City Council

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Information: 360.753.8447 Meeting Minutes City Council Wednesday, November 13, 2013 5:30 PM Room 207 Ad Hoc Community Renewal Area (CRA) Committee 1. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones and Councilmember Steve Langer 2. OTHERS PRESENT Community Planning and Development Director Keith Stahley Community Planning and Development Deputy Director Leonard Bauer City Manager Steve Hall Mr. Roger Poulson Mr. Walt Jorgensen 3. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 3.A 13-0901 Approval of September 24, 2013 Ad Hoc Community Renewal Area Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved with one correction; the name “Walker” is to be changed to “Parker.” The minutes were approved as amended. 3.B 13-0942 Approval of October 18, 2013 Ad Hoc Community Renewal Area Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 3.C 13-0937 Discuss November 20, 2013 Citizens Advisory Committee Agenda and Meeting Objectives Mr. Stahley handed out a proposed agenda for the November 20 Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting. Mr. Stahley placed a call to Lorelei Juntunen from ECONorthwest to participate in the discussion via conference call. The Ad Hoc CRA Committee reviewed the proposed agenda for November 20. Mr. Stahley's plan is to post the agenda to the website November 14, 2013. City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes November 13, 2013 The Committee agreed they want the CAC to understand the purpose of the CRA: · removing barriers such as blight · address challenges around soil contamination · liquefaction / sea level rise · aging infrastructure · enhance the revenue base · hazardous material clean-up Additionally, the CAC will be briefed where the CRA has reached agreement and the recommendations regarding a Community Renewal Area boundary, governance, use of eminent domain, and sites of interest. The CRA would like feedback from the CAC as it relates to these recommendations. The CRA discussed the presentation by Ms. Juntunen. She will add the definition of blight during the overview. She will also explain the “medium effort” approach recommended by the CRA for next steps. The Ad Hoc Committee discussed the recommendation of a design charrette for the CAC. The Mayor clarified the design charrette on the isthmus, referenced in #5 of the proposed agenda, is not intended to imply a decision for an action plan has been made. The design charette is intended as an exercise to increase collaboration in decision making and idea development. Additionally, the City Council wants input from the community on the isthmus so the charrette is a bonus to the process. Councilmember Langer suggested “consider process” be added to the bullet in #5 of the options memo. Discussion followed on clarifying the objectives for the CAC. Mr. Stahley asked if this should be added to the CAC agenda. It was agreed Mr. Stahley would add this topic to the agenda. Mayor Pro Tem Jones suggested there be a clear statement regarding the boundary proposal and why it was proposed. The Mayor asked Ms. Juntunen to present this. She suggested updating the option memo to include the topics just discussed, the decisions made, and why. With this final change, the CRA agreed on the agenda for the CAC. It was mentioned that Planning Commission members are going to be out of town so alternates are being considered. Discussion followed as to whether sending alternates was an option. Mr. Stahley said he would let the Planning Commission know that others may attend as observers but it would be difficult to participate at this point without the background. Ms. Juntunen left the conference call at 6:45 p.m. The discussion was completed. City of Olympia Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes November 13, 2013 3.D 13-0934 Use of Funds from Community Development Block Grant Program for Economic Development Mr. Stahley asked for Ad Hoc CRA Committee feedback and input in preparing for the General Government Committee meeting. This use of the CDBG funds has been a direction the City Council has discussed and the loop needs to be closed with the General Government Committee. The Mayor advised: 1) CDBG Funds: It is valuable to have a discussion of the range of uses of CDBG funds for economic development. One simple way to talk about this annual block grant is we can use it for much more direct economic development plans, such as a CRA action plan and infrastructure improvements. 2) Program Income: We regularly receive program income from our Housing Rehab Loan Fund and we can channel that program income into an economic development revolving fund. The General Government Committee needs to understand how that works and how we could subcontract and channel all program income in that direction. 3) Request for Proposals: Work off the statute and craft a request for proposals under the general purpose program for people to respond to: There are XX number of dollars, here are the opportunities and put it out there for proposals. It is similar to what we have done with CDBG but we are tightening the criteria and focusing on economic development. 4) Section 108: Lastly, use general purpose money to make Section 108 loan payments. Work with our consultant; once we have a Section 108 loan, we will have the option to use our own CDBG money to make the payments. In summary, that gives us a different way to incentivize Section 108 and it is a long way around to create program income from Section 108 loan recipients. Mayor Pro Tem Jones thought the conversation would go a little further by dealing with criteria related to job creation, housing, etc. Mayor Buxbaum suggested staying focused on what we are trying to accomplish, which is increasing commerce downtown and citywide. It would be great if the Economic Development Council came up with five EB5 projects. They might include some aspect of CDBG. Maybe they can come up with ideas to jump start business downtown. Mr. Stahley stated he is making this presentation on behalf of the CRA to update the General Government Committee with a report of current work. Mr. Bauer reported a month ago CDBG went to the City Council with an action plan to be developed by April of 2014 to use the $400,000 from the federal government with 15 percent to go to social services and 85 percent to economic development. Mr. Stahley added that the CDBG business has been around for 30 years and it has primarily been used for City of Olympia Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes November 13, 2013 housing. This is a major shift toward economic development. The recommendation was discussed and closed. 3.E 13-0939 Oral Report - Status Report On Section 108 Loan Program and Implementation of Investment Strategy: City of Olympia Opportunity Areas. Mr. Bauer handed out a proposed project description and map. Originally, there were two possible projects: 1) the Sears building and; 2) a potential infrastructure project for the City of Olympia. As the required steps in this process, including HUD’s review, the necessity of a public hearing, and the City Council decision, a recommendation must be made next Tuesday for the City Council to evaluate. Mr. Bauer asked the Ad Hoc CRA Committee to make a recommendation to move a project forward. The loan for the Sears building project would be for design costs. The potential tenant project would be for equipment costs in the building. These projects are not ready for underwriting. We need to move forward with a different project to meet the deadline. Mr. Bauer asked the CRA to consider Capitol Way sidewalk improvements. This has been discussed with Public Works and the City Engineer. This project is not yet funded and could move forward as Section 108 eligible. The total project cost is estimated at $345,000. It is in a low to moderate income census area. The current sidewalks are in poor shape and a safety hazard. The 5th Avenue project between Capitol and Columbia is not being considered due to alternate funding. The CRA Committee discussed the amount the City would want to borrow. Mr. Bauer stated he had been advised an amount of $200,000 to $250,000 makes the loan worth the effort. This project is slightly more, unfunded, and could be started quickly. There is also some scalability if the CRA wants to narrow down the project and borrow less. The Mayor acknowledged that Mr. Bauer provided what the CRA asked him to do. This project could be a way to move forward to activate the fund. However, he wanted to explore other possibilities. Discussion followed regarding alley lighting in the downtown area. Mr. Bauer stated the timeline is the issue and work estimates would need to be done within a month. Mr. Stahley added there would not be design elements in the alley lights as it would be required on the sidewalks. It also meets the broader goal of increasing commerce. Mr. Hall stated there are some estimates already completed and coordination with multiple building owners established. The CRA suggested looking at the Wagner block only and minimizing the project or looking at City lighting. Mr. Stahley suggested listing more projects in the plan than just the sidewalk project. Mr. Bauer said he could follow up to see what has been done in estimating the cost for lighting, put both of the projects in the plan, and make City of Olympia Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes November 13, 2013 the selection based on which project is ready. Mayor Buxbaum added that the PBIA, Safety Committee, and downtown business owners would appreciate alley lighting and it has a broader appeal. Mr. Bauer emphasized that by the first meeting in January, the City Council must move forward with a selected project. Mr. Bauer agreed to investigate the additional projects. He suggested postponing one week before presenting to the City Council. However, it will push the public comments into the holidays. It may be possible to make the recommendation to City Council on December 10. The Mayor stated he would rather vet the project on the front end and have a clear staff report that lays out the justification . Mr. Bauer asked if the CRA recommends this project and another to the City Council meeting on the 26th for inclusion in the action plan. The Ad Hoc CRA agreed. The CRA clarified they also support the Smith Building project if they need additional money to close funding gaps. The discussion was completed. 4. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. City of Olympia Page 5