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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-01-22 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Tuesday, January 22, 2013 5:15 PM City Council Chambers Minutes Councilors Present: Sprague, Gallant, Nealley, Civiello, Blanchette, Baldacci and Longo Staff Present: Conlow, Heitmann, Vanadestine, and Arno Chair Sprague called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m. He indicated that the Committee would discuss Item No. 3 out-of-order. 3. Authorization to Apply for the Americorps Grant Shawn Yardley, Director of Health and Community Services, gave a brief overview of Americorps and the Americorps Grant. He explained that the City was approached by the Governor’s office offering the opportunity to partner with the City of Bangor for the Grant. Yardley explained that this program is like a domestic peace corps for people ages 18-65 to volunteer either full time or part time for Americorps work. Eastern Maine Community College has stepped forward and has agreed to take the lead on this. There is no requirement for a City match just some in-kind hours that will be provided by his office Staff. Other agencies who are planning to collaborate are the Bangor Housing, Authority, the Salvation Army, Penquis CAP and Food and Medicine. Yardley indicated that he was present to answer questions and asked the Committee for its endorsement before it goes to the full City Council. Councilor Longo indicated that he felt that this is a good thing for Bangor and will create jobs. Councilor Baldacci moved to recommend authorization to apply for the Americorps Grant. The motion was seconded by Councilor Nealley and passed unanimously. 1. Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau Update Kerrie Tripp, Executive Director and Lee Speronis, Chairman, of the Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau were present. Ms. Tripp discussed a six month snapshot of activities the CVB has undertaken since July, 2012. She outlined some of the upcoming activities for 2013. She also noted that they 2 have hired Danielle Dorey as the new Membership and Convention Sales Coordinator. She indicated that the 2013 Guidebook will be available the second week in February and the increase in interest as they have sold more ads. Some of the upcoming events include a convention for event planners; a beer festival in June, and the Logging Association event. In May or August they will start releasing webisodes of the Fire Ball Run with the final piece being the red carpet premiere of the movie. 2. Pickering Square / West Market Square Update Rosie Vanadestine, Director of Community and Economic Development gave an update on the development plans for improvements to West Market Square and Pickering Square. She explained that in order to spread out the costs for these improvements a phased plan approach has been developed. The first phase is the improvements to West Market Square to be done in the coming year. Amanda Soucier with the Engineering Department and Peter Witham with the Planning Division were asked to design a four phase approach for improvements. Soucier and Witham discussed all four phases of improvements and the associated costs to complete those phases. The first phase is for the improvements to West Market Square. The improvements include widening the park area and upgrading utilities. The Continuity of Community sculpture has been removed which opens up the area for more public use. T Soucier and Witham discussed the other phases which propose improvements to Pickering Square, Merchants Plaza, and connection between West Market Square, Merchants Plaza, Pickering Square and the Waterfront. Councilor Baldacci asked if the source of funding would be through CDBG block grant funds. Vanadestine indicated that some of it may and most would be through downtown TIF monies. Councilor Baldacci asked if Staff could provided reduced drawings of the phases attached to the memo to allow the Committee additional time to review. Staff indicated that they could provide the additional information to the committee. Councilor Gallant spoke of the panhandlers and troubled youths and felt that these should be addressed prior to making improvements to Pickering Square. He noted that several downtown merchants have expressed concerns. Interim Police Chief Peter Arno indicated that they posted a full time position for a patrolman in the downtown. He indicated that he agreed with the concerns of those in the downtown area. Councilor Nealley agreed and noted that he felt that security and surveillance costs weren’t included in the original improvement estimates and felt that they 3 should be. He said that if there were security systems related to the command control at the police station then response time would be quicker. Councilor Longo agreed. He asked if a loading dock proposed on Merchants Plaza could be removed to have one solid block area rather than an island. Amanda Soucier noted that this is something that they could look at further. Councilor Gallant said that nothing has happened to address these problems over the past year. He suggested leasing some of the public area to a private entity such as Downtown Bangor Partnership. Then the area would be controlled privately. Councilor Blanchette disagreed that nothing has happened. She felt that there have been a lot of accomplishments over the last year. Because of the increased events over the past year it has increased the number of people in the downtown as well as the number of undesirable patrons. She felt this discussion was premature until the study comes in as to whether or not we want to relocate the buses in the Pickering Square area. She agreed that she would like to see the drawings reduced in size so that they can decide what design they want. She felt that the improvements to West Market Square should be undertaken to get them done and let the people in the downtown enjoy them. Chair Sprague indicated that it is the desired outcome at this meeting to decide whether or not to move forward with Option A for improvements to West Market Square. Conlow indicated that the City is now looking at putting a patrolman in the downtown 12 months a year. Chair Sprague said that downtown people felt that a walking patrolman was successful. Vanadestine indicated that total projected costs for the project are approximately $2 million not $4 million as Councilor Gallant indicated. She said that they are looking at addressing the areas so it will remove places where undesirable patrons can hide. Adding security cameras is an important part of this project. Councilor Baldacci said that this information needs to go out to the public for feedback. Once this is done, then we need to review the demands on CDBG funds and TIF monies. Councilor Longo asked Mr. Heitmann if Pickering Square could be leased out to a private entity. Mr. Heitmann indicated that it could, but by doing so you can’t circumvent someone’s constitutional rights by privatizing something. 4 Councilor Gallant felt that if we gave our downtown businesses the option of having a safe popular area that was free of some of the issues or new benches and new trees that they would opt for the better environment. Chair Sprague invited members of the public to speak. Josh Plourde, a member of the Cultural Commission, asked the Committee to consider the issue of overflowing trash bins and recycle bins. Ann Marie Orr, a downtown business owner, said that she was grateful for the work the City has done as it is a step in the right direction. She said that she felt that one reason the transient population don’t hide and are in full view is because the downtown is becoming more popular. There are more people they can beg from. She asked if an ordinance could be written to prohibit panhandling and loitering within a five block radius of the downtown. She also suggested that this would be helpful for the police department in these situations. She added that this should also include all of the churches. Mr. Heitmann indicated that most courts have rules that a solicitor is protected by the Constitution’s first amendment. Some limitations can be imposed but it cannot be banned completely. He indicated that locations on the sidewalk and public parks could be looked at. Mr. Brian Ames a Board Member of Downtown Bangor Partnership indicated that he met with both Peter Witham and Amanda Soucier to look at the technical aspects of the Plans. He indicated that he feels that the 8 foot reduction to Broad Street should be placed on the park side rather than on the Paddy Murphy’s side as it was their original thought to increase the area of the park. He also noted that it was requested that a turnout be included for the Charles Inn to use for an off loading area. He said that the walkway proposed from the bus station to West Market Square should be done immediately as it is not presently paved and is a safety issue. He felt that the Kiosk is a large part of the overall development of West Market Square. He also suggested that elements should be incorporated to be in keeping with the historic approach to the downtown. George Kinghorn, President of Downtown Bangor Partnership, indicated that he has been involved with all of the discussions. He thinks there are more problems with panhandlers. He felt that the City need to move forward on both the physical enhancements and the safety concerns as well. He said that he felt that the City needs to give attention to the heart of the City. He encouraged the Committee to move forward with the Phase I improvements to West Market Square, supporting out police officers by giving them more resources, and suggested that surveillance was a good idea. 5 Gibran Graham, downtown resident and Member of the Downtown Bangor Partnership spoke in support of the Phase I improvements to West Market Square. He suggested that there were elements missing in our downtown and asked if other stakeholders such as event planners for Pickering Square have been included in the discussions about the proposed improvements. He said that their input is important. Graham said that the center of the downtown is the downtown regardless of where you move the bus hub. He said that there are many things that aren’t being taken care of such as overflowing trash, no signage, the little things that create the perception of what we are seeking. He mentioned the fact that there is vacant potential commercial space in the Parking Garage. He said the more activity we fill up the more we can create a critical mass of positive activity. We need to create elements in the space that will displace some of the things that we don’t want. Councilor Longo noted a program in Baltimore, MD, suggested a competition or contest to allow someone to develop the vacant space in the parking garage. Councilor Baldacci moved to continue this discussion to a meeting in 30 days. The motion was seconded. Councilor Nealley asked for the cost to add security in the proposals. Baldacci asked for a cost breakdown of not only the security system but the cost of a person monitoring the system. Nealley added that the costs should be for the area from West Market Square through Pickering Square down to the Waterfront. Chair Sprague indicated that he would like to see further information about the Bus Study. Councilor Longo, Chair of the Parking Committee, indicated that the parking Committee has discussed and agreed that there should be a Broad Street loading area for the Charles Inn. Councilor Blanchette asked that information be provided for the next meeting regarding the usage in the parking garage and if it has gone down and if the City has lost money. She also asked that Rosie Vanadestine explain what the amount of CDBG funds can be used for improvements without creating jobs. 3. Executive Session – Economic Development – Land Disposition – 1 M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(C) Councilor Baldacci Moved to go into Executive Session under M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(C). Councilor Nealley seconded the motion which passed unanimously. 6 Councilor Baldacci moved to exit the Executive Session, Councilor Nealley seconded the motion. The motion passed. 4. Committee Action on Above Item. The committee voted in favor of a motion to accept Staff recommendation for the sale of land in the BanAir Industrial Park to Kurt Thomas. 5. Executive Session – Legal Advice Regarding Liquor Licenses and Special Amusement Permits – 1 M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(E) Councilor moved to go into Executive Session under M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(C). Councilor seconded the motion. The motion passed. There being no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned.