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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-08-14 ACE MINUTES• • • ALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD August 14, 2008 1. t~ CALL TO ORDER The reg ular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Eng l ewood (ACE) was called to order at 11 :40 a.m. in the Conference Center at Swedish Hospital, Chair Schalk presiding. Present: Schalk, McDermott, Gu inth er, Verbeck, Lonborg, Espinoza Absent: Panetta (excused), Vasilas (excused) Also present: Michael Morton, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce Jim Woodward, Mayor Mark Brisebois, Bovis Land Lease Teri Tipton, Bovis Land Le ase Erin Petersen, Constr ucti on Manager, Swedish Hospital Staff present: Alan Wh ite, Community Development Director Darren Hol li ngsworth, Econom i c Development Coordinator APPROVAL OF MINUTES July 10, 2008 Chair Schalk stated that the Minutes of July 10, 2008 were to be cons idered for approval. It was determined there was a q uorum. Chair Schalk asked if there were any changes or adjustments to the Minutes. There were none. McDermott moved: Lonborg seconded: THE MINUTES OF JULY 10, 2008 BE APPROVED AS WR ITIEN . The motion carried unanimously. II. ACE BUSINESS TOUR SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER EXPANSION lfll Ms . Lonborg, Mr. Brisebois , Ms. Tipton and Ms. Petersen lead the tour of the new $84 mi lli on hospital expansion. The new patient area is d u e to open mid-December. After that area opens, floors 7, 8 9, and 10 will be renovated. Completion for th e e ntir e project is scheduled for 2011. Th e bed count will be slightly more after the expansion is completed. Swedish Hospital was estab li shed 102 years ago and is a Level 1 trauma center for both adults and children; the only one in the state . • • The first stop was the new lobby area. It is a 2-story atrium much larger than the previous lobby. The new gift shop will also be much larg er than the old one and is located off the lobby. The next stop was 6 South, a new patient floor for orthopedics. The final stop was the new neonata l intensive care unit which was completed this week. Ms. Lonborg noted the elevators are being replaced and two new ones added. At this time the group returned to the Conference Center. The members thanked Mr. Brisebois, Ms. Tipton and Ms. Petersen for the tour; they exited the meeting. Chair Schalk thanked Ms. Lonborg for the tour of the hospital and for hostin g today 's meeting. SMOKING O UT DOORS NE AR MEDI CA L HO SPITA LS Ms. Lonborg said Swedish Hospital has requested an Ordinance that the City consider and take to City Council to establish a no smoking zone around the perimeter of a hospital. Swedish has joined 400 other hospitals nationally and close to 50 hospitals in Colorado and has gone tobacco free as of August 3th. There are several other Denver a1·ea hospitals that will go tobacco free on January 1st. Almost all of the hospitals in Denver are now tobacco free, which means you haven't been able to smoke inside a hospital for a long time because of all of the oxygen in use, but people could go outside of the hospital on the campus to designated smoking areas to smoke. This does not lend itself to the healthy community we are trying to build from within the hospital and externally and in many cases people had to walk through groups of smokers in order to get into the hospital. We hav e had numerous complaints about second hand smoke. The hospital has worked very hard externally to let the public know we were going tobacco free. We have 70 staff members who have entered a quit program the hospital furnished to them at the hospital 's expense to try to help them become healthier. Denver passed the Ordinance last Monday that the hospital is asking Englewood to pass. Mr. Hollingsworth distributed an article from The Denver Post regarding Denver's Ordinance stating it passed, but with an amendment adding a sunset claus e. The hospital is trying to encourage visitors, if they need to smoke, to take a drive or go to their hotel or home; don't do it anywhere around the perimeter of the hospital or on the campus. Employees are encouraged to not smoke at all. They are not allowed to smoke except for their lunch break and must clock out and leave campus to do it. The Ordinance asks the City to extend the campus to the street, includin g the sidewalk. Denver was concerned about the neighborhoods and Swedish is too. The hospital distributed a letter to all doors within a two block radius of the hospital telling them what is going on and asking them if they find someone who is being discourteous with their • property by throw ing a cigarette butt that they call the hospital's security staff and the 2 • • • security staff will respond. If it's an employee the hospital has measures that they can and will take to discipline them up to and including termination. If it's a visitor or guest we will have a nice conversation with them asking them not to do it again. Ms. McDermott said she could not visualize the 200 feet perimeter. Is it across the street and then some? Ms. Lonborg said she believed it is across the street to the sidewalk so it would protect the perimeter of Craig. Craig Hospital is not joining the other hospitals in Colorado. They are in favor of what Swedish is doing and moved their own smoking area to one small portion of their campus where they will continue to allow families to smoke. Their feeling is that their families and patients are in such tragic circumstances that they could not possibly ask them to try to go without a cigarette if that is something that they are dependant on. The Ordinance would not affect their on-campus smoking, but would protect their perimeter like it does Swedish. The Ordinance is not just for Swedish, it is for any medical center, which includes Craig, and they are aware Swedish is asking the City for this Ordinance. Mayor Woodward said in the draft Ordinance it says a smoke free environment; what I am hearing you say is tobacco free, which includes chewing tobacco. He asked Ms . Lonborg if she wanted the Ordinance modified . She stated she did not. She said the Swedish's campus is tobacco free, which means you cannot chew on campus either but if someone wants to take a walk and chew, as you are approaching them you are not going to walk into a puff of smoke. We are more concerned for the health of people who have to walk through second hand smoke . Mr. Hollingsworth said ACE can offer up an endorsement that could go forward to City Council. Schalk moved: Espinoza seconded: TO ENDORSE THE SMOKING OUTDOORS NEAR MEDICAL CENTERS ORDINANCE. The motion carried unanimously. Ms. Lonborg thanked the ACE members for the endorsement. ~ GECC EVENTS UPDATE Mr. Morton stated the next event coming up will be the golf tournament on September 5th. He distributed flyers detailing the event to all those present. It will be a benefit for Bishop Elementary School. He said he needed more support from the Englewood community; more golfers, sponsors and volunteers. Mayor Woodward said City Council approved last Monday night three foursomes for the tournament. Ms. Lonborg said the hospital would participate at the "hat trick" level. He said further information can be found on the website ... www.tournevents.com/chamber . 3 • • • Eng l ewood Days wi l l be he ld on Sat u rday, October 4the from 9 a.m . to 9 p.m . Mr. Morton distributed a map of t his year's location at CityCenter. He thanked Mr. White and the fo u ndation for approving the use of the location. The events and location for· each was discussed. It will be a benefit for the Colorado chapter of The Mi l itary Families Re lief Fund. Security will be prov ided by the National Guard. A non-food booth rental is $325 for Chamber members. Mayor Woodward asked when posters wou ld be ready to hand out to bus i nesses. M r. Morton said within a few days. Ms. McDermott asked what kind of support the Cha111ber has gotten in regards to booth rental. Mr. Morton provided a list: Sa111's Cl ub, Englewood Cha111ber of Commerce, Costco, Wal-Mart, Dress 4 Less, and a chiropractor. He said he'd like to see 111ore restaurants. Rental for a food booth is $525 for a Chamber· me111ber. Ms. Lonborg asked if the Chamber had a sponsorship package for the event. Mr. Morton sa id they are working on it. She asked one be sent to her when they are ready . He said the Englewood Fire Chief asked about holding a bicycle parade for c hildren in the 111orning and the Eng lewood Police Ch ief has inquired about hav i ng a booth for community infor111 ation. Ms. Lonborg said the event needs some good bands. Mr. Morton said they have interviewed several, but they are being asked to vo lunteer since we don 't have a huge budget. Ms . Lonborg suggested he contact a band that plays at Sing Sing that has done some volunteer work and also the Flo Bots who are a local Colorado band . Ms. Lonborg asked what the target market is for the event. Mr. Morton said it is an event for all ages and gro u ps. He provided his cell phone n u111ber to all 111embers if they need to contact hi111. Chair Schalk said he wo ul d like to continue this discussion at the September meeting. ~ CITY PROCESSES Due to the lateness of the hour Mr. Wh ite will present this issue at the September ACE 111eeting . l?lJ PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DRAWING NEW BUSINESSES INTO TH E ENGLEWOOD AREA Mr. Hol l ingsworth said an opport unity came about today; an awareness of a tenant that is looking at Broadway. City Council will discuss Economic Development at the September 8th Study Session an d we have n ever, as a City, had a policy discussion about incentives. He said he wanted to see where ACE's level of interest is in regards to incentives. He said he worked w ith a representative out of Denver to do an area w ide survey of cities that do incent ives. Cities typically provide incentives for projects that involve sales tax generation. Economic Development O rganizations (EDO) provide incentives for projects that create 4 • primary jobs. In some cases without public participation the projects would not be done . Incentives are not meant to bring the same type of business into the community; they are meant to bring a diversification into a community. Incentives are a discretionary item by Council and right now we do not have a policy to guide public participation in projects. In the past 11 years the City has only done two incentives, one to Cart Sports and Sports Authority and the other to First Data. Mr. Hollingsworth said there are three new businesses in Englewood: 1. Smash Burger 2. Lenny's Subs 3. Cheesesteak Connection. These are all three the same type quick serve restaurant. To add some diversification maybe there is an opportunity for ACE to provide some direction input on an idea to forward to Council for in centives. There are some nice projects happening on Broadway that would generate vitality and sales tax in the community. In in-fill projects there are some financial barriers that developers face. Mr. Hollingsworth asked if this would be something ACE would like to hear more about and discuss further. The members said definitely. Mr. Hollingsworth sa id he would do some background research and brin g recommendations and ideas back to ACE in September. • Ms. McDermott asked if Staff is thinking about this policy only as it relates to this potential Broadway tenant. Mr. Hollingsworth said no, but their request triggered the discussion. Staff has a request to see if incentives are available right now and we have never done an incentive for sales tax. Mr. White said it is a discussion he has wanted to have with Council for quite a while. Mayor Woodward said he has attended a number of workshops and courses on the subject. When you deal with incentives there has to be a pay back to the City. Chair Schalk cited several projects in Denver that would not have happened without incentives. Mayor Woodward sa id it would be hard for him to support, as an example, an incentive package other than the City 's catalyst program for Smashburger. We're talking about a major impact. Ms. Guinther said there has to be some built in equity so that the small business can be addressed and have some opportunity as well as the big box user . Both Ms. McDermott and Mayor Woodward said we don't have the space or opportunity for a big box user. Mayor Woodward said the catalyst program is the incentive, which he believes a lot of the smaller businesses utilize. Ms. Lonborg said not to forget the property owner in this situation and in terms of overall City improvements. • Ms. McDermott offered to bring some examples that her company has participated in to the next meeting. Sc halk moved: Lonborg seconded: TO HELP DEVELOP AN INCENTIVE PROCESS /POLICY/PROGRAM WITH CITY COUNCIL TO HELP BRING NEW TENANTS TO THE CITY 5 • The motion carried unanimously. • • This discussion will continue at the September meeting. Ill. COMMENTS & EVENTS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 0 Mr. Morton had nothing further to report. BID COMMENTS ~ Mr. Vasilas was not present at the meeting. ACE MEMBERS ~ The Board thanked Ms. Lonborg for hosting today's meeting and for the tour of th e hospital's expansion. Mayor Woodward noted that the Broken Tee Golf Course is booked solid every day . STAFF COMMENTS Staff had nothing further to report. No further business was brought forth for consideration. The meeting was adjourned at 1 :15 p.m . The next meeting is scheduled for September 11 , 2008. Barbara Krecklow, Recording Secretary 6