Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-02-02 EURA MINUTESENGLEWOOD URBAN RENEW AL AUTHORITY February 2, 1994 The members of the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority convened in Conference Room A of Englewood City Hall at 5:30 P.M. Members present: Byrne; Waggoner; Mulhern Merkel, Executive Director/Executive Secretary Members absent: Havens, Drew, Vormittag, Smith Also present: Harold J. Stitt, Planning Administrator Inasmuch as a quorum was not present, Mr. Mulhern asked Mr. Merkel to bring the members in attendance up-to-date on the status of Cinderella City Mall. Mr. Merkel briefed members on the efforts to gain public input, and cited the public meetings that are scheduled for Febru- ary 1, February 10, February 12, February 17, and March 10. Mr. Merkel stated that the first session held on February 1 was well attended, and interesting comments were noted. A num- ber of the attendees were elderly residents of the City. Mr. Smith entered the meeting and took his seat with members of the Authority. I. CALL TO ORDER. Mr. Mulhern called the meeting to order at 5 :45 P.M. Members present: Byrne, Waggoner, Mulhern, Smith Merkel, Executive Director/Executive Secretary Members absent: Drew, Havens, Vormittag Also present: Harold J. Stitt, Planning Administrator Mr. Mulhern asked that Mr. Merkel continue with his report on Cinderella City. Mr. Merkel stated that the meeting scheduled for March 10 will be a wrap-up and review of the comments received from the public in the preceding four meetings. This meeting will be held at the High School auditorium, and he urged that all members try to make this meeting. Mr. Merkel stated that staff has learned that Mr. Dolson, vice president of Equitable, will be in town on March 7 to meet with the City Council. The configuration of Cinderella City and the possible downsizing or change of shape were discussed. Mr. Smith asked if the Mall were to be sold by sealed bid, would the City still be able to im- pact the design and or ultimate redevelopment of the Mall. Mr. Merkel stated that it is the 1 City's belief they can do so, and cited the agreement on parking lot maintenance which the owner has not complied with. Brief discussion ensued . Mr. Merkel commented that it appears Trolley Square will not be under the control of the FDIC for much longer. Mr. Merkel advised members of the Authority that he and Mr. Stitt have another meeting to attend at 7 :00 P.M. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES June 2, 1993 August 26, 1993 Chairman Mulhern asked for consideration of the Minutes of June 2, 1993. Smith moved: Waggoner seconded: The Minutes of June 2 , 1993 be approved as written . AYES: NAYS: Smith, Waggoner, Byrne, Mulhern None ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Drew, Havens, Vormittag None The motion carried. Chairman Mulhern asked for consideration of the Minutes of August 26, 1993. Smith moved: Waggoner seconded: The Minutes of August 26, 1993 be approved as written. AYES : NAYS: Waggoner, Byrne, Smith, Mulhern None ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Drew, Havens, Vormittag None The motion carried. ill. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Chairman Vice-Chairman Designation of Executive Director/Executive Secretary Chairman Mulhern asked for nominations for the position of Chairman for 1994 . 2 Waggoner nominated Mr. Mulhern as Chairman; Ms. Byrne seconded the nomination. Mr. Mulhern was elected Chairman of the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority for 1994. Mr. Mulhern asked for nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman for 1994. Ms. Byrne nominated Mr. Smith as Vice-Chairman; Mr. Waggoner seconded the nomination. Mr. Smith was elected Vice-Chairman of the Authority for 1994. Mr. Smith apologized for missing some of the meetings of the Authority, and stated that he felt he had his business schedule straightened out so this will not occur. Mr. Mulhern asked for a motion designating Mr. Merkel as the Executive Director/Executive Secretary of the Authority. Smith moved: Byrne seconded: Mr. Merkel be designed as Executive Director/Executive Secretary of the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority. Mr. Merkel was so designated by acclamation. IV. NEW BUSINESS. A. 1994 Budget e B. Revenue Report The proposed 1994 Budget was presented to the Authority for its consideration, along with in- formation on the actual 1993 expenditures. Mr. Merkel noted that the Authority doesn't have any money, and operates in a "deficit fund- ing" mode; at the end of the year, a journal entry is made from the general fund of the City to cover the expenses of the Authority. However, the Colorado Division of Local Governments requires the Authority to adopt a budget each year. Members of the Authority reviewed the figures cited for 1993 expenditures, as well as figures proposed for the 1994 Budget; the larg- est expense during 1993 was for auditing services. Byrne moved: Smith seconded: The Englewood Urban Renewal Authority adopt the proposed 1994 Budget in the amount of $33, 785. Chairman Mulhern called for discussion. AYES: NAYS: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Waggoner, Byrne, Smith, Mulhern None Drew, Havens, Vormittag None 3 The motion carried. The Revenue Report was reviewed and discussed. Mr. Stitt noted that the sales tax revenues were down almost $200,000 overall 1993 compared to 1992. However, 1993 property tax revenues were slightly ahead of the 1992 revenues. Mr. Stitt pointed out that the figures con- tained on this report are as of the month "available", so in reality the revenues shown are one month behind. January figures for 1994, which are not shown on this report, are actually for December, 1993, and are $210,686 compared to a figure of $169,740.31 for the same period reported in 1993. It was further emphasized by Mr. Stitt that sales tax revenues from the Cin- derella City Mall are not part of the revenues committed for the Urban Renewal District's tax increment bonds. Discussion ensued on the impact the possible closure of the Mall will have on the revenues from the other retail areas. Mr. Smith opined that the impact will be very minimal. Mr. Stitt suggested that the Mall may still have a regional draw, and the sales from the other retail areas such as Phar-Mor and Englewood Marketplace are from the local shoppers. Relocation of businesses from the Mall to other locations in Englewood was briefly discussed. V. OLD BUSINESS. Response of City Council to Broadway/Englewood Parkway site proposal Mr. Merkel stated that a letter was written to the City Council as directed by the Authority at its special meeting of August 26, 1993, offering to sell to the City the 28.5 feet owned by the EURA at South Broadway/Englewood Parkway. The City Council declined the offer of sale, but indicated it approved of the approach to market the parcel in conjunction with the 50 feet adjoining to the south owned by the City. Mr. Merkel updated the Authority on the relocation efforts on the Englewood Depot. A site was secured on the North side of West Dartmouth Avenue just across from Cushing Park. Ground will be broken in the very near future, and the relocated, renovated Depot will become offices for the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce and will house the Englewood His- torical Society's museum. Mr. Merkel stated that in conjunction with the possible sale of the property on South Broad- way at Englewood Parkway, a prospective purchaser may also be interested in purchasing a portion of the Acoma Street parking lot, currently leased to the City, which is owned by EURA. He inquired if EURA would be interested in selling a portion of this parking lot were a prospective purchaser/businessman to be interested. It was the consensus of the members of the Authority that they would certainly consider selling part of the parking area, and the pro- ceeds would be used to repay bondholders. Mr. Mulhern discussed the economic up-swing that is occurring, and the fact that Denver is a "recovering" market. Now is the time to market properties, and he suggested that the Author- ity and the City should actively market this site. Mr. Mulhern suggested that Mr. Merkel communicate with City Council and that a task force composed of one representative from the 4 -e EURA, one from the City Council, and one from the EDDA be formed to explore the market to determine a feasible return for the parcel; to set guidelines, and to approach marketing companies to see what interest exists. General discussion on the economic trends in the metro area, state, and nation ensued . Mr. Mulhern stated that there is "confidence" in Colorado and in Denver, and he feels this is a good time to market the property. Mr. Smith cautioned that economic up-swings can quickly revert to a down-swing, and that many factors may affect the economy of the metro area, particularly: influx of emigrants from California, whether or not Denver International Airport is successful, etc. Mr. Mulhern designated Mr. Smith as a representative of the EURA to the marketing task force. Ms. Byrne asked that when the site on Broadway/Englewood Parkway is developed, to please make the product visually pleasing from both Broadway and from the Parkway. She noted that the north side of Trolley Square is a solid brick wall, which is very unappealing. VI. PUBLIC FORUM. No one was present to address the Authority . VII. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT. A. June 25 Letter from First Trust B. December 28 Letter from Walt Kane, Hanifen-Imhoff C. Audit Engagement Letter Mr. Merkel reviewed the letter from First Trust. This billing, in the amount of $5 ,991. 79 , has not been paid by the Authority. The Authority has not been paying billings from First Trust for the last two or three years. Mr. Merkel then reviewed the correspondence from Walt Kane of Hanifen-Imhoff. A copy of the 1992 audit was sent to Mr. Kane, but it does not appear feasible to refund the bonds to get a lower interest rate. Mr. Smith discussed the need for the Authority take some steps to get out from under the fi- nancial burden of the bonds. Mr. Merkel presented the "engagement letter" for the 1993 audit , which he had executed . The Authority makes use of the auditor engaged by the City of Englewood. vm. COl\trn!SSIONER'S CHOICE History of EURA activities ; prospects for the mid-1990 's . Mr. Mulhern discussed the need for the Authority to develop two or three goals to work to- ward each year. He suggested that one goal might be to sell the vacant parcel of land at South Broadway and the Parkway. He suggested that the Authority has a relatively new membership 5 now, and we need to understand the background of the Authority, and the history of the proj- ects. Mr. Stitt led discussion on the history of EURA activities, noting that the Authority was ini- tially formed in 1973, about the time a proposed "Core Area Plan" was being considered for Englewood's downtown, which redevelopment plan covered a large portion of the City and was not well received by the general population. Following the demise of this Core Area Plan, the Authority was inactive until 1981, at which time it was reactivated to serve as the financing tool to complete a flood control project area through downtown Englewood. Other public improvements, such as Englewood Parkway, the Plaza at Little Dry Creek, and the Inca Parkway improvements were also financed in addition to the flood control measures, landscap- ing, detention pond, etc. which were done along Little Dry Creek. Properties in the down- town area were acquired by the Authority, razed, and sold to developers of Englewood Mar- ketplace, the Englewood Exchange, and Phar-Mor Plaza. Bonds issued in the aggregate amount of $30,000,000 were sold to finance these public improvements and land acquisition efforts. A tax increment district was formed, with a base amount established in 1982; incre- ments from property and sales taxes were pledged to retire the bonds. Three years of capital- ized interest was built into the bond issue to make the interest payments until revenues from the redevelopments were realized. However, revenues from the various redevelopments did not match the projections that were made, revenues fell short, and as a result, the bonds went into default in June, 1991. Mr. Stitt also pointed out that there are some businesses, such as Home Base and Office Depot, who may do considerable business, but have a majority of that business as wholesale; thus, there is no sales tax revenue from those wholesale sales. Mr. Stitt reviewed studies done by consulting firms, notably Browne, Bortz & Coddington, which stud- ies indicated that by doing a rejuvenation of the downtown area, the City could "almost" hold onto its market share; without rejuvenation, the City would drastically lose the market share it had at that time. Proposals to construct a hotel on the Acoma Street site were considered; however, at the time the Denver Metro area had an abundance of hotel rooms. Mr. Stitt stated that in his opinion, the membership of the Authority has always considered the leasing of the Acoma Street site to the City for parking as an "interim" use, and that if a proposal came in that would result in revenues to the Authority, the lease with the City could and would be renegotiated. The City has hired Klipp, Colussy, Jenks & DuBois to do a study of the downtown area from Swedish Medical center westward; this parcel of land on South Acoma Street could be a key piece in a proposal for redevelopment. Mr. Stitt discussed the refinancing issues raised by Mr. Smith. He pointed out that refinancing was considered several years ago, and several ways to accomplish this were explored. The bottom line is, that the Authority did not have the funds (approximately $1,000,000) to do the refinancing; furthermore because so many bond issues in Colorado have defaulted, one would now need 125 % coverage to issue bonds. Ms. Byrne pointed out that there is also a clause in the prospectus requiring 100% approval of the bondholders to refinance. She recalled a public hearing that was held in late 1990, and there was one bondholder in attendance who was in 6 ·' '• • opposition to any refinancing measures. Mr. Merkel commented that the bonds were sold as high risk bonds, with a high rate of interest; they were unrated bonds, and uninsured. Discussion ensued. The issue of goals was again considered. Mr. Waggoner advocated be- ginning with one small project; see this through to completion, then pursue something further and let the citizenry see that the Authority can and will carry through on projects. Mr. Mul- hern agreed, and re-emphasized the sale of the parcel on South Broadway at the Parkway as a goal to be pursued in 1994. Mr. Waggoner stated that he is interested in doing something as an Authority. Mr. Smith commented that he felt the default is "putting people off", and that we need to create a way to rid ourselves of the debt and the default. Financing methods for the Denver Urban Renewal Authority were discussed. Mr. Merkel stated that DURA has a rich diversity of assets, and can feed off of private factors, also. He stated that many of their projects have been very successful, but he is not privileged to the machinations of their financing. Ms. Byrne commented that when she was initially appointed to the City Council and to the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority, it was the sense in the community that EURA had "gotten out of hand", and that the projects underway needed to be wrapped up and nothing else should be done. Mr. Mulhern suggested that at the next meeting, if we can get all the newer members in atten- dance, perhaps there could be in-depth discussions to determine where we are in marketing, determine the assets of the Authority, and come up with some projects for 1995, also. Mr. Smith agreed with the need to set goals, and suggested that perhaps an effort should be made to educate the community on what EURA has done, and can do. He stressed the need to make people aware of the value of living in and doing business in Englewood. Mr. Mulhern stated that this was Ms. Byrne's last meeting as a member of the Authority, in- asmuch as her term officially expires on February 5th. All members expressed their pleasure at working with Ms. Byrne. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 P.M. Gertrude G. Welty Recording Secretary 7