Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-01-21 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes � BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE TUESDAY, 7anuary 21, 2003 Meeting Minutes Councilors Attending: Frank Farrington, Gerry Palmer, ]ohn Rohman, David Nealley, Nichi Farnham, Michael Crowley, Dan Tremble Staff Attending: Ed Barrett, ]onathan Daniels, John Hamer, T.J. Martzial, Sally Bates, Mike Dyer, Rod McKay, Jim Ring � Others Attending: Hartmann, Potters, Buckley, T. Leonard, BSO The meeting convened at 4:30 p.m. The Committee went into executive session. 1. Executive Session — Land Acquisition and Negotiations — Replacement of the � Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center. The Committee returned from executive session. 2. Consent Agenda -Residential Rehabilitation Loan — Single Family House — 147 Fern Street. The Committee approved the consent agenda. Palmer said that in the future it would be helpful to have something in the packet to support the item. 3. Presentation by Bangor Region Arts and Cultural Council —Arts on the Green. This was tabled until later in the meeting. 4. Bangor International Airport Report. Hupp highlighted the TSA agreement with Security Screeners. She discussed that the Airport would finish up Phase 3 of the Runway project next year. Rohman said that he had heard about the Portland Airport's passenger number that they were dramatically up. Hupp said that she did not hear the report on ! Portland, and was surprised to hear that they were up for the year. She noted � that Bangor's passenger numbers were up 10.5% year to date, which is very much in contrast with the nation. She noted that Manchester has been up and they have been continuing grow. Palmer said that Portland was up 12%, and Daniels said that this was a monthly figure. 2. Discussion on draft report on replacement of Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center. Daniels stated that everyone should have received a draft copy from HOK of the report on the replacement of the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center, and we should begin addressing some of the issues that it presents. He said that this is the last part of the report. He said that David Griesel is willing to come to the City and go over the final report, once we have replied with our comments on the draft report. This is the most comprehensive amount of information that we have received and we need to review and comment. He said that downtown and Bass Park are the two primary options. Rohman said that he was very pleased with the direction that HOK came up with, and the end result is excellent. The downtown location will allow the current parking situation to be utilized in the evening. Crowley said that he was pleased with the report, and although it isn't as � financially solvent as we would like it to be, we need to involve the public, community, prospective users so that the end result is the analysis that comes out in this document. Crowley endorsed the downtown location, and noted that private investment is needed. He would like to see this project in phases, with phase one being the arena, the space that would allow for cultural and athletic events and trade shows. Phase two should include the conference center activities, and phase three could be all the other amenities. This should help in moving forward with funding. He suggested that the Committee consider ending the discussion on a note of recommending a downtown site for this facility. Palmer said that the downtown facility would help all businesses, not just restaurants. He said that we hire consultants to help us to see things that we do not. He said that why should taxpayers pay to have more parking in Bass Park, when they have already paid to have it in the downtown. Palmer said that he was ready to endorse the downtown location as the primary site for this facility. He commented that we got our money's worth with this study. Barrett said that given the discussions that we have had concerning location, he suggested going to the Council with a resolve stating our preferred location for a new arena/conference center in the downtown location. � � Crowley recommended that the Council endorse the downtown location with ` preference given to recommendations made by HOK. The motion was seconded. Tremble commented how do we make these types of announcement when private property is involved. Barrett said that this resolve is simply for a downtown location, that there have been a number of downtown locations that have been considered. It is our intent to not talk about any specific location until we have had the opportunity to discuss this with property owners. Farrington seconded the other councilors' comments, and expressed how pleased he was with the preference to lock into downtown, not a specific location. Rohman said that the economic ripple effect is the greatest in the downtown area. Farnham said that with the downtown location, we could involve all three bridges and many different accesses. Nealley agrees with the downtown location preference, and noted that it always bothered him that people would go to the Auditorium and then leave on I-395 without visiting area businesses. He expressed concern that if a certain Bass Park project doesn't get off the ground, that as an option would be abandoned. If the Bass Park project moves first, it might give us some opportunity for a partial funding mechanism for the some of the City's costs on this project. He said that he finds it difficult to support bringing in a minor league team to justify the expense of the $45-50 million facility. Barrett said that we should deal about the location issue first, and then � discuss the price. Rohman asked the Committee if they were ready to vote on the motion on the floor. The Committee approved the resolve to endorse downtown as the preferred location for a new arena/conference center. Barrett said the estimate is a high end one based on building everything at once to a high level of quality. He said that we need more information on building this facility in phases, and the breakout costs for each phase. In the preliminary drawings, it is difficult to determine the space allotted for each phase, and the price per square footage. We need to look at the notion of value engineering, and bring the price down to something we are more comfortable with. In the past we discussed $30 million, which represented the cost of replacing the current square footage of the Auditorium and Civic Center. The proposed facility is 3.5 times the size of our current facility. We have tripled the square footage, and less than doubled the costs. If phase one and phase two of the Bass Park project goes, that could have some implications for the size and design of this proposed facility. Crowley suggested developing a value-engineered estimate for phased project construction of an arena, conference center space and other spaces. This was � • seconded. Palmer said that he is concerned that we do not low ball the estimate � and end up in our current situation. We need to have high quality and good value. The Committee approved the motion to move forward with a phase approach, as weli as keeping value in mind. Nealley asked to see details regarding the Verizon Center in Manchester, NH. He said that he was concerned about the demographics, and whether we could support the type of events that we anticipate. Tremble noted that we have not yet discussed funding yet, and have not yet secured funding for this project. Farrington said that he would like to see funding, whether private or public, as part of the motion. Crowley said that part of the reason funding has not been brought up is because the City Manager recommended that we take this in pieces, location, scope of construction and then funding. In a follow to Tremble's comment, Crowley said that we are not going to raise funds by raising properry taxes, however the public should be aware that there is an opportunity for some designated revenue to build these facilities, and the public should come forward to discuss this and other projects that have the potential to be linked to one another. Barrett said that the Council is on record in the past for stating that they would • not fund a new auditorium totally from property taxes. One of the issues that remains is how are we going to fund this project. Daniels said that it's important to note that we now have some concrete numbers to move forward to the legislature and private funding sources. We need to be able to show what we are trying to accomplish. He said that we have a great starting point and that the numbers will probably need to come down. The Committee approved moving the project forward with a phase approach. Crowley recommended displaying some of the designs in the main area of the Bangor Auditorium, while people are visiting for the Basketball tournaments. The Committee moved on time item 3: Presentation by Bangor Region Arts and Cultural Council —Arts on the Green. Susan Potters, Executive Director of the Bangor Region Arts and Cultural Council, introduced Susan Johnason, Board President, some members of the board, Ted Leonard, Ann Hartmann, Executive Director of the Maine Discovery Museum, Rhea Cote-Robbins of the Franco-American Women's Institute, Dan Owen, local artist, Ms. Leonard of the Folklife Center at the University, Margaret Bailey and � Sally Bates. Johnason expressed their excitement at the comprehensive planning � for arts and culture in the City of Bangor. The Arts Council as existed since the early 90s. She said that the Arts Council represents individual artists, performers, organizations, volunteers, board members, administrators and we are amazed at what we can do as a group. One of our biggest accomplishments is the Cultural Directory that we did about a year ago, which will soon be on the internet. She encouraged the City to use the Arts Council as a resource when making visionary decisions. Potters said that they have broad roots in the arts community. She noted that they have been non-profit since last winter. She said that the board is very representative of the City. Now that the Council is incorporated and has a stafF, they are very excited at the enthusiasm and support of the community. She described a program at the Bangor Public Library called Art Share. At the last Art Share, they had kids singing from Bangor High School, two directors from smaller theater companies in Bangor, actors, theater and arts lovers, and two directors from rural theater venues in Newport and Dover-Foxcroft. She noted that Bangor is known for its collaborative efforts in the arts community. Rohman said that for economic development purposes, he would like to see a meeting between the arts community and economic development as part of our plan for City. Daniels said that with the release of our new identity"Suprisingly � Metro, Refreshingly Real," it was one of the clusters that we added on to this. Johnason said that we have a new cultural tours and brochure depicting the arts and inviting people to visit Bangor, which will be distributed to campgrounds and hotels. Palmer said that when we have new arts projects we should try to weave this into our economic development plan. At the end of May, they have Arts on the Green at the end of Central, with continuous music under tents, and local artists giving workshops and demonstrations, an area for children, one for adults, at night, comm�nity dancing in front of Norumbega Hall under tents, and family fiddlers. To cap off the evening, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra will play. There will be floating jugglers and a juggling workshop. The Children's Museum will have a hat- making workshop. Area art teachers in K-8 will have their children make posters about their sense of place in the two green parks. There is a possibility of creating something that can stay for the summer through the Folk Festival. Crowley said that this organization is Bangor based, although not City funded, advocacy started and has been a process over a decade. He wanted to recognize the years of hard work to get to this point. He encouraged � � participation in future City committees, including the Council, to ensure future involvement of the arts. The meeting was adjourned. � �