Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency Commission

AGENDA Tuesday, February 21, 2023 - 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 January 17, 2023 Meeting Minutes 3. Update on NWNM Arts Council – Chair Tanis 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 – March 21, 2023 8. Adjournment 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 – January 17, 2023 Held in the Executive Conference Room at 800 Municipal Dr., Farmington NM Members Present: Jill Tanis – Chair Doug Dykeman – Vice Chair Elizabeth McNally – Commissioner Members Absent: None Staff Present: Julie Baird Shaña Reeves Warren Unsicker Karen Lupton Tami Spencer Staff Absent: None Others Present: None 1. Call to Order Chair Tanis called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m., Chair Tanis, Vice Chair Dykeman, and McNeill were in attendance. There being a quorum the following proceedings were duly had and taken. 2. Approval of the December 13, 2022 Minutes A motion was made by Commissioner McNally and seconded by Commissioner Dykeman to approve the minutes of December 13, 2022, and upon voice vote, the motion carried unanimously 3-0. 3. Discussion of the initial site visit and stakeholder meeting conducted by Sites Southwest Chair Tanis asked the Commission for their thoughts and ideas regarding the initial site visit. 1   Vice Chair Dykeman had no comment on the site visit, but wanted to share, with the Commission, the Farmington ditch layout information.  Commissioner McNally wanted to say the site meeting went very well, Sites Southwest did a great job and she appreciates all the efforts of the City Staff. She does wish more people had showed up to the MRA meeting that followed the site visit.  Chair Tanis thought Sites Southwest led the visit very well; they asked great questions, she was also impressed with City Staff and Warren for filling in some of the gaps. Assistant City Manager Reeves and Deputy City Manager Baird we able to give historical information on the Downtown area. Chair Tanis wanted the Outdoor Recreation Industry Initiative (ORII) to keep in mind an upgraded short stay RV Park. Economic Director Unsicker reassured Chair Tanis that this is a strategic priority of ORII; they are looking at destination RV resorts. Chair Tanis also brought up the idea of building a multi-level pathway from downtown up to the All Abilities Park and possibly looking for a grant to help fund the project.  Economic Director Unsicker added Sites Southwest is getting things setup and is looking for a name for this project. Sites Southwest is planning to virtually attend the City Council Work Session to get any of their input and thoughts on February 21, 2023. Following that, on the week of March 20, 2023 they would like to do the public open house. They would also like to schedule the next committee meeting. Mr. Unsicker will send out available times to get a consensus on a meeting date and time. Vice Chair Dykeman presented the MRA Ditch & Laterals Map and the Wright-Legget Headgate Area Map within the MRA to the Commission. The Commission had a conversation on the different ditches, their statuses and any historical information. He also pointed out a few locations he thought would be good for a water feature. 2 4. Main Street Advisory Board Business – Karen Lupton Ms. Lupton wanted to get back with Chair Tanis regarding the available business registration services insert. She stated the City Clerk’s office did not want the added expense this would cause. Ms. Lupton added the information to the City of Farmington website, under doing business. There are three PDF’s listing all of the business resources that are available in the community. Ms. Lupton shared information on the T-Mobile Grant. In 2022, T-Mobile pledged 25 million dollars for Main Streets over five years. It is available to be applied for quarterly and it is up to $50,000. They are having internal discussions on how best to use that. For this quarter we have until March 31, 2023, the next quarter will be April 1, 2023 and the one after that will be June 30, 2023. You can find this information on the T-Mobile website. Ms. Lupton reminded the Commission that the New Mexico Main Street Winter Conference is February 8-10 2023, in Santa Fe. 5. City Staff Updates – Warren Unsicker Mr. Unsicker stated they are keeping track of several downtown projects. We are working with the developer on the Well Fargo building, the Citizens Bank project and other projects as well. The H&R block building is now empty. Some developers have also shown interest in the Downtown area. 6. Business From Floor – There was no business from the floor. 3  Chair – Chair Tanis asked the Commission if they knew of any news that the Commission should be focusing on or give any assistance too. Mr. Unsicker stated that eventually we would be working on the Arts and Cultural District; we have a grant from New Mexico Main Street. We will keep you apprised of those projects as they come up. Chair Tanis informed the Commission that she would be unable to attend the April 18, 2023 meeting and wanted to know if the Commission would agree to move the meeting to April 25, 2023. The Commission agreed with that date. A motion was made by Chair Tanis and seconded by Commissioner McNally to move the April 18, 2023 MRA meeting to April 25, 2023. The motion passed unanimously 3-0. Members – There was no business from members. Staff – There was no business from Staff. 7. Adjournment A motion was made by Vice Chair Dykeman and seconded by Commissioner McNally to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously 3-0. The Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m. ____________________________ ____________________________ Jill Tanis Tami Spencer Chair Administrative Assistant 4