The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2008-12-17 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes � � BUSINESS AND KONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE � Wednesday, December 17, 2008 5:00 PM Minutes � Councflors: D'Errico, Stone, Nealley, Bronson, Hawes, Palmer, Wheeler Staff: McKay, Barrett � 1. LitHe Wood Island, LLC Main Street Tim Horton's Proposal � McKay gave a brief overview of the Gty Council's approval on October 7"' 2008 authorizing the City Manager to sign a development agreemerrt with Little Wood Island, LLC who is developing a Tim Horton's on Main Street. They needed .178 acres from the � Gry of Bangor atong the rear of tfie property in order to fit their proposed development. The Council has agreed.to sell it to them all under terms and conditions approved by the Business and Economic Development Commitbee. The Committee needs to approve tt�e I terms of tfie agreement. Referring to the outlined provided McKay pointed out that it is fairly standard. The City will sell the land to them for$10,340 and requires them to develop a Tim Horton's. Construction needs to start in eariy 2009 and rnmplete by � March 30, 2010. Their proposed schedule is muth faster than that and they would like to start in January and �mplete next fall. The proposal will give them some leeway in the agreement. The agreement requires Little Wood to come before the Committee � with the preliminary plans and final plans for approval. They also need approval of consOvcaon schedule and need to show evidence of finandng satisfactory to the Gty Attorney before the City will transfer title to L.ittie Wood. The immediate need is a � developmerrt agreement. The Committee was asked to approve it so that we can execute that and give tfiem standing to approach the planning for site plan approval. , During that process they can come back to the Committee for the approvals needed from the Committee. Because LitUe Wood was not present there was discussion about � whether or not to proceed with the approvat. Nealley asked if anyone had any reason not to move forward. McKay responded that the Commttbee has discussed the proposal several ttmes and met several time with representatives from Little Wood but have not � considered or approved the legal document/agreement. All tt�e terms have been discussed before and approved by the Commitxee. Palmer asked for the approximate yteld in taxes currentiy and a projecrs compleUon date. McKay responded that the � property taxes currently are based on a value of about$643,000. The investrnent is going to be well over $1M dollars. They have to build retaining walls and the assessmerrt will increase by about $400,000. The reason for the high assessment on , the property now is the amount Little Wood paid for the propercy, even though the current buildings are n�in the greatest shape. Along the Waterfront Development Project and our Main Street Corridor Improvemerrt Project, the City has trted to improve � property value and creabe new jobs and this will do that. Bronson commented that he feels that his is not a large issue and the staff has done a good job. He feels the Committee can move forward. Stone commented on the retaining wall and said that it � would be very visible from the waterfront. He would like to know how the qry can be sure it is not going to be a cement wall. McKay responded by saying that the preliminary and final plans have to be submitted and receive approval from the Committee. The , � i plans will have to show the materials to be used and what it wi�l look like. If the � Committee is not sadsfied then the plans will not be approved and the project dces not � go forward. Stone said that it would be more beneficial to talk to them up front and McKay responded by saying that they have discussed this and the wall that tliey are proposing is very similar to the wall that Hollywood Slots has put up. It is very similar to the granite pillars holding up tfie railroad bridge that goes over Dutton Street. It is a � very attractive wal�. A motion was made and seconded to accept the option agreement. All were in favor. 2. Authorization to Execute and Flle an Application to the U. S. Department � of Housing and Urban Developme�t for Economic Developmerrt InitlaWe � (EDI) Special Project Funds of $257,250 McKay said that this graM was made to the �ty of Bangor through an earmark but has � to go through this fiortnal approval process before the end of the year. Staff is waiting to see the size of the project and to know that we need to know how much we are receiving from the State of Maine if any from the River Front Bond Program. The City � has applied for the maximum amount of$750,000 and has been invited to Augusta tomorrow to hear the announcements of the Grants. McKay handed out a memo that that oudined tfie amount of funds received, what is in hand and what has been applied � ' for to botal the $2,329,000. The Cdy has FY2006 HUD EDI grant $321,000. The amount being applied for is #257,000. The Council appropriated $iM out of the Downtown TIF district funds, which is very fortunate, because the River Front � Committee Development Bond Program requires a 2 to 1 match. There is more than at 2 to 1 match with the Gty appropriation of the two Federai Grents. Again, tfiis will allow us to start improving the area down river from Railroad Street through the open space area between the railroad track and the Penobscot River down river from Railroad � Street between tfiere and Dutton Street. It will allow connections from Dutton Street to Raiiroad Street and put the trails in and do the grading. The City will put in the infrastructure that is needed to support activities in tfiat area such as underground � utilities, water, sewer, and electripl. The Gty plans to do a lot of the grading for the amphitheater by putting in the parking areas, and will stay away from the Rivers edge with any permanent improvements right now until we flnd out what is going to be ' tnvolved in the River Gean up effort. The timeline is to do a lot of the work in 2009 before the Folk Festival and complete the rest of it with the funds available before tl�e August 2010 Folk Festival. � Wheeler joined the meeting. Stone commented on the great job McKay and his staff have done getting this project , underway. A motion was made and seconded. Barrett asked McKay what percentage of the entire plan will this accomplish? McKay said that it depended on tfie amount of � future activities we plan for. The City has about half the money needed to carry out an ideal project. Wheeler asked for the description of ti�e amphitheater design. Mdcay responded by saying that the amphitheater that is planned is landscaped irrto the � landscape w'ith seating areas that wfll built frrto the grassy areas and the seatlng will be approximately 4ft or more apart so that there will be an area to sit for about 200 -300 people in front of the stage area and then furtlier badc will be a sloped grass area that � , � . � people can come and sit with their own chairs and blankets. It is an area that can be used for other activttles when tfiere are not any perfortnances. Responding to � Wheeler, McKay said the stage area has not been designed yet but City Engineer Director Jim Ring says there will be a need for holding up tfie lighting and the acoustics. � Nealiey asked if McKay has a strong feeling of the outcome of the meeting tomorrow whether or not the City could leverage these funds and rnuld move forward with some similar amount of money. McKay says that because tfie City has been invited to the � annauncement he assumes that the City will receive some funding. It may not be the totat amourrt appiied for, but Barrett made a comment that there were approxlmately 28 to 30 applfcations for the funds and there were 5M available and the total request for � funding was $8.3 Million dollars. So clearly they got a lot of applicatlons and about 6096 over the amourrt available. McKay anttcipates, as is often the case witfi State projec4s, that they will try to spread the money as widely as they can. He thinks the Gty � submitted a very good application and has very good matching numbers. He tl�inks the City will do well. Palmer credited McKay for his efforts. � All in favor, none opposed. This will be on the agenda on Monday the 22nd of December. � Nealley r�esponded to tfie question that Wheeler made earlier regarding whether or not there was going to be a shell for the amphitheater and he felt like this was an opportunity for a private individual to have naming rights opportunity and pays for the I ' shell. Meeting adjoumed � � � � � 1 � I 1