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Home My WebLink About2009-05-06 URA MinutesPage 1 of 4 Regular Scheduled Meeting CALDWELL URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY May 6, 2009 – 12:00 p.m. City Administrative Offices, Conference Room The regular scheduled meeting of the Caldwell Urban Renewal Agency convened at 12:00 noon on May 6, 2009 in the Conference Room at Caldwell City Hall Administrative Offices with Chairman ElJay Waite presiding. Roll was called: Present: Mayor Garret Nancolas, Steve Rule and Leona Fouts. Rob Hopper arrived as noted in the minutes. Guests: Dennis Cannon, Chris Yamamoto, Steve Fultz, Bruce Schultz, Doug Oppenheimer, Jeremy Malone, Bob Runyon. Motion to amend the agenda to move Old Business Item #3, TVCC Funding Request, to New Business to accommodate Bruce Schultz’s delayed arrival, move New Business Items #2 and #3 to a later date, and approve the agenda as amended: Rule/Fouts M/S/P Chairman Waite noted a clarification and correction to the minutes of the April 7, 2009 meeting to properly describe the invoices paid to the YMCA for CEURA’s financial commitment to the Community Wellness Program offered by the YMCA. Motion to amend the minutes of April 7, 2009 to properly reflect the payment to the YMCA: Rule/Nancolas Motion to approve the minutes of the April 7, 2009 meeting as amended: Fouts/Nancolas Rob Hopper arrived and was counted as present. OLD BUSINESS Dennis Cannon provided an update on the Indian Creek and City Center Catalyst projects: Highlights include: FEMA Flood Mapping  FEMA has tentatively announced their findings on the City’s appeal to the draft flood mapping. They have:  Agreed that the Mora Canal intersects the flow from the northern portion of the Indian Creek basin, reducing basin water runoff  Agreed that the probabilistic flow in the NY Canal will be lowered from 34% to 20%, reducing the flow in the canal.  Accepted the City’s very conservative hydraulic analysis of basin flow (prepared in 2007)  Ignored the data on physical barriers to basin flow  Ignored the historical information on the 1910 flood  Postulated a failure of the NY Canal levee in addition to its overtopping  Predicted a ~3,200 cfs of flow in downtown Caldwell  The best solution appears to be the installation of a spillway on the NY Canal downstream of the calipee gates to preclude failure of the Canal levee; however, legal strategy is being developed in the event that FEMA is not willing to accept a project-driven solution.  The work could be done by June 2009 as a City-funded project, providing that the Bureau of Reclamation and the Boise Project Office agree to let the work go forward.  With the spillway project initiative, FEMA will be requested to delay publishing their final flood plain mapping until the spillway is completed. Page 2 of 4  There will then be no flooding of downtown Caldwell, but the flood maps would likely show Nampa being flooded, unless FEMA accepts the physical barrier data.  A Strategy meeting will be held Friday, May 8th, in Caldwell to plan the response to FEMA’s findings. FEMA will meet with the City on Tuesday, May 19th, in Caldwell to discuss further actions and outcomes. C/CEDC activity report was provided by Steve Fultz, Executive Director: Highlights from April 2009  Site tour with two business leads (S.H. College and an architecture firm)  Working with Jim Toomey on wine incubator at the U of I Business Incubator. Two wineries have been secured.  Working with EDA and Sage Community Resources on potential grants for U of I incubator  Finalized brochures for wine region and road signage  Provided demographic info to two business leads  Meeting with local developer on potential development opportunities in Caldwell  Meeting with CC Farm Bureau on collaborative efforts in updating the CAFÉ report on the economy of the county  Chamber Business expo  Meeting with Key Bank on programs offered to small business NEW BUSINESS Bob Runyon, Developer, North Pole LLC, presented a request for street landscaping funds in the amount of $7,500 for the installation of top soil, a sprinkler system, grass hydro-seed and installation for an unimproved area approximately 950 feet long and 20 feet wide along the north side of Franklin Road (Hwy 20/26) fronting Caldwell Crossing Subdivision. The unimproved area is a public right- of-way, is located in the no-build zone and currently contains road mix, dirt and weeds. The Caldwell Crossing Subdivision that abuts the area to the north has a public sidewalk, landscaping and street lights. Future maintenance of the area of consideration will be done by the subdivision landscaping crew at no cost to the City or CEURA. Rob Hopper noted that the area is part of a future ITD project for Franklin Road that is not scheduled for the immediate future. Motion to table the request to allow time to research ITD’s plan and determine if other sections of the Franklin Road right-of-way are similarly impacted before a decision is made: Hopper/Fouts M/S/P Bruce Schultz, TVCC, presented a revised funding request in the amount of $297,158 to address the projected enrollment growth and sustain the enrollment momentum during 2009-2010. Enrollment grew over 38% during the 2008-09 academic year and has accelerated well beyond the current facilities and operations. The request specifically identifies equipment and instruction for the nursing program that is in high demand, off-site classroom lease, and student support costs in the form of a financial aid specialist, computer technician, testing coordinator and education advisor. Commissioner Hopper expressed support for the capital expenditures and lease facilities, but voiced concern with salary dollars. Mayor Nancolas stated that the community has overwhelmingly demonstrated that it wants and supports TVCC and that legal opinion is needed to determine what expenditures are allowable within urban renewal law. Motion to authorize Chairman Waite to review TVCC’s funding request with legal counsel for determination of appropriate expenditures: Hopper/Fouts M/S/P Doug Oppenheimer presented a request for partnership in the development of a three-story, 32,000 sq ft building in downtown Caldwell to house the Veterans Administration (1st floor) and TVCC (floors 2 &3). By starting with those projects that bring the critical mass to the downtown area (VA, Page 3 of 4 TVCC), the retail and city hall projects will follow more naturally and will have the potential to be built without bonding or entering into long-term indebtedness. The requested partnership with CEURA would consist of assistance with parking, building demolition, site & boundary survey, and site purchase. Mayor Nancolas reminded the commissioners that from the authors of the R/UDAT study completed years ago to the current developers, the message is consistent that downtown redevelopment is absolutely critical to the health and future prosperity of Caldwell and its citizens. Activity breeds activity and a healthy community must invest in human capital. While the costs for improving blight (environmental issues, FEMA issues, land cost, demolition costs) are greater than the costs of building on bare, open ground, the improvement of a blighted downtown is imperative to the health of the community-at-large. Chairman Waite recommended a special workshop to allow the commissioners to study the current requests for funding and the financial options to FEMA. Motion to schedule a workshop within the next ten days to review this requests: Hopper/Rule M/S/P Chairman Waite scheduled a workshop for Tuesday, May 12th, at 3:00pm in the conference room at City Hall. Financial Report provided by Rob Hopper: April 30, 2009 Ending Balance Earnings B of C Money Mkt 346,168.75 148.93 B of C Business Acct 23,492.03 n/a B of C Indian Creek -0- -0- B of C Certificate of Deposit 1,203,269.59 3,269.59 B of C Certificate of Deposit 300,616.75 616.75 Local Gov’t Pool 879,015.15 607.94 Wells Fargo (debt service 3/30) 2,280,540.41 n/a Motion to approve the financial report: Fouts/Hopper M/S/P Rob Hopper presented the following invoices for payment: $ 2,684.24 TV YMCA, 5/1 invoice Business Partners Wellness Program $ 2,943.00 TV YMCA, 4/30 Gov’t Partners Wellness Program $ 2,513.41 TV YMCA, 3/31 Business Partners Wellness Program $ 3,190.28 TV YMCA, 3/31 Gov’t Partners Wellness Program $ 675.00 V-1 Propane Propane Tank – Stolen from School Dist Site $ 150.00 Parker Tree Service Fashion Extra Site $ 45.00 Petty Cash Pizza Hut – URA Lunches May $ 55.02 Petty Cash Pizza Hut – URA Lunches March & April $ 9,352.50 Idaho Department of Labor Shared lane @ Dept of Labor Building Site $ 44,778.48 Wells Fargo Bank Municipal Note Motion to approve the invoices for payment: Fouts/Rule M/S/P GENERAL DISCUSSION Mayor Nancolas advised the board that concern had been voiced by a citizen regarding CEURA’s contribution for board member membership to the YMCA. Mayor Nancolas stated for the record that CEURA’s payments to the YMCA are appropriate under the terms of the agreement with the YMCA and a legal opinion has been issued that directly supports these expenditures. As part of the original agreement to the Caldwell YMCA, CEURA has a stewardship and oversight responsibility with the “Y” and takes that duty seriously. Page 4 of 4 Chairman Waite stated that Dennis Cannon has received a proposal from Spectrum in the amount of $4,394.00 for an asbestos survey of four buildings between 6th and 7th streets. The commission needs to consider the future of those buildings and the value of both restoration and demolition with landscaping. The commission will wait for the FEMA report due on the 19th before any action is taken on the proposal. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. Motion to adjourn: Rule/Hopper M/S/P Meeting adjourned at 2:19 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Leona Fouts Secretary