HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-10-09 ACE MINUTES•
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ALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD
October 9, 2008
CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood (ACE) was called to order
at 11 :41 a.m . in the City Council Conference Room of the Englewood Civic Center, Chair
Schalk presiding .
Present: Schalk, Vasilas, Lonborg, Panetta
Absent: Guinther, McDermott, Espinoza
Also present: Jim Woodward, Mayor
Jeff Kennedy, Moe's Ori ginal Bar B Que
Staff present: Alan White, Community Development Director
Darren Hollingsworth, Economic Development Coordinator
Mike Flaherty, Deputy City Manager
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
September 11 , 2008
Chair Schalk stated that the Minutes of September 11, 2008 were to be considered for
approval. It was determined there was a quorum. Chair Schalk asked if there were any
changes or adjustments to the Minutes. There were none .
Panetta moved:
Vasi las seconded: THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 11 , 2008 BE APPROVED AS
WRITIEN .
The motion carried unanimously.
Chair Schalk introduced Mr. Jeff Kennedy of Moe's Original Bar B Que, who is Mr. Schalk's
new partner at the Falcon . We now have barbeque, bowling and entertainment at the
Falcon. Mr. Kennedy supplied lunch for you today .
Mr. Kennedy said he and his partners are from Alabama. Th e Englewood restaurant is the
sixth one to open. We have a unique product and are super excited to have teamed up
with Steve as we have wanted to come into the Denver market for some time. Our Vail
location opened about seven years ago. He said they have tried to make a nice all around
comfortable setting .... come in with your family and friends. There's something for everyone.
We do one restaurant at a time, it's not a chain. Food is our number one priority. A full
menu will be served from 11 a.m . to 9 p .m. After that it will be scaled back somewhat to
keep the food quality high . It's a 24 hour process to cook our food so if something runs out
we can't just immediately throw it back on . There wi ll be parts of the menu we will run out
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of, but that 's only to keep the freshness factor. Catering is also available . The largest event
we have catered so far was for 1,400 people. Thanks for having us here today.
Ms. Lonborg asked if you can order food to go. Mr. Kennedy said yes you can. He
provided menus for all to take.
Chair Schalk and the members thanked Mr. Kennedy and said the food was delicious.
Mr. Kennedy left the meeting .
Mr. Hollingsworth said congratulations to Chair Schalk for bringing Moe's to Englewood.
11. ACE BUSINES S
PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN REDEVELOP MENT
Mr. Hollingsworth said ACE has been talking about how we can encourage additional
investment in the community and asked Staff to take a look at incentives. The incentive
discussion is never an easy one because it's from one end of the spectrum to the other. Mr.
White put together a memo that was discussed at City Council. He passed around an
article by the Association of Economic Development regarding incentives and the general
role that they play. There was an important discussion at the last ACE meeting when
Margaret McDermott talked about her experience with incentives as it related to
encouraging development in the many jurisdictions she has worked in. The take home that I
got from that was that incentives do not have to be monetary. Regulatory incentives were
also a part of the equation. There was an item on Council Agenda that allowed for some
administrative flexibility in the Code. He said he believed the development community
could use that type of incentive where it doesn't have to go through a lengthy process; it
could save them time. He said he did not have a lot to ask of ACE today. He just wanted to
let the members know Staff is working on getting some area incentive information put
together. Some jurisdictions such as Littleton and Ft. Collins have said they will not offer
incentives. Other jurisdictions have codified incentive types of arrangements and offer them
on a case by case basis. Council provides the ultimate choices on providing sales tax
revenues or abatement of any fees to a business. He stated he is continuing to assemble
additional information. The South Metro Chamber is holding a forum of economic
developers and community representatives about what type of incentives exist at the local
level. There was a discussion at the last Council study session by the South Metro Chamber
regarding economic development. The big announcement in the metro area right now is
the !KEA at Centennial. In the long run that may open some doors for us as far as tenants
that are now looking at the Co lorado market that have not been doing so in the past. He
asked the members if they have any stories to share about projects that they have worked
on to please bring those to the table. He asked that ACE continue to discuss this issue and
ultimately bring something to Council.
Mayor Woodward suggested Staff contact Broomfield. They provided incentives for the
Flatiron Shopping Center. Westminster is another city that could be contacted. We have all
our reports . Let's now take those requests and narrow it down to what is it that we don't
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• ha v e and what it is that we need . His thinking is that once we identify those retailers we
can then start acti v ely contacting the companies .
Mr. Panetta said it is great that we are getting to the point of itemizing the various options
that are available . His question is what's the implementation process going forward and
which of the items that are enumerated in . here as various components of economic
development is Community Devel opment and City Council willing to pursue? He said he
would like to see some conversations led by Community Development and involvement
with City Council to take a look at these various items and say these are open for
negotiation or follow-up and there are some that we shouldn't even bother with or if we are
going to consider it, it has to be an extremely strong exception with a whole lot of mitigates
that provides tremendous value to the City. He would like to see the tunnel being
narrowed in terms of specific things that Community Deve lopment is willing to propose
with ACE input and have City Council prioritize so we go from the big picture down to
specifics so that if, as Mayor Woodward points out, there is an aggressive campaign about
soliciting businesses to come into the area it would be nice to respond to a prospective
business and say here is what we might be able to do and what we can't do. We need a
plan .
Mayor Woodward said at the Budget Retreat Council Director White of Community
Deve lopment was asked to have his Staff come up with a plan; what is the vision, what is
the strategy and how do we implement it. They asked specifically for a plan that is outside
of what the City's current budget is. He said we have a long term asset reserve that in his
• mind is for investment within the City that wi ll show a future return.
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Chair Schalk asked Mayor Woodward if ACE could put together some guidelines that the
members, as a business community, might think would be helpful along with information
from the City and send those recommendations to City Council to help out with some
ideas .
Mr. Hollingsworth said that was a good idea. Some cities, through a policy statement, have
said we will or will not look at these items . There may be an opportunity to provide some
guidance on what the business community needs to encourage development. Ultimately,
that policy discussion occurs at the Council le ve l, but some background information
provided by ACE would be very helpful. Ms . McDermott did an excellent job of helping us
und erstand some items . We are still working on this issue and when the time comes, if
there is an opportunity to have discussions with other cities through the South Metro
Ch amber, we can in v ite ACE members to attend .
Mr. Panetta said pa r t of what he is asking or suggesting is that there be some kind of
timeline put on this project. If we could have a timeline in which we are expecting
Community Development to come back to ACE with some recommendations and then
take to City Council. City Council can then provide feedback to Community Development
so that when you go to conventions or talk to people you will know what you are willing to
offer.
Chair Schalk said he would like to have the incentive discussion put on next month's
agenda. He also said he would like to ask Community Development to come up with a
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recommendation of an area where we are trying to make some strides with to City Council.
The incentive package can always grow from there.
Ms. Lonborg asked Staff if they have a targeted list of businesses the City wou ld like to
attract. Mr. Hollingsworth said Staff is working on that. It is based on the Void Analysis that
was done. Names and categories have been identified . Ms. Lonborg asked why Englewood
lost the IKEA deal. Mr. Hollingsworth said we did not have the IKEA deal in Englewood in
the first place. Ms. Lonborg asked if we should have . Mr. Hollingsworth said no, because of
the land needed ... 15 to 20 acres. Ms . Lonborg asked if Staff has a sense as to why we are
not getting the deals with the targeted list of businesses we are after. Mr. Hollingsworth said
most of the corporate types of businesses that we are after have a suburban strip center
type of model . He said Mayor Woodward, at a previous ACE meeting, reported that sa les
tax revenue in Englewood per capita is number two in the Metro Area, which tells him that
there are a lot of people coming to Englewood to spend money. We're going after
businesses in a targeted way, more so than in a long time, but we do not fit their typical
mold so we need an urban/suburban type of retailer .
Mr. White said since Staff started the analysis we have found that a lot of these retailers
only go into regional malls. Demographics kill us every time. A lot of retailers are not
expanding in Colorado at this time, but we are going down the list.
Ms. Lonborg said we are not losing deals at the table because of incentives . It sounds like
we don 't have a targeted list of people who are appropriate yet. Mr. White said that's part
of it. It's also what we have available and what their needs are.
Mr. Vasilas asked if anyone from the City has approached the developers who scrape
homes around the DU area to ask them what it would take to get them to come to
Englewood. What's happening there needs to happen five blocks south. Before that starts
happening here in Englewood we cannot attract high quality businesses . We need
affordab le housing in the $350,000 to $400,000 range. In Highlands Ranch you can buy a
3,500 square foot beautiful updated house for that price ... not in Englewood .
Mayor Woodward said it's because of location, being located across the street from
Den v er . When you look at affordability and you look at a 900 square foot house and the
total price ... yes, the total price is affordable, but when you get down to cost per square foot
it is not affordable . The redevelopment that is taking place in the DU/Wash Park area to
Observatory Park has moved into Englewood. If you drive up Clarkson just in the last year
there are five or six brand new homes in the $700,000 price range or higher.
Mr. Vasilas said we need to find developers to build affordable houses, not in the $700,000
range. He said he would love to move close to his business but cannot find a house in the
Englewood area . Land costs are too high and if you have to scrape a home that adds to the
cost.
Mr. Hollingsworth said the City held an ad hoc meeting a while back with several housing
developers in the Denver area. The housing market is very strong in Englewood. The
dev elopers were asked all the questions you have brought up and they said they are
responding to the market. Several members asked if any of the homes on Clarkson have
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sold ... they did not be li eve they had . Mr. Hollingsworth said he is aware of two sales. Mr .
Vasil as said only certain people can purchase a home in the $600,000 to $ 700,000 range.
Chair Schalk said he would rather scrape the o ld houses and build $600,000 homes on
those properties. Maybe we shou ld look at in cent ives for developers who are scraping
houses and putting up new construction . Mr. Vasilas said that's a start.
Mayor Woodward said one of the things we have done is an Ordinance that allows for
duplexes on 50 foot lots, which really addr esses the area immediately north of the City
offices . The Gates development has been delayed because of market conditions, but when
it picks up again that market will be moving south into Englewood. That is truly, in his
opinion, the prime area in Englewood . Light rail is going to impact that area and the
Swedish Hospital Small Area Plan is exciting and w ill complement the downtown
Englewood area plan .
Mr. Hollingsworth thanked May or Woodward for his comments. He said someone
suggested abating building fees for houses a moment ago. He said coming back from the
housing development meetings he did not see any red flags from the developers currently
working on projects in Englewood. Tap fees for water are dirt cheap and our permit fees
are reasonable . The only comment they had was that they have to pay up front for some
building permit fees ; in Denver it is a slightly different model. He doesn't believe eliminating
the building fees will be passed on to the buyers. He feels it will be absorbed by the
housing developer.
Mr. Hollingsworth noted ACE had asked for a timeframe on incentives. Staff is trying to put
together a puzzle and it's not just our hands on it. There are other people that will be
working on it to fill in the pieces. He said he felt the first part of the coming year would be a
good target. First, Staff needs to find out what currently exists.
Mr. Panetta said one of the things that is in the Economic Development Strategy under the
New Initiatives is a comment about a study to determine the market for certain retailers
using the information at ICSC next spring. If there is going to be someone advocating why
come to Englewood at that convention, wouldn 't it make sense to use that as our timeline
to narrow down the incentives that might be available. Mr. Hollingsworth said that's a good
target. May or Wood w ard said we better be ready next spring as he has stated he wants to
go to that conference and wants to have appointments with the retailers with whom we are
targeting.
Ms. Lonborg said what worries her is when she hears what is feasible and will work for us
are $600,000 larger homes. She said she believes we need a retail strategy that matches
what's going to happen in the housing segment and I don't think it is J.C. Penney. She said
she was not trying to be rude, but you're saying you can work here but not live here .
Mr. White said that is why we also have the strateg y of growing local businesses and
looking for those boutique businesses because we can't throw all our eggs into the national
retailer basket because of all the challenges we have with site, availability, size, etc.
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Mayor Woodward discussed CDC's. If ACE funded a CDC and the opportunity came along
to purchase a piece of land in a strategic place we would be able to do so. The boutique
areas are probably along Broadway and the Englewood Parkway area.
Chair Schalk said he believed all of the ACE members agree incentives are something we
need to continue discussing and should be on the next agenda.
Mr. Panetta asked Ms. Lonborg if she would volunteer to present at the next ACE meeting
her perspective of the medical area from someone who is there day to day . What needs
exist both in terms of businesses and residential. If there was more housing available for
nurses, young doctors, etc. would that be a plus to Swedish? What is needed to improve
that area? He said he suspects whate v er happens there would have a positive impact on
downtown Englewood .
Ms. Lonborg said she would be happy to talk about that. Mr. Vasilas asked her if she had
any idea how many hospital personnel live in that area. Ms. Lonborg said none of them live
around here. Mr. Panetta asked if they would.
Ms. Lonborg asked if the schools ever came to present to ACE about what is going on in
the Englewood schools. That's another presentation that would be very helpful because that
is a key to the answer to your question.
Mayor Woodward said City Council has a scheduled dinner with the school board and new
administrator. There have definitely been some changes in the school district. The new
administrator came in running. He said in his memory this is the first school administrator
that was the people 's choice so to speak, the Board 's choice and the staff administration
choice. He had a lot of support coming in . He discussed results of some of the art programs
the late Mayor Wolosyn instituted . He said he would be happy to ask the new
Superintendent to come to a future ACE meeting.
Mayor Woodward said it might be beneficial for Swedish to sit down with Staff and review
the Hospital District Small Area Plan . Ms. Lonborg said that meeting is tentatively scheduled
for next week .
Mr. Vasilas asked how many employees there are at Swedish. Ms. Lonborg said
approximately 2,000 .
Chair Schalk asked Mayor Woodward for an update regarding the school district at the next
ACE meeting. Ms. Lonborg said what she would like to see the school present to ACE is
what are the five year trends on CSAP , enrollment and then what plans, if any, do you have
to do things. Members noted school enrollment is down in many cities . Ms. Lonborg said
her fear is with the $600,000 home projects is that the buyers are not going to shop here,
they're going to shop in Cherry Creek or Park Meadows, they're not going to send their
kids to Englewood schools because they will be in private schools .... they basically come
home at night and there is not enough to do here so they'll go someplace else for that too.
It's very similar to what has happened in Wash Park. She said she doesn 't want to see that
happen in Englewood.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
1§11 Mr. White said Staff has been in front of City Council on several occasions. The last
time was to follow-up on some items and to present the Economic Development Strategy.
Staff made some recommendations in five key areas and one is to continue what we are
doing in seeing what retail we can attract and growing local businesses. He noted
Englewood has 45 % of the industrial zoned land in Arapahoe County. From a job
standpoint that's probably an area we should concentrate on in trying to attract green
industries. Investing in infrastructure can be seen along Broadway and we need to continue
the beautification of our streets project. Marketing is another component that should be
looked at in the next year as well as establishing the policies for incentives or investment in
redevelopment in the City. The Medical District Small Area Plan is moving forward with
implementation . That goes right to having a plan for putting regulations in place where we
don 't have to go through a rezoning process to get a mixed-use development in. Next
Monday Staff is briefing Council on the intent and concepts behind the zoning and how we
are going to be changing some of our development standards to create mixed-use and
higher density development in that area . In the future Staff will be working on small area
plans for the West Hampden corridor and the Santa Fe corridor. It's time and money well
spent in creating the vision and getting the plan in place . Growing rooftops is one of the
keys to retail development. Mr. White explained the five percent rule in subdividing larger
lots that Council will be hearing . Staff is also looking at some of the regulatory barriers in
the City such as parking and landscaping .
Ms. Lonborg asked if the City has any way to track who is buying the new houses. Mr .
White said the City does not.
Mr. Hollingsworth discussed some of the new businesses that have opened lately . He said
he does see a lot of good things happening.
May or Woodward said we have some assets here that others do not have that we really
need to promote. Our water rates are lowest right now. Storm drainage rates are lowest.
ENGLEWOOD DAYS
Chair Schalk said Englewood Days was cancelled due to not being prepared ... he said he
was not exactly sure why. Mr. Vasilas said lack of participation was a problem. Chair Schalk
said it is too bad after three years of the ev ent being held that the Chamber, after taking it
over, kind of dropped the ball.
Mr. Vasilas said he spoke to Mr. Hollingsw orth a few months ago when the Chamber
decided to move Englewood Day s and the car show from the previous location to
CityCenter. I guess the Chamber of Commerce felt that was the place to generate some
revenue and unfortunately it did not work out. He said in the past the merchants of South
Broadway worked hard with the City for several years to create the car show and
Englewood Days . He said he didn't know the reason it didn't happen, but at the beginning
of this year nobody talked to the people who were involved for three or four years in a
row. The Chamber of Commerce said we are taking charge of Englewood Days and the car
show and nobody opposed and we see the results. He said he is not blaming anybody but
we had one day out of the year for the residents to come out and have fun with their
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families. It was a good event. It didn't generate funds for anyone, but it was a good day for
the residents of Englewood to have fun. A lot of people have told me they missed it this
year and want to know what happened. He said he would like to put in a request that the
car show go back to its original location and volunteered to take charge of the event if
need be. He said it bothered him to receive an email from Mr. Morton saying the event
w as canceled b ecause a lot of people worked very hard to create something and then
someone took it over and it did not happen. If the Chamber wants to get involved in the
manner they did before that's not a problem . The merchants on South Broadway all
support things together . If you have a group of people supporting something it can happen.
The CityCenter· location was excellent, but I don 't believe Mr. Morton had any merchant
support. He said he donated $500 a year in past years and every merchant on South
Broad w ay did the same thing. That's how we made the car show happen. He asked if
anybody in the CityCenter area put any money up; he wasn't sure they did.
Mayor Woodward said he belie v ed that was correct, but was not entirely sure . He said the
Chamber contracted with an individual to do the golf tournament and Englewood Days and
I, unfortunately, was not at that meeting. They increased the fees for the golf tournament
from $125 to $250 . He said it was his understanding that Doug Cohn felt he could not do
Englewood Days again and he discussed the Chamber taking over with Mr. Morton. Mr.
Cohn had already set up the car show and had a date for downtown. He said it was his
understanding in the past that certain merchants downtown did not want it or appreciate
having Englewood Days down there, Ted you being one of them . It actually cut into their
business when Saturday is their most important business day. The idea of bringing it to
CityCenter was that there was more room , you have exposure to Light Rail, and it would
cost the City less for police to shut down the area. The City has not been part of Englewood
Day s in the past or present other than whoever is putting it on comes to City Council and
asks for waivers for certain fees, etc., which City Council did participate in . Prior to the day
the event was canceled , Mr. Morton came to a City Council meeting to get approval of all
items. He was asked if he had the Shirelles and the car show and he said yes he did.
Immediately after the meeting the promoter said to Mr. Kahm, Director of Public Works,
we don't have the Shirelles, we don 't have any cars and we don't have any vendors . Mr.
Kahm told the Mayor after the meeting and he was surprised and wanted to know why we
were getting different information. The next morning at the Chamber meeting the Mayor
made the motion ... it's too late, you can 't do anything now .. cancel it as October 4 th isn't the
time to be doing this . The event was two weeks away at this time and we had nothing.
Ms. Lonborg asked if Mr. Morton acknowledged the fact they did not have everything lined
up . The Mayor said there was some information that was misinformation that was coming
through. I belie v e we are not going to be using the promoter any more; that was a major
mistake. Randy Penn is stepping in and we already have a date for 2009 for the golf
tournament and ha v e set the dollar number. Mr. Morton's focus right now needs to be on
the Christmas party. Several Council members went to the Alexan to reserve the place and
spoke to Mile High Coffee . Mr. Morton also needs to focus on adding members . We need
members .
Mr. Vasilas asked if Mr. Penn will chair the golf tournament. Mayor Woodward said yes , he
• will . Mr. Vasilas said his hopes are that he will not charge $250 per player. Mayor
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Woodward said he did not believe that would be the case . We are lookin g at $99 right
now, but that could go up to $125 , which is reasonable.
Chair Schalk asked if there were plans for Englewood Days for 2009. Mayor Woodward
said yes without the promoter. Chair Schalk asked who is in charge. Mayor Woodward said
it will probably be determined at the next Chamber Board meeting. Mr. Vasilas said I know
you will be attending the meeting; can you bring up my concerns and my suggestion.
Mayor Woodward said abso lutely.
Ms. Lonborg said maybe w hat we need to tell Mr. Morton is that we need to grow a little
slower and take his concepts of doing some booths, etc. and add it to the already existing
event. When it gets to the point where we've outgrown the location and the vendors are all
asking to have it move d, that is when you move it and try to make it bigger. She said she
loved Mr. Morton's ideas and passion for it, but he chose the worst economic times to try
to do something huge . Mr. Vasilas said he feels Mr. Morton does not understand the recipe
of this area and the people here . He said Mr. Morton had some good ideas but believes
they are just a little too big for this community.
Chair Schalk asked Mr. Vasilas if Englewood Days could be discussed at the next BID
meeting and how the BID may be able to help . Mr. Vasilas said you have to bring it up to
the Board . He said to give him a call and we'll sit down and talk. He said we did it before,
we know how to do it and we can put a nice car show together.
Mr. Vasilas noted there will be a Christmas party at the Gothic Theatre on December 23'd .
He thanked Mr. Schalk for providing the use of the theatre. The restaurants on South
Broadway will again be donating food . The time has not been set yet.
ULI -CITYCENTER ENGLEWOOD PLACE MAKING UPDATE
Due to the lat eness of the hour this discussion was not held.
111. COMMENTS & EVENTS
CHAMBER Of COMMERCE
Mr. Morton was not present.
BID COMMENTS
Mr. Vasilas said we are in the process right now of replacing all the banners in the BID
area w ith holiday banners. He passed around a picture of the banners for everyone to see.
They will be up by the end of October through the holid ays. Everyone liked the banners .
Chair Schalk said "nice job".
The BID is working with City Council to create a banner for "Sale Day". He passed around
a picture of w hat they propose. Sale Day is the last Saturday of every month in the BID
district. As soon as they have Council approval they will be produced within a week. Mr.
White said it will come before City Council on October 20th. Mayor Woodward asked what
the length of the flags would be. Mr. Vasilas said 36 inches. Mayor Woodward said that
length will work.
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• The BID has purchased seven flower planters and seven bike racks. They will be installed
the end of November. In the spring and summer there will be fresh flowers in the planters .
During the rest of the year there will be permanent artwork in the middle of the planters.
The area we are working on is from Yale to two blocks south . The beginning of next year
we will continue moving south . Th e BID has already received signatures from all the
business and /or building owners giving permission to place the objects. He thanked City
Council for agreeing to have the BID pay a one time $50 fee permit and a $50 renewal fee
every year.
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The coupon book is in the works. It should go to press next week. There will be no cost to
the merchants to participate .
Mr. Vasilas said there are some real issu es with trees growing in front of businesses. They
block signs an d the view. The BID would lik e the City to work with the BID to replace all of
those trees by the end of this yea r.
The next BID meeting will be held on Tuesday, the 21st at 8:30 at Acoustic Music. He said
everyone in attendance is welcome to attend.
Ch air Schalk seconded Mr. Va~ilas' remarks rega rding the tree situation. The businesses
have to pay a percentage of runnin g the City so let 's get this done. Ms . Lonborg asked if
the trees could be trimmed. Mr. Hollin gswor th said they were trimmed . Mr. Vasilas said the
trees that are there now are th e wrong type. The BID proposes to replace them with
columnar oak . There are some in the 3400 South block and they look beautiful. Those trees
are approximately 5 years old now. They grow upright, not out and don 't block anything.
Chair Schalk said the current trees are an unbelievable mess right now and will be for
several months.
ACE MEMBERS
There were no further comments.
STAFF COMMENTS
There were no further comments.
No further business was brought forth for consideration. The meeting was adjourned at
1 :30 p .m. The next meeting is scheduled for November 13 , 2008.
Barbara Krecklo w, Recording Secretary
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