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Home My WebLink About2010-05-12 EURA MINUTES• • • I. ENGLEWOOD URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY MAY 12, 2010 CALL TO ORDER The r egu lar m eet in g of the Engl ewood Urban Renewa l A uth ority was ca lled to order at 6:32 p.m . in th e Comm unity D eve l opment Conference Room of the Eng l ewood C ivic Cente r, Cha ir W ee ks pres i d in g. Present: Abse nt: A l so Present: Staff: Roth, Weeks, Burns, Bucha n a n Town l ey (a lternate) Rogers, Weddle (J ir on resigned 5.12.10) Jim Woodwa rd , Council Liaison Bob M cCas li1 \ Councilmember (exited at 7:15) A l an White, Com munity Dev e l opment Director Da rr en Hollingsworth, Econom i c Developm e nt Coordinator II. PUBLIC FORUM rtlJ Cou ncilmember Mccaslin introduced himself. Cha ir Weeks sa i d we l come. 111. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • March 10, 2010 rtll Chair Weeks stat ed that th e Minutes of March 10, 20 10 we r e to be co n si dered. Buchanan moved: Roth seco n ded: THE M I NUTES OF MARCH 10, 2010 BE APPROVED. AYES: NAYS: ABSTA I N: ABSEN T : Roth, Weeks, Buchanan None Burns Wedd l e, Rogers The motion carried. IV . ENGLEWOODSITES.COM DEMONSTRATION llll Mr. Hollingsworth gave a preview of th e C ity's real es tate webs ite, Eng l ewoodsites.com, w hi c h was launched in 2005 and r ece ntl y up graded . He noted th e website ha s been previewed by City Counci l and ACE (A lli ance for Commerce in En g l ewood). He d i str ibuted business cards w ith th e website address. Director White and Mr. Hollin gswor th e ncoura ged 1 • • • everyone to go on the website and play with it. The website is the first of its kind in the State of Colorado. Staff was recognized by the International Economic Development Council for this innovative economic development resource. Englewoodsites.com is a very powerful tool that puts a lot of capabilities in the hands of people that are looking at Englewood for the first time. Ninety-eight percent of site selectors and real estate officials go to websites for communities to find information before they close on a deal. Englewoodsites .com is one of those resources. The site currently has approximately 140 properties, gets approximately 200 hits a month and is available 24/7. The Authority was very impressed by all the information available on the website. Chair Weeks thanked Mr. Hollingsworth for his presentation. Mr. Hollingsworth exited the meeting at 7:04. V. ULI PLACEMAKING VIDEO [fl) Director White stated in 2008 the Urban Land Institute held a Placemaking conference in Denver. One of the sessions came down to CityCenter Englewood. The participants walked the area for an hour and then came back to Civic Center and did a critique of the property. A lot of their suggestions were very positive with a few suggestions on ways to improve the 10 year old area. He noted the comments in the video are based upon being in the area for a very short time. There is money in the Community Development budget this year to hire a consultant to follow up on some of the suggestions. A proposal has also been submitted to Representative DeGette's office to request some additional funding to expand the scope of that Placemaking study to go beyond the CityCenter area. Staff hopes to do some follow up planning for the area in the coming year. At this time the Authority watched the 20 minute video. Issues discussed by the Authority included parking issues, RTD bus and light rail, the Wal-mart expansion, using Englewood Parkway as a festival location, more green space in CityCenter area, and Bates Station. Chair Weeks asked if any of the ideas presented in 2008 have been implemented. Mayor Woodward said they have not due to the economic times. One issue that should happen is the expansion of parking by roughly 440 spaces, which is part of Fast Tracks. Chair Weeks thanked Director White for his presentation. VI. ACOMA PROPERTY DISCUSSIONS [:\}I t~J Director White distributed pictures of the landscaped area at the EURA owned South Acoma property. The Business Improvement District has approached the City about doing something with that property due to several merchant complaints. It has been suggested the landscaping be removed and the area converted to parking. The property was purchased by the EURA with bond money and the City paved and did the landscape improvements. The City's Parks and Recreation Department maintains the area. 2 • • • C hair W ee k s as k ed if th e shrub s and tr ees c ould be trimm ed bac k more t o m ak e th e a rea sa fer. Mr. Burn s st at ed th e lands ca pin g wo uld n ee d to b e remove d anyw ay w h e n th e p ropert y i s d eve lop ed . Mr. Ro th sa id Pl annin g an d Z onin g is c urrentl y wo rkin g o n t h e land sca ping am endm e nts and if th e prop e rty w e re to b e improve d it wo ul d h ave t o co n fo rm to th e co d e. Propo se d am endm ents w o uld re quire lan dscap in g aro un d t he pe rim et er and island s. C hair W ee k s as k ed who wo uld bea r th e cos t o f im p rove m e nt s as th e EU RA h as no m o n ey . Director White sa id th at has n o t ye t bee n de t e rmin ed. D ir ec t o r White ask ed th e A uthority, as land own ers, if th ey h ad an y o bj ec ti o n s t o c han ges be in g m ad e. Ch air W ee k s as k ed if th e po li ce c o uld p atrol th e area m o re fr eq u entl y. Th e M ayo r sa id h e b eli ev es th e problem s occ ur more durin g th e ni ghttim e ho ur s. C h air Wee k s sa id it is a va li d c on ce rn es p ec i all y if th e re is a saf et y is su e. Mr. Burn s as k ed if St aff had any input fr o m th e polic e d e p a rtment. Ch air W eeks offe red t o tak e th e pi ctures t o th e En glewoo d Tr ansportation Advisory C o mmittee m ee tin g o n M ay 131h t o ge t th eir o pini o n . Dir ec t o r White stated h e di d n o t ha ve any resea rch into poli ce c alls t o th e area. M r. Burn s sa id h e w ould b e interes t ed in what saf ety serv ice s think. Mr. Bu c han an as ked how mu c h it would c o st t o r e mov e all th e la nds capin g and turn th e area into a pa rkin g lot. Dir ec tor White said th e Publi c Works D ep artm e nt th o u ght rou ghl y $20,00 0 plu s w ith th em doin g m o st of th e w ork. Dir ec tor White and C hair W ee ks w ill gath e r m o r e inform ati o n and r epo rt b ac k t o th e A uth o rity . VI. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE [?lj Dir ec t o r White st at ed Am y Jir o n is m ov in g out o f En glewood and has res i gn ed fr o m t he A uth o rity. M s. To w nl ey exp res sed inte res t in movin g up fr o m th e alte rn at e pos ition t o a f ull vo tin g m emb e r. VII. STAFF'S CHOICE [?] Dir ec tor White h ad nothin g furth e r to report. VIII. COMMISSIONER'S CHOICE [?] The me m be rs had nothin g furth e r t o re port. T h ere wa s n o furth er bu sin ess t o co m e b efor e th e Authority; th e m ee tin g was d ecl a re d adj o urn ed at 8:1 5 p .m . 3 • • • The recording secretary conducted a poll of six Englewood Urban Renewal Authority members via email to approve the Minutes of May 12, 2010. The Minutes of May 12, 2010 were approved as written. AYES: NAYS: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Roth, Weeks, Buchanan, Burns None Rogers Weddle