the question we got to see and how do we incentivize that with these grants how do we put a plan together to say okay this is what we're doing to bring people in and letting them know this is what we're rewarding you for investing in the downtown DDA and making it look nice I don't know I guess that needs a discussion to see how we would do that well I I mentioned in in here that we're going to put together brochure one we're going to put a link on our website um and and the link will include of course the the incentives the whole program there couple pages um and we you know we'll hand it hand it out the building department you know we we see a lot of people we got a lot of traffic through there we got a lot of traffic on the website also um to really you know to advertise that we're we're working to try to make it look better and we're going to help you this way to make it look better or it could be you know we've got a couple of people that have come in that I think it could help they could could have helped them you know make that last step to say you know I will come here and this will be a good good business location for me and they're giving me an incentive to start um we had talked about a long time ago the council had talked about you know incubators or something like that this kind of could be almost an incubator

incubator program kind of that I I think it's important for the staff to actually meet people uh with something we could offer them something and then you know then we have a discussion starting as opposed to sometimes we get people uh some business people aren't business people but they want they have a dream and maybe we could help them figure it out um and and and an architect I think is a a good way to help them say you know this is you got to do this you got to do this you know things like that to help them through the process to make a physical Improvement to the building um the landlord it could help a landlord attract attract a person coming too you know that we you know that maybe it could help them fix a a vac a common vacancy and it because their building really doesn't look that nice so we look for the buildings that need some work incentivize it for them and appro maybe approach them MH because that's what that's what our long-term plan would be just to beautify the certain properties that are looking like they need help yes and and we we had talked about I mean there's some that we all know that they need to make it look better so and they will get a knock on the door from me if we have the program say you know and say they get $10,000 from us the architecture cost is almost covered for the most part if they're doing a simple facade and the architect can help them fill out the permits they sometimes have the connection to a contractor that will do the work properly um so that part is is easy say they then they get a $5,000 Grant say they match it that's $115,000 at the one location maybe you know that could help we're we're not you know we're not saying that this is an end all Beall but it would help and maybe you know maybe they could see the value if we're willing to invest our money they'll invest a little and so that's more right so yeah can I just make one suggestion I don't

know with the way the grant is split like if we're going to package it the way it is just me personally experiened I would think the facade should be larger and the architecture should be a less amount just cuz going into that thing you know it's archit if you're doing a project where you're looking for a $110,000 grant a lot of times you're not going to be you're not going to be needing blueprints you know depending on what you're doing it just might be new signage on the building new this new that where you're not even going to use architect so this might give them more of a okay you get 7,000 for facade 2,000 architectural and th000 for sign it might like inventi size them more because they might not use that 4,000 you know they might know architect that might and do it for them for $11,000 $1,500 you know in that matter where I feel like the facade would attract them a lot more than anything else that's going to be the most expensive part they're going to do okay okay so you're going to make an adjustment to that amend do you know what do you know what a typical architecture fee would be on a small obviously Kmart proper proper is not going to be worried about that but you know we would still give it to them right but they're they're not going to be the one it's going to be the smaller businesses and hopefully it's the uh established ones that that are going to need it and hopefully improve their their facade and take a look at it so what I I don't know personally what a typical architect would would charge versus a uh you know a facade interior plans is that so exterior well interior plans let's just say I had like a little section inside the Marshall yard we had an architect come in and quot us at $3500 and that

was just for plans just for a little section inside the food court I don't okay exterior I remember about maybe what five years six years ago we had gotten the whole plans for the the whole building on the outside probably about 6,500 that was just the outside M and then I had a 3D designer on the inside side so that was a building that was 24,000 sare ft that was how much for the for the outside 6500 6500 yeah that's without the 3D or interior plans I had to get a another company that did that on the outside and they gave me a deal but he now he told me now I don't know if he was gaslighting me but he told me he typically charges $25 to $30,000 well to speak I'm what Mr B was saying also if somebody comes and evaluates the building an architect and draws up a plan we spent a lot of money on that plan and the person doesn't proceed through that then it's all gone for nothing whereas if we emphasize you actually have to make a structural change to improve it then the money is going for something that is structurally visible yeah they pay them at the end right they pay them at the end yeah we don't pay them until they turn in receips for the work they've done and there's no that that's that's a job done but nothing has gotten accomplished inside the plan whereas if you if you if you load it the other way then something does get done leave the responsibility of the of the architect to the to the Builder MH um and we'll just help them get to their goal yes okay I I can see that and that's why we're discussing it I'm glad we are so another amendment for implementing the design correct yeah yeah

that is there any other discussion so we want so we would we kind of um I think we would uh we should make a motion about to implement the uh business incentive uh program with the with a change to $7,000 for the facade and a reduction of the architecture to 2,000 so correct is that what you wanted okay um I'll make a motion to accept Okay uh new signage Grant with changing the facade to 7,000 increasing it and decreasing the architectural to 2,000 and leaving the signage at 1,000 okay and also no longer following the old programs that we had and get into those okay second that that was Dr Clark Dr Clark m all those signify by stating I I I opposed abstained and we forgot one item though is there any public comment regarding this before we call a final vote right thank you sorry so the motion does carry with 6 to zero thank you then the next item I'll get there I'm sorry I think we're at uh other business Hometown Heroes I know is the next item is purchasing policy oh we're still in okay in action items okay here we go and so I I wanted to uh I wanted to one first of all say that there was uh an error in the book that I gave you so first of all

um that is U put it out there so we all got the reference books and in the in there if you can even recall there was a the purchasing policy and one of the lines was red and I I just I don't know I just glanced over and I assumed that was approved but in March of 2024 the purchasing policy was was discussed with the the red line in there about requiring other signatures but it was tabled at that time I don't know if you recall if you were present at the meeting or not some of the members here but I assumed it was approved it was not when I reviewed the minutes I found that we had tabled that and so we really are going back to a purchasing policy that was in 2014 not an amendment in 2024 one caveat of my whole speech today so when again as we're as we're looking and reviewing things as I had said I was going to do is I wanted to talk talk to you about the purchasing policy to see if we could increase some of the amounts the city has almost similar increased amounts um but the DDA uh operated under a lesser amounts for uh approval for purchases and I just wanted to kind of um if you go to kind of the second page of item 7 B2 I put in in the purchasing policy that was in place not the one with the uh the mistake of where I thought it was approved so I just went through and I I'm I'm asking if we could make some adjustments to increase any discretionary items from 1500 to $5,000 and to not exceed $110,000 a month and then any non-budgeted items

again do the same non-budgeted non-emergency I would say our discretionary items and I just wanted those to equal the same amount and then also keep though anything that's under 5,000 this was in place we can utilize the credit card um the DDA no longer has a credit card it's actually a city card um that is handled really paid through from DDA funds but paid through the accounts payable at the city which all of our bills are paid for for cash handling is through there um and then I was requesting any items from $5 to $110,000 of course we would attempt to get quotes or attempts but I also wanted to talk about kind of Soul Source or prior business with the past knowledge of services like for example we do have some uh some people that come to the chili cook off that the tent company knows what we want where we want it how we're going to do it um and we can uh see if we could utilize them again for giving us uh specifically of course good service to the DDA and then also in addition there is that all purchases for public publicity and promotions and I gave the the line item is that if it's included in the total cost of the event and this is mostly for the lucky or the U chili cookoff is that say we say we approve that we're going to have budgeted $30,000 for that that within the $30,000 we could spend in that budget for it as opposed to coming for you know like at the last time in July you know porta potties fences uh tent all of those it would just be a cost covered in the event and um of course any of those

items they can um be paid for by an invoice uh unless the cost is 5,000 or less and it can be paid by a credit card to go back to the um original amount of $5,000 by credit card and then also any emergency purchases um we would also look to see if we could in increase from 5,000 and then it would have to be approved by three members of the DDA board these are emergency purchases or situations and it would be three members of the DDA executive board be the chair the vice chair and the mayor the executive board so so that was I just wanted to see if we could make an adjustment to that it's been over 10 years since the purchasing policy was revised and everything has gone up that we purchase uh exponentially actually I think you all know that by running a business but um also just so you know we would still be uh reporting all of this to you monthly what was spent in each item um so you would be able to see still the check register and the approval process would still be the same for that so so I'll be happy to answer any questions regarding that um and see if it's something you're interested or if you want to keep it I I don't I don't necessarily have an opinion but I again I was uh given the goal to review these things and I'm just following through on it so so what I what I'm getting at or getting out of this is that this is mostly probably for our events chili cook off possibly the lucky squirrel but mostly chili cookoff to where we we have a set budget of how much we're going to spend or could possibly spend up to um and instead of coming back for every

single item porta potties everything else we can lump it in and go the tent going to be 6,000 um you know we have the you have the discretion to pay for it since we know we're going to use it anyways I that's what I'm getting out of it basically so we're just streamlining this right to make it easier for hosting the event yes okay well that's certainly reasonable do we have a motion I'll make the motion to uh to approve the new purchasing policy second I'll second it is see seconds okay all those and support signify public comment I I okay yeah is there any public comment thank you thank you all right all those in support signify by stating I I I opposed or abstain the motion carries 6 to zero thank you okay the next item is item 7 B3 and um I did want to make a request to the board uh I did put together just a a small memo regarding John PR as the assistant director in his rate of pay and I wanted to make a request for an $5 increase in his rate of pay from $25 an hour to $30 per hour um I did want to give credit where credit is doe um John has been U very helpful in this last year of service for me um because of course as you know uh I was appointed to

uh fill the director's position for the DDA but then in the midst of all of that I was the interim city manager it was a it was a long summer and John helped a lot um John has uh the focus of getting the public events done uh he's helped me meet people that I didn't know in the district and um he's just uh really I think an asset to the DDA and that um I can call him if I can't take care of something I can call and he's reliable so that we can get something taken care of that I can't get taken care of at that time and I wanted to uh state that publicly uh thank him on behalf from me I assume the board um and that um we're looking forward to this year to uh having some good public events five public events that we host and John is instrumental in all of those and uh assists in handling of course not only the attraction the safety while we're we're having the event uh the cleanup after and then he does the uh books after to make sure that we um have a counted for all of the money um he meets with myself and uh a member from our staff from payable to make sure that we've got everything paid um and then does a balance um what do you call that I'm sorry P pnl yeah profit and loss for that uh event um and it's been instrumental and I just wanted to see if uh we could as we go forward to strengthen our relationship with uh John and uh his connection with all of our departments he's working quite well since we move to City Hall uh he and I are here um and we see each other of course more uh and uh I just wanted to see if that was possible so I'll make it simple I'll make a motion to raise John's hourly PID

from $30 hour from $25 an hour I'll second it right there's the motion support so is there any public comment je uh I've know job for years and years for getting your money's worth here good deal thank you thank you thank you I agree very dedicated I'm not public but uh uh I think so far from what Mr Miller gave me he's worked about 280 hours since uh August of last year which isn't and I know we got some free hours out of that because of just the way he is so I agree he's an asset um and I know whenever I've called Mr Miller and he can get to it uh and one example is when we had uh uh raised the flag up the full staff on uh after President Carter's death uh Mr Miller couldn't get there but John was there within about five minutes and got it back where it should have been so I appreciate it thank you all those signify by stating I I opposed abstained all right the motion passed to 6 to zero thank you board thank you for the opportunity can we go higher if we wanted than $5 or have we capped off with that no there some grant money or he's worth every penny now the budget's on here we'll exam we'll review it next year for increases well then that will kind of segue us into the next uh item which is uh item 7 B4 and that is the fiscal year budget for

2526 so as we are moving forward uh the you know we're more than halfway through the year and then the council has to really approve the budget by the second meeting in May so the DDA usually tries to get in front of all of that and we're required actually kind of to report our request to the council because the final approval really is the council even though the DDA does handle capturing the money the city council still has the final approval in this but I wanted to discuss discuss the budget uh with all of you and see if we could go forward I kind of gave you two options at the end where we could take it ruminate on it or we could make improvements one of the items though that just before we even kind of start since there was a change earlier in the meeting about the architecture grants we would of course reduce that uh 2,000 * 51,000 ,000 and we would move that up to our facade improvements where I had budgeted 30,000 just so you know so I'm going to write that down so I don't forget actually uh on here that would increase that to 40,000 so um but I wanted to just go through um and again our our projection is across the board a 3% increase uh for our tax capture of this year and this is a a ection that we're using actually at the city also for uh what the revenue will be and so um we're showing about a you know again a 3% uh it's not a ton of money I think you know it's about another 18 some thousand that will be allocated as a tax capture to the DDA for the year and I wanted to just kind of go through uh some of the highlights of the budget that we uh where I made some

changes that we didn't have in the past and what that increase would be uh other than that the budget that was approved last year would be the same amounts but um in legal services I wanted to make an increase uh bring it to $5,000 so it's a total total increase of $4,000 if you can recall kind of last year we hired a new a new attorney for the DDA and I've been sparingly using them because I don't want to of course go over budget but this next year just um some things on the horizon I think we may you know need some guidance from them and one is regarding a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority tax credit and that would be a development agreement we're in discussion with a property owner about of Brownfield in the downtown and so as we're in these discussions of course um it is a new law that was enacted by the state of Michigan in June of 2024 maybe 23 I'm sorry of it's a new law anyways and um as we go forward if we do go down this path I want to make sure that the DDA has proper representation and that it would it would involve actually a development agreement with the DDA and the developer but it also means that we would lose we would lose a portion of the tax capture going forward for a certain number of years so how a tax credit works is that if the project cost this much and it is deemed that it is a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and the change of the law of the Redevelopment Brownfield Redevelopment Authority is that in the past it was underutilized projects that could be used for uh commercial revitalization industrial revitalization the law that changed actually permitted for a caveat if there was housing which has never

been permitted in a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and that has been a change in the law that I think as we go forward and we kind of if you you know wrap up later in the agenda kind of our housing Readiness Grant you know we may have people that may want to take advantage of this of this property tax credit to do development of housing in the downtown and in turn I want to make sure of course that the the legalities of this new law which is is very new um but has been done in the state in a few locations uh is is one um mutably mutably agreeable to both the DDA and and the developer also it does involve the city too would also have to enter into a development agreement with this person but how it works is that uh a portion of the amount that is say the value of the property is set at X and if it was built it is now why it's worth you know $10 million now the taxable value of it well that increase would be captured and paid back as a property tax credit to the developer to help pay down the loans of what they built so a property tax credit via a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority so we would have to agree that there's a community benefit to allowing this tax capture to not come to the city or the DDA really in essence so that we would be able to attract housing in the downtown actually throughout the city it can be done anywhere but in the DDA of course we have to have a a separate agreement with the DDA so that is one item that is on the on the horizon that developers are starting to see and that it is a law that is in place that could impact the DDA and I just feel that I

would like to have uh money in that legal services so that we're prepared to be able to make sure that it is a legally agreeable contract so that was uh one item in publicity and promotions I wanted to make a an increase of that of a $20,000 increase um so that um just so you know of course we're working to try and make uh all of our uh publicity and promotion events uh better and that we want to of course um utilize all of our ability to to of course uh attract people to come to downtown and the reason I'm asking of course is that we're we've got five Li large events one and this year if you looked at our uh publicity and promotions we're almost out of money and it we're halfway through so we didn't budget well shall we say but we for the most part all those events have occurred uh Santa or the Christmas tree the chili cook off and the three Lu lucky squirrels but uh we now we are close to running out of money and we're we still got to do one lucky squirrel in this FAL year so I wanted to uh make a request of an additional 20,000 there um and then of course the facade improvements as we discussed it would be a total of 40,000 not 30,000 and then also this uh parking uh $75,000 increase I wanted to put that in there so that we are prepared to go forward on a parking Improvement in the what I call the Northeast quadrant kind of where the chil Cook Off lucky SAR of a seal coating restriping and then Alleyway uh Improvement the alleyway is gone actually and so we need to make a physical repair of the alleyway that

goes north and south kind of from the Garden City Cafe to Jody's bar and then it goes west out to Middle Belt behind the iare uh building and I um wanted to we we've had plans that were put in place thank you Mr Mayor uh we've got to find find those it was a re uh uh restriping and sealing plan for that we're going to dust off those plans and hopefully be able to implement those this year um and then of course architectural assistance we'll reduce that to 10,000 um and so it's still though we will still have a fund balance 2019 $219,000 for going forward as you know you know we're trying to to look forward to um having some money in the bank you know we didn't three years ago we had nothing and as you can recall we bought all new lights and it kind of uh took us down to not a lot of money left and so we're trying to uh have a fund balance and kind of have an idea of maybe where it could be spent as as we are looking forward to a development proposal for the Kmart site possibly um we've we don't we're not anywhere we've not had any talks but I want to be prepared and I feel the DTA should the DDA should be prepared to um be able to assist if there's going to be a pocket park there a a community Gathering space in these plans an entrance way off a Middle Belt something that we could improve uh improve our connection this dda's connection to the private property I think would be a benefit and I would like to um start to use our fund balance or start to do a little saving with a

projection of that I hope is going to occur um and so that's kind of uh the budget in a nutshell I put it together um in that the green bar for you so that you see that we will be able to uh go forward uh with carrying of course a a balance of $219,000 adding to our fund balance that we have a619 at a total of $839 55 in the end um so but with that I'll be happy to answer any questions and see you know it's at your pleasure what you would like to do and uh excuse me uh you you kept saying you wanted to publicity and promotions you wanted to add 20,000 you're you're putting in a total of 20 so you're we're not adding 20 to it correct no it would add 20 so it would take that line item to 60 to 60 from 40 so that's the from the bottom five from the bottom and if you look in the project activity and the amended budgets 40 to 60 so it's an increase of an additional 20 to 60 yeah I want to go back to the Brownstown how many years would we lose revenue from that approximately I'm sure don't have an exact just do you have a a ballpark um I don't have an exact really of course but it could go I it could go from 1 to 30 but of course um I don't think that's a very viable you know I would I would think a 10-year payback

would be something that would be incentive enough to go forward but I'm not sure so we don't have numbers set that who sets that number we wouldn't in the development agreement we would in the development agreement okay all right that's just just clarifying thank you I think that your your ask sound uh reasonable especially with the attorney we always want to make sure that we have uh the attorney available to us so is there a motion to make these adjustments to the budget I'll make that I'll make the motion to uh accept the uh 2526 DDA budget with the uh uh all the number changes second very good Dr Clark was second okay and uh please signify with an i i i uh discussion excuse me we have a public comment comment on this right no okay thank you all right no signify by stating I I I or opposed or abstained you've got the money man the motion Carri so I will I'll prepare this with the uh City Treasurer and then they will they'll start to incorporate this into the entire city budget that'll be presented to council they've got lots of meetings coming up so okay okay thank you and now we're on to other business starting with Hometown Heroes banners and that again is Matt yes I have that so I just wanted to uh let just let you know of course it was approved uh last year um I forget when we did it in August I think and uh we're up to 31 um applicants so far this year and

that we're uh we've only got nine more to go and so we I'll do another push at the council meeting to kind of fill those spots that with or without the light pole pardon that with or without that light pole that's true unfortunately we we did lose the light pole to an accident so we hopefully we'll get it back by labor Memorial Day uh so anyway I just wanted to let you know uh and I've been working with all the epkins all 31 and uh you would think it was easy but it's uh holding hands of 31 people is difficult some do it all right and it's easy but some people don't have scanners they don't understand the online form you know those things but it it's uh of course I'm glad to do that help them uh get everything submitted so that we uh can have the program I'm trying also just so you know I want to I keep talking about the program publicly online at the meetings just so that we can get everything done into the printers last year we were really um sorama did a great job but we really backed them into a corner because we didn't give them a lot of time and I want to give them more time so very good very good I have a question about that um is are the banners that are being put up this year are they different people than were highlighted on the banners last year or is it just a first come first serve type thing um there all different from last year yeah and I um I would respectfully ask that we don't do a repeat um until everyone we know that everyone's been served you know oh and then um the next item next couple items John can kind of just fill us in on Lucky squirrel yeah so lucky squirrel's back again this year for three dates May 17th July 19th and September 20th of this year we already have uh of the five so

all three events hosted as a whole would be 525 spaces and we've got 25% of that paid for and booked already which is great for this time of year um we're talking about doing uh a bag day for the first one basically what we'd have is a a pre-printed bag and we're look basically we're looking to get customers or people that attend the event to capture their email so that we can build build a database of customers to send information to about all City events so um that's in the works for May and in the just a caveat to that uh in the The Buzz for the that comes in all the water bills for every every person the next couple couple months we have a little ad for that uh to about bag day and it's kind of kind of cute it's got a squirrel holding a bag I thought was kind of cool so I did and uh anyway so that's uh in the buzz so all the water bills they will be able to it's again just we're utilizing the buzz to inform people and attract people to downtown what it's there for one question who gets credit for that squirrel hold in the bag well was my idea but it was implemented by Zack King our communication specialist very very nice very nice okay uh the September event this year we're talking about trying to do like a harvest day um uh in conjunction with uh possible other groups that want to do like pumpkin sales and things of that nature for The Fall season so uh really just we're really just trying to amp up the event to be more than just hey come check out these vendors but hey come check out these vendors and uh we're doing this or and we have this just to give a little bit better customer service to the general public so that we can um you know keep building the vent and then

that feeds back into the chili cookoff and other events that we have uh then the chili cookoff this year is September 27th we've already established that date and instead of waiting this year where we've already met twice um uh between myself and Mr Miller to do like um pre-planning get in front of this and really um you know get it established laid out and situated for this year so uh that's going well and uh as always we're looking for volunteer groups Volunteers in general and uh to make it a great event which is also in conjunction with dpws touch truck uh and the police and fire department in City Hall as well so good and then just a volunteer appreciation I sent to you and you should have received it already but we are having a volunteer dinner Thursday March 20th at 6:00 uh you're all invited to attend uh and if you would like to you can email or call uh with an RSVP also we have if you have children that are younger and need care uh we're going to have the kids club open during that time you can bring the kids there you can attend the uh volunteer appreciation dinner of course we appreciate all of your time that you volunteer for the board um and if you wanted to drop the kids off there they'll have activities for them and then you can go to the dinner and then pick them up on the way out so that'll be open but again U please RSVP if you haven't um to come and uh get thanked by the mayor and the council for all you do for our community so and then the last item just on other business um the housing Readiness Master Plan update I just wanted to let you know we we hosted a shet uh which we call a shet which is an open house was

on January 23rd and we had a lot of people attend um and then we also put together an online uh survey and that's been very successful a lot of people filled it out it finds I guess younger people don't want to come to stuff they just want to do it online it appears I guess I don't know um but it worked out really well we had a survey and we're Gathering input that's part of the entire process that's required by law number one for master plan Amendment and that we um I feel successful that we were able to reach people that we we don't know because they're just sitting at home watching and they can uh out to survey and get their input online what kind of do you have a number how many people replied online I think that's over 150 a lot really I mean well I mean planning and housing stuff isn't exciting I think it's exciting but but to JQ public maybe not but okay uh again we uh did that we had a time frame and actually yesterday we did kind of a final push and it's funny that uh the last day I received a call in my office from a resident and they saw it in the free newspaper that Don Nicholson gives out at City Hall and she said I saw it I missed it but is there a way to input and I said today and I gave her the link and she said her and her husband were both going to fill it out so oh again it's it's uh we want you know we want to make sure that you know as we go forward we've gathered uh you know we're not in a in a vacuum we're giving everyone the opportunity and the input so okay that's all I have okay well then let's see where we at here uh public comments not agenda items anyone no we're good okay directory report Matt I I don't have anything else I'm

sorry very good don't be sorry wonderful okay um board comments Miss see anything I have nothing Alex no Mike no Dr Carter mayor Jacobs I just hope to uh see everybody at the next meeting and especially at the uh volunteer dinner as Mr Miller said uh we greatly appreciate everybody volunteering their time on every board uh we have a lot of boards and a lot of volunteers and it's uh usually a good time at the uh event and a good way for us to recognize you guys so thank you again well with that this meeting is adjourned then thank thank you all thank you secretary wonus for running a meeting thank you