Regular Meeting

CITY OF ELKO REDEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 4:00 PM, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2022 ELKO CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1751 COLLEGE AVENUE, ELKO, NV 89801 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Jon Karr, Chairman of the City of Elko Redevelopment Advisory Council (RAC), at 4:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Jon Karr, DBA Catherine Wines, ACAB Lina Blohm, RAC Member Giovanni Puccinelli, Councilman Jeff Dalling, Planning Commissioner Absent: Ex-Officio - Non Voting Member Corey Rice, Elko County Ex-Officio - Non Voting Member Annette Kerr, ECVA Ex-Officio - Non Voting Member Joyce Helens, GBC Ex-Officio - Non Voting Member Steven Smith, Elko County School District City Staff Present: Cathy Laughlin, City Planner Bob Thibault, Civil Engineer Rachel Randall, Planning Technician III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IV. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Dale Andrus, 410 & 418 Commercial Street, stated the sidewalk in front of his business is in poor shape, with large cracks. He asked if there was a projected timeline for it being fixed. Cathy Laughlin, City Planner, stated Phase 1, Project 4 of the corridor project will address the sidewalks in the 400 block, on both Commercial Street and Railroad Street. When that work is to be completed is not know at this time. October 27, 2022 Redevelopment Advisory Council Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 6 V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. July 28, 2022 Minutes – Regular Meeting FOR POSSIBLE ACTION ***Motion: Approve the July 28, 2022 Meeting Minutes. Moved by Lina Blohm, Seconded by Giovanni Puccinelli After the second, Catherine Wines informed the group that Steve Bowers is no longer at the School District and Katie Nedderiep is no longer at the Convention Center. Jeff Dalling asked if the non-voting members had to be on the minutes. Ms. Laughlin stated the Redevelopment Advisory Council bylaws require there be certain non- voting members, but the minutes moving forward will be cleaned up. * Motion passed unanimously. (5-0) VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Review, reconsideration, and possible recommendation to the Redevelopment Agency on amending the project order of the Phase 1 of the Downtown Corridor project, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The RAC Chairman has asked to have this item reconsidered prior to the City of Elko starting on the design of the next project. Ms. Laughlin referencing the agenda packet documents, summarized the work and cost of each project. Chairman Jon Karr asked for some discussion on the grading design of the interior blocks. Ms. Wines stated the bock ends are already done at a certain elevation, so the elevations have been decided. Lina Blohm asked about funding for the sidewalks in Project 4. Ms. Laughlin stated funding had not been decided yet. She stated a special improvement district (SID) would take a couple of years to create. She did not believe that she would get 75% of the property owners to sign on, which is a SID requirement. She further stated that Project 4 has an estimated cost of $800,000, while Project 5 has an estimated cost of $1.8 million. The Redevelopment Agency (RDA) has enough money in the budget to complete Project 4. Ms. Wines asked what would be the advantage of switching the order. October 27, 2022 Redevelopment Advisory Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 6 Ms. Laughlin stated a few trees a year die from 8th St. to 11th St. More trees in that area would be saved if Project 5 was completed first. Chairman Karr expressed his desire to limit the design of Project 5 to just the bock ends, which would reduce the estimated cost. While work was being completed on Project 5, the SID for Project 4 would be getting sorted out. Ms. Laughlin stated a lot of the RDA budget has come from new development within the Project 5 area. ***Motion: Forward a recommendation to the Redevelopment Agency to keep the project order in Phase 1 of the Downtown Corridor project, as well have the sidewalks in Project 4 be funded by the RDA, not with a special improvement district. Moved by Jeff Dalling, Seconded by Lina Blohm After the second, there was discussion about the trees planned in both project areas. Ms. Laughlin stated the irrigation in the Project 5 area is broken and the water has been shut off for ten years. Mr. Dalling expressed that he did not like that the plan included trees in the sidewalks in front of the businesses and that it would save money if the trees were excluded in those areas. He asked to modify his motion to exclude the trees in those areas, which was not received by the group. Mr. Thibault provided a cost estimate of $1200 per tree with grate. He stated that installing irrigation and electric wiring would be most cost effective if completed while the sidewalk was being replaced. *Motion passed. (4-1) B. Review, reconsideration, and possible recommendation to the Redevelopment Agency on amending the design related to the 30% plans for the 300, 400, 500 and 600 blocks, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Catherine Wines had requested under public comment at the last meeting to have this item considered. Ms. Wines expressed dislike of the 30% plan designs for the interior parking area on the 300, 400, 500 and 600 blocks. She did not feel the cost was justified for essentially losing one row of parking. She felt the cost of the redesign was taking away from other projects that could be completed in the immediate future. She acknowledged that the parking stalls are short, but was in favor of keeping them because they can accommodate a pickup and trailer. She was not in favor of installing post curbs for that reason. October 27, 2022 Redevelopment Advisory Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 6 Mr. Thibault reported the asphalt is deteriorating and has significant cracks. Those areas need new asphalt. Ms. Wines countered that all the electrical and planters don't need to be moved. Giovanni Puccinelli disagreed about the planters not being moved. The current configuration makes the turns into the parking lots tight. Ms. Wines asked if it was worth the cost. Mr. Thibault responded that the asphalt, curb and landscaping islands are falling apart and need to be redone. He felt the only additional cost would be in relocating the light poles. Chairman Karr expressed concern for removing the existing trees in the process of moving the islands. Ms. Wines reiterated that there would be less parking. Mr. Thibault countered that parking could be reduced and there would still be excess parking. Ms. Laughlin recommended adding sidewalks all the way around the parking lots. There is asphalt between the planters and the roadway now, but it is not a sidewalk and it is not conducive to pedestrian safety. She also suggested building up the planter islands so pedestrians can no longer walk through them. Ms. Wines expressed her preference for pedestrians walking on sidewalk in front of the businesses instead of in the parking lot, to encourage commerce. Ms. Wines suggested eliminating Phase 2. Ms. Laughlin stated Phase 2, Project 6 included redoing the parking lot and the train park on the 700 block. Ms. Wines suggested breaking Phase 2 projects into smaller projects. Ms. Laughlin asked if that meant they were recommending hiring a consultant. Mr. Dalling stated, no, Mr. Thibault could complete the work. Mr. Karr stated he would like the egress the same, just more maintenance. Ms. Wines added that when asphalt needs to be replaced, they would look at that one project at a time. ***Motion: Forward a recommendation to the Redevelopment Agency to relook at the 30% plans, to not do the major structural changes currently proposed, as well as have City staff relook at more maintenance/clean up as opposed to total redesign. October 27, 2022 Redevelopment Advisory Council Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 6 Moved by Catherine Wines, Seconded by Jeff Dalling After the second, Mr. Thibault recommended work on Phase 1 be completed prior to looking at Phase 2. He also stated that over time, there will be enough funding to complete the corridor project as designed in the 30% plans without having to reduce it. Chairman Karr and Ms. Wines stated it was not about the money. They do not want to change it. Mr. Thibault commented that the existing parking lot in front of La Fiesta, on the 700 block, is inefficient. Ms. Blohm countered that we don't hear issues from La Fiesta. She stated expensive changes to parking will not increase business nor investment. * Motion passed unanimously. (5-0) VII. REPORTS A. Budget – NON ACTION ITEM Budget Report Ms. Laughlin went over the budget report that was included in the packet. Storefront Improvement Program Report Ms. Laughlin went over the Storefront Improvement budget report that was included in the packet. She stated the City will accept applications again from January 1st to March 31st. Zoning Bulletins VIII. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Mr. Andrus commented that adding trees would look nice, but did not serve a purpose. They would create more work for City staff. He expressed his dislike for the extensions on the corners. He also did not like the idea of reducing parking. He stated there is a lot of misuse of the parking lots by commercial and oversized vehicles. Ms. Blohm stated the extensions on the corners were for pedestrian safety. Mr. Andrus disagreed, citing that if a horse trailer was being hauled, it would run over the curb and the pedestrian would have to step back. October 27, 2022 Redevelopment Advisory Council Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 6 NOTE: The Chairman or Vice Chairman reserves the right to change the order of the agenda and if the agenda is not completed, to recess the meeting and continue on another specified date and time. Additionally, the Redevelopment Advisory Council reserves the right to combine two or more agenda items, and/or remove an item from the agenda, or delay discussion relating to an item on the agenda at any time. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Jon Karr, Chairman Lina Blohm, Secretary October 27, 2022 Redevelopment Advisory Council Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 6