Zionsville Redevelopment Commission (ZRDC)

MINUTES OF THE JULY 23, 2012 MEETING OF THE ZIONSVILLE REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION A meeting of the Zionsville Redevelopment Commission (“Commission”) was held on Monday, July 23rd, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. in the Zionsville Town Hall Conference Center. Notice of the meeting was duly given to all Commissioners and posted in the notice area of the Town Hall. Those present at the meeting included Commissioners Mike Latz, Craig Anderson, John Tousley, and James Longest, Town Manager Ed Mitro, Wayne DeLong and Boone EDC Executive Director Dax Norton. Commissioners Carol Marquiss and Mark Plassman were not present. Mike Latz called the meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. The first agenda item was approval of the June 2012 meeting minutes. Mike Latz moved to approve the June 25th, 2012 meeting minutes with suggested grammatical changes and Craig Anderson seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3 to 0. The next agenda item was Old Business and an update on the Micro Loan Program. John Tousley asked if all micro loan applicants must come back to the RDC for final approval of the appropriation after approval by the loan committee. The next agenda item under Old Business was an update of the economic development strategic plan process. Ed Mitro stated that the process was moving along and that the next working group meeting was to be held on July 26th, 2012. John Tousley suggested that everyone receive a redlined copy of the draft plan to better communicate changes externally. The next agenda item under Old Business was an update on projects within the redevelopment area. Ed Mitro stated that the REI, Hoosier Village and Corner Vise projects were moving along. Mike Latz asked about the status of the 1st Street project. Ed Mitro stated that Lantz Lantz was currently working on final revised designs and scheduling a 2nd public meeting to discuss progress and changes. Ed stated that there had been extensive conversations with building owners on 1st Street. Mike Latz stated that timing was important related to the RDC budgeting process. Craig Anderson inquired about the status of the Wal-Mart project. Ed Mitro stated that it would probably be before the Town in a couple of months. He stated that the ball was in Wal-Mart’s court. The next agenda item was New Business and consideration of Resolution No. 2012-02 approving a first amendment to lease and certain other documents and related to the North Main Street improvements conducted in 2003 and refinancing the 2003 Lease Rental Bonds. Andy Buroker of Krieg DeVault and Brian Colton of HJ Umbaugh and Associates were present to present this matter. Andy Buroker gave a brief history of the project and stated that this resolution was to approve the refinancing of the 2003 lease rental bonds originally issued for the completion of the Main Street re-bricking project. He explained that the RDA was the owner and the RDC was the lessee of this project. Brian Colton stated that each year Umbaugh monitors interest rates for the Town’s bonds and this year the possibility of refinancing popped up due to low interest rates. Brian Colton explained that the current bond rate was 4.33% and the new bond rate would be 2.25%. He stated that there would be issuance costs of $43,000 with $8,000 being insurance. This would be a savings of $107,000 annually through the life of the bond, equaling 4.2%, which is well above the Town Council’s stop point of 2%. Brian Colton suggested that the RDA use the $64,000 in excess funds on deposit to pay down the bonds. Andy Buroker explained that the excess funds accumulate over time due to scheduled bond payments and can be used to help pay down the debt. Brian Colton and Andy Buroker advised that the RDC should proceed and approve the refinancing based on the facts presented, and the estimated savings. Ed Mitro asked where the excess payments go when bond is paid off. Brian Colton suggested that the excess payments would go toward the final bond payment. John Tousley asked if TIF revenues were being applied to pay the bonds. Brian Colton stated that these were not TIF revenues but they rather the debt is serviced with a property tax levy. John Tousley asked if this was why these payments do not show up in the RDC budget. Mike Latz answered yes. Andy Buroker stated that this Resolution was merely approving an amendment to the lease changing the schedule of the dollar amounts remaining to be paid based on the refinancing. He stated the final schedule of debt payments would be finalized by the following Thursday when the bond sale was scheduled to occur. Mike Latz asked if the actual lease amendment would be signed later. Andy Buroker stated yes. John Tousley moved to approve Resolution No. 2012-02 approving the bond refunding, the form of lease amendment, the issuance, sale and delivery of the refunding bonds in the amount of $850,000, and authorizing the President and Secretary to sign the final lease amendment, and Craig Anderson seconded the motion and the motion was approved 3-0. The next agenda item under New Business was consideration of Resolution No. 2012-03 of the Zionsville Redevelopment Commission regarding determination of excess assessed value and advising the Boone County Auditor’s office of such determination. Andy Buroker explained the new law requires all RDCs to certify and explain to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance whether there are excess TIF funds and how the current TIF funds will be spent in the coming budget cycle. He stated that the RDC needs to pass this resolution and send a letter to the County Auditor stating that the RDC would not be accumulating TIF funds with no plan to spend those funds. John Tousley asked if the State audits the RDC. Brian Colton of HJ Umbaugh answered yes. John Tousley asked if there was a set timetable to spend excess funds after they accumulate. Brian Colton stated no. Mike Latz stated that this law was the reason the RDC approved a detailed budget last year. John Tousley asked if the RDC should discuss the 2013 budget prior to passing this resolution. Mike Latz stated that this resolution was for the 2012 budget not 2013. Ed Mitro stated that a full budget pro forma was provided. John Tousley inquired about the economic development line in the budget. Mike Latz stated it was for specific incentives and gave Bluefish and Mobi as examples. Mike Latz stated that the resolution will explain that we have accumulated TIF funds but that all of those funds are and will be needed for debt service and projects included in the budget. Craig Anderson moved to approve Resolution No. 2012-03 and Mike Latz seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3-0. The next agenda item under New Business was the final approval of the Eagle Creek Coffee micro loan. John Tousley stated that the loan committee had met and approved a loan of $12,000 for 3 years at 4% for Eagle Creek coffee to purchase and repair certain items. John stated that he was excited about the owner’s vision and that he was very supportive of the loan approval. Mike Latz moved to approve the appropriation of the funds for the loan subject to all guidelines and committee suggestions being met. Craig Anderson seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3-0 The next agenda item under New Business was a discussion of the RDC 2013 Budget. Mike Latz described the budget sheet that he sent to the commission. He stated that the last 4 columns are conservative projections. He also stated that the Bennett Parkway extension would need to be bonded and may need to be added into the document. John Tousley asked if the Bennett Parkway bonds were based 20 year TIF. Brian Colton stated that they were based on the end date of the TIF. Mike Latz then presented specifics items related to the 2013 draft budget document. One of the items is a future upgrade to 96th Street in partnership with the County RDC, city of Indianapolis and city of Carmel. John Tousley asked about the improvements and Ed Mitro stated it would be possibly be a super 2 in Boone County. Mike Latz asked what line item the Governor’s Superbowl Sponsor was funded from and Ed Mitro stated that he was not sure. Mike Latz explained that the 2013 draft did not have any money appropriated for the micro loan. Mike Latz stated that he did not foresee any additional money for the program at this time. Mike Latz stated that the budget needed more discussion and the 2013 budget would focus on the 106th Street Water/Sewer Extension. He stated the numbers for this project may change over time. Mike Latz suggested that the commission place an additional $150,000 into the 1st Street Project Line Item for the 2013 budget. Craig Anderson suggested that the commission hold off on voting on final numbers in a budget until Commissioner Marquiss and Commissioner Plassman were present and participating. Mike Latz suggested that the RDC could hold a special meeting but also suggested presenting a draft budget to the council for their budget purposes and present a final draft of the budget prior to the state mandated time to submit. Craig Anderson moved to present the draft budget document to the council with the suggested changes to the 1st Street line item and the 106th Street Improvement Line item. Mike Latz Seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0 The next agenda item was an update from Boone County EDC director Dax Norton and the introduction of 2 economic development projects in the Zionsville TIF District. Mr. Norton introduced 2 projects to the commission. The first project was a potential development of a new business park in the 106th Street/Bennett Parkway area. He stated that this project could potentially bring a major tenant interested in investing $40,000,000 into a new facility in the new business park. He stated that he was still bound by confidentiality agreements and hoped to be able to present more details at the next RDC meeting. Mr. Norton stated that a local development group was working on a plan to purchase, improve and market the Dow property. He stated that this was a real deal and that Dow was a willing and very cooperative seller and that it would necessitate the creation of a creative public/private partnership to ensure project success. Mr. Norton asked the RDC to consider using economic development funds to assist with the legal costs to set up a public/private partnership to move forward with the redevelopment of the Dow property. John Tousley stated that he would be in favor of this request pending additional details about the developer and the overall plan for the public/private partnership. John Tousley moved to approve funding for the public/private partnership costs not to exceed $50,000 and pending additional details about the developer and the plan for the project. Craig Anderson seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0 Craig Anderson made a motion to adjourn the meeting. John Tousley seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. Meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. The next meeting of the Commission will be held at 6:30 on Monday, August 27th, 2012. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. ______________________________ Craig Anderson, Secretary ______________________________ Dax Norton, Recorder KD 4419054