City Council

November 10, 2015 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting – High Rock Parking Lot RFP Responders Music Hall – 3rd Floor 7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Presentation: High Rock Parking Lot RFP Responders ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN City Council Meeting 11/10/15 November 10, 2015 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting – High Rock Parking Lot RFP Responders Music Hall – 3rd Floor PRESENT: Joanne Yepsen, Mayor John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Christian Mathiesen, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Joe Ogden, Deputy Mayor Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Lynn Bachner, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Tim Cogan, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Vincent DeLeonardis RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Yepsen called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Presentation: High Rock Parking Lot RFP Responders Mayor Yepsen advised there were 2 responders to the RFP. Both respondents will have 45 minutes to present their proposals followed by public comment. Commissioner Franck explained during 2008 he worked closely with the state on how to handle presentations from respondents. The best practice is to hear the presentations and put all questions in writing so each are asked the same questions the same way. ParaMount Realty Group, LLC *copy of presentation attached to minutes* History of ParaMount was provided. They proposed building a village on top of the garage platform. They understand there is a need for senior housing and workforce housing. They want to build with the concept of city in the country. They are proposing 607 parking spaces; 166 units of housing – 64 senior housing, 42 Page 2 of 5 City Council Meeting 11/10/15 for young professionals, 35 condos, and 24 market rate apartments; and almost 50,000 square feet of retail. This would be done in 4 phases. They will dedicate 259 spaces for the City Center. They continued to show possible facades of the project. They are financially ready to go with this project. Hyman Hemispheric *copy of presentation attached to minutes* Their vision is for mixed use and will include business, retail, parking and housing. The housing will be made up of mixed affordable (not federally subsidized). They propose to purchase the lot. They are open to public process and develop details with the public. They plan to hold stakeholder workshops. They plan to allocate 35,000 square feet to open space; have a covered arcade on the upper level, and 2 sides of retail; all to minimize the ‘garage’ presence. Retail space will also be used to screen the garage so that it is invisible at the street level. Housing will be 5 levels with different sized units. Commissioner Scirocco stated he likes both proposals but not seeing connectivity to the City Center. He would like to see that more inclusive. Commissioner Mathiesen stated the presentations were very impressive and had good ideas. Need to remember the City Center proposal was just for parking on the north end. The sale of the parcel doesn’t allow for a City Hall annex expansion. They need to get an appraisal for the parcel. Commissioner Madigan stated the City Center has a captured audience so people won’t drive around looking for free parking. One thing she noticed was missing from both proposals is some sort of connection to the City Center. She would like to see someone from the City Center on the technical review process. She questioned if a traffic study should be done. Commissioner Franck stated he agreed that the City Center should have someone on the advisory committee. These proposals are better than what they were seeing from the City Center – both aesthetically and in revenue for the City. This is award stewardship of assets and the worst thing to do is build a municipal building on the most valuable lot. There needs to be direct connectivity to the City Center. There needs to be some type of guarantee that parking will go in first. Mayor Yepsen stated her department is in the process of getting an appraisal. They are looking at additional parking studies and want to look at downtown parking as a whole. She likes the idea of mixed use and connectivity. PUBLIC COMENT Mayor Yepsen opened the public comment period at 8:58 p.m. Rick Fenton of Saratoga Springs stated he is surprised about the discussion of a municipal annex. If that was important it should have been reflected in the RFP. The projects are massive. Smart growth principals indicate there would be more traffic. He feels they should move towards picking someone and working with them. Mark Mincher of Geyser Road wanted to confirm competitive bidding and apprenticeship will be attached to both proposals. Mark Lawton of Saratoga Springs stated they should keep in mind what is good for the citizens & the City. The Council needs to look at what they want that area to be. Either approach is far superior to what the City Center wanted and move forward with these proposals. He would like to see what the citizens get out if it in sales tax and get prospective. Page 3 of 5 City Council Meeting 11/10/15 Phil Diamond of Saratoga Springs stated both proposals are excellent. He asked if the garage can be started in 2016; not the City Center garage proposed. th Diane Pedinotti of Saratoga Springs stated she has a photo of High Rock Lot on August 14 where the lot is empty. We don’t need parking all the time. John Waynewright of Saratoga Springs stated we can do better than the City Center parking garage. Some of these alternatives may not have enough parking. If there truly is a need for as many spaces as the City Center says it needs; can we ask the developers what the impact may be on their plans to increase their parking by another 100 spaces. Jen Leidig of Saratoga Springs stated she shares the concerns voiced. Concerns can be worked out and tweaked with both developers. Let’s pick one and stop being commitment phobic. Beverly Mastrianni of Saratoga Springs stated in a book she read it said a well used city street is a safe street. Since that book was written Saratoga Springs has built 3 parking garages. Those streets can be called dead streets as people don’t want to walk there; they rush to and from their cars. We need to think how we are going to integrate this building into our City. Mark Baker of the City Center stated he wishes they could have been a part of the discussion as there were things that were incorrectly related or are not known. There are many things that have to be considered and brought forward. Parking studies need to be done and there are numbers being used that do no correctly represent the needs they have. Neither project really embraced the greenbelt or the Farmer’s Market. They would like to be a participant in the RFP review process. Julie Cuneo of Citizens for High Rock stated she hopes they can work together to get everyone’s needs met. We have two very qualified proposals. A parking study makes sense and is a step in the process. Cliff Amon of Saratoga Springs stated a few years ago they were trying to concern themselves with an influx of stores. Since that time, the City has been growing beautifully and economically viable. Jane Wiehe of 44 White Street stated she is sorry the City Center was not invited to present tonight. She did not hear a lot of specifics tonight; one presenter says they are ready to go but doesn’t know the price of the lot. She has not heard the amount of rents or any guarantees. This is vital to the vibrancy of downtown. Mayor Yepsen closed the public comment period at 9:27 p.m. Mayor Yepsen stated the process tonight was to have the 2 bidders present to the Council this evening. The City Center is not a bidder. They have presented to the land use boards; they are going through a different process. This does not mean they are going to be left out of anything. Commissioner Madigan stated she too felt the City Center should have been here to present tonight. There have been inaccuracies about their proposal. We are not giving away the land; she has been working on negotiating a lease for about 3 years. She is not afraid of change; her concern is the infrastructure surrounding the project. We need a traffic study, parking, and an appraisal. One proposal wants to go underground and she has concern about a spring that goes through there. Commissioner Mathiesen stated there are no wrong answers here as long as we meet the City’s needs; present and future. He likes both proposals. The idea of setting aside part of downtown for workforce and low income is a good idea. That would have less of an impact on traffic than having office and retail space. Commissioner Scirocco stated we are a city of tourism. The way you are going to get customers is to get the City Center to get the people in here. The parking lots are full and you can’t find a space. Employees can’t find a place to park. If we don’t have adequate parking for the City Center; it’s going to fail. Page 4 of 5 City Council Meeting 11/10/15 ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS Nothing at this time. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Yepsen adjourned the meeting at 9:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 1/5/16 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 5 of 5