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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-05-08 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes . Business and Economic Development Committee May 8, 2001 Minutes Attendees: Councilor Palmer, Mayor Rohman, Councilor Tremble, Councilor Vardamis, Ed Barrett, Rod McKay, TJ Martzial, Sally Burgess, Rebecca Hupp, Jeff Russell, Peter D'Errico 1. Consent Agenda TJ Martzial requested the Committee to remove Item b. from the agenda. A motion was made to accept the Consent Agenda, without item b; motion was seconded. a. Randolph Drive Sale: 39 Randolph Drive b. Randolph Drive Sale: 25 Randolph Drive c. Residential Rehabilitation Loan, 62-64 Center Street d. License Agreement — Zoidis Lot, Central Street e. Subordination Agreement— Penobscot Foundation for Developmental • Services - f. Authorization to Submit Annual HUD Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant Application City Manager Barrett expressed thanks to Bangor Beautiful and Northeast Occupational Exchange for taking care of the Zoidis Lot on Central Street. Burgess also indicated that a WBRC employee, who serves on the Bangor Beautiful Board has agreed to work with NOE on this project. Rohman indicated that this employee has won the best garden in two difFerent categories and is a fantastic landscaper. 2. PUBLIC HEARING — Proposed Use of Community Development Block Grant Funds, JuIX 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002 A motion was made and seconded to open the public hearing. No one from the public was present. McKay indicated this was the second public hearing with an earlier one held in February at which time the program was explained, its accomplishments, the eligible use of CDBG funds. Three types of activities eligible for these funds are: (1) activities that benefit low or moderate income individuals; (2) activities that aid in the - prevention/elimination of slums or blight; or (3) activities that meet other community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious or immediate threat to the health and welfare of the community where other • financial resources are not available to meet such needs. This year's grant will be $1,264,000, a slight decrease from last year. It is done on a formula basis. Program • income projected for next year is $376,000 which will make available 1,640,000. Staff had previously provided the Council with information on the proposed use of funds which include: ➢ Continuation of the Business Development Assistance program at $146,500. One loan has already been approved and one is being considered for MPBC and NOE. ➢ Park Woods — Social Services in the amount of $57,600. ➢ Properry Rehabilitation in the amount of$567,002. This is a slight increase from last year to cover extra expenses due to lead base paint regutation requirements and to relocate property residents during that time. ➢ Property Disposition in the amount of $30,000 to cover survey and legal work required in disposing of City owned property for development. ➢ Public Improvements in the amount of $49,617 for continuation of a new brick sidewalk on Park Street Hill. Rohman questioned the amount of money and McKay said that underground vaults sometimes create construction problems. ➢ Riverfront Redevelopment area at $161,895. As a side note, McKay said that an application has been submitted to the Economic Development Administration for a $1.8M project for infrastructure including the waterfront at former Mayor Aube's suggestion. Aube indicated that there were two projects in Connecticut that were in the pipeline to be funded this year and they had � dropped out so Bangor is trying to get into the pipeline. Aube's replacement will be in town this week and staff will be meeting this individual at Chris Hutchin's properry on May 9t" at 4 pm at the waterfront to provide a briefing and tour. ➢ Union Place Neighborhood Conservation Project in the amount of $310,614. ➢ Program administration in the amount of $302,335. This is funding for staff and services that operate the various loan and rehab programs and other community development activities. ➢ Reimbursement to the Planning Department in the amount of $15,000 for services provided to the Community Development Program. Regarding the Union Street neighborhood conservation program, staff has been authorized to acquire several properties. McKay provided and discussed with the Committee a chart outlining properry that has been acquired and completed; properly that has been approved for acquisition but not completed; and associated costs. The current budgeted amount for the last two years is $482,000 with a shortfall of $136,515 which has been made up in part with this year's funding. Rohman asked about previous discussions with some interested parties on some of the non-acquired properties in question. Martzial indicated no deals have been closed to date. Tremble disclosed a conflict as he had looked at two of the buildings under discussion. Councilor Tremble asked about the City's interest in 251-253 Union Street. The City � wants to rehab the property. He also asked about lot 43, the video store which doesn't . fit in with the mix of uses in the area, and wondered if the City should explore acquisition. RiteAid had previously offered the owner more than $400,000. Palmer felt the City should check with the owner on an acquisition price. The owner has also invested monies into the adjacent property. Staff will follow through and report back to the Committee. Rohman expressed concern over prior rehab projects undertaken which still remain substandard with Curve Street being a perfect example. He would like the City to consider getting the owners to make improvements along the lines of the new neighbor program with owner occupants which would insure continued maintenance. Standards for rehab have been tightened up over the years with the requirement that the entire building being brought up to code. Barrett suggested a slide show for the Council showing a random sample of rehabs that have been completed over the last 20 years to show what they look like at present. Barrett felt that without the rehab program in place the housing stock would be much poorer. Palmer felt that the City perhaps in conjunction with Bangor Beautiful could reward the efforts of those individuals that do a good rehab project. Martzial was in favor of such a program but indicated it is difficult to convince a properry owner to spend money on paint rather than siding. To properly paint a house is the same cost as siding. Siding, of course, is a longterm investment. Rohman felt that owner occupancy and insuring the stability of a structure are key issues. � The Committee approved the CBDG Program. McKay indicated that appropriate council orders regarding the CDBG program for Council approval its May 14th Council agenda. A motion was made and seconded to close the public hearing. 3. Extension of Lease — University of Maine System/Ban oq r Campus Barrett explained that the City has been in discussion with the University System as to the eventual property lines of the University College campus and City's Business Enterprise Park. Earlier in the year, the existing lease was extended through May 10, 2001. A meeting has been set up next week with stafF and the University staff. Staff requested the lease to be extended for an additional 90 days. Committee approved. 4. Union Place Neighborhood Project Update a. Code Enforcement Issues. McKay indicated the inspection and code enforcement program has not yet been initiated while waiting for progress in acquisitions, relocation and demolition efForts. StafF is now ready to begin the inspection but feel that it is appropriate to have a neighborhood meeting with the Committee's approval. b. 10/12/14 Union Place & c. Scheduling a Neiqhborhood Meetina. Staff also � needs Committee recommendation and guidance on the Colford properties. The • closing is scheduled for May 9th, if the Committee would like a tour in the near future. The Planning staff was asked to review and to make a recommendation for the existing vacant areas, what could be done if the properties were demolished, and if there is a possibility of acquiring the video store perhaps making it an open space area. The Committee agreed to schedule a neighborhood meeting on May 29th at 7:00 p.m. 5. Proposal to Reactivate the Downtown Parking Committee Sally Burgess, Business and Economic Development Director, is recommending that this committee be reactivated with the same membership with the mayor appointing a couple of substitutes who may not be available or willing to serve again. Burgess feels that the following needs to be considered by the reactivated committee: ➢ parking fees ➢ parking on French Street behind the Hydro ➢ parking limit for on street parking on weekends due to the Children's Museum ➢ permit parking on Middle Street ➢ converting some spaces on the Hammond Street upper deck from coin box to • permit ➢ converting all coin box spaces on Exchange Street to permit The last Committee recommended and Council agreed that prices should be reviewed annually. Barrett felt there is logic to getting the committee together on an annual basis to keep the system up to date. The Committee made a motion that was seconded to recommend to the full Council that the Downtown Parking Advisory Committee be reactivated. 6. Airport Re�ort a. Passenger Statistics for March. Hupp briefed the Committee that Comair is still on strike and has been since the last two weeks of March. They are voting on a new contract with the results expected on Monday, the 14th. If it is approved, there will be a two-week period before they will be flying again due to recertification requirements. Traffic is slightly down by 5.6% for March and up 2% for the year overall. Hupp also distributed the April statistics which showed that passenger numbers increased by almost 5% attributing it to the on-going marketing campaign. If Comair had not been on strike, the numbers would have been much greater. Tremble indicated that this would be a positive news story, and Hupp indicated a media release in currently in the works. � � Barrett questioned the PanAm statistics which indicate that they had a 100% passenger load for the month of April. Russell indicated that Bangor's seats are shared with Allentown, PA. In terms of a market density formula about 65% of the seats should be allocated to Allentown as they have the ability to outsell Bangor at 74.5 seats per flight. April was a month where Bangor outsold Allentown. Rohman mentioned an unsubstantiated rumor that one of the flights was filled with passengers to such an extent that they bypassed Allentown. Russell indicated that happened four times during the month of April with 149 passengers. Palmer indicated that should be included in a media briefing. Hupp indicated that even though PanAm has had phenomenal growth that US Airways is the winner at 181% increase over the same month last year. Staff is continuing to discuss with Delta the need for them to be in this market. Hupp reminded them again today that they are lacking a presence and BIA grew almost 5% even without them. There are factors involved that are beyond Delta's control but staff expects to hear from them in the near future. Rohman asked how the 5% growth compares with national trends. Hupp said it is higher than the national average which has been around 3%. Russell stated that Portland's growth has basically been flat for six-seven months. Manchester continues to go forward but not at the pitch as previously. Smaller regional • airports such as Portland and Manchester have seen their growth slow down to the 3% range. Airport with similar economics and demographics to Bangor are in the negative or the 1-2% at most. Palmer asked about fuel sales and prices. Hupp indicated cost is increasing and impacting our market. The Comair strike is really impacting fuel sales. b. Marketin�0utreach Schedule. The Committee had received a memo outlining BIA's various ongoing and planned marketing activities it was involved with. The City Manager said the Community Information & Marketing Coordinator is going to begin putting this information into a citywide marketing calendar so that all events in various areas are on a schedule. It will keep the Council informed and insure that everyone on staff is aware of other stafF activities. Barrett complimented the Airport staff on the information it provided regarding their marketing activities. Russell indicated it was the work of Kathy Patterson and Stephanie Philbrick of the marketing stafF. Councilor Palmer expressed an interest in the August 9th event listed and Hupp indicated she would be sure he received an invitation. The City Manager also indicated that Council is invited to the Chamber's Business after Hours event on May 15th which being is co- sponsored by BIA at the Holiday Inn, Main Street. Palmer expressed appreciation for the report/update. Hupp indicated the Airport wanted to � become more proactive and cooperate with other City departments. � c. Report on European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition. Hupp stated that Jeff Russell, Marketing Director and Tony Caruso, GA Manager recently attended a trade show. Committee members received a separate confidential memo on this item in their weekly packet. Russell said that general corporate aviation has been booming and with the economic slowdown it is starting to work its way into BIA's trafFic and wanted BIA to be represented at every possible venue. BIA has been working to become the lead brand name for E�ocon, which is the E>ocon Avitat. BIA has been invited to meet the European Avitat to establish a personal relationship which is why Caruso accompanied Russell on this trip. Strong contacts were made with a network of airport folks. It will set Bangor apart and set us up for more traffic being referred to BIA. Russell felt that a good relationship was formed by BIA's presence at the trade show. It gave the assurance than when airports refer traffic to each other that it will be taken care of. On the general aviation side, BIA did win the Tiger Spirit Award again for the third time. Modifications to the GA facility will be done and expect to have it switched to the Avitat with a ribbon cutting at the end of July. Hupp suggested that perhaps the Committee's )uly meeting could be held at one of the Avitat's conference rooms and combine it with the ribbon cutting. The over $1M expansion to the snow removal building has been completed, Telford is planning to do work on the hangar, work is planning for some t-hangars, apron • work, etc. Russell is in hopes that the Tiger Airplane will be here as well. It will go to 40,000 feet on a piston engine in no time. McKay reported on a recent trade show trip to Germany. d. Pro�osal —��Communit�-r Team Building-Getting the Public in Your Side." Hupp indicated there is a definite positive upswing at BIA and it is important to educate the community about what is going on in Bangor and how does Bangor, as an airport, compare to similar size airports in other communities. Mike Boyd, the consultant, who is very well respected in the airline community, would do the one to one-half hour presentation, and allowing adequate time for questions and answers. It would be an evening meeting and then he would spend the entire next day doing as many presentations as possible within the community with the Rotary, with the media, with travel agents and one for the general public. Hupp's recommendation is to go ahead with this and to have Mr. Boyd meet with the Strategic Issues Committee. It provides an outside person to provide objective information and who is not intimately involved with BIA but is familiar with the community. Rohman felt that perhaps this would have been more effective six months ago since the Airport is on the up swing at this point. Hupp indicated that it probably is not as needed today but felt the positive word continually needs to get out into the community. If BIA doesn't tell the community, they will � not be aware. She feels there is still a lot of educating that needs to be done. • BIA has a significant amount of linkage to other airports. The program cost is $3,500. Hupp stressed that Boyd will tell it like it is, not like we want to hear it, and that he thinks very much outside of the box. Palmer indicated that Boyd is very competent and very low-keyed indicating Boyd had spoken a year ago to a group in Bangor at a Husson College breakfast. Barrett addressed the timing issue indicating it perhaps should be done in the fall. Rohman suggested a presentation at the Action Committee of 50 Hupp reported that Pete D'Errico is back on staff at the Airport and meeting with staff and attending meetings and handling the economic development obligations as well. D'Errico indicated his pleasure of being associated with a dynamic organization like BIA. Hupp showed the Committee a copy of the Airport's last ad in the Golf of Maine magazine. She indicated that monies for this advertising are now exhausted. Russell pointed out several articles regarding Bangor. These magazines are provided on the seatbacks on the PanAm flights. The magazine is now going to be renamed the New England ]ournal of Golf. Hupp noted that US Airways will be adding two additional flights this summer. � 7. Bass Park Report a. Fair Update: Committee members were previously provided a summary on sponsorships. Staff had hoped to come in at $12,000 above last year's $36,000 level. Staff is now looking at a $6-7,000 increase. Council will be receiving an invitation to a Fair kick-off celebration with the goal of getting current and past sponsors together with potential future sponsors to pull out some last minute sponsorship commitments. Staff has not given up on its original goal. Adelphia and Chevy Trucks have pulled back, Dyer felt due to corporate concerns regarding the economy and that first quarter reports were flat. (Palmer left at this point due to a school concert and asked Councilor Vardamis to chair the remainder of the meeting). Regarding foot and mouth disease concerns, Dyer indicated that the USDA and State Agricultural Department are taking a wait and see attitude. The State has said that if fair organizers want to ban cloven-hoofed livestock to go ahead. Bangor doesn't feel it is appropriate at this time. Staff will continue to monitor and receive updates from the Internal Association of Fairs and Expositions. If a case is identified in region, then it will be taken out of the City's hands. To date, no exhibitor has indicated they will not be part of the Fair. StafF will send the letter from the IAFE to all Bangor State Fair exhibitors which explains the policy • that it is taken seriously, monitoring continues, and staff will react accordingly. _ _ • The same basically applies to the petting zoos as well as the animals in the barns. The Center for Disease Control is reacting to something that happened in Pennsylvania at a farm open to the public. At this moment in talking with the Code Enforcement Officer, Dyer indicates that Code feels the City is under no mandate to do anything differently but in a few years it will become more of an issue. Dyer wants this to be a pro-active educational tool for the public and not a scare tactic. The Fair contracts for its petting zoo and this company has been provided with all the information. Dyer has asked for a written plan as to what the company intends to do when bringing the zoo to Bangor. Dyer will share that information with the Committee upon receipt. Staff from the Fair and Code Enforcement will draft a plan to address issues in the line of a public education tool; i.e. antibacterial soaps at permanent hand washing facilities on the fair grounds, signage to remind parents of the potential of kids touching things and then eating. All of this will be brought back to the Committee for review. Vardamis asked if a press release would be issued. The IAFE has issued a press release on the foot and mouth disease with the strong suggestion it not be used unless necessary. Dyer felt this was a good approach. Dyer had provided copies of BDN articles regarding agricultural fairs. b. Event Update: The Committee had received information on this item and Dyer review it with them. Staff will provide the Committee with a financial on the Loggers Show. Dyer did indicate that a total of 13 hours for the outside cook � tent brought in $12,600 in sales. Other local businesses had food venues set up as well. The Loggers organizers were very pleased with the event and the expanded food service. Barrett indicated that the level of service being provided at Bass Park has dramatically increased. He said he couldn't recall the last time he received a complaint regarding Bass Park. Dyer said he expected that revenue for food concessions and bar service will come in over projections. Dyer talked about the 30' dinosaur balloon on display during the Circus. It was very windy making it impossible to inflate during the entire circus timeframe. It could be seen from the 395. The Shrine is concerned about circus attendance which has been flat for several years. They have tried a concession stand outside but had difficulty due to the wind. On Saturday, the Shrine gave four to six demonstrators the opportunity to setup next to the front entrance. The demonstrators were understanding. During one performance, the demonstrators had left the premises for cofFee, and some of the circus personnel took down all their signs. More signs were made and put up again. Dyer noted that the Police Department handled it well. Committee adjourned. �