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Home My WebLink About2012-04-12 ACE MINUTES• • • ALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD COMMITIEE April 12, 2012 Minutes and audio are available at: http: //www.englewoodgov.org /index.aspx7page = 11 03 I. CALL TO ORDER !tll The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood Comm ittee (ACE) was called to orde r at 11:37 a.m. in the C ity Co un c il Co nfere n ce Room of the Englewood C ivic Ce nter, C h a ir Knoth presiding. Present: Abse nt: Vasilas, Schalk, Calonder, Knoth, Weinberger, Miller Whyte (alternate) (e ntered 1 2:06) Sarconi, Champion Also present: Jo e Jeffe r so n, City Council Li ai so n (e ntered 11 :55) Staff present: Alan White, Community Development Director Darren Hollin gsworth, Economic Development Coord in ator Mike Fl ah e rty, Deputy City M a n age r APPROVAL OF MINUTES M a rch 8, 2012 !tll Cha ir Knoth sta t ed th at th e Minutes of M a rc h 8, 20 1 2 were to be cons i de r ed for approva l. It was determined th e re was · a quorum. Chair Kn oth as k ed if there were any changes or adjust m e n ts to th e Minutes. Th ere were no n e. Weinberger moved: Vasi las seconded: THE MINUTES OF MARCH 8, 20 12 BE APPROVED AS WR ITIEN . Th e motion ca rri ed. Kn oth moved: Weinberger seco nd ed: PUBLI C CO MMENT BE MOVED TO THE BEGINN I NG OF THE MEETING The m o ti o n car ri e d . II. PUBLIC COMMENT [!lJ Mr. Ron Branish a nd Mr. N e il Macy discussed the proposed hotel to be located at US Hi g hway 285 and Clarkson. Th ey h ave b ee n in talks w ith Swedish, Craig and Porter h osp ital s and Sports Authority to determine th e demand for a hotel a n d si ze . They asked • • • ACE if th ere was any incidental d emand within the m ar k etpl ace th at they are not aware of. Th ey h ave serious investo rs and potential fin an c in g lin ed up. Th ey distributed a drawing of a potential 100 room fac ility. H e noted in determin ing if you ca n bu il d a hotel it is a f un ctio n of room rat e and occ u pancy . Mr. Macy stated t h ey have a hote l cons ult ant on boa rd and the property is und e r co ntrac t fo r the n ext four m o nth s. Several m e m bers sa id there is also a need from the en t erta inm ent industry and business people who are co min g in for m ee tin gs. Th e m embers thanked Mr. Branish and Mr. M acy for their presentation. Ill. ACE BUSINESS ~ ACE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES BASED COMMENTS FROM MARCH 3rH MEETING Mr. Weinberger said h av in g Mayor Penn attend th e meetin g was h e lpful to bring u s t ogether on one topic and ac tually accomplish some thin g that we think the City and C ity Council wou ld want to adopt. It h elps us to serve the function of ACE an d where we can ac tu all y leav e me etin gs fee lin g lik e we acco mpli sh ed thin gs an d not just talk about the sa m e types of iss u es. ACE ca n look to th e f utur e t o help the C ity. His comments should lead u s to try and update how we h ave been go in g abo ut things and try to h ave a littl e b it more stru c tur e and h ave goa ls we ca n acco mpli sh each meeting. INCENTIVES ~ Mr. We inb erger revi ew ed Staff's m e m o titl ed ACE Business Attraction / In ce ntiv e Worksheet and w h at Commerce City offers. H e offered some recommend at ions and a p rocess that h e and Chair Knoth d i scussed earl i er . Staff distributed in format ion sheets on w h at several other c iti es offer in th e way of in ce ntives . D iscussion Po in ts: • Want th e m ost bang for the buck. • Reba t e a per ce ntage of sales tax over a per iod of a few years . • Is Eng lewood's goa l t o be co m pa rabl e to or exceed what other c iti es offer? • En glewoo d doesn't hav e the t o urism or traffic to su pport retail on Broadway; in ce ntives are a mu st in today 's eco n omy. • Wh at eve r the pro cess is, m ake it a streamlined process; the easier the better. • Wh at are we subsidizin g with a sa les tax rebate? What is approp ri ate? • En g lewoo d is try in g to g row its t ax base; sa les tax is a b ig part of that. • Let business ow n e r d ec id e where to best utilize th e do ll ars rebat ed. Bottom lin e is th e City has a new tenant. • Eng lewoo d is bli ghted to so m e degree; n eed good qua lity tenants. • Want to be fair, but do we want to in ce nti v iz e anyo n e who wants to come to En g lewood to do business? • Need to look at what are th e obstacles to deve lopment and what is th e hi ghest and best u se of an y site. 2 • • • • What are the requirements go in g to b e to receiv e an in ce ntiv e? • Don't believe the City should be in a position to ever d istin g ui sh between whom is a va lu able add iti on to the business commun ity a t thi s point. • More typical for a jurisdiction to be selec tiv e versus opening th e door to anybody. ACE asked that Mr. Jefferson take today 's comme nts b ac k to City Council to get pre limin ary feedback. H e stated he h as t aken the in ce nti ve issu e to City Council alr eady. Th e in ce ntive discussion w ill continu e at a future m ee tin g. IV. COMMENTS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE [ill M s. Mello was not in atte ndance. BID COMMENTS [?] Mr. Vasilas stated the Eats and Beats eve nt will not b e held in 20 1 2. BID assess m ents are slow com in g in this year. STAFF COMMENTS [?] Mr. Hollingsworth had nothin g further to report. Direc tor White stated Staff is ready to present a draft of th e Si g n Code Amendments an d wou ld like to do a presentation to ACE at the M ay m ee tin g. Sign Code Amendments w ill be first o n the May agenda. Mr. Fl aherty said City Council has mad e it very clear t o Staff that they want to see the Eco nomic Development Staff work on in ce nti ve p o li c ies an d prese nt th e m to Counc il. H e said h e doesn 't believe there's any question that if a project would be bro u g ht to Council ri ght now that required in ce ntives on a case by case basis h e believes Council wo uld probably be more than happy to consider it. CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS [?] Mr. Jefferson encouraged the m embers to go over what ACE wants the May age nd a to look like. Is it Reta il incentives? Mr. Weinb erge r sa id the sign co d e w ill be di scussed first and then move on to in ce ntives with the goa l of presenting someth ing th a t ca n be written up and given to City Council at the n ext m ee tin g. That will give u s time to rev i ew the information from other c iti es that was distributed today. ACE COMMENTS [?] Mr. Calo nd er sa id he is disappointed the Eat and Bea ts eve nt is n o t being held this year and aske d Mr. Vasilas to tell ACE why at the n ext m ee ting sin ce we are short of tim e today . 3 • • • Mr. Sc h alk sa id if there ar e businesses that are tryin g to figur e o u t how to ge t an in ce nti ve now it wo uld be ni ce to get that in formatio n from Community D eve lopment so that we ca n see what th ey are ask in g fo r. H e sa id if someone is br in gin g a deal to the tab le why can't ACE be involved? Maybe ACE could h elp with some reco mm e nd at ions. Mr. Miller said if Staff is h ea ring abo ut busines ses th at are closing their doors now, ask if there wo u ld be any in ce nti ve that would allo w them t o keep th ei r doors open. Mr. Vasil as asked th e m e mb ers if ACE ca nn ot cover eve rythin g o n a topic a t the r eg ul ar m ee tings if th ey would be willing to h o ld spec ial m ee tin gs after 5 :30 in the evening. M embers stated they were w illin g t o meet o utside o f th e r eg ul ar meetin gs. SECRETARY'S NOTE: Before ACE holds any outside meetings Staff will n eed to research what constitutes an official meeting and provide information to ACE members. Official meetings for City Boards and Committees carry the need to meet agenda posting requirements, etc. V. UPCOMING ACE BUSINESS a. Th e next meetin g is sched ul ed for May 10, 20 12. No further business was brought fo rth for co nsid erat ion. Th e m ee tin g was ad j o urn ed at 12 :58 p .m . 4