City Council

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Information: 360.753.8447 Meeting Minutes City Council Friday, October 18, 2013 1:00 PM Room 207 Special City Council Meeting to hold the Ad Hoc Community Renewal Area Committee Meeting 1. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones and Councilmember Steve Langer OTHERS PRESENT City Staff: City Manager Steve Hall; Community Planning & Development (CP&D) staff: Director Keith Stahley, Deputy Director Leonard Bauer, Program Assistant Robert Hornbein, Office Specialist II Janet Sanders, Code Enforcement Officer Brian Wilson Guests: National Development Council Representative Michelle Morlan, ECONorthwest Senior Planner Lorelei Juntunen,, Emily Picha, Walt Jorgensen, Susan Ahlschwede, Kris Goddard, Jerry Parker, Roger Horn 2. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 2.A 13-0825 Consideration of ECONorthwest’s CRA Feasibility Study ECONorthwest Senior Planner Lorelei Juntunen referred the Committee to the draft Feasibility Study completed by ECONorthwest. The consultants found establishing a Community Renewal Area (CRA) in Olympia would be a helpful tool in addressing blight and economic stagnation. In order to do this, several questions require input from the CRA Ad Hoc Committee and recommendations made to City Council. They are: i. Should the City of Olympia establish a CRA? ii. What should the boundary of the CRA be? iii. What should the governance structure of the CRA be? iv. What should the next steps in the Community Renewal Plan (CRP) process be? Discussion followed regarding these questions. City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes October 18, 2013 Should the City of Olympia establish a CRA? Mayor Buxbaum reminded the Committee that a CRA allows for flexibility in project options because without a CRA only City property may be considered . When establishing a CRA, a community renewal plan must be adopted, outlining the activities of the CRA, the area boundaries, and types of projects. The CRA Ad Hoc Committee agreed they felt comfortable forwarding a recommendation to City Council to establish a CRA. What should the boundary of the CRA be? Ms. Juntunen referred the Committee to the October 14, 2013 memorandum discussing CRA recommendations. On page 3, boundary option recommendations are made with the benefits and challenges of each area. There are three options identified for consideration: a. Proposal #1 focuses on the isthmus; b. Proposal #2 conforms with the Comprehensive Plan description of downtown; c. Proposal #3 conforms to the Comprehensive Plan description of downtown plus West Bay Drive. Mayor Pro Tem Jones asked what the pros and cons are of including the Port of Olympia in the boundary. Ms. Juntunen stated they have not talked with the Port of Olympia yet. Mr. Stahley recognized the Port's importance to downtown renewal, stating they already have the authority of a CRA and can work in step with the CRA . Councilmember Langer asked how difficult it is to change the boundary in the future . Ms. Juntunen stated there are issues to consider such as political climate at the time and what amendments to the ordinance are proposed. Mayor Buxbaum stated he is in favor of starting with a larger boundary to include the Port of Olympia and Capitol Lake. He believes it is easier to be inclusive of future opportunities. Ms. Juntunen reported a larger boundary allows for flexibility. However, a smaller boundary allows the renewal to be more targeted, makes it easier to define the intent and purpose to the public, has fewer property owners and concerns, is easier to adopt, and narrows focus of resources. Ms. Picha reminded the Committee the community renewal plat would include phasing and allocation of resources over time. Mayor Buxbaum suggested Proposal #1 be eliminated from the options. He stated this option presents a case that sounds like the isthmus is the action plan area and that is not so. Councilmember Langer agreed, saying he would like a larger boundary that provides multiple options for renewal. Mayor Pro Tem Jones added he is in favor of a larger boundary but does not think the CRA would be the appropriate venue to address concerns at Capitol Lake . He also questioned whether the State of Washington would consider working with private enterprise. The Ad Hoc Committee agreed to recommend Proposal #3 (downtown plus West Bay City of Olympia Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes October 18, 2013 Drive) with the addition of the Port of Olympia area to the City Council as the boundary for the CRA. What should the governance structure of the CRA be? Ms. Picha reviewed the governance options on page 2 of the memorandum. Mayor Pro Tem Jones said because the CRA is just starting, he would like to see the Council have control and acquire experience. Councilmember Langer agreed the City Council would be the easiest option. Mr. Stahley asked if there is a role for an advisory committee. The Ad Hoc Committee agreed the Citizen Advisory Committee would act in an advisory role throughout this process. What should next steps in the Community Renewal Plan (CRP) process be? Ms. Picha reviewed page 4 and 5 of the October 14, 2013 memorandum and asked the Ad Hoc Committee to determine which approach they would like to see the CRA take. Mayor Buxbaum reminded the Committee that extensive work has already been done to reach out and include a broad range of opinion leaders in the Citizen’s Advisory Committee. He would like to see the CRA zero in on the medium effort option and work to develop and give high effort. Mayor Pro Tem Jones felt the minimum effort option was unacceptable. He would like to take action sooner rather than later, so the medium effort option was his preference. Councilmember Langer also was in favor of the medium effort but would like Council input . The Ad Hoc Committee agreed the medium effort option would be the best approach to arrive at the goals of the plan. The decision was approved. 2.B 13-0823 Section 108 Project National Development Council Representative Michelle Morlan reviewed the process to implementation and timelines of loan funds, potential projects under review, and asked for guidance from the Ad Hoc Committee as to next steps. Ms. Morlan said the City has a Section 108 loan fund in the amount of $1,765,000 to put into specific projects and has up to five years to use the funds. The first project must be approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) no later than May 1, 2014. This means the Committee should have a viable first project determined by November 15, 2013. Mr. Bauer added that due to this short timeframe, we need to determine when and how to bring this to the Council. Ms. Morlan then reviewed the timeline for each step in the submission process and then presented four project applications currently under review for the Section 108 loan fund. They are: i. Acquisition / redevelopment of the 600 Franklin building; ii. Tenant business in the 600 Franklin building; iii. Clearance / demo / cleanup of Isthmus parcels; iv. New start-up restaurant downtown. City of Olympia Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes October 18, 2013 Ms. Morlan reported the first two projects meet Section 108 requirements, they are financially feasible, and are ready to meet the May 1, 2014 timeline. An added benefit to Project #1 is the loan will be a short term loan, possibly 3 or 4 years - not the full 20 year repayment allowed by HUD. This will allow the City to reapply for the dollars that would be available again. The third project meets the requirements under the criteria of blight removal. The development costs have not been determined and there is not enough information to confirm financial review. The caveat is that when doing site demolition, it must be done for economic development use. Mr. Stahley asked if a park can be considered an economic development activity. Ms. Morlan stated a park is not an eligible activity. Mayor Buxbaum asked Ms. Morlan to research if there is any provision for removal of blight other than economic development. Ms. Morlan will research this before the City Council meeting. City Manager Steve Hall estimated demolition of the Isthmus buildings at $1,000,000 and said the City has some available funds. Ms. Morlan clarified that Section 108 allows for no more than 30 percent of available funds be used for blight, which is approximately $400,000. Project #4 would be considered eligible due to economic development activity. However, it does not yet meet the threshold requirement and Ms. Morlan said she does not have enough information to determine financial feasibility. This timeline would be longer and probably not within the May 1, 2014 requirement. Mr. Hall asked if Public Works projects, such as sidewalk improvement, could meet the requirements. Ms. Morlan shared she has approved some because they were within low to moderate income areas. Mayor Buxbaum asked why the Isthmus could not be approached as infrastructure. Ms. Morlan cited 577.03(L) saying the Isthmus would not be an improvement but the intent is to only ready the site. Mr. Bauer asked members of the Ad Hoc Committee if they had an opinion on 2 or 3 of the projects. Mayor Pro Tem Jones sees a benefit to having the City receiving the first loan. Mr. Stahley reminded the Ad Hoc Committee that supporting Option #1 at 600 Franklin would support the Comprehensive Plan by providing downtown residential housing. Mayor Buxbaum is comfortable with recommending the 600 Franklin projects to City Council and would like to continue to pursue infrastructure improvement. Councilmember Langer’s priority is to get the job done and feels the Franklin building is the right size. Mr. Bauer committed to completing the additional research as requested and will bring back either the 600 Franklin building projects or a City project as soon as possible for City of Olympia Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes October 18, 2013 approval. The recommendation was discussed and closed. 2.C 13-0826 Consider Community Renewal Area (CRA) Ad Hoc Committee Charter Mayor Buxbaum led the discussion when he called attention to Part 1 of Component A regarding development strategy and changing how community development occurs in Olympia. The charter is consistent with the referral given to the Committee and the proposed new approach to community development. Discussion followed regarding the overlap between the Ad Hoc Committee and other committees such as Land Use & Environment, Planning Commission, and General Government. It was agreed that this role is evolutionary and Committee members felt strongly that the Section 108 funds should stay connected to the CRA with City Council as the governing body. Mr. Stahley asked if a duration should be added to the charter. Councilmember Langer felt a two year time frame is reasonable. Mayor Buxbaum suggested an annual charter should be considered which would allow the CRA to complete the Section 108 fund work until it is all committed. Mayor Buxbaum proposed presenting the charter to City Council at the retreat with a recommendation to adopt. Mr. Hall brought forward resource issues within the Community Planning & Development (CP&D) department due to the number of projects to be completed and said it would be helpful to have a plan for the next several years. Discussion followed regarding the Council’s priority to have an internal assessment of CP &D staff to meet the required work, i.e. CRA, Sub-area planning, Comprehensive Plan, form-based code, the proactive approach to community involvement, etc. The Ad Hoc Committee wants CP&D to have the capacity for the high level of work proposed in the memorandum. The Mayor observed there are a number of issues to bring forward at the Council retreat regarding community planning and development. The recommendation was discussed and closed. 3. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 4:33 p.m. City of Olympia Page 5