South Division-Grandville CIA - Special Meeting

South Division-Grandville CIA 1823 Division Avenue S Minutes Packet Grand Rapids, MI 49507 April 28, 2022 @ 9:00 AM Grand Rapids Fire Department PRESENT: Leonard Van Drunen, Synia Jordan, Angelica Velazquez, Commissioner Kurt Reppart, Amy Brower, Marcel Price ABSENT: Frances Dalton (Excused), Mary Dengerink (Excused) OTHERS: Verah Narh-Kamara, Tricia Chapman, Jessica Solis, Kristin Bennett, Ken Miguel Cipriano, Tom Tilma, Jess (Progressive AE) I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM by Chair Leonard Van Drunen II. Public Comment on Agenda Items None. III. Minutes Approval Approval of Minutes from March 10, 2022 No comments and questions were noted. Motion to approve minutes from March 10, 2022 RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Synia Jordan, Vice-chair SECONDER: Amy Brower, Member YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink IV. Financials 1. Interim Financial Statements as of March 31, 2022 Leonard Van Drunen presented the statement to the board. Amy Brower wanted to know why the business association budget has not been expended. Mr. Drunen answered it is because the business associations did not submit a request to receive those funds. Marcel Price had questions about the public art expenses and Mr. Drunen Generated 5/10/2022 11:59 AM South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 2 April 28, 2022 and Synia Jordan took turns in explaining it was for two murals painted 2 locations around the corridor. Ms. Brower also had questions about the translation services budget line and Mr. Drunen explained that it was an item included on the agenda, but funds were not expended as there has not been a need for such services yet. Motion to approve the schedule of expenses from July 2021 to March 2022 RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kurt Reppart, Commissioner SECONDER: Synia Jordan, Vice-chair YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink V. Action Items 1. FY2023 Budget Recommendation for the South Division- Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Mr. Van Drunen presented the budget to the board, explained the various budget lines, and noted that the numbers presented are based on requests from the various committees. Verah Narh-Kamara also added that the initial budget presented to the economic department was categorized by committees but had to be adjusted to match the budget codes to help with invoice processing. Mr. Van Drunen also reminded the board that the numbers presented in the budget are only preliminary and subject to change. Marcel Price wanted to know how the budget process works and if the board goes through a strategic process in creating the budget. Commissioner Reppart answered that most of the strategic planning and visioning for the board was done earlier on to identify priorities for the board. Synia Jordan also added that the Area Specific Plans are also used to help with the decision-making process. Motion to recommend the presented budget to the city commission. RESULT: RECOMMENDED TO CITY COMMISSION [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Synia Jordan, Vice-chair SECONDER: Amy Brower, Member YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink 2. The Diatribe Support Letter Mr. Van Drunen and Mr. Price recused themselves from this item due to a conflict of interest. Ms. Jordan, the Vice-Chair took over the meeting and presented this item to the board. Generated 5/10/2022 11:59 AM South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 3 April 28, 2022 She reminded board members that the Diatribe team did the presentation at the last board meeting for their project and this motion is only to approve a development support letter. Motion to approve a development support letter for the Diatribe project. RESULT: APPROVED [4 TO 0] MOVER: Kurt Reppart, Commissioner SECONDER: Amy Brower, Member YEAS: Synia Jordan, Angelica Velazquez, Kurt Reppart, Amy Brower EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink RECUSED: Leonard Van Drunen, Marcel Price 3. South Division-Grandville Development Support Policy Adoption Jessica Solis presented this item to the board. She explained the guidelines and the reimbursement process and noted that the city will collect all taxes from the developer and reimburse a potion back to the developer. She brought a sample development support project from another CIA to help explain the policy to the board. She also noted that the city already has an inclusion plan for similar incentives and that plan will apply to this policy. Ms. Jordan noted that the concern of the design committee was to eliminate the barriers and racial bias in the policy and that was the intent of the 6 months of work they did with Fishbeck. She added that the supplemental document that was developed by Fishbeck was to simplify the language and make it more comprehensible. Angelica Velasquez noted that she does not understand the document due to the language barrier. Mr. Price wanted to know what the repercussions will be for not approving the policy. Ms. Solis answered that there may be a developmental gap since developers are not able to finance public infrastructure in most instances. She also added that there are available design services, and we will be able to translate these documents into Spanish at the board’s request. Mr. Price asked if it was possible to translate all materials, including the agenda to Spanish. Ms. Solis answered that the department does not have that capability now. Commissioner Reppart added that there is a language access policy in development that will pass in the fall, he believes that will address some of these language barrier concerns. Motion to approve the development support policy for the South Division- Grandville CIA. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Amy Brower, Member SECONDER: Kurt Reppart, Commissioner YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink Generated 5/10/2022 11:59 AM South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 4 April 28, 2022 4. South Division - Grandville New Committee Structure Ms. Jordan presented this item to the board. The design and economic vitality committees have decided to merge into one committee for operational efficiencies. This new committee shall be called the development committee. Motion to approve the new committee structure to merge the economic vitality and design committees into a development committee. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kurt Reppart, Commissioner SECONDER: Marcel Price YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink 5. South Division- Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Development Committee Operational Funds Request The newly formed development committee is requesting operational funds for the fiscal year 2023 to help accomplish committee goals. Commissioner Kurt wanted to know the budget line for the request. Ms. Kamara explained that the proposed the fiscal year 2023 budget includes administrative funds for both committees. Motion to approve operational funds request for the newly formed development committee RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kurt Reppart, Commissioner SECONDER: Amy Brower, Member YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink 6. Progressive AE Contract Amendment and Extension Jessica with progressive AE presented this item and explained the contract will help refine the data in the audit provided in January. The additional work proposed will include identifying key projects and preliminary designs for those projects, grant writing assistance, and other miscellaneous tasks. Mr. Price was wondering why the board needs these services instead of just fixing the problem as we know it. Kristen Bennet explained that traffic safety has limited staff and cannot do the necessary investigations hence it is beneficial to have consultants focus on data collection. The data will be used in making recommendations for future projects. Ms. Bennet added that new design measures are happening in Grandville very soon. South Division, on the other hand, does not have any upcoming projects so the department is working on small improvements to calm traffic. Generated 5/10/2022 11:59 AM South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 5 April 28, 2022 Ms. Brower would like to know what specific tasks the request will be funding. Jessica answered it will be the first task on the proposal, identifying funding and design plans/presentation. The contract is hourly, and they are ready to get it started as soon as next week. Motion to approve the contract amendment and extension for Progressive AE for a not to exceed amount of $20,732 RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Synia Jordan, Vice-chair SECONDER: Angelica Velazquez, Secretary YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink 7. South Division - Grandville Facade Improvement Program Amendments Mr. Van Drunen presented this item and noted that the goal of this amendment is to make the program more attractive to business owners. Ms. Jordan added that these guidelines were taken from Southtown CIA after she met with the Southtown corridor manager to discuss the pros and cons of their program. Mr. Price suggested the facade funds be made available to businesses that have long roots in the community. Ms. Kamara explained that the funds cannot be held for specific businesses. Motion to approve the proposed amendments to the façade program. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Amy Brower, Member SECONDER: Kurt Reppart, Commissioner YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink 8. South Division- Grandville Facade Improvement Program Manager Request for Proposals Mr. Van Drunen and Ms. Jordan presented this item. Ms. Brower would like to know the budget line for the request, Ms. Kamara answered this request was included in the design committee fiscal year 2023 budget request. Mr. Price asked if they have anyone in mind, Ms. Jordan noted she thinks Kelsey, the Southtown manager will be a good fit for the role since she will not require any training. Mr. Price noted that a bilingual person will be a good fit for the role. Motion to approve the design committee Request for Proposal for a Façade Program Manager. Generated 5/10/2022 11:59 AM South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 6 April 28, 2022 RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Amy Brower, Member SECONDER: Angelica Velazquez, Secretary YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink 9. Mobile GR Bike Racks Funding Request Ms. Bennet presented this item to the board. Mr. Van Drunen wanted to know if it is possible to spend the $45,000 CDBG funds. Ms. Bennet confirmed that the project is moving, and they should be able to expend those funds by the September deadline. She suggested that the board can table this decision and wait to make a general recommendation on the CDBG project in June. She is hoping the price quotes will come back close to what they currently have. She will coordinate with the design committee about the logo preference before the June meeting. Motion to table the Mobile GR bike rack funding request for Caesar Chavez at a future meeting. RESULT: TABLED [UNANIMOUS] Next: 6/9/2022 9:00 AM MOVER: Marcel Price SECONDER: Synia Jordan, Vice-chair YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Brower, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink 10. Burton Heights Business Association Request for Proposals Mr. Van Drunen presented this item to the board. Ms. Angelica Velasquez noted that the association may already have someone in mind for this role. Motion to approve Burton Heights Business Association’s Request for Proposals for a Manager. RESULT: APPROVED [5 TO 0] MOVER: Marcel Price SECONDER: Synia Jordan, Vice-chair YEAS: Van Drunen, Jordan, Velazquez, Reppart, Price EXCUSED: Frances Dalton, Mary Dengerink AWAY: Amy Brower VI. Reports There were no questions on the reports. Generated 5/10/2022 11:59 AM South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 7 April 28, 2022 VII. Other Business Ms. Jordan noted that the new committee is putting together a new rooster and will send out invitations for committee meetings. The committee wants to know if it is okay to share information among themselves without violating the open meeting act. Ms. Kamara noted that sharing information with board members should be fine except where board members engage in deliberations about items that are up for decision making. Mr. Price wanted to know if sharing videos from committee meetings is okay. Ms. Kamara will inquire about this and report to the board at the next meeting. Ms. Bennett noted some federal funding has been made available to Mobile GR for some projects in the corridor. They are looking for shovel-ready places and they have identified Caesar Chavez and Beacon as potential locations for some projects. VIII. Public Comment None. IX. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:48 PM by Chair, Leonard Van Drunen. Generated 5/10/2022 11:59 AM