Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency Commission

AGENDA Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - 4:00 P.M. The regular meeting of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Commission will be held in the Executive Conference Room, 800 Municipal Dr., Farmington, NM 1. Meeting Called To Order 2. Approval of the December 14, 2021 Meeting Minutes 3. Discussion/follow up to Council action on January 11 regarding Animas/Hospital Hub District Development Plan 4. Main Street Advisory Board Business a. Staff Update – Karen Lupton i. Upcoming Events and Trainings 5. City Staff Updates – (Warren Unsicker) 6. Business From: a. Floor b. Chair c. Members d. Staff 7. Next Meeting – February 15, 2022 8. Adjournment Virtual particiapation is avaliable via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84072021840 Meeting ID: 840 7202 1840 Passcode: 640245 ATTENTION PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES: If you plan to attend the virtual meeting and will need an auxiliary aid or service, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 599-1101 prior to the meeting so that arrangements can be made.  MINUTES Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency Board of Commissioners – December 14, 2021 Held in the Executive Conference Room at 800 Municipal Dr., Farmington NM Virtual Participation Made Available via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88028209485?pwd=QVdiKzlTeDFkWFZIQ1NBQk5nL2psUT09 or by dialing 1 (253) 215-8782 Members Present: John McNeill, D.D.S. – Chair Jill Tanis – Vice Chair Doug Dykeman – Commissioner Elizabeth McNally - Commissioner Members Absent: None Staff Present: Julie Baird Beth Escobar Karen Lupton Warren Unsicker Tami Spencer Others Present Via Zoom: Flo Trujillo Tom Taylor Eduardo Martinez Lucan Pedraza 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by Chair McNeill. A roll call was taken showing Chair McNeill, Vice Chair Tanis, Commissioner Dykeman and Commissioner McNally in attendance. There being a quorum the following proceedings were duly had and taken. 1 2. Approval of the November 16, 2021 Minutes A motion was made by Vice Chair Tanis and seconded by Commissioner Dykeman to approve the minutes of November 16, 2021, and upon voice vote the motion carried unanimously 4-0. 3. Review Presentations for City Council Consideration of Animas/Healthcare Hub Plan Chair McNeill informed the board that due to the full Council agenda for the December 14 meeting, Assistant City Manager Julie Baird requested the Animas/Healthcare Hub Plan be moved to the January 11, 2022 City Council meeting. He also asked the board if they had any comments or suggestions on this presentation seen at the November 16, 2021 meeting. No comments or suggestions were made. Due to timing, issues item 4, New Mexico Main Street Virtual Site Visit was moved to later in this meeting. 4. Main Street Advisory Board Business Karen Lupton, Economic Development Specialist has submitted two service requests in November, one for upgrading the restrooms at the Totah Theater, the second for creating a rotating art gallery in the downtown planters and roundabouts. Ms. Lupton will be attending the Main Street Boot Camp scheduled for January 2022. The New Mexico Main Street Winter Conference is in February 2022 and Ms. Lupton will be attending in person. She will also be attending the Fundraising/Grant Writing Webinars in February and March of 2022. Upcoming projects include 2022 programing for the Totah Theater, anticipated opening spring/summer 2022. Included in the remodel of the Theater are the bathrooms, reupholstered theater seating, updated foyers, doors, and updated sound/projection equipment. Chair McNeill asked if there was an estimated time for the remodel completion. Mr. Unsicker stated it is hard to put a firm date on it because there are two concurrent projects going on right now. The New Mexico Main Street group will be coming out to give insight that may or may not add to the project timeline. The majority of the cost for this project is still up in the air. Chair McNeill was curious about how and when this opening would be advertised to the public. Mr. Unsicker stated that this will be under the management of the Civic Center and there is no firm timeline for the opening. Ms. Baird stated there are too many variables right now to get a firm cost estimate. She did state as far as cost the film/sound equipment ran $190,000, and the remainder of the renovations ran about $300,000. Ms. Baird also stated it is safe to say we are around half a million for this round of improvements. Ms. Lupton gave an update on recent events, Small Business Saturday was held on November 27, 2021, which had a steady attendance and was very well received. There was also a movie shown at the pocket park between M&M and Lloyd’s during the Art Walk, which went really well. On the morning of December 2, 2021 there was a Downtown clean up held, with upcoming scheduled quarterly clean ups throughout the year. Ms. Lupton stated that the downtown was remarkably clean. Mr. Unsicker wanted to thank the Streets Department and Parks and Rec for doing a thorough cleaning after the Christmas parade. Ms. Lupton also reported on the evening of the 2 nd they had a family event, carriage rides 2  and the closing of the Festival of Trees which went exceptionally well and was completely sold out. 5. New Mexico Street Virtual Site Visit by Eduardo Martinez & Lucas Pedraza Eduardo Martinez, New Mexico Main Street, (NMMS) wanted to thank the City of Farmington for making the adjustments to the in person site visit’s due to the Covid shut down. Mr. Martinez also wanted to thank Mr. Unsicker for taking care of the compliance pieces that NMMS needed to move the accreditation piece forward. Mr. Martinez stated that the 2022 calendar year accreditation is ready to go. Lucas Pedraza, NMMS, introduced himself as the project coordinator for New Mexico Main Street. He also wanted to congratulate the City for all the hard work that has been put into the downtown area. Mr. Pedraza let the board know that NMMS is applying for ten million dollars from the state this year for the capital outlay funds. He has been spending time with different New Mexico communities to see how he can help with any upcoming projects. Mr. Unsicker thanked Mr. Martinez and Mr. Pedraza for all their support. The City is very pleased with the way the downtown area has turned out. Mr. Unsicker also updated them on the renovations going on at the Totah Theater. Mr. Unsicker thanked them for the capital outlay grant received to replace the sound/projection equipment. Mr. Unsicker also discussed upcoming projects; the City is evaluating opportunities to add more art to the downtown corridor with both rotating and permanent art fixtures in the roundabouts and planters. There could be some opportunities for infrastructure and planning on ways to interconnect with the river way. Chair McNeill is looking for help supporting that Downtown Main St. area. He asked Mr. Lucas what is the potential for help in the planning of the adjacent areas to Main St., like creating a true community there in terms of a neighborhood with residential retail uses, maybe even some light industrial things. Lucas stated that the Main St. District goes far beyond just Main St. NMMS likes to focus the capital outlay funds on the Main St. District, which is considerable. He also explained in terms of their technical assistance, as long as it serves the needs of the Downtown revitalization efforts you can get help with planning, designing or any analysis you may need. Mr. Martinez reiterated what Mr. Pedraza explained as the Downtown District. Chair McNeill thanked them both for the information; he also to let them know we may need their expertise with the Animas District/Hospital Hub Plan. Mr. Unsicker talked about infrastructure stating the City did a robust job of adding infrastructure in the process of doing the Downtown corridor project including systems for storm drainage, electrical upgrades, water updates, and fire suppression connections. The City will be adding additional things like Christmas décor upgrades, for the Downtown corridor Mr. Unsicker announced we have Board Chair, Tom Taylor and Director, Flo Trujillo from the Arts Council attending the meeting via Zoom. Mr. Unsicker informed Mr. Pedraza that he would keep NMMS the loop for upcoming projects so they will have some information, ideas and opportunities to take to the NM legislature. Mr. Pedraza said his overall goal is to help us figure out how to get things funded from all avenues of NMMS, such as adding more art to Downtown. Mr. Unsicker stated our Art in the Alley project is always evolving, and is another opportunity for investment. Mr. Martinez wanted to discuss the startup process in the arts and cultural district and the 3  importance of having a strong connection with public art pieces and the events. NMMS would like to see, possibly this year, more engagement and or attention to the creative economy. What does that look like, how are you helping existing arts and culture economy entrepreneurs succeed and thrive, how are you helping recruit and what does that process look like? NMMS would like to see these things integrated more in the work plans, as well as resource development and resource allocation as you move through the process. Mr. Unsicker states how Ms. Trujillo is doing a phenomenal job being engaged with the artist and encouraging opportunities for them with both the Art Walks they host and some of the other events and programs. Mr. Unsicker also mentioned during the pandemic they had to shut down the Art Walks, the Farmington Visitors and Convention Bureau collaborated to actually host a virtual Art Walk. Ms. Trujillo stated that the Art Council was grateful to the Convention and Visitors Bureau for continuing to host the virtual Art Walks; they try to service the area, which is San Juan County, Northwest New Mexico, but are focusing more on Downtown. The Arts Council connects Downtown businesses with some of the artists that are showing in the galleries or inside other businesses, not only during the Art Walk but also during Small Business Saturday. When business slows down after Christmas that is when the Art Council will focus on getting people Downtown. They start art classes, and encourage people to purchase items to get discounts or get gift cards. Ms. Trujillo stated when one person comes in; you will see five or six more that come in because they saw something on Facebook live or an Instagram post. Tom Taylor talks about the Art Walk, how it has been going on for several years. He also states with the Downtown Renovation Project and COVID 19 the crowds have gotten smaller and smaller downtown. He thought it might need a rebirth or some new ideas. Mr. Taylor states that the Art Walk this year was great and the number of people coming downtown the last couple of weeks has been amazing. Mr. Taylor thinks all of it together is working very well. Mr. Taylor also thinks this would be a great opportunity to get some art on the streets, and has different ideas of how to do that. Some art may be permanent or rotating art throughout the year. The Arts Council is also continuing the Art in the Alleys. Mr. Taylor stated it is a pleasure to walk downtown. He also stated how easy it is to cross the streets, now that the roundabouts are slowing the traffic down. 7. City Staff Updates – Mr. Unsicker Mr. Unsicker stated that there have been a few businesses closing, but it is amazing how quickly the new ones are coming to the downtown area. Main St. Grinds just opened; they are working with a new tenant where the comic store was located. We have an Aveda Salon going into the 116-studio space. 8. Business From Floor – There was no business from the Floor. Chair – There was no business from the Chair. Members – There was no business from the Members. Staff – There was no business from Staff. 4  9. Adjournment A motion was made by Commissioner McNally and seconded by Vice Chair Tanis to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously 4-0. The Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency meeting was adjourned at 4:43 p.m. ___________________________________ ____________________________________ John McNeill Tami Spencer Chair Administrative Assistant 5 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 6