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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-08-03 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wed., August 3, 2011 City Hall Council Chambers MINUTES Councilors: Blanchette, Bronson, Gratwick, Longo and Nealley Staff: Conlow, McKay, Bolduc, Dyer, Pereira, Heitmann, Nicklas Others: Parke Clemons, Republic Parking At Councilor Weston’s request (due to the fact that he is out of town) Councilor Blanchette chaired the meeting. 1. Extension of Lease Agreement with Vicki L. Trundy – 39 Florida Avenue Steve Bolduc, Executive Manager of BanAir Corporation, reviewed this item for the Committee stating that Vicki L. Trundy has leased office space at 39 Florida Ave., Bangor for five years and wishes to extend her lease. The term would be for 1 year from Sept. 1, 2011 to August 31, 2012 at a rate of $173.25 per month. The premises will continue to be used as a business office. The tenant will be responsible for cleaning the office space and will provide public and property damage liability insurance. The City will provide all utilities; take care of property taxes and will be responsible for all maintenance of interior and exterior portions of the building. Vicki L. Trundy has accepted the terms of the proposed lease agreement with BanAir Corp. Staff recommends approval of this lease agreement under the terms and conditions as outlined. Councilor Longo made a motion to approve this lease extension as presented; seconded by Councilor Nealley. Unanimous Committee vote. Councilor Bronson suggested that for future leases that staff consider a minimal rate of rent no matter how small a space is and report back to the Committee at the next B & ED Committee meeting. Staff replied that they will report back on this issue as requested. 2. Republic Parking Proposal for Downtown On-Street Parking Enforcement Rod McKay reviewed this item for the Committee giving some background on the City’s downtown parking policy and the involvement of the Downtown Parking Advisory Committee where this issue began. About a year ago the Parking Advisory Committee realized there was a better method of handling the downtown parking enforcement through newer technology as compared to the way it had been handled for a number of years. The problem at hand is that people who work downtown tend to abuse the on-street parking by parking on street, thus denying the use of those spaces by people who frequent the businesses downtown. The effort is to try to get those people off the on-street spaces and into the City’s parking facilities. One of the ways to accomplish this is through the use of the new technology that is available through Republic Parking. Rod went on to outline the details of Republic’s parking proposal. With the use of the technology that would be available through Republic’s parking proposal there would be data to provide to the City Council about how effective the City’s parking policy is. Republic’s proposal would not have any adverse affect on the City’s budget. The primary issue is not a revenue issue; it is how to free up parking for people doing business in the downtown. Staff has prepared a Council Order that would amend the current agreement with Republic Parking (they currently manage the City’s off-street parking facilities and the airport’s parking facilities under their current 2008-2013 contract with the City). The proposal before the Committee at this time would require an extension of that contract for a five-year period from the time that the amendment is approved by the City Council and goes into effect. That time is needed to basically provide the equipment to the City and have a 5-year write off period of the equipment. The proposal that staff is ready to put on the City Council agenda with the B&ED Committee’s approval would be an amendment to the existing agreement with Republic Parking. Once the Council approves it, it would take a period of 30-60 days to get up and running with the new program. There is a provision in the amendment that would allow two, 2-year extensions if the Council and Republic Parking wish to extend the agreement. Republic would be responsible for enforcing all parking ordinances in effect in the Downtown Parking Management District; issuing citations for valid violations of all applicable ordinances, collecting and processing citation payments, maintaining accurate records, preparing and mailing notices pursuing collection of unpaid citations and acquire and maintain the necessary equipment and software to implement the program. Republic’s annual fee for the first year would be $24,000 increasing to $27,500 in year 2; another $2,500 in year 3; another $2,500 in year 4 and up to $35,000 in year 5. Councilor Nealley expressed his concern with respect to having the presence of parking ambassadors (parking attendants) in the downtown versus the presence of an automated vehicle giving out tickets. The parking attendants serve other functions such as giving directions to visitors; their presence can be deterring to those who would otherwise possibly have a negative influence. He feels the parking attendants are the closest thing to a patrol unit walking around in the downtown and that they have a greater value than merely seeing how much revenue can be driven from the issuance of tickets. He added that he does not feel that we have a crisis of parking in the downtown. He thought that at the last B&ED Committee meeting there was a consensus of the Committee that there wasn’t any burning urgency to move forward this way for the purpose of efficiency and/or enhancing ticket revenue for patrons and others in downtown Bangor. Councilor Nealley, at this time, made a motion to table this item. Seconded by Councilor Longo. Councilor Blanchette then stated that the motion to table is not a debatable item so the 3 voting Committee members present will indicate whether they will support tabling this by raising their hands. There was a vote of 3 to 0 in favor of tabling this item at this time. Unanimous Committee vote. Councilor Blanchette stated that Item 3 & 4 on the Agenda, Executive Session, be placed at the end of the Agenda. 3. Economic Development Update Tanya Pereira, Economic Development Specialist, updated the Committee on Economic Development in Bangor in 3 key areas she’s been working on for business attraction, outreach and the waterfront.  working with a key client on a potential large scale project; hopefully will be brought before the B&ED Committee in the next couple of months. Has involved collecting a lot of information about site options and is still in the confidential stages.  will be meeting soon in Bar Harbor with the party who is interested in the Bangor waterfront. Plan to discuss where we’re going next with their interest in our waterfront.  meeting again this week with the party who is interested in the waterfront food service (this is part of the Shadley Associates plan) to give them an update on where we are and what the process looks like going forward.  had a good work session with the Shadley team at the beginning of last week and have a better idea of what the schedule looks like in terms of budget, construction and permitting.  typical phone calls and emails about business locations. A couple of new businesses opening in the downtown – Broad Street Market; Valentine Footwear is about to open in August (located next to the Best Bib & Tucker).  commercial real estate firms are reaching out to ask about fireworks. With the change in legislation, state guidelines need to be worked out and then municipalities will have to decide if they have additional requirements or restrictions. City Manager Conlow has directed Tanya to begin working with some of the other City departments to get their feedback on what needs to be thought about, then bring staff recommendations to the B&ED Committee for their consideration in the next couple of months.  Outreach – working on strategic communications around the new Arena not only with local media but also with national trade publications to get the word out about the product Bangor will have to offer in 2013. Working with Jim Ring and others on staff to make sure we have a strategic plan for how we’re communicating this information and that we’re very responsive to people when they need or want information. Groundbreaking for the new Arena is Thurs., August 4, 2011 @10 am at Bass Park.  met with Megan Collins and Shirar Patterson who are working on the information we can offer on the government access channel and what can be created for content to answer some of most frequently asked questions such as interest in downtown events, starting a business in Bangor, etc.  with respect to the business letter protocol to businesses that have either taken out a Certificate of Occupancy or have pulled a permit for expansion (from Code Enforcement) she sends letters out to just say ‘thank you’ for being in Bangor and that we’re here to help them at any step of the way. This lets people know that they can come to the City if they have questions or concerns.  waterfront – had a joint meeting with the Harbor Committee, and Parks & Rec Committee within the last 2 weeks to discuss the different initiatives that both of those committees have looked at related to marine activity, and the land on the waterfront. Have also started to prioritize some of those.  continuing to work on hotel developers and other developers to measure interest on Main Street and for a waterfront hotel. Remains to be seen what parcels will be available for that type of project given the waterfront concert conversation. But there are other properties along that area that are on the table for this type of development and as it is a large scale project will need to be looking far ahead for this.  the Shadley team is working on building and improvements happening at the waterfront and how that affects the land available for our development sites as well. Councilor Nealley inquired if City staff and the Shadley team have looked at property on Main Street across from the waterfront that could potentially complement a hotel or any other development on the waterfront, emphasizing he still wants to see development on the waterfront. Tanya replied that this fits in with the larger discussion which City Manager Conlow started in terms of the planning and zoning that concerns the entire area from downtown all the way up to 395; looking at the changes in that area and the pressures that these developments are putting on that neighborhood and the zoning. It is part of the larger conversation that Code Enforcement, Planning and Economic Development have been a part of as well. Have not worked through this with the Shadley team yet. The City does not control any of those properties on Main Street across from the waterfront, so it would be up to City staff to make available as the market makes it available but it would definitely be part of the conversation. If the concert site stays where it is and there isn’t an appropriate piece of land that the City controls then it would be up to us to see if there is something else that comes along. Councilor Longo inquired if the former McDonald’s building on lower Main Street is For Sale or lease and/or has the City considered acquiring it? This could be a nice complement to the waterfront. Rod replied that this building is available. 4. Ongoing Committee Topics a. Policy for Leasing and Disposition of Property in City Business and Industrial Parks b. City Property Leased / Managed / Available for Development c. List of All City Property Councilor Blanchette stated that this item was placed on the agenda at Councilor Weston’s request and due to the fact that he is on vacation at this time, she asked that perhaps a motion be made to postpone discussion until the next regularly scheduled B&ED Committee meeting at which time Councilor Weston will be present. No motion was made; Committee comments followed - Councilor Bronson stated that in looking at the list of City-owned properties it is lengthy and having additional time to review it is appropriate. Also, given the amount of properties on this list he feels the City owns too many parcels of real estate and suggested that it is time that a policy be developed that at least is a guideline policy to begin to allow the City to divest a fair number of these properties. Councilor Nealley stated that in some places there have been land swaps done for parcels that may be contingent to parcels that are more important for the City in exchange for parcels that may be less important. He added that Councilor Longo’s inquiry with regard to the former McDonald’s building on Main Street is possibly in this category. Councilor Gratwick suggested with regard to the list that perhaps the properties could be categorized such as parks vs. other public spaces vs. lots. It would be easier to digest the information if this were done. City Manager Conlow added that the ultimate goal is to do just that – categorize. Meghan Collins in the City’s Information Services Dept. is working on a new web site that will be interactive and that ties in with the GIS system. This will enable those parties coming in as economic developers looking for an opportunity can click on that site and see what properties the City has available and who to contact. We could do the same thing with development parcels that we have available. It will take time to establish the new web site and the GIS system – it’s presently in the infancy stages but we will get to our goal. Councilor Longo suggested that the City’s parks and other assets should be made known to the Bangor community, perhaps on the City’s access channel and the web site. Councilor Blanchette suggested that we should look into deeding over slivers of land parcels to abutting property owners that will increase the size of their lots and which will increase property taxes as well. These strips of small land parcels are never anything that the City will use – as long as the City owns it they don’t collect property taxes on it. By deeding these small land parcels it will also reduce the amount of City-owned properties down to a manageable list. She concluded that this will not happen overnight but knows that City staff is headed in the right direction; this was a discussion that we wanted and is sure it will probably come up again. Rod added that the zoning code on the list of properties is from the Assessor’s records and zoning codes were 1-67 which only staff in the Assessing office could understand so those were converted. It would be useful to staff if Councilors had particular information they would like to have on the list of these properties and then to get that information to staff to see if it can be included. Councilor Blanchette stated that this concludes the regularly scheduled business of the Business & Economic Development Committee meeting. Councilor Nealley made a motion to go into Executive Session – Contract Negotiations – Bangor State Fair – 1 M.R.S.A. § 405 (6) ( C ) ; seconded by Councilor Longo. 5. Executive Session – Contract Negotiations – Bangor state Fair – 1 M.R.S.A. § 405 (6) ( C ) 6. Committee Action on Above Item The Committee did not take any action.