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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-06-06 EURA MINUTES• • • I. ENGLEWOOD URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY June 6, 1990 CALL TO ORDER. D R A F T The regular meeting of the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority was ca 11 ed to order at 5:45 P.M. by Chairman Totton in Conference Room A of Englewood City Ha 11. Members present: Schmidt, Totton, Voth, Byrne Wanush, Executive Director/Executive Secretary Members absent: Bullock, Keena, Minnick Daugherty, Alternate Member Also present: Paul C. Benedetti, Legal Counsel Harold J. Stitt, Planner/Assistant for EURA II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES April 4, 1990 Chairman Totton stated that the Minutes of April 4, 1990 were to be considered for approval . Schmidt moved : Byrne seconded: The Minutes of April 4, 1990 be approved as written. AYES: NAYS: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Schmidt, Totton, Voth, Byrne None Keena, Minnick, Bullock None The motion carried. III. BOND STATUS REPORT Mr. Wanush stated that a full debt service payment on the bonds was made on June 1, 1990, but this required a drawdown of $829, 387. 86 from the Reserve Fund. The Authority now has a balance of $964,126.93 in the Reserve Fund to use in making the payment due December 1, 1990. Mr. Wanush stated that a draft of a notice he proposes to send to bondholders providing an update on the financial condition of the Authority has been in- cluded in the packet. Mr. Wanush suggested that there should be some modification to the draft notice. The draft notice indicates that the 1989 Financial Report is included, but inasmuch as the final 1989 Audit has not been completed, reviewed and approved by the Authority, he suggested that the first paragraph be amended to reflect that this Financial Report will be sent in a separate mailing . Mr. Wanush emphasized that the financial criteria in the draft notice will not change; only the verbfage in the first paragraph. -1 - He asked that the Authority approve the genera 1 format of this notice to be sent to bondholders. Brief discussion ensued. Schmidt moved: Byrne seconded: AYES: NAYS: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Schmidt, None Minnick, None The Authority bondholders. approve Tatton, Voth, Byrne Bullock, Keena The motion carried. the format of the notice to Communications to and from bondholders in response to the initial notice of financial difficulty were discussed. Mr. Wanush stated that he has handled correspondence to the bondholders on behalf of the Authority, and on behalf of City Council, also. Mr. Wanush stated that he has had many telephone conver- sations with concerned bondholders, and has explained to them that there is a revenue stream that will continue, but may be insufficient to meet the full payments. Ms. Byrne suggested that perhaps further clarification might be warranted in the form response letter regarding the inability to lease available retail space. Discussion ensued. Mr. Benedetti suggested that the response 1 etter could reflect the efforts by the Authority to meet with the developers to en- courage leasing efforts, and attempts to attract new businesses; it might also • be pointed out that the repayment of the bonds is dependent on the sales tax revenues. Mr. Wanush stated that he will modify the standard response letters • to reflect these st~tements. Mr. Wanush discussed an analysis that was made of the financial status ap- proximately one year ago, wherein it was revealed that even if all the vacant retail space was to be leased, there would still be a default situation. The problem is caused, in part, by an over-estimation of the sales per square footage of the businesses that have located in the tax increment districts. not just because some space is vacant. Brief discussion ensued. IV. PROPERTY TAX INCREMENT/ABATEMENT ADJUSTMENTS Mr. Wanush asked that the Authority go into Executive Session for this discus- sion with Mr. Benedetti. Voth moved: Schmidt seconded: The Authority go into Executive Session. The motion carried. * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Minnick entered the meeting at 6:10 P. M. * * * * * * * * * * It was moved, seconded, and carried to come out of Executive Session. -2 - • • • • Members of the Authority thanked Mr. Benedetti for his attendance and informa- tion on the property tax increment issue. Mr. Benedetti excused himself from the meeting. V. LEGAL FEES Mr. Wanush stated that in response to a request from Authority member Bullock, an up-to-date accounting of all legal fees was prepared and included in the packet. Mr. Totton inquired about the status of the Physical Whimsical suit. Mr. Wanush stated that he has been approached by representatives of Physical Whim- sical with an offer to settle for the funds that are presently on deposit with the Courts. However, in reviewing the agreement with JWM, who has paid $250,000 on the leasehold interest, it appears that EURA will have to appeal the District Court decision. EURA is responsible for payment of legal fees on this case. Mr. Wanush stated that he has a called Mr. John Martin of JWM, but has not received an answer to the Physical Whimsical proposal as yet. VI. FINANCIAL REPORT. Mr. Stitt reviewed the Tax Increment Revenue Comparison report. The Authority received $73,913.93 in property tax revenues during April, for a total year- to-date income of $204,463.51. Sales Tax revenues during April totaled $47,907.04, bringing the year-to-date total to $326,811.57. This reflects an increase in property tax revenues of 13.23% over the same time last year, but a decrease of 16.66% in sales tax revenues for this same period of time . Mr. Wanush pointed out that no sales tax revenues from District I are as yet coming into the Authority because the base level has not been reached. The base level in District I was reached in August of 1989, and it is anticipated that it will be approximately this same time before the base level is reached in 1990. Mr. Wanush briefly discussed the debt service payment due December 1, 1990, and noted that revenues are "too close to call" at this point to be able to determine whether the full payment can be made. VII. EURA PROPERTY DISPOSITION A list of properties in which the Authority has an interest, either partially or in total, has been prepared. Mr. Wanush stated that he has asked Mr. Op- perman, 1ega1 counse 1 for the Authority, to review this 1 i st to determine whether there is outstanding or potential litigation on any of these proper- ties. If not, he will submit a recommendation at a later meeting that these properties be transferred to City of Englewood ownership. Many of these prop- erties represent partial takings for permanent construction easements along the Creek and Parkway. The Authority-owned property in the 3400 block of South Acoma Street was dis- cussed. Mr. Wanush stated that he had discussed with Mr. Johnson whether this property is an asset that should be pledged to retirement of the bonds. Mr. Johnson, upon review of the Indenture, has indicated that the only revenues pledged to the retirement of bonds is that of sales and property tax increment -3 - revenues. This site is presently under lease to the City and has been devel- oped as a parking lot to serve the businesses in the 3400 block of South • Broadway. Discussion ensued. VIII. EURA/FIRST NATIONAL BANK/CLEVETRUST Mr. Wanush stated that this issue has been settled to the satisfaction of all parties, all appraisals and court costs have been paid, and the Resolution #5, Series of 1990 included in the packet transfers to the City of Englewood from the EURA the rights-of-way for Englewood Parkway which were acquired from the Bank and CleveTrust. Brief discussion ensued. Schmidt moved: Minni ck seconded: The Englewood Urban Renewal Authority approve and adopt Resolution #5, Series of 1990, A RESOLUTION OF THE ENGLE- WOOD URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY TO CONVEY CERTAIN REAL PROPER- TIES TO THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD. AYES: NAYS: Schmidt, Minnick, Totton, Byrne, Voth None ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Bullock, Keena None The motion carried. IX. OLD BUSINESS. There was nothing brought up for discussion in Old Business. X. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE. Mr. Wanush reported on a recent ruling on bankruptcy laws as they apply to public bodies, and his ensuing discussions with Mr. Johnson regarding the ap- plicability of that ruling to the Authority if they determined to file for bankruptcy. XI. COMMISSIONER'S CHOICE. Ms. Schmidt suggested that staff explore the possibility of encouraging Wal- Mart to locate in Englewood. Ms. Byrne stated that she understood "Tuesday Morning" is also looking for a new location . Staff was also asked to look into whether Macy's would be interested in locat- ing in Englewood. The demographics to support a store such as Macy's was briefly discussed. Mr. Wanush stated that the next meeting of the Authority will be on July 11 unless the Authority is notified otherwise. -4 - • • The meeting adjourned at 6:55 P. M . • • • -5 -