Community Development Authority Board of Directors Meeting (In-Person & Virtual)

Community Development Authority Board of Directors Meeting (In-Person & Virtual) Agenda May 16, 2024 Page 1 Community Development Authority Board of Directors Meeting (In-Person & Virtual) Whitewater Municipal Building Community Room, 312 West Whitewater St., Whitewater, WI 53190 *In Person and Virtual Thursday, May 16, 2024 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Interim Chair Neil Hicks called the meeting order at 5:33 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Joe Kromholz, Jon Kachel, Neil Hicks, Christ Christon, Greg Majkrzak, Jeff Knight, Thayer Coburn. STAFF: Taylor Zeinert (Economic Development Director); John Weidl (City Manager). APPROVAL OF AGENDA Moved by Knight to amend the Agenda to cancel the executive session due to the subject matter that has significantly changed and has the potential to make a huge impact on property taxes and should be vetted by the community and the City Council. Seconded by Neil Hicks. City Manager Weidl stated that the normal order for all previous projects has been submitted first to the CDA and then to City Council and that the City Attorney had vetted the process. Roll Call vote: AYES: Kachel, Hicks, Knight; NOES: Christon, Kromholz, Majkrzak, Coburn; ABSENT: None. Motion failed to pass. Moved by Majkrzak to approve the Agenda; seconded by Coburn. Roll Call Vote: AYES: Majkrzak, Coburn, Christon, Kromholz, Hicks NOES: Knight, Kachel. CONSIDERATION & ELECTION OF CHAIR & VICE CHAIR Coburn nominated Greg Majkrzak to serve as Chair; seconded by Kromholz. Hicks called for any other nominations for Chair. Kachel nominated Jeff Knight to serve as Chair; Knight declined. Hearing no other nominations, roll call vote was taken. AYES: Coburn, Hicks, Christon, Kachel, Kromholz, Knight, Majkrzak. Interim Chair Hicks declared Majkrzak the duly-elected Chair and turned the meeting over to Chairman Majkrzak. Chairman Majkrzak then opened nominations for Vice Chair. Coburn nominated Joe Kromholz to serve as Vice Chair; seconded by Majkrzak. Kachel nominated Hicks to serve as Vice Chair; seconded by Knight. Hearing no other nominations, roll call was called for the nomination of Joe Kromholz to serve as Vice Chair. AYES: Maj, Hicks, Christon, Coburn, Kromholz, Kachel. Noes: Knight. Chairman Majkrzak declared Joe Kromholz as the duly-elected Vice Chair. DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST. None declared. HEARING OF CITIZEN COMMENTS. None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Community Development Authority Board of Directors Meeting (In-Person & Virtual) Agenda May 16, 2024 Page 2 2. The Minutes of the April 18, 2024 CDA Board of Directors Meeting were unavailable. Chairman Majkrzak moved to table this item until the June 20, 2024 CDA Board of Directors Meeting; seconded by Kromholz. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. ACKNOWLEDGE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 3. Moved by Hicks to approve the CDA Financial Statements for Period Ending April 30, 2024; seconded by Kromholz. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. ACTION ITEMS 4. Consideration and possible action regarding appointment of Economic Development Director Taylor Zeinert to serve as CDA Director. Chairman Majkrzak opened discussion of this item. Jim Heckendorf (Fontana, WI) question: Was the position posted for the public? City Manager Response: Yes; Question: How many responses were received? City Manager response: two (2). Question: Were they interviewed? City Manager response: Yes. Question: What was the experience of those candidates? City Manager response: I would need to ask the Human Resources Director who is not present at this meeting. Question to Taylor Zeinert: What is your experience? Zeinert response: Did undergraduate work at Carroll; holds a Masters in Public Administration from UW-Oshkosh; took classes specific to economic development; worked for the Wisconsin Towns Association (consisting of 1,260 towns) responding to legal questions, including fielding TIF district related questions; worked for the City of Clintonville assisting the City Administrator and Assistant City Administrator, including extensive TIF work; worked for two law firms both specializing in municipal law; grew up in small town and fell in love local government and economic development. Moved by Kromholz to approve the appointment of Economic Development Director Taylor Zeinert to serve as the CDA Director; seconded by Coburn. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. UPDATES & DISCUSSION 5. Update and discussion regarding Innovation Center M.O.U. Board Member Kromholz provided an update regarding the structure and status of the Memorandum of Understanding. The purpose of the current MOU is to replace the prior one and create a streamlined one where the City is essentially operating the facility with space reserved to continue the presence of the University at the Center. Kromholz expressed support for the CDA hiring their own attorney to advise the CDA regarding this and other matters. Kachel questioned the existing CDA advisory board and how that would function going forward. Director Zeinert responded to a request from the Board regarding the status of the search for a dedicated CDA Attorney. 6. Update and discussion regarding status of Whitewater WindUp business competition. Director Zeinert provided an update regarding the upcoming WindUp finale on May 18th and provided a list of businesses moving forward in the competition: The Grocery Cooperative, The Book Teller, Uptown Revive, Stellar Vintage, The Wellnest Shop, The Poppy Seed Company, Barista Cats Café and BHE Events. Zeinert then fielded questions from the Board, including a brief discussion regarding limiting future competitions to start-up businesses. Community Development Authority Board of Directors Meeting (In-Person & Virtual) Agenda May 16, 2024 Page 3 7. Economic Development Activities Update. Director Zeinert noted that the office has been really business with Bonnie out of the office. The ED Office completed five (5) Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) visits with local businesses and continue to schedule others. The WindUp is finishing up and Zeinert reported that she attended WEDA Basics of Economic Development Training where she made many connections with other municipalities for networking purposes. Zeinert finished up by fielding questions from the Board regarding the BRE Program. City Manager provided basic details about the questionnaire that is used and welcomed any suggestions or additions from the Board. Board Member Coburn expressed interest in feedback from those visits. Board Member Knight suggested providing employers with information about activities in Whitewater to share with their employees. 8. Update and discussion regarding April 25th Housing Round Table. Director Zeinert thank all who were able to attend the Housing Round Table. Zeinert reported that there were 67 attendees that the City has never seen before and summarized studies and information shared by the presenters, including the need for single family housing, multi- family and mixed-use housing. Larry Kachel (457 S. Buckingham Blvd.) expressed concern about using TID money for multi-family housing projects and offered his opinion regarding some of the conclusions represented in the Doersching report. Jeff Knight also commented on what he considered conflicting data between the three presentations. EXECUTIVE SESSION Chairman Majkrzak moved to adjourn to Closed Session, TO RECONVENE, pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 19.85(1)(e) “Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session. Item to be discussed: Consideration and possible action regarding proposed multi-family development to be located on Moraine View Parkway (Tax Parcel No. WPB 00044) for Chris Slater. Motion seconded by Coburn/Kachel. Roll Call Vote: AYES: Hicks, Coburn, Kachel, Kromholz, Christon, Majkrzak. NOES: Knight. ABSENT: None. Motion passed. RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION. Moved by Majkrzak to reconvene to open session to take action on closed session item; seconded by Kachel. Motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Majkrzak moved to approve a recommendation to the Common Council for approval of the proposed multi-family development to be located on Moraine View Parkway (Tax Parcel No. WPB 00044) for Chris Slater. Seconded by Coburn. Knight expressed his concern for moving forward with a project that does not meet the “but for” provision when considering use of TIF funds to support a multi-family housing project. Kromholz offered his rebuttal of comments made by Knight and stated his support for the project. Kachel stated his support for development of multi-family housing but expressed concern for using TIF funds. Chairman Majkrzak restated his support for recommending approval to the Common Council. Roll Call Vote: AYES: Christon, Majkrzak, Coburn, Kromholz; NOES: Kachel, Knight Hicks; ABSENT: None. Motion passed. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 10. Update regarding status of Action Fund Loan Loss Reserves. 11. Update regarding why Meeper Loan was written off. 12. Update regarding status of Scanalytics Capital Catalyst Loan. Community Development Authority Board of Directors Meeting (In-Person & Virtual) Agenda May 16, 2024 Page 4 13. Follow up on summary of Capital Catalyst original loan amounts. 14. Cost of amending a TIF District. 15. Update regarding ongoing litigation, if any. 16. Knight stated he would like to see copies of the Developer Agreements for the Meadowview and Aldi’s projects. 17. Coburn would like an update regarding status of Slipstream Loan. 18. Coburn requested an update regarding education and recruitment of developers ADJOURNMENT. Moved by Coburn and seconded by Kromholz to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed by unanimous roll call vote. Chairman Majkrzak adjourned the meeting at approximately 6:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Miller, Recorder Minutes approved at June 20, 2024 CDA Meeting.