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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-10-02 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes � BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES OCTOBER 2, 2001 Councilors Attending: Mike Crowley, Gerry Palmer, Dan Tremble Staff Attending: Edward Barrett, Rodney McKay, Norman Heitmann, John Hamer, Peter D'Errico, Rebecca Hupp, Mike Dyer, Sally Brewer and Bob Welch The meeting convened at 5:00 p.m. 1. Consent Agenda a. Octoberfest License Agreement This license agreement would give Montage Enterprises, Rick Schweikert, President, the right to hold an Octoberfest event on Saturday, October 20t", using West Market Square, Pickering Square, and Broad Street from the intersection of Maine Street to the intersection of Bangor Alley for • the staging and presentation of this event including related food and beverage sales and displays, musical performances, and children's games (agreement attached). b. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Off-Premise Car Rental Agreement c. Amendment of Lease Agreement with AAA Northern New England -- BIA Commercial/Industrial Park d. Subordination of City Mortgage -- 29 Broad Street -- Timothy and Jennifer Estabrook The Estabrooks received a Community Development loan to partially finance the rehabilitation of 29 Broad Street. The City's loan is secured by a 2"d mortgage. The Estabrooks would like to refinance their 1� mortgage at more favorable terms and have asked that the City agree to subordinate to the proposed new 1� mortgage. There would be no change to the City's secured position. The loan is current and staff recommends approval. e. One Year Lease Agreement -- Winter Barns -- Bass Park The Committee approved the Consent Agenda as presented: 2. Extension of Lease Agreement with University of Maine System Norman He;tr�ann referred to the m�terials pro�,�ide� .�,�ith the agenda. T"er� is an , agreement with the University of Maine System on new property lines; and Parcel C on • the map is land that the City would be giving the University. The University would also be giving the City Parcels D and E. Parcel A, which is the Chancellor's, would still be leased to them while releasing the rest of the leased property. The Dyer lot which was acquired for unpaid taxes will also be turned over to the University. Additional surveying work needs to be done and language needs to be finalized for a future agreement that will be presented to the Council. There is also an additional parcel which will come to the City as part of a swap if and when the Nursing Facility can be turned over to them. Two remaining issues are the possibility of the Nursing Facility moving and replacing Health & Welfare and the costs involved with that. The current lease extension runs out October 10th.. Staff is requesting another 60 days which would extend the lease until December 10tn Councilor Palmer asked for more information on the Nursing Facility and Health and Welfare sections. Ed Barrett responded that the City cannot commit to anything until it � is known for sure what the Nursing Facility is going to do. Should the Nursing Facility relocate, there will be several alternatives to consider. One alternative is to continue the building as a joint-use building allowing Health & Welfare to stay in the front and the University to take over the Nursing Facility part of it. This would fit into the University's plans as they've been looking into the possibility of having a residential component on campus. • If the Nursing Facility moves out, then negotiations could continue with the University where either through a deferred rental system or some other agreement, a reserve could be built up to relocate Health and Welfare. Mr. Barrett did indicate that with all of the other things going on with the Police Department renovations, Bass Park and the waterfront it would be very difficult to capitalize a new facility for Health and Welfare through general obligation debt. Because of the uncertainties of this property, these issues have been set aside for the time being. The Committee approved staff recommendation to extend the lease. 3. Airport Update Rebecca Hupp indicated that she had been forwarding e-mails to members of the Council about what has been going on with security issues and pending congressional legislation. There have not been traumatic changes over the last week as compared to before. However, there are some changes, .some positive and some not so positive. A brochure that was handed out last week was finalized and sent to local travel agents and it was also offered airlines to use at their ticket counters. What can be expected to be a large change is the implementation of the National Guard at the Airport. She went on to say that she hasn't received a lot of detail from the FAA, • only security directives that indicate how we�re supposed t� apply these new requirements. She could say that the National Guard will only be authorized at the 2 • internal security checkpoints and therefore will not be helping with curb security, perimeter security or security of other areas that might be vulnerable such as GA or the fuel farm. They will have two people per checkpoint during checkpoint operations plus a noncommissioned officer in charge to oversee those operations which will make five guards at the Airport at any given time. They will not have arrest authority and are being trained by the FAA. The Police Department is assisting with some of the training and they're going to be given an overview of the security screening process but they are not going to be responsible for the process. She expects the Guard to be in place by Friday, October 5tn Ms. Hupp said that she did have some concerns. Although it is a good thing and we're in a position where we almost have to utilize them, they're not going to save us money because they are not a substitute for law enforcement officers. There's no financial incentive or benefit for the City. Ms. Hupp told the Guard that they need to have a very clear definition of what they can do and under what circumstances they would be authorized to use force and possibly deadly force. When she asked the Guard if the weapons were going to be loaded she was answered that they would be loaded but a round would not be in the chamber and that would be on safety. In general, this is a safety practice that is used in training with weapons. She also understands that there is an ordinance which actually prohibits having a weapon in the airport unless it's a law enforcement officer but she has not had an opportunity to confirm this. • Councilor Crowley expressed concern on how close the Guard is working with the Bangor Police Department. Although he feels confident that the Bangor PD has the sensitivity to what law enforcement presence needs to be on site, the military will be able to anticipate some things that we as average citizens will not be able to anticipate. If anything were to happen and a weapon was discharged, our Police Department will be there to help facilitate the outcome. Barrett recommended that Rebecca and a representative of the Police Department spend some time and work with whoever is in charge of the detail and the staff to familiarize them with the airport and our law enforcement policies. Councilor Crowley asked if the Council could be briefed, and Ed answered that once everything has been worked out this could be done. In response fo Councilor Palmer's earlier question on stafFing, Ms. Hupp answered that they are activating 70 people to staff six airports throughout the State. Ed Barrett added that obviously this is an interim arrangement and the Federal Government is still trying to figure out what direction they want to take. Councilor Tremble asked if the Guard would be from the local unit or from Augusta, and Ms. Hupp responded that they had asked for volunteers from throughout the State and • they're taking as the�r frst selectees �eo,�le who have ci�,�i�ian law erforce�ent experience, i.e., sheriff, state police, and local police officers. Councilor Tremble then 3 • asked who these people would report to. Ms. Hupp responded that this was another issue that needed to be clarified, the civilian chain of command, and there was no answer at this time. Ms. Hupp updated the Committee on two other items, the first being air service. Enplanement numbers for September are not yet available, but she did report that there has been a decrease in passenger trafFic and a decrease in capacity. The Philadelphia service which was going to be lost is now back on the schedule for November. It is unknown at this time if it is temporary and it may change between now and then. There are still no changes from Delta or from the ComAir flights. The international flight issue is still being worked on with the Congressional 'delegation and with the Airport's D.C. attorney. The Airport has been informed that FinnAir is going to cancel half of the flights for the season due to soft bookings. They just don't have the interest or traffic to support the initial schedule they had projected. She reminded the Committee that they were looking at $400,000 of revenue as it had been initially proposed but this will probably be cut in half. She did tell the Committee that tomorrow she, the D.C. attorney and Congressional delegation will be sending a letter to Tom Ridge, the new Homeland Defense cabinet member, to talk about these issues. She wanted to let the Committee know that they are pursuing this every way that they can to get this taken care of. . Councilor Crowley initiated a brief discussion about resurrecting the Airport Committee. The general consensus was the interest was there but it should be discussed when the new Council comes in. Councilor Palmer also supported looking at the concept, but not at the end of this administration. As a final comment, Ms. Hupp said that a meeting will be set up with the City Manager for a presentation to the City Council for the next advertising campaign. She feels it important even in these difficult times to promote the Airport, and it's more important now that we get people back into traveling and if they're thinking about traveling to think about using Bangor. Council Palmer asked about service to aircraft, and Ms. Hupp responded that their procedures were reevaluated and changes were made so that employees now carry pliers and a screwdriver instead of knives or similar utensils when servicing the aircraft. In addition, the airlines are required to do a random check of ramp employees. 4. Bass Park a. Noise Concerns -- Flat Track Motorcycle Races Matzrials provided to the C�m�rittee prior to the meeting ;ncl�ded a mer:�orandum from � Mike Dyer on the flat track motorcycle races held in August. Ed Barrett said that the 4 . noise readings from the event obviously and fairly consistently exceeds the ordinance requirements which puts the City in the position of either deciding to not allow events that create vehicle noise at Bass Park that would exceed our ordinance, or looking at the possibility of amending the ordinance to exclude certain events at Bass Park from its coverage. Should the change be made in the ordinance to exclude certain events at Bass Park, that does not necessarily mean we would not be able to look at events on an event-by-event basis and try to determine neighborhood impact. Mr. Barrett added that the issue could not be ignored. � Councilor Crowley recalled being in on discussions of having flat track racing at Bass Park and remembered�the intent was to try something and see if it would work. He feels now that it has become a consistent nuisance to the people that live in the area, and it hasn't lived up to his expectations that the event and Bass Park and the neighbors can co-exist because it doesn't work. His suggestion to Mike Dyer was to use his good judgment in the management of that area and eliminate the event. And when it comes to exceptions, Councilor Crowley didn't think that Bass Park should be excepted any more than any other area of the City. If we hold restaurateurs and bar owners that have outdoor dances to a standard we should be able to meet our own requirements for our events. He suggested maybe we should start limiting the number of loud outdoor activities at Bass Park, and he would support Mike and others if they used greater discretion on allowing certain activities to be there. He did recognize . peoples' argument that they knew what was there when they moved in, but we weren't doing flat track racing 30 years ago. He said the flat track races could be held elsewhere, they don't have to be at Bass Park. Councilor Palmer did not totally agree with Councilor Crowley's view. He reminded the Council that the first airplane flight was at Bass Park, as well as the first motorcycle on the track. He suggested looking at some way other than eliminating it all together. He noted that staff has put in an incredible amount of time, and that maybe there were some other alternatives. Councilor Tremble asked Mike if this was just an update or was he looking for some direction. Mike responded that he is looking for some real direction either in the short term or long term because certainly the truck and tractor pulls do violate the noise ordinance at the property line. We either have to eliminate all those types of vehicular noise activities and/or create a system by which an event can be evaluated. on an event-to-event basis as to its potential for noise. The races are supported more by the club and have not been a money maker over the last two or three years. He stated he would feel more comfortable with having some latitude to at least look at en event that may produce a lot of vehicular noise and putting it through a process by where the event can be monitored and adjusted rather than say if it violates noise ordinance it's not allowed in. The truck and tractor pulls during the Fair are very popular and they draw a lot of �e�ple, but he doesn't know how many people ccme to the fair spec;fically � for the pulls and, as the ordinance exists, they would not be allowed. It is hoped that 5 • events that clearly will or possible could violate the noise ordinance be looked at event- by-event. In closing, Mike commented that the event doesn't do much for Bass Park and it causes way too many problems to have them come back unless they were willing to pay significant increases, that is unlikely. Councilor Palmer recalled that the snowmobile races made money for Bass Park back in the 60s and 70s. He feels the timing is bad for the flat track racing and suggested they come during the fair or at either end. This would save the community from the noise when their windows are open. He just feels that there are mor.e solutions than an outright no you can't have the event at all any time any way. By way of history, Ed stated that Mike supported it originally. When area residents complained to him, he overruled Mike. It came to the Council and the Council overruled Ed. He feels that there are factors that need to be taken into account for events at Bass Park. Things need to be looked at by the time of year, the length of the event and how loud the event is over a period of time and what time of day. The way the ordinance is written now, Mike doesn't have the flexibility to make some of these judgments. Councilor Crowley thought there was a consensus among the Committee but wants to avoid getting the Council in a position where it micromanages Bass Park. Its human . nature when its a management issue, not a policy issue, to get into areas where we don't belong. Whatever can be done to structure policies, to structure whatever the � City or Bass Park needs, let's look at it and get John and Legal Department to help. But we should depend on management expertise at the facility and not rely on the subjective views of the council to do on this situation. b. State Fair Financial Report c. State Fair Customer Exist Survev d. State Fair Mall Survev Sally Brewer supplied the Committee with a written report on this year's State Fair. She explained this year's fair varied from last year because rental had to be charged out for the Civic Center to accommodate the Mad Science Show. Last year the fair was � charged for the Auditorium and this year it was charged for both buildings. In addition, there was a decrease in sponsorships. There were nice presentation folders prepared, two VIP receptions held and the sponsorship levels were revised to entice people but they couldn't get as many companies as hoped to come up with the money. Ed Barrett stated that last year the Fair netted $40,000, and this year it was $68,000. Part of the increase was due to the increase in gate admission for adults. Sally briefly mentioned the mall survey and was quite pleased that 97% of the people • knew the fair was �n town. Ed Bar��tt did ask why �,eople u�der 18 were exc�uded, and 6 • Mike responded that in order to get permission to do it in the mall they had to do an additional survey for the mall, and the mall limited their survey to people over 18. Councilor Crowley asked if there were any incentives given to the people who were interviewed, and Sally responded that people who took the time for the interview were given free passes. However, Mike added, the passes were given after the survey was done so it wouldn't affect their answers. Sally went through the flaws listed in the prepared report and also indicated that maybe next year she would send people out to get their reaction on a specific attraction as they leave it instead of doing it via the exit survey as has been done in the past. For example, out of 100 exit surveys, not all of these people might have seen a specific attraction. She briefly went through the last part of the report which was what worked this year, one of the items being that a strong efFort was made to speak to the vendors and staff working at the fair to ask what they heard as people were going by. She said next year she would like to try a "mystery shopper" approach similar to what stores do where someone is hired to come and attend the fair and report to us what happened. This would also allow us to keep tabs on the Fiesta Shows group and how well the customers are being treated. e. Office Window Renovations • Mike Dyer told the Committee that Ed Barrett had preadvised them that there is a desperate need for ventilation in the main office. A quote has been received from Public Works for about $8,000, but he was instructed to go back and see if it couldn't be done cheaper. Mike said he checked with Dave Pellegrino and Dave has been over the estimates. Dave feels that given the current situation in the construction business, that the Public Works' estimate is probably as good an estimate as we're going to get for doing that kind of work. Mike Polyot told Mr. Dyer that he hoped he had estimated high on the labor so it may �even come in lower than that. David's recommendation is to go with Public Works estimate. There was also a note in the packet from Debbie Cyr that there is sufFicient capital money to cover the project. Ed stated that there is $314,000 left in the 2000 bond issue. Whatever of that is not used very quickly by Bass Park will be reallocated to other projects because the City is under Federal restrictions as to how long we can carry that money before it's spent. Councilor Crowley made a motion to send this forward to the Finance Committee with a recommendation of ought to pass. Ed responded that it had already been authorized by Council in the bond issue, and this amount of money had been approved by stafF memo. The motion was seconded by Councilor Palmer. Recognizing that staff does need reasonable accommodations for health reasons, it was the general consensus that • the air conditia�ers be portable so they can be transported somewher2 else and the 7 • project be completed for the least amount of money possible until it is decided what can be done with the building. In closing, Mike mentioned the booking software that was discussed a couple of meetings ago. He said they were to proceed and run their choice by Information Services. Information Services liked the more expensive choice more because of the backup they'd supply and the fact that it included installation of the program. That and the upgrades that need to be done will take the $10 or $12,000 estimate up to $23 or $24,000. He said he would be back before the Committee to explain how this might be paid for. Meeting adjourned. � � 8