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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-09-13 EDDA MINUTES• • • ENGLEWOOO OOWNTOWN OEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 333 WEST HAMPOEN AVENUE, SUITE 602 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING SEPTEMBER 13, 2000 MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUESTS AND VISITORS: MINUTES Duemke, Finer, Gartner, Guinther LaPorta, Sanchez, Yurchick Ashenfelter, Kaufman, Oxman Celva Olga Wolosyn -City Council Mark Graham -Community Development I. INTROOUCTION OF GUESTS AND VISITORS Chairman Sanchez welcomed Wolosyn and Graham to the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Sanchez asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the August 9th meeting. There being none it was moved, seconded and passed unanimously to approve the minutes as presented. III. TREASURER'S REPORT In the absence of the Treasurer, Director Celva distributed copies of the report for July and August. He stated that there were currently $129,200.00 in funds available. Clifford Weinberger asked if EDDA was currently running behind on facade projects. Celva explained that while there were five projects at varying degrees of progress that there has been no large expenditures for construction from this budget item. Weinberger also asked about the fund for special projects. Celva stated that this had recently been alocated for sidewalk replacement, but also contained $12,000.00 for varied costs associated with the Acoma Street parking lot. Additional discussion focused on the facade program. A motion was made by Emmett Duemke, seconded by Clifford Weinberger and passed unanimously to approve the reports as presented. IV. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Director Celva distributed copies of a letter that had been written to Englewood City Council. He explained that at the last board meeting a motion had been made that a letter 4 • • • by board members that seven of the nine places on the review team were held by city staff. Rosemary LaPorta stated that she realized she had missed a recent meeting, but did not understand what had transpired so that EDDA was not more directly involved in the process . Clifford Weinberger briefly explained the change in status. Graham added that "city Council had agreed with the recommendation from Community Development that EDDA was not set up to own,maintain or develop property" and that the EURA was the more appropriate vehicle . Discussion continued on the composition of the selection committee. Celva stated that certainly the business and land owners adjacent to the site should have representation in the process. Graham provided the rationale for the involvement of the varied city agencies . It was mentioned to him that many of these same agencies would be also participating in any development review process. Chairman Sanchez stated that whatever form the process took, that every effort should be made at this early point, "to avoid creating a reactive process". Celva suggested that perhaps different selection committees for the individual sites might be an option. Graham replied that a single committee brought an efficiency to the process . Steve Finer stated that while the process may be more efficient, the real question was what would provide the best product. In the course of additional discussion, concerns regarding building height and structured parking were emphasized. Graham suggested that the market would provide good indications of potential uses and mentioned the possible interest of Larry Fulerton who is currently developing residential properties in the Golden triangle. Graham stated that he would take the input from EDDA back to the office and attempt to come up with additional concepts for the selection committee structure. Mike Yurchick requested that Graham FAX copies of the current committee list to both Celva and himself. VI. BOARD MEMBERS CHOICE Rosemary Laporta with the help of Olga Wolosyn explained to the board that the Cultural Arts Commission was seeking support for a feasibility study to examine the viability of a cultural arts/performance center locating in Englewood. LaPorte and Wolosyn :~roi ~d~dadditioal concepts associated with a possible center and ~equ~s~ed ~tbe _support bf EDDA. A motion was m~de by Jerry Gartner, seconded by Clifford that; .EDDA believing in the value oF the cultural arts to the Englewood community supports the Cultural Arts Commission in their eFFort to investigate the F~sibility n 6F building • • • be sent to city council outlining the concerns over the status of EDDA's current relationship with the city. Celva asked if the draft letter he had distributed met the boards requirements. Emmett Duemke suggested that the upcoming dinner meeting with council might obviate the need for a letter. Steve Finer responded that fundamental problems exist with the relationship and require examination of both the genesis of the problems and potential solutions and opined that perhaps a dinner meeting was not the best forum in which to deal with the issues. After further discussion it was decided that a better understanding of the current city council's perception of EDDA and its' mission was necessary for the two bodies to be more mutually supportive. Further, that no letter be sent to council, but that a statement be drafted for the chairman to read at the upcoming meeting. It was decided that this statement should be reviewed by board members and that it should contain a proposal for additional dialogues between members of both bodies. Director Celva said that in examining EDDA's mission some immediate thought needed to be given to plans for the coming year/sand the allocation of funds. He stated that he was not sure of direction since he had planned to budget an amount for improvements along Broadway in support of the South Broadway Action Plan, but that at recent meetings it had been suggested by members of the board that Broadway was receiving to great a concentration of EDDA'S focus and dollars. Celva went on to state that in examining the EDDA District, Broadway represented the older more deteriorated portion of the district and that dollars spent to prevent or alleviate deterioration fulfilled a primary purpose of the authority. This issue was discussed briefly. V. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Chairman Sanchez reported on the recent meeting held with members of city council and city staff regarding the proposed RFP for the URA property on Acoma Street. Sanchez introduced Mark Graham who would provide additional background and details on this item. Graham explained that the RFP was set up to potentially cover three individual sites and was written in a very general fashion without to many restrictive conditions in order to best test market response for development of these sites. He told the board that one condition placed on Site A (Acoma Street) was that any development on this site must self park and include 130 spaces to service the existing retail. He added that the city, however, would be open to a wide _variety of concepts. Director Celva asked Graham for additional details on the process for evaluating the RFQ's and selecting a developer/s. Graham described for the board both the process and the composition of the review team. Concerns were registered .. • • • a cultural arts center in Englewood . There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:35 pm. Submitted,