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Home My WebLink About1997-08-20 Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes .. COMMUNITY& ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE • Wednesday, August 20, 1997 @5:00 PM MINUTES COMMITTEE PRESENT: Councilor James Tyler, Chair Councilor Michael Aube Councilor Joseph Baldacci STAFF PRESENT: Councilor Timothy Woodcock Edward A. Barrett, City Manager Rodney G. McKay, Director of Community &Economic Development T.J. Martzial, C.D. Housing Resources Coordinator Dan Wellington, Code Enforcement Officer John Lord, Planning Officer � Steve Bolduc, Economic Development Officer Gary Jewell, Parking Supervisor Bob Ziegelaar, Airport Director OTHERS PRESENT: Sean Faircloth, Project Coordinator for Childrens Museum Ed Youngblood-Bangor Savings Bank Jane Saxl • The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair, Councilor James Tyler at approximately 5:00 P.M. ITEM#1 - Referral of Ordinance 97-347, Amending Chapter III, Art. 6, Schedule I of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Bangor-Parking Prohibited at All Times - Highland Court The width of this street is not sufficient to allow parking on either side. After some discussion, it was decided to make this a one-way street with parking only on one side. A motion was made and seconded to approve this amendment as presented. So voted. A separate ordinance will also be drafted to reflect the additional change to one-way traffic only. ITEM#2 - Amending Chapter III, Art. 6, Schedule I of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Bangor Parking Prohibited at All Times - Broadway This amendment will prohibit vehicles from parking less then a distance of 10 feet either side of driveways in order to allow a safe range of ingress and egress. Staff asked for guidance from Committee as to whether or not they wish to put this item on the upcoming City Gouncil agenda. � Committee directed Staff to meet with Lt. Don Winslow and Police Chief Harriman of the Bangor Police Department to come up with a workable solution and then to come back to Committee �vith their findings. ` ._ , . 2/ • ITEM#3 - Amending Chapter III, Art. 6, Section 4.1.1 of the Laws and Ordinances of the City Bangor-Double Parking This amendment allows commercial vehicles making deliveries in the downtown to double park for a limit of 20 minutes with the provision that authorities have the right to ask them to move if necessary. Staff will rework this amendment in order to reflect the exact language required. It will be forwarded to Council for first reading and then forwarded back to the C&ED Committee for review and comment. ITEM#4 - Amending Chapter III, Art. 6, Schedule I of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Bangor- Parking Prohibited at All Times - Blackstone Street This amendment will prohibit parking at all times on both sides of the street from Leighton to Norfolk Streets as it is too narrow for through traffic and parking. This will go to the City Council for first reading and then back to C&ED Committee. ITEM#5 - Francophone des Affaires • Ed Youngblood, Senior Vice President,_Bangor Savings Bank, and Past President of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce,made�presentation to the Committee on the first Bureau of the American Association of the Forum Francophone des Affaires (AFFA) to be located in the State of Maine. Four Maine communities (Bangor, Lewiston, Biddeford and Augusta) are vying for the opportunity to host this office -the only one to be located in the entire United States. The primary mission of the AFFA is to provide trade opportunities to their members through the Francophone world. Its secondary mission is to strengthen French- language skills in Maine and other areas of the U.S. The Bangor Chamber of Commerce has established a steering committee to develop a comprehensive response outlining the strengths and resources of the Bangor Region. They will also be requesting support from a number of businesses, agencies and communities. They have requested from the City of Bangor support in establishing 1,500 square feet of occupancy ready office space at the Bangor Airport as well as seed money in the amount of$50,000. This funding would be used for the startup phase;the AFFA will be funded by its own resources in the future. Bangor's final draft proposal is being finalized; the submission deadline is Sept. 3. The Selection Board is meeting on the St''whereby Augusta will make their presentation at 10 AM; Bangor at 11 AM; Lewiston at 12 Noon and Biddeford at 1 PM. The selection committee�vill make their decision thereafter. Airport Director Bob Ziegelaar also spoke on behalf of the AFFA reiterating • Mr.Youngblood's presentation with his request to Committee to consider the airport as a municipal sponsor along with the Economic Development Department. There is office space available at the airport and 50% of the seed money could be donated by the airport. . . 3/ • Discussion continued on the City's additional funding avenues for this endeavor. City Manager Ed Barrett suggested to the Committee that the best resource for City funding would be from the contingency fund. This would require Council approval. A motion was made and seconded to approve the City of Bangor's participation in the AFFA process by contributing upwards to $25,000 from the Contingency Fund (to be transferred into the Community & Economic Development budget) and$25,000 from the Airport's Operating Budget. These funds will be made available on a dollar for dollar matching basis through the Bangor Regional Chamber of Commerce. So voted. , ITEM#6 - Children's Museum Briefing by Project Coordinator Sean Faircloth Mr. Faircloth, on behalf of Maine Partnerships for Healthy Communities, came before the Committee to update them on the progress of the Children's Museum and to answer any questions or concerns they might have. He stated that they have had 3 full meetings to date since they began this endeavor in April of this year with no less then 150 people attending each meeting. EMDC elected to contribute in kind the assistance of one of their staff to do the market feasibility study. There will also be a financial study and strategic plan done. There are 7 activity committees working on the overall process. Sean added that the average time frame from start to opening of any children's museum is 3 years. • With respect to lacation of this museum,Sean indicated that a working relationship with the City would be an asset. The next step in the process is the financial feasibility study and meanwhile they will be approaching private entities around the eastern Maine region for the seed money portion of their budget before they move onto a major capital campaign. ITEM#7 - TARGET Development Corporation Agreement Rod McKay stated that Ed McKeon is retiring from Target Development Corporation. Target has requested that the City of Bangor market their remaining five parcels of land which are located in Dowd Industrial Park(4 parcels) and Bangor Industrial Park Annex (1 parcel). The subject agreement states that the City will maxket them and that Target Development Corporation will provide up to $1,500 to assist with advertising costs. A motion was made and seconded to approve this agreement as presented. So voted. ITEM#8 - Highland Court-No on-street Parking The Committee was advised that an item would be placed on the Council agenda for referral to the Committee at the request of the Police Department as a result of a complaint from a representative of the Post Office. • i s' 4/ � ITEM#9 - Discussion of Parking Garage Discount Policy Rod McKay presented this item stating that recently there has been interest from property owners in the downtown who have the potential of leasing up to 20,000 square feet to an unspecified develop entity provided that the City would be willing to lease parking spaces in the Pickering Square Parking Garage. Staff is recommending that anyone wishing to purchase permits for a one to three year period would receive a 25% discount. Currently, anyone buying 10 or more permits receives a 10% discount. A motion was made and seconded to approve this discount policy as presented. So voted. ITEM#10 - Subordination Agreement- 140 Hammond Street T.J. Martzial, C.D. Housing Resources Coordinator,presented the subject agreement to the Committee stating that due to costly overruns on this project the bank involved will be financing a portion of the additional costs with the request that the City subordinate their loan to an additional $50,000. T.J. further stated that the City's loan will still be secure as there is adequate cash flow to support the additional $50,000 financed. A motion was made and seconded to approve this subordination agreement as presented. • So voted. . .�: ITEM#11 - Code Enforcement Update Dan Wellington, Code Enforcement Officer, reported that they now have a health inspector on staf£ He further asked the Committee's approval to seek acquisition and removal of a blighted structure located at 1408 Hammond Street. Committee approved. ITEM#12 - Planning Update No items to report. ITEM#13 - Economic Development Update Rod McKay presented to the Committee for their future consideration the prospect of inviting consultants from the Waterfront Center(Washington, D.C.)to Bangor in order to advise the City on possible uses for the waterfront • ! � � i 5/ • OTHER BUSINESS Rod McKay stated that representatives of the Blue Ox Team have been approaching Staff regarding their current design plans for the proposed stadium at a cost of$4 million. Staff has made a preliminary review of the prospect of using Bass Park and existing personnel to maintain and operate the proposed stadium. If this approach was taken operational expenses could be significantly reduced. Debt service on a$4 million bond issue, if solely supported by property taxes, would increase the tax rate on a$75,000 home in Bangor by approximately $25 per year. Coopers & Lybrand will be meeting with the City Council on Tuesday, August 26 at a Council Workshop to further discuss. With no further business at hand,the meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:30 PM. � i , , . �