On the agenda

1. 1Call to Order - Roll Call▶ 0:00
2. 2

   Approval of July 31, 2018 CRA Meeting Minutes

   approved

   The CRA Board approved the minutes from the July 31, 2018 CRA meeting.

   • motion:Approve the July 31, 2018 CRA meeting minutes. (passed)

   #July 31, 2018 CRA Meeting Minutes

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   [00:00:30] Next item on the agenda is the approval [00:00:35] of the July 31st CRA meeting minutes. [00:00:41] Move for approval. [00:00:42] Thank you. [00:00:42] Second? [00:00:43] Second. [00:00:44] Thank you. [00:00:44] All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:00:47] Aye. Aye. [00:00:48] Opposed, like sign. [00:00:49] Motion passes.

   This text was generated automatically from the meeting video. It is not a verbatim or official record. For exact wording, consult the video or the city clerk.

3. 3

   CRA Plan Update

   discussed

   Kimley-Horn consultants presented a draft update to the Community Redevelopment Agency Plan, including community engagement findings, six targeted redevelopment areas (Community Hospital, US 19/Rivergate, Southgate/Magnuson Hotel, Riverside Inn, Downtown across from the Hacienda, and Leisure Lane/Van Dorn neighborhood), and a five-year financial/TIF outlook. The board discussed marketing/branding timing, opportunity zone designation for the Community Hospital site, and possible CRA boundary expansion to include Leisure Lane/Van Dorn; no formal action was taken.

   📍Grand Boulevard📍Lafayette Street📍Leisure Lane / Van Dorn Avenue neighborhood📍Property across from the Hacienda📍River Road📍Rivergate at Main📍Southgate Center📍US 19 corridor🏢Aldi🏢Almost Abba🏢Community Hospital🏢HCA🏢Hacienda Hotel🏢Kimley-Horn🏢Leverocks🏢Magnuson Hotel🏢Main Street Landing🏢Orange Lake Apartments🏢Riverside Inn🏢Sims Park🏢Southgate Center🏢Urbanomics🏢Vrana Consulting🏢Walgreens🏢West Pasco Habitat for Humanity👤Caroline Frazier👤Keith Grimminger👤Ken Kreveling👤Mario👤Mr. Arizoni👤Ms. Manns👤Starkey👤Tammy Vrana#2001 CRA boundary expansion#2012 CRA plan amendment#CRA Act of 1969#Five-year CRA strategic action plan#Street assessment program#TIF district established 1989#Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zones

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   [00:00:50] Next is the CRA plan update. [00:00:52] Ms. Manns. [00:00:53] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [00:00:55] As you are all already aware, the CRA Act [00:00:59] of 1969 provides local governments an opportunity [00:01:03] to designate CRAs when certain conditions exist. [00:01:08] CRAs are a very effective tool and one of the few tools [00:01:12] that the state of Florida affords to local units [00:01:15] of government in terms of fostering redevelopment [00:01:18] and creating jobs. [00:01:19] The TIF in its simplest explanation is the amount [00:01:28] of revenue generated from property taxes before a CRA [00:01:33] designation and then the amount generated [00:01:38] after the CRA designation. [00:01:42] And so saying that, you recognize it as a financing [00:01:46] tool and that is the way that it is used most successfully [00:01:51] in communities to implement both public services [00:01:55] and public improvements within the district. [00:02:00] In that respect, the city established its first downtown [00:02:05] or pardon me, its first TIF district in 1989 [00:02:10] and it was principally the downtown area of the city. [00:02:14] It followed up in 2001 with an act [00:02:18] which expanded the boundaries [00:02:19] to include the full municipal limits [00:02:23] of the city of New Port Richey. [00:02:25] We also had a plan amendment in 2012. [00:02:29] We are back before you now with a proposal [00:02:34] to update the plan for a fourth time and we have been working [00:02:39] with Kimley Horne, principally Keith Grimminger [00:02:44] as the partner leading the project and I'll allow him [00:02:48] to introduce his team as we go forward [00:02:52] and tonight's presentation by him will be of the work [00:02:57] that has occurred so far to update the plan. [00:03:01] Thank you, Keith. [00:03:01] Thank you, Ms. Vance. [00:03:09] Again, Keith Grimminger with Kimley Horne. [00:03:12] I want to introduce my team, Ken Kreveling with Urbanomics [00:03:17] who has been the Financial Market Feasibility, [00:03:20] Tammy Verana with Verana Consulting did the [00:03:22] public engagement and also [00:03:24] in the audience is Caroline Frazier, [00:03:26] one of our planners who has been helping us with the document. [00:03:29] So, very quickly we'll run through this presentation. [00:03:33] We want this to be conversational. [00:03:35] A lot of the information we're going to present [00:03:37] to you, you've already seen. [00:03:38] You're very aware of. [00:03:40] This document though is a digest of the full report [00:03:45] and the full report is for the community at large, [00:03:49] for the development industry or anyone who would be interested [00:03:53] in coming into the city of New Port Richey [00:03:56] and understanding where the process is. [00:03:58] Ms. Vance talked about the history that's going forward [00:04:01] and we also touch on those things. [00:04:03] So, a lot of the things of what has been accomplished [00:04:06] and where successes have been made are also documented in this. [00:04:11] So, with this, we'll forward very quickly. [00:04:14] You know, I've done the introductions. [00:04:16] Right after this little update, [00:04:20] Tammy will jump on the community engagement. [00:04:23] Then we'll talk about the strategic action plan itself. [00:04:26] What are the quick wins, the targeted redevelopments [00:04:29] and the incentives and beautification programs. [00:04:32] Then we'll walk through very quickly the financial analysis [00:04:35] and what we see the TIF growing as over the next five years. [00:04:41] What that five-year plan will be and then how [00:04:43] to move forward from there. [00:04:45] So, again, I've introduced the team. [00:04:47] Tammy, if you want to come up and talk about. [00:04:50] Good evening, my name is Tammy Vrana, Vrana Consulting. [00:05:00] I'll talk to you tonight about the community engagement process. [00:05:05] We had a few different activities to allow the community [00:05:09] to be involved and to provide their input to shape the plan. [00:05:13] We started out with roundtable discussions, [00:05:16] which were 50 people in seven sessions [00:05:20] over the course of one day. [00:05:22] And the participants represented interest groups, [00:05:25] including neighborhoods, businesses, employers, [00:05:28] government, both city and county, [00:05:30] and then also environmental interest. [00:05:33] And you can see the interests that were represented [00:05:36] at the bottom of the slide. [00:05:37] We also conducted two surveys, non-statistical surveys. [00:05:42] One was community-wide and the other one was [00:05:45] for the employees of major employers. [00:05:51] So, for the roundtable discussions, we first heard [00:05:54] about the many assets and advantages. [00:05:57] And there's a diagram that I did of all the assets and advantages [00:06:01] that were reported during those roundtable sessions. [00:06:04] There were so many. [00:06:06] It's clear that the community has a fondness [00:06:09] for this community and also for this place. [00:06:12] I think they find it irresistible and I think [00:06:14] that with that sort of passion, you can really move mountains. [00:06:17] And I would like to add that, you know, I was in town [00:06:20] over the weekend for the Almost Abba concert, [00:06:22] which was terrific. [00:06:23] But it was just amazing. [00:06:25] I brought people up and we walked around. [00:06:27] We saw the new businesses [00:06:28] and I don't think I've ever seen New Port Richey more on fire. [00:06:33] So, it was beautiful. [00:06:35] So, with that sort of energy, [00:06:36] I think you can do a lot of things. [00:06:38] Of course, the sentiment was that downtown is unique. [00:06:42] It's different in all the region. [00:06:43] And that is really a true driver [00:06:46] for your citywide revitalization efforts. [00:06:49] But there was a recognition that strategies needed [00:06:51] to extend beyond downtown, which you are aware of. [00:06:55] And that a broader variety of housing is needed if you're going [00:06:59] to attract households with diverse interests [00:07:02] into those neighborhoods, citywide neighborhoods. [00:07:06] There was a recognition that there are social problems, [00:07:09] including poverty within the community. [00:07:12] But there was also a sense that the police department [00:07:15] and the social services agencies were working hard to try [00:07:18] to address and improve people's positions within the community. [00:07:22] There was a strong interest in adding value to the tax base [00:07:27] and that was seen just through the investments the city has [00:07:31] already made that that sort of thing is happening. [00:07:35] And then finally, branding and telling the community's story [00:07:38] was something that everybody felt strongly about. [00:07:40] That, you know, if you tell people, [00:07:42] if people don't know what Newport Rich is doing, [00:07:44] then, you know, then they're not going [00:07:46] to know what great things are happening here. [00:07:48] Can I interrupt you real quick? [00:07:51] Absolutely. [00:07:52] So based on your last statement, then, how important is it, [00:07:56] do you think, that the city engages [00:07:58] in a pretty aggressive marketing campaign? [00:08:00] You said we need to brand ourselves. [00:08:02] We need to get the word out for what you saw this weekend. [00:08:06] So is that something we wait a year to do, two years to do? [00:08:08] Start budgeting now? [00:08:09] So there were kind of like two mindsets of the groups, [00:08:13] and I'm not a marketing expert, but, yeah, [00:08:17] so I'm a community planner and I also do the public involvement. [00:08:21] But I can tell you what I heard. [00:08:22] There were two different camps. [00:08:23] There were some saying we need [00:08:25] to do some things first before we tell the story [00:08:29] so that there isn't sort of a let down when people come [00:08:32] into town, they see that maybe you're not living [00:08:34] up to this image of the brand. [00:08:37] Others thought that it was important to tell the story now, [00:08:41] sort of like a fake it till you make it. [00:08:43] But based on the evidence of the other night, I think at least [00:08:46] in your downtown, that you don't have to fake it [00:08:50] because it looked really good. [00:08:52] And I think that those sort of spillover effects are going [00:08:56] to happen in your, you know, especially [00:08:58] with your interventions. [00:08:59] Do you have something to say? [00:09:00] No, no, no, just in answering your question, [00:09:02] when we go through the five year plan, I believe it's [00:09:05] in year two we're recommending we do the background information [00:09:08] and go forward with a branding and marketing consultant [00:09:12] to actually implement that. [00:09:13] Sorry to get ahead of you. [00:09:14] But I don't think it's too early. [00:09:15] I don't think it's ever too early to put yourself out there [00:09:19] and talk about the good works that you're doing. [00:09:22] So that's my opinion. [00:09:23] So the, oops, let's go to the next one. [00:09:30] The next one is the community-wide survey [00:09:32] which was open to anyone in the community [00:09:35] that wanted to participate. [00:09:37] We only had 111 responses in spite of a lot of effort [00:09:41] to get people to participate. [00:09:43] We were really shooting for 1,000. [00:09:47] So we came up short. [00:09:48] But we did. [00:09:48] So were we up there. [00:09:50] Yeah. But we did have Irma right in the middle [00:09:53] of the survey period and, like I said, we, but I think [00:10:00] that triangulating between what we heard [00:10:02] with this roundtable sessions, [00:10:05] also with the employee surveys, [00:10:08] that we heard a lot of the same things. [00:10:10] So I think that, you know, kind of all works together. [00:10:12] So in this particular case, oh, I'm on the wrong page. [00:10:16] So what people thought was important to living [00:10:18] in New Port Richey, and this is order of priority, [00:10:21] neighborhood quality, economic well-being, quality of life, [00:10:25] sense of community, quality schools, mobility and streets, [00:10:30] cultural and social opportunities, [00:10:32] parks and recreation, and the historic downtown. [00:10:35] People were most concerned about the city's appearance, [00:10:39] public safety, good jobs, and also school quality. [00:10:43] And then of the transportation priorities, [00:10:45] people thought it was important that street and road conditions, [00:10:48] and I believe that was right about the time [00:10:49] that you were looking into your street assessment program. [00:10:52] So maybe that was on people's minds. [00:10:54] Walking infrastructure and also bike infrastructure. [00:10:59] I know I always point that way, but it's probably over there. [00:11:04] So for the employee, the employees of major, [00:11:11] I'm all a bit mixed up here, employee survey, [00:11:15] there were just under 200. [00:11:16] So we had a better response rate with that one. [00:11:19] And this was largely oriented to the preferences for housing [00:11:25] and also for what types [00:11:27] of communities that people would prefer. [00:11:29] So we could get sort of a sense of who might be interested [00:11:32] in New Port Richey and all it has to offer. [00:11:35] So we saw that 21% of those responding had a greater [00:11:40] than 30-minute commute, and 17% said that was too long. [00:11:44] So that's an opportunity there for people who don't want [00:11:46] to drive so far, provided they have a place to work in town. [00:11:50] Fifty-five percent said they prefer to live and work [00:11:53] in the same community. [00:11:54] Ninety percent said they preferred a single [00:11:56] family detached home. [00:11:59] Sixty-three percent said that they needed three [00:12:01] or more bedrooms, which with your housing inventory, [00:12:04] that shows a need for maybe some larger housing. [00:12:07] Eighty-eight percent said housing affordability is [00:12:10] very important. [00:12:11] And 50% said that their maximum monthly housing cost should be, [00:12:17] you know, more than $999. [00:12:20] Twenty-one percent said they were likely to consider a home [00:12:23] in the city, and most found downtown [00:12:26] and in-town neighborhood setting, like the city has [00:12:29] to offer, very acceptable. [00:12:30] So not necessarily wanting to live in rural areas [00:12:33] or more suburban areas, [00:12:34] but something that's a little more urban. [00:12:36] And then this was just my last slide, [00:12:41] and it's just a little takeaway for kind of in line [00:12:44] with what the national preferences are [00:12:45] for walkable communities and what New Port Richey really [00:12:48] offers up, walkable and bikeable, [00:12:51] is that most people see in the future they still want to drive, [00:12:54] but on an equal basis, they want to be able to walk. [00:12:57] So. [00:12:58] It'll be in a golf cart, it looks like. [00:13:00] Yes. Oh, yes, it's a golf cart. [00:13:03] Oh, yes, yes, but not quite as high as the other one, so. [00:13:05] More than walking. [00:13:06] It will be. [00:13:06] More than biking, though. [00:13:07] It will be. [00:13:09] I notice your parking space is downtown. [00:13:12] We've got, every time we turn around, [00:13:15] there are more people with golf carts. [00:13:18] Yeah. That is rapidly growing. [00:13:20] People love them, so. [00:13:21] But if you have any questions, I guess we're going to hold them [00:13:23] for the end, perhaps, and we'll go ahead. [00:13:25] Absolutely. [00:13:25] I mean, people will welcome. [00:13:26] We want this conversation with the workshop. [00:13:28] So, by any means, any questions along the way, [00:13:30] please don't hesitate. [00:13:32] But thank you. [00:13:33] I'm sorry, I flipped your thing there. [00:13:35] That's all right. [00:13:38] All right. [00:13:38] The next part is then getting into the strategic action plan. [00:13:43] And again, as a part of a redevelopment strategy, [00:13:47] we were touching on a little bit of the quick wins [00:13:49] and what we could do with that. [00:13:51] Build on recent investments. [00:13:53] A lot of progress has been taking place since 2012 [00:13:57] in this update. [00:13:58] Where the redevelopment areas can be targeted. [00:14:02] Expand on the redevelopment incentives [00:14:05] and the beautification program. [00:14:06] So, very quickly, we talked about a few of the quick wins [00:14:10] with locations of gateways and examples [00:14:12] that have been done elsewhere. [00:14:14] We talked about public art. [00:14:17] And again, other municipalities who have taken [00:14:19] on an art symbol of some sort and introduced [00:14:22] that into the community as well. [00:14:24] Painted crosswalks is another traffic calming, [00:14:27] but also another quick, aggressive way [00:14:30] to show moving forward. [00:14:33] You know, many investments. [00:14:36] Tammy was just talking about the success of Sims Park [00:14:38] and how we can kind of build upon that. [00:14:41] The Orange Lake Apartments and what's happening there. [00:14:45] And some of the streetscapes. [00:14:48] So, the targeted redevelopment areas that we've identified, [00:14:51] and Ken, you're welcome to come up and join me here, [00:14:54] is basically six areas that we believe could be catalytic [00:14:58] to move the community forward. [00:15:00] forward. Community Hospital, the US 19 corridor, especially at Rivergate in [00:15:05] Maine, up around the Southgate Center, the Magnuson Hotel, and Riverside Inn [00:15:12] on the north side, and then downtown Main Street, and what's happening with [00:15:16] the Hacienda and the success that Mr. Arizoni is having, and then the [00:15:20] Leisure Lane, a Van Dorn Avenue neighborhood, and how that needs to be [00:15:25] uplifted. So with that, Ken, I don't know if you wanna jump into these. [00:15:30] Well, the slide is the Community Hospital, which I think is one of [00:15:34] your significant challenges in terms of redevelopment. But just to back up [00:15:38] in terms of looking at these individual areas, we've identified six, [00:15:42] as Keith mentioned, and they're really site specific, property specific, [00:15:48] and we'll run through them quickly. And four of them are in the, [00:15:53] what I'll call the US 19 corridor, the Southgate Center, Magnuson Hotel [00:15:58] area, Rivergate, which is south of Main Street down to River Road, [00:16:05] Riverside Inn, and the Leisure Lane, Van Dorn Avenue neighborhood, which is [00:16:10] really right behind the Southgate Center. Downtown is not left out. [00:16:16] We've identified a property across from the Hacienda, and we wanna take [00:16:20] advantage of the critical mass that's being formed with the restoration [00:16:26] of the Hacienda and the eventual reopening of the Hacienda Hotel, [00:16:30] plus the Main Street landing, to energize this end of downtown with [00:16:36] a development possibility that involves the property across the street from [00:16:40] the Hacienda. We'll talk about that a little bit more. And then, [00:16:45] of course, the Community Hospital is the major challenge, which we think [00:16:52] faces you, because it has a significant opportunity. It's recently been [00:16:58] designated, that census tract that the Community Hospital site is in, [00:17:02] has been recently designated as one of a number of opportunity zones under [00:17:06] the new Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which provides various tax incentives for [00:17:14] investments in these zones. And we think that this is [00:17:18] a significant opportunity for it, to be not only federal tax credits and [00:17:25] tax exemptions, but also local tax rebates and things of that nature can [00:17:30] be paired with the federal opportunities. [00:17:35] Mario is instrumental in having that census tract designated for potential [00:17:44] redevelopment purposes. So let me just go through these very quickly. [00:17:50] It's the right side? Yeah. Well, a couple of things too. Good access [00:17:54] to this site. So taking a look at Grand Boulevard and the access [00:17:57] to US 19, working with national brokers, we believe this is a very [00:18:01] strategic property, great opportunities. Again, almost part of the marketing [00:18:05] plan that we talked about, Commissioner Starkey, about getting the word [00:18:10] out, understanding that as much as we can to let people know [00:18:13] the opportunities that exist. Alright, next one. We think of the concept [00:18:17] of a community health campus with a variety of medical and social [00:18:21] services is very, very appropriate for this area and can take advantage [00:18:27] of the existing facilities and medical offices already in the area. [00:18:32] It's gonna take a lot of marketing on the city's part to bring [00:18:38] attention to that, but in as much as HCA continues to have ownership [00:18:43] and has a lot of a network of clients and so on, [00:18:48] there may be some beneficial associations with HCA to try to help the [00:18:53] city generate interest in the property. Here's the Rivergate area, [00:19:00] which the new Aldi store coming, the vacant Walgreens store needs [00:19:07] some attention. That whole area has some significant opportunities yet [00:19:12] to be taken advantage of, and the city owns that church property on [00:19:17] River Road, which is part of it. Southgate Center area, we understand [00:19:23] the owner of the Magnuson Hotel is interested in redevelopment, [00:19:28] is probably interested in any incentives that he can get from the city [00:19:33] to do that. Leverocks, which has been a subject of some legal action, [00:19:40] is a prime location for a waterfront restaurant, bar, [00:19:45] and so some attention needs to be given to opportunities there. [00:19:50] And let me just say that at the outset, [00:19:54] I think this redevelopment plan update is occurring at a very opportune [00:19:58] time, because this is a rare opportunity to take advantage of the investment [00:20:06] climate in the real estate market that is [00:20:10] just booming now. It's not gonna last forever. We say that you really [00:20:18] need to make hay while the sun shines in the next five years [00:20:22] to bring attention to these properties and get a redevelopment occurring [00:20:27] and develop a pool of incentives to help that process go. [00:20:33] The Riverside Inn, bad entrance on the north end of the city, [00:20:37] needs to be improved. It's a wonderful location. [00:20:44] Access speed of coming across the bridge down US 19 may be an issue, [00:20:50] but I think that can be corrected with some sort of traffic calming [00:20:54] to help redevelop that property. And we talked about this in our gateways [00:20:58] too, it's a gateway area too. And the variety of uses, [00:21:01] having a mixed use development there as an entrance point, as a gateway [00:21:06] into the city, we think would be a good start. [00:21:10] The downtown... Mayor, may I interrupt here for a second? Yes, please. [00:21:14] Well, I know you want it to be conversational, and I don't want to [00:21:18] stop what is a really good program coming, but I thought I'd ask [00:21:21] my colleagues, as they're looking at each one of these, can we go back [00:21:25] to them sort of individually and just speak about them after they're done? [00:21:28] I would think that would be fine. Sure. Yeah, because there's a lot [00:21:31] going on with the under the bridge crossovers and some of the stuff [00:21:34] that you're probably aware of too that... From talking to... Fair enough, [00:21:40] that's good. Now, this is the downtown property that we're talking about, [00:21:44] which we feel is prime for redevelopment, and the property owner himself [00:21:48] is interested in getting involved in redevelopment. It's the acre of primarily [00:21:54] vacant property with a small office building right across the street from [00:22:00] the Hacienda Hotel, and the parking area that's used by the city and [00:22:04] county behind it. And Lafayette Street, we think, could be abandoned so [00:22:10] that you can put the two properties together and form a nice, [00:22:14] developable two acre parcel, which is about the same size as the [00:22:19] central property, a little bit smaller than the Main Street landing, [00:22:24] but we feel can accommodate a number of housing units, apartment units, [00:22:29] and some ground floor retail and parking. A parking structure is depicted [00:22:33] here. Last but not least is Leisure Lane, Van Doren Avenue. [00:22:41] We believe that the plan should have a pilot neighborhood, [00:22:49] a neighborhood where a variety of incentives and remedies can be applied [00:22:56] to improve conditions within the neighborhood. And to our thinking, [00:23:02] the Leisure Lane, Van Doren Avenue area is a good guinea pig for [00:23:10] that approach. It's a blemish on some of the commercial properties that [00:23:16] it abuts, and residential properties needs to be improved. We're really [00:23:26] interested in seeing how far the West Pasco Habitat for Humanity approach, [00:23:33] the new housing in there. They purchased about 17 properties, I believe, [00:23:39] and plan new housing on these properties, which is a great start for [00:23:43] redeveloping that neighborhood. The city has been asked by the county to [00:23:49] annex the property, which I believe may be in process, and we can talk [00:23:54] about that a little bit more, because the CRA would need to be expanded [00:23:59] to incorporate that so that CRA funding and so on could be applied. [00:24:03] Okay, the total of these six areas is about 100 acres out of the total. [00:24:13] We believe, we estimate that it has a potential for 100 to 125 [00:24:19] million dollars of investment, if we can take advantage of the hot market [00:24:23] that we have ahead of us right now, and ahead of us for maybe the [00:24:27] next five or six years. And that could translate into about 75 million [00:24:32] dollars of taxable value for the CRA. I would point out that the current [00:24:38] CRA taxable value for fiscal 18-19 is 523 million, so this would be [00:24:44] a good boost if we could add another 75 to that. So we all have [00:24:49] a lot of... You all have a lot of work to do. [00:24:54] So the next one, we'll get into some of the incentives, the housing programs [00:25:01] we talked about. Facade Improvement Grants, a lot of these things you [00:25:05] are already doing, continue to embellish those, work through those processes. [00:25:11] Infrastructure Redevelopment Incentive Programs to help development move [00:25:15] forward, and a Summer Youth Program. We talked about this in another [00:25:21] CRA that we had worked with to keep through the summer program is [00:25:24] having the youth help lay sidewalks down. Sidewalks in front of properties [00:25:29] boost the value of the real estate, and also then gives [00:25:33] some of the youth a good job for the summer, and teaches them [00:25:38] some work ethic as well. Yeah. This may be more of a question for [00:25:41] Ms. Manns. Was it the Gibbs group that did the retail study? [00:25:46] What's the name of that? Yes, the Gibbs group. So what did we [00:25:49] do with that study? Was it given to all the retailers in downtown? [00:25:53] I know it was presented to us and everything, but I read it [00:25:57] and there was some phenomenal ideas in there, as far as redevelopment [00:26:00] downtown, that once you read it, it sounds like common sense, [00:26:04] but it's not something that most people, business owners, property owners [00:26:07] think of. Are we distributing that to the property owners? I mean, [00:26:11] we... I'm sure we paid a pretty penny for the study. [00:26:14] What are we doing with it? At this point, the study has not [00:26:18] been distributed to the downtown business owners. Your plan? Our plan was [00:26:23] to have a round table presentation and invite people in. [00:26:29] Is there more, Mario? Yeah, I think there's two studies. One was the [00:26:32] shoppability study, which we have, which I think is what you're referring [00:26:35] to, city manager. Right. The other one is a retail market analysis that [00:26:38] we did about two years ago that says that the demand... [00:26:42] That we're short, actually, 167,000 square feet, and it did the different [00:26:47] types of... I think that's the study you're talking about. Right. Well, [00:26:52] to me, the shoppability study, it's like, let's improve what we currently [00:26:55] have to help attract new development, new [00:26:59] investors, right? I guess that's the angle I'm coming from. The retail market [00:27:04] analysis, I've been giving it to the local business owners over the past [00:27:08] two years. When I meet with them and talk to them one on one, [00:27:11] and also potential investors, I send that one out quite a bit when [00:27:16] I'm trolling for individuals that have expressed an interest in town. I think [00:27:20] the one I'm referring to, once again, is the shoppability study. What I [00:27:23] suggest we do is contact all of the major property owners in downtown, [00:27:28] as well as business owners. Get them all in this room, [00:27:31] present the study to everybody, and really ask them, give them... [00:27:35] I mean, we can't make them come, but [00:27:39] get them, get as many property owners and business owners as we can in [00:27:42] this room. Have a big round table. It doesn't have to be a round table, [00:27:45] it would just be a workshop type discussion. You want your property values [00:27:50] to increase, right? You want them to improve as a land owner, [00:27:54] as a building owner, historic building owner, because we have building owners [00:27:57] that haven't done anything with their building for decades, I mean, [00:28:00] for just a long time, and we need them to get on board. [00:28:03] So sell, or if you wanna improve the value of your business and help [00:28:09] improve what's going on with downtown, if we're on the right track, [00:28:13] you need to start doing these changes to your building, to your business. [00:28:17] I think we start doing that and seeing some results, it's gonna help [00:28:20] attract new money coming in from outside. So I would like to see that [00:28:24] happen in the next few months. We received that study on August 23rd, [00:28:27] and that's exactly how we're gonna proceed with that study, and it's directly [00:28:31] specifically to those businesses to help them better understand how they can [00:28:35] improve revenue for their facilities. That's a great suggestion. Give them [00:28:38] a set of tools that they can use to move forward. [00:28:44] And then we also, what took place last year too, is the Urban Land Institute [00:28:49] came in and did a technical assistant panel, talked about the revitalization [00:28:54] of residential aspect of this. So that is also part of this report [00:29:00] as an appendix, but the recommendations largely, and Mario touched... I mean, [00:29:04] excuse me, Ken touched on this, is identify some pilot projects. [00:29:07] Where can we institute some of these ideas? [00:29:11] Improve the review process, the development [00:29:14] process, so getting through that much quicker. Incentivize... Invest in building [00:29:19] staff capacity. So again, if we have this boom, things can be moved more [00:29:24] quickly from a staffing standpoint. This is an interesting idea, pre zone [00:29:29] instead of re zone, to allow by right with administrative approval. [00:29:33] Again, that'll get the approval process going through much quicker. [00:29:38] Revise the development code. We have to do a deeper dive to look [00:29:41] at that, but that would diversify and create greater densities on the [00:29:46] properties, especially within the urban core or the city core. [00:29:50] And then consider the adjustment of the 50% threshold of cost improvement [00:29:55] to a home, because a lot of that is holding people back. [00:30:00] from being able to do that. [00:30:00] So consider that as an adjustment. [00:30:02] So these, again, these were recommendations [00:30:04] that came out of that ULI study. [00:30:08] City beautification programs. [00:30:10] Yeah, the code enforcement. [00:30:12] Assist your code enforcement group [00:30:14] with solid waste enhancement program, [00:30:16] environmental programs that can pick up [00:30:18] maybe on a more regular basis. [00:30:20] The youth maintenance program. [00:30:21] Again, getting the youth core within the community [00:30:25] in and helping collect litter and pick up [00:30:28] and things like that. [00:30:29] And then the waste pickup service consolidation. [00:30:32] We understand there are four or five contractors here. [00:30:35] Consolidating those and working with them [00:30:38] to actually get improvement pick up in zones or areas [00:30:42] as opposed to several different companies [00:30:44] going down every street [00:30:46] because one neighbor has one group, [00:30:48] one neighbor has another, [00:30:49] and consolidate those to make it more [00:30:51] regional and zone picked up. [00:30:52] So an improvement opportunity there. [00:30:56] So I can run through this again, [00:30:59] but these are the financial projections [00:31:00] as we look forward to how the tax increment is projected. [00:31:07] Well, of course, all the things [00:31:09] that we've been talking about cost money. [00:31:11] And you have a good dedicated source of funds [00:31:17] to pay for a lot of what's required [00:31:20] that your tax increment fund. [00:31:22] The good news is that property values [00:31:25] are increasing significantly once again. [00:31:28] As they did before the collapse in 2008. [00:31:32] And we'll hope that it keeps going for a while [00:31:35] before another collapse occurs. [00:31:38] But anyway, we've made some detailed projections [00:31:41] of tax increment revenues and other costs and so on. [00:31:45] And have been fairly conservative with our projections, [00:31:48] which I'll go through. [00:31:52] And incidentally, your report, [00:31:54] which you either have or will receive [00:31:57] detailed hard copy, contains a large spreadsheet [00:32:03] going to year 2048, year by year to year 2048. [00:32:07] Right now, your CRA sunsets in 2031. [00:32:12] Just 13 years now. [00:32:13] And can we stop you for that for a minute? [00:32:16] I don't know. [00:32:21] The length of a CRA can be 60 years at most. [00:32:24] Yes. [00:32:25] When it started in 89, the CRA for the downtown [00:32:29] was an amendment to the plan that started in 89. [00:32:33] When, 2001, when it took in the entire city. [00:32:36] Right. [00:32:37] So we have some advice, just before you tell us, [00:32:40] and it's legal advice you need, not me talking about it. [00:32:43] But from a legal standpoint, I think there's a, [00:32:46] the position is that we may be expiring in fiscal year 39. [00:32:52] Not to 48. [00:32:54] If we go another 30 years, we need to do it now, [00:32:58] I think is the question. [00:32:59] And I think you're suggesting we do it now. [00:33:01] Right. [00:33:02] But I think, I don't know, someone else, rather than me, [00:33:05] but it's been a concern that I've had, [00:33:07] whether or not, you know, it happened. [00:33:09] And so I just want to point that out, [00:33:11] that we, looking at a 30 year time frame, [00:33:14] it's still a good long time frame from today. [00:33:16] So whether that's then or there, something we need to do. [00:33:21] Yeah. [00:33:22] Right. [00:33:23] And so that would be one of the actions you want to take, [00:33:26] is to extend the life of the CRA for another 30 years now, [00:33:30] which would make it 2048. [00:33:33] Hence the spreadsheet going after that. [00:33:35] Right. [00:33:36] And we have. [00:33:37] It is 48, is it 30 years from now? [00:33:39] It is. [00:33:40] So you're right. [00:33:41] If we extend, as we objectively extend it right now, [00:33:44] it does close off in 31. [00:33:46] So, okay. [00:33:47] I'm sorry, I'm looking at your numbers, [00:33:48] and I missed a digit. [00:33:49] So you're right on track with 48 then, aren't you? [00:33:52] Right. [00:33:53] So that would be the limit, in my mind anyway. [00:33:57] Correct. [00:33:57] So this Excel spreadsheet contains a lot of information, [00:34:01] a lot of assumptions. [00:34:02] Mario helped us develop it, did a great job. [00:34:06] Thank you very much for your help. [00:34:08] And he has the one that you can manipulate. [00:34:12] And we recommend that you update this pro forma every year [00:34:17] to reflect new information, because millage rates change, [00:34:22] valuations change, new things come up and whatever. [00:34:26] And if you keep this current every year, [00:34:29] and it's a fairly easy process to update, [00:34:33] you'll know exactly where you are every year [00:34:35] for the next X number of years. [00:34:37] So this report is sort of digested into these numbers. [00:34:42] You'll see that TIF revenues from fiscal 18 to fiscal 48, [00:34:48] we estimate based upon a fairly conservative growth trend, [00:34:54] starting with the present 8.7% that you got from 17 to 18, [00:35:00] down, winding down over several years to 2%, [00:35:05] and continuing the 2% growth rate for the rest of the term. [00:35:11] You can hope for a tax increment revenues of $232 million. [00:35:18] Now, I think you'll be happy to hear [00:35:22] how we've used this money. [00:35:25] We understand that you have some debt that needs to be, [00:35:28] CRA debt that needs to be repaid. [00:35:31] And the pro forma includes debt, [00:35:34] you'll see in the third line, [00:35:36] debt repayment of a total of $23,700,000 by fiscal 38, [00:35:44] which is the repayment of what's owed [00:35:46] on the Recreation and Aquatic Center debt, [00:35:49] and the water and sewer loan. [00:35:51] They total about that number, [00:35:54] and should be paid off if all goes well by fiscal 38. [00:36:01] The other expenditure that we built into the pro forma [00:36:05] is a transfer to the general fund. [00:36:08] Essentially, the CRA operates with very little overhead. [00:36:11] It has some operating expenses, but they're fairly minor. [00:36:14] Staffing of the CRA is really city staff [00:36:17] for various functions. [00:36:18] So the transfer of TIF revenues to the general fund [00:36:24] is probably a way to recognize the city's cost [00:36:29] in maintaining the CRA. [00:36:31] I think these numbers are far in excess of actual city costs [00:36:36] but we show that over the 40, 30 year period, [00:36:41] the general fund stands to gain an estimated $23,000,000. [00:36:47] The reason we focused on this is recognizing [00:36:50] that you needed to pay down debt [00:36:52] and somehow reimburse the general fund [00:36:55] is to determine what might be potentially available [00:36:58] for capital projects and incentives, [00:37:00] which is really where the rubber hits the road. [00:37:03] You need the money to lure other money into the area, [00:37:09] to leverage private investment, [00:37:11] to make capital improvements [00:37:13] that also spur private investment. [00:37:15] So the fourth line down says the total that's available [00:37:20] for capital projects and incentives. [00:37:22] And over the next five years, based upon our projections, [00:37:26] we're estimating that $11.7 million would be available [00:37:30] after we deduct debt repayment, general fund transfers, [00:37:34] and some operating costs. [00:37:35] That would be available to help with incentives [00:37:38] for individual developments, such as Main Street Landing, [00:37:42] which is, I understand, eligible for certain incentives. [00:37:47] And that goes up to, after 10 years, to $29,000,000. [00:37:54] So that's a nice pot of money to induce development, [00:37:59] to pay for projects and incentives [00:38:02] that induce development into the community. [00:38:04] If you wanted to bond any of these funds, [00:38:06] we used a very conserved underwriting ratio [00:38:10] of 50% of projected TIF revenues [00:38:14] so that you have a 10-year bonding capacity [00:38:17] of almost $15 million. [00:38:19] If you want to bond any of those revenues, [00:38:22] you still have another 15 [00:38:24] that hasn't been committed to bonds after 10 years. [00:38:28] And the 20-year bonding capacity [00:38:29] using monies to fiscal 38, projections to fiscal 38, [00:38:33] you could bond a 20-year bond for $44 million, [00:38:38] an estimated, which is only 50% [00:38:40] of total projected TIF revenues. [00:38:42] So the money is there. [00:38:45] The challenge is to use it effectively [00:38:50] to market your properties, to leverage private investment, [00:38:56] and to make improvements that will bring [00:38:58] private investment into the community. [00:39:01] So what we've done then is taken a look [00:39:03] at this first five years, this short term. [00:39:06] And as you can see, with fiscal 19 on the lower left [00:39:11] up to 23 on the upper right, [00:39:15] the increment that happens over year 2.4 to 3.1, [00:39:19] 3.7, 3.3, up to 3.8. [00:39:23] And so our recommendations, and again, [00:39:26] you're totally at liberty to work through these, [00:39:28] but in year one, is look at strategic action, [00:39:33] so strategic property acquisition. [00:39:34] What are the right parcels to be gained and purchased? [00:39:39] I was wrong, I was, Commissioner Starkey is [00:39:42] looking at branding and marketing campaign [00:39:44] in that first year. [00:39:44] Go ahead and initiate that, get that started. [00:39:47] Look at these gateway programs, [00:39:50] spread that out maybe over a couple of years. [00:39:53] The public art installments we talked about, [00:39:55] code enforcement efforts, and the zoning modifications. [00:39:59] And the public art and the gateway are, again, [00:40:02] to start to show the community that their investment [00:40:05] and there's give back, it's quick wins. [00:40:08] They're seeing improvements taking place on the corridors [00:40:11] and access points into the city. [00:40:13] Year two, again, you'll see this as a trend. [00:40:17] Always be looking for strategic properties [00:40:20] that might come your way as availability. [00:40:23] Build on the existing developments you may have had, [00:40:26] and then provide connections between these developments. [00:40:29] Simply streetscape, sidewalks, bike paths, [00:40:32] simple little things that can continue to do [00:40:34] and raise the values of these properties. [00:40:37] And then continue to fund the park and recreation programs. [00:40:40] It's one of the things we found out [00:40:41] through the public involvement such that [00:40:43] the community here is very fond and very respectful [00:40:47] of their parks and recreation. [00:40:48] How do you continue to build upon those things? [00:40:51] Year three, again, acquisition as it seems available. [00:40:55] Infrastructure improvements with street lighting. [00:40:57] Look at your main street and Central Avenue [00:41:00] as corridors to be redeveloped. [00:41:03] Year four, again, investment in the commercial [00:41:05] and residential development that may come your way. [00:41:08] And then year five is when, again, [00:41:11] you come back and recommend a five year update. [00:41:14] Because, again, the necessity due to the economic evolution [00:41:17] that may take place, keeping up with the spreadsheet [00:41:20] and the year to year, but also looking at how things [00:41:23] have changed or may have changed [00:41:24] and could change or improve. [00:41:26] So based upon that, the next steps, we see this, [00:41:30] is finalize the community redevelopment plan, [00:41:33] which you have now as a draft. [00:41:36] But based upon this evening's comments [00:41:38] and the workshop and community input, [00:41:41] we will submit to you a final draft. [00:41:45] You would approve that then [00:41:46] as a community redevelopment plan. [00:41:48] And then the CRA extension and what it takes place [00:41:51] to do those is, as Councilman Altman, you talked about. [00:41:56] Again, the process there is hold the public hearings. [00:42:00] The comp plan amendment would be based upon [00:42:04] just making sure to the county. [00:42:06] This is a, [00:42:12] what's the word, non-chartered county with Pasco County. [00:42:14] So you just have to let the county know [00:42:16] that it's compliant with the comp plan amendments. [00:42:20] And then apply, it must comply with state statute 163, [00:42:24] particularly 362, it talks about some of the incentives [00:42:29] that have to be done to take place of that. [00:42:31] So that would be the next recommendation [00:42:33] to very quickly extend this out to 2048. [00:42:36] So with that, we have enjoyed this process. [00:42:40] We think it's been great, good community input. [00:42:42] We really look at this as your community plan [00:42:45] that we get from you all, the community at large. [00:42:48] And we believe this is a good document [00:42:50] to move forward with. [00:42:51] Right, I would like to go back to those maps [00:42:54] that Mr. Altman had suggested we ought to touch on. [00:42:58] And while you're doing that, [00:43:01] Ms. Farhana mentioned the bigger houses. [00:43:05] And that hits home, if you'll pardon the pun. [00:43:10] Because at some point in the next few years, [00:43:12] my wife and I will downsize. [00:43:14] And when we do, we'd like to be somewhere [00:43:17] within walking distance of the downtown. [00:43:20] But I don't see us going smaller [00:43:22] than about a three-bedroom, two-bath. [00:43:24] And those are very few and far between [00:43:27] in the immediate downtown area right now. [00:43:30] One of the things we mentioned [00:43:31] in looking at the code amendments [00:43:33] is to allow the possible side and rear yard setbacks [00:43:37] to be minimized. [00:43:39] So some of the housing stock that here, [00:43:41] not only what you may be looking at, Mayor, [00:43:43] but others, give them an opportunity [00:43:45] to expand the footprints of existing housing stock [00:43:49] is one way to look at, to try to get that three-two. [00:43:51] I think it's a very common need and size of most families. [00:43:57] As scary as how many of them right in here [00:44:01] are two-bedroom, one-bath, so. [00:44:04] Mr. Chairman, before we go into the individuals, [00:44:07] could we each take a turn maybe [00:44:09] and just give a little overview [00:44:10] of what we heard, if that's all right? [00:44:14] Because it just seems just so timely [00:44:17] that the 30-year period is here, [00:44:19] you know, and that the 60-year life is, [00:44:22] we're at the halfway point of the maximum 60-year life. [00:44:25] And here you put some fantastic statistics. [00:44:29] All the things that we're gonna need [00:44:31] to continue to demonstrate the finding of blight [00:44:33] or the reassertion of blight. [00:44:36] And you've really itemized statistically [00:44:40] how we drag behind in terms of our housing stock, [00:44:42] how we're dragging behind in our economic calculations. [00:44:49] Which, and have shown the optimism [00:44:51] of the opportunity that we have for it. [00:44:54] So I really enjoyed the program overall. [00:44:58] I do wanna share. [00:45:00] with you to talk about when you finalize this because the one area that is to be [00:45:06] annexed in, it would seem that it ought to be annexed in before we amend the [00:45:12] plan if we have the time to do it. And we're also at a point where the county [00:45:18] has expressed so much interest in this partnership and figuring out what [00:45:21] they're going to do and how they can help us. You know, there are a lot of [00:45:25] projects that they don't seem to have identified the funding for that the [00:45:30] funding that you've demonstrated could even help with. I think, for example, Mr. [00:45:36] Rivera isn't here, but Commissioner Mariano said to me that he thought there [00:45:42] was some pot to money or something to to sewer all of the unincorporated areas to [00:45:49] the Gulf. And when we put sewers in along the river, we saw the river clean up and [00:45:54] manatee and the whole scalloping environmental blue ways. There may be [00:46:01] some environmental issues that we can even solve with some of that money that [00:46:06] would also help us to expand our our utility revenues, which have really been [00:46:10] a big factor in our being able to sustain. But the other thing that I want [00:46:18] to share is that I was informed a couple weeks ago from the Florida [00:46:24] Redevelopment Association, and I've been aware of the constant attacks on CRA [00:46:32] legislation that have gone on for the last seven or eight years. And one of the [00:46:37] which was disturbing to me, but one of the sources of the attack was from [00:46:41] within the city back in the early days. And it was from a from a lobbying [00:46:50] standpoint, based on the argument of the CRA and the redevelopment money being [00:46:56] spent for private enterprise to, you know, do things that cities normally don't do [00:47:00] acquire property, inventory, act as a developer of a sort, that sometimes the [00:47:06] traditional operations of the city suffer. Because when we went citywide with [00:47:14] the CRA, it has put us on a bit of a starvation diet in terms of the tax [00:47:19] revenues from property taxes, because they just don't collect them anymore. [00:47:23] Your 10% concept is showing some money filtering back, but I think for the [00:47:30] benefit of a lot of this resistance was coming from the county. So one of the [00:47:35] county commissioners even indicating, don't don't don't bark up this tree too [00:47:40] bad because you won't have it again. I mean those were actual words we heard a [00:47:43] few months ago. Now I think our current state Senator Simpson is a good defender [00:47:50] of downtown, and he's provided some sense of that he wants to protect this [00:47:55] legislation. But from a statewide basis, New Port Richey has been kind of seen as [00:48:01] the the bad boy that's kind of gotten a little greedy to try to get it all. [00:48:06] Your statistics really provide evidence that we are blighted, and that maybe do even [00:48:11] support what you're saying. But I think this discussion needs to be fleshed out. [00:48:16] We're in a point now where the county wants to do the market, and what I'm [00:48:21] saying, I see your eyebrows a little bit, is there are there are other aspects of [00:48:27] our services that the county is looking to contribute to our Highway 19 corridor. [00:48:31] I would just say that if we can, if it means an extension, or if you're trying [00:48:36] to, I'm not in a hurry to complete this as much as I, because we have this year [00:48:43] to do it, as much as I am in a hurry to make sure that we don't, A, cause any more [00:48:50] damage to the, to the, on the political side, to we got to get rid of CRAs [00:48:55] because we're greedy. We really have to tell our story well to make sure that [00:49:00] people understand we are sucking wind, and you know we don't have the abilities [00:49:05] that the CDD world have to their brand new communities where they get a 30-year [00:49:09] bond, and they get to build their communities from start. So effectively [00:49:13] this to me is giving us that that ability to compete with the new [00:49:19] development that's really going on. My understanding of the state statutes [00:49:23] attacks, and Mario may know, or Mr. Driscoll, you may know, or Ms. Manns, is what the [00:49:30] state is trying to do is limit any new CRAs. So those who have extended CRAs [00:49:36] are allowed to exist for the extension of their life. So that's why I [00:49:39] think it's important to take this CRA and extend its time period. The state, the [00:49:45] last time I think, and I think that's correct, they wanted to, they wanted to [00:49:48] limit any new CRAs coming in, but those that were in existence would be allowed [00:49:53] to carry forth. So I understand, and I think that, you know, that was, I'm, I was [00:49:59] kind of all in myself, but I do think that it's going to be important for us [00:50:04] to, we don't need their permission, and we can do it without their permission, but [00:50:09] it seems like my history has been if we do something they, they hold a lot of DOT [00:50:15] money and transportation money, I think they have plans for this area. We can [00:50:21] show them how we can finance some of those plans that are their plans as well, [00:50:25] and have a winning thing. This was a great presentation, and you, when somebody [00:50:31] looks at the amount of money that could be generated by a citywide CRA, I think [00:50:40] that's when the rub is, well, they're taking all our money. One option that I [00:50:46] had suggested, and when we go back and look at these neighborhoods, is that [00:50:50] there may be, as we expand into the really bad part, we could always, as well, [00:50:57] contract a few elements of the city that don't receive the attention that we're [00:51:02] putting in these other special areas. So I just want to leave that discussion [00:51:07] open, and we haven't had it yet, and so I'm just trying to ask if we have a [00:51:11] little time to work through those issues so that we will avoid lighting any fires [00:51:19] Mr. Murphy. No, I'm good at this Tom. Mr. Cherokee. I'll just read my notes out loud. [00:51:29] Thank you very much. This was a much more optimistic presentation than the last [00:51:34] time you were here. We weren't able to get to this point, so thank you. Yes, so thank [00:51:38] you. An update, because it ties into redevelopment from the MPO, we had a [00:51:42] pretty spirited meeting last week. The US 19 underpass moved to number one on the [00:51:49] sidewalks priority list. It was a four to three vote. Commissioner Wells had to [00:51:54] leave early, as in New Port Richey, he did not vote, he had to leave early, but we were able [00:51:59] to convince four of the seven present MPO members to move it to number one on [00:52:05] the list. Some of the opposition spoke because it's not funded yet, or excuse [00:52:11] me, we don't know what the cost is going to be yet. We finally got to the [00:52:14] feasibility study after several months of figuring out why New Port Richey, you [00:52:21] know, hadn't come up the money after the feasibility study. As I mentioned at the [00:52:26] MPO meeting, I have to acquire more patience because, like for one, I don't [00:52:33] understand why it takes six to eight months. That's how long it's going to [00:52:36] take just for the feasibility study. Working with the DOT and everybody to [00:52:39] come up with a cost for a wooden boardwalk under a bridge, to me that's [00:52:44] mind-boggling, but that's how long it's going to take. So some of the [00:52:48] opposition was like, well we can't move it up on the priority list until we know [00:52:52] what the cost is going to be, but we were able to get that done. So that's very [00:52:56] encouraging. On top, it's not just an MPO project though, the underpass. We [00:53:01] at the MPO meetings, I discussed along with Commissioner Mariano and [00:53:05] Commissioner Wells quite a bit, the economic impact we think it's going to [00:53:08] have on both New Port Richey, the cities of New Port Richey and New Port Richey, and so they're [00:53:12] looking to draw in tourism dollars to possibly use penny money as well. So it's [00:53:16] not just an MPO project, but it was on the priority list. So after the last [00:53:21] Westside meeting we had, I remember pretty much everyone at that meeting [00:53:25] being on boards and yes, we need to make this priority. When it came to the [00:53:29] prioritization of the list, the last two meetings in MPO, that's not the feedback [00:53:34] I was getting. So I had to remind some certain people that that's what I [00:53:37] remember from the Westside meeting. Anyway, so we got that moved up to number [00:53:40] one. The US 19 overpass Marine Parkway was at like six. We've got, we're able to [00:53:45] get that moved to number two, only behind the overpass at 54 and the Expressway, [00:53:54] which is much needed as well. We were able to move that in front of the [00:53:58] overpass, pedestrian overpass at the Expressway in 52, and then Commissioner [00:54:04] Starkey, who's very big on trails, and I thank you for all our hard work she's [00:54:07] done for numerous years on that, really wanted an overpass, which we need at [00:54:13] Starkey Boulevard at Longleaf to connect that trail right there in 54. And they [00:54:18] even went to a traffic study from last year, and believe it or not, the traffic [00:54:21] count was within 2,000 cars, I believe it was, of the US 19 traffic park at Marine [00:54:26] Parkway. So it's much needed there, but I, you know, I pitched as well as I could [00:54:32] that it was good timing with the article that came out regarding the pedestrian [00:54:37] deaths on 19 just the Friday prior, and the way I pitched it was that we have to [00:54:42] prioritize this based on safety first, and people are dying and there's no easy [00:54:47] access across 19. So with the underpass and the overpass, that will hopefully [00:54:51] alleviate some of the pedestrian deaths and also help spur redevelopment. The [00:54:57] little things that you mentioned, I think, go a long way. We've been working up here, [00:55:01] you know, our colleagues are new, but you know what we've been working on, y'all [00:55:04] been working hard since you joined us, behind the scenes on numerous things [00:55:08] with redevelopment, with our staff and partners, and we're just now [00:55:16] seeing it come to fruition. When you see the building where Frank Starkey bought [00:55:20] with his partners, where Rights Nutrition is going in, and how good it [00:55:25] looks with Cody River Brewing Company compared to what was there just a couple [00:55:29] years ago, I think when people see that visual change, it gets them excited and [00:55:34] it brings an energy of like, yeah, we can really do this. So small things like you [00:55:38] mentioned, a more pedestrian friendly community, a more bike friendly [00:55:42] community. Yeah, I'm gonna go back to what Councilmember Phillips always [00:55:49] talked about, and I know where we continue to talk about it, but we have [00:55:53] tremendous potential for Boulevard North to Schwedman with the size of that [00:55:58] road, as far as beautifying that, making it more pedestrian [00:56:04] friendly and bike friendly, and tie that into what we did at Marine Parkway, and [00:56:07] then the overpass, and then we are tying in trails at this point. So that's [00:56:11] something I think we need to do, but something as simple as public art, we're [00:56:15] talking about redoing the Main Street Bridge. I still want to get the [00:56:20] light project on the Main Street Bridge. I know it's much more money than we [00:56:24] projected, but the under the bridge lighting, you get that lit up at [00:56:27] nighttime, it's going to be gorgeous. If we can put some art, sculpture, or [00:56:32] some kind of artwork on that bridge that you can also light up at night, you know, [00:56:35] with hidden recessed lighting from the ground up, it would look amazing, and [00:56:39] people drive by and they see little things like that, and it goes a long way. [00:56:43] You know, it's not a ten million dollar investment, but it's the small things [00:56:46] like that, I think are really, really going to help generate interest in our [00:56:51] downtown, interest in our city, but the biggest obstacle we have, in my [00:56:56] opinion, is the U.S. 19 corridor. I was at, much to my dismay, that there was, um, we [00:57:03] weren't invited as a municipality, and I kind of let some people know that I [00:57:06] think we should have been. There is an opioid workshop with the county [00:57:10] commissioners and people from different private organizations a few weeks ago at [00:57:14] the county building that I attended. A lieutenant from the Sheriff's Office [00:57:19] presented, Congressman Bill Arrakis was there, all the county commissioners, [00:57:24] people from the private sector, like I said, and the overdose heat chart that [00:57:32] the lieutenant put up was just 19, Holliday to Hudson, and right through [00:57:37] New Port Richey, and we're having, you know, I was texting one of the [00:57:40] commissioners, the chairman at the time, you know, we're seeing this, why are we as [00:57:44] a city, when that's going directly through our city and having such a [00:57:47] devastating economic impact, why were we not invited to have a seat [00:57:51] at the table? Whether it be the mayor, one of us, Ms. Mann, somebody. So I think [00:57:56] next time we will be. I met with Monica Russo and let her know that that was one [00:58:00] of my concerns after the meeting as well, but that's, other than downtown, which [00:58:05] I think we're doing a really good job on right now, that's our biggest [00:58:08] obstacle. I've said it so many times, why are these chain hotels going anywhere [00:58:14] but our city limits along 19? What draws them to Holliday and Hudson, where [00:58:18] we can't get a chain hotel in New Port Richey along the U.S. 19 corridor? [00:58:22] Wawa is just outside the city limits to the south, in the city of New Port Richey [00:58:26] to the north. What are we doing wrong that we're not attracting these [00:58:29] businesses? So yes, the Van Doren Leisure Lane is going to be [00:58:34] critical and huge, and I'm glad we're annexing it. I'm sure we're ready once we [00:58:38] get that annexation completed, we're ready to go in and do what needs to [00:58:42] be done. I don't know if you know, but People Places is working along with [00:58:45] Frank Starkey's, working along with Habitat for Humanity on an outline for that [00:58:49] community currently as well. There's actually a talk about town next Monday at [00:58:52] Frank's office regarding those two streets and ideas for what they have [00:58:56] there. But to me, that's the biggest obstacle we have as far as redevelopments [00:59:00] at 19 corridor. One area I would like, we had six, I think, brought up that [00:59:05] you had six areas. Another one I'd like to see added there, which I think [00:59:08] there's so much potential for, is the northwest corner U.S. 19 Main Street [00:59:14] from Main Street to Green Key Road, where the Royal Palm Motel is, Wing [00:59:19] House, and that old run-down, somewhat run-down Plaza. You know, that's a [00:59:23] half a mile from the open Gulf of Mexico. I would love to see some new retail. [00:59:28] Hampton Air, a nice chain hotel there. I've mentioned it, just ideas like with [00:59:32] golf carts taking their guests to Green Key Beach, at [00:59:37] Robert K. Reese Memorial Park Beach, to watch the sunset. It's such a, it's so [00:59:42] close in proximity to open Gulf water, and we're so limited in our county in [00:59:46] West Pasco for access to open Gulf, for someone that just wants to go watch the [00:59:50] sunset on the beach. And it's right there, but it's not what, it's not what [00:59:55] draws tourists. That area right there, that, that, that, those parcels right [01:00:00] there. [01:00:00] There's, I think that's something I'd like to see us add [01:00:02] as far as redevelopment goes. [01:00:06] What else did I have? [01:00:09] And if we could just get one project on 19 going, [01:00:12] whether it be the Rivergate, right, [01:00:14] and main in 19 with Aldi and everything. [01:00:16] I think one, if we can get one of those six going [01:00:20] and underway, it's gonna do a lot [01:00:22] as far as attracting investment. [01:00:24] But we have to get a hold of not just opioids, [01:00:28] but the methamphetamine epidemic [01:00:32] that we have in West Pasco County [01:00:34] that runs through our city. [01:00:35] We gotta work with our county and our partners [01:00:37] to get a hold of that. [01:00:39] There was a lot mentioned at the meeting [01:00:41] as far as, you know, starting up river, not down river. [01:00:45] You know, once an addict's an addict, [01:00:46] it's very, very difficult if they don't want help. [01:00:48] But what do we do to prevent this next generation [01:00:51] that's in high school and middle school right now [01:00:53] from ending up in the same situation [01:00:56] that everyone we see walking and biking [01:00:58] up along US 19 with backpacks on [01:01:00] and skeleton-looking faces? [01:01:02] How do we prevent that from happening [01:01:04] with this next generation? [01:01:05] Some of the good ideas that were brought up [01:01:07] were having motivational speakers like Anton Voss [01:01:10] from the former Gulf High football player [01:01:12] that basically had an NFL career ahead of him [01:01:15] and got hooked on opioid-based painkillers [01:01:18] and is still trying to, I think he's in some kind [01:01:20] of professional football league, [01:01:21] but he does public speaking in high schools. [01:01:23] People like Ryan Lee. [01:01:25] If we could get people like that into our schools, [01:01:27] people that have sat in the same seats as our students, [01:01:31] that have seen the worst of the worst, [01:01:32] that can really speak out rather than just [01:01:35] someone like myself who's never been an addict [01:01:37] with opioids or anything, go and tell our middle school [01:01:40] kids to, you know, do good in school and make good decisions. [01:01:43] We need people like that, motivational people, [01:01:46] speaking to our youth to just kind of [01:01:50] get it sunk into their heads. [01:01:51] This is, you know, this is what could happen [01:01:53] if you travel down that road. [01:01:55] We really have to get, I know I don't like [01:01:57] talking about publicly, but we're talking about [01:01:59] redevelopment and it has a really, really critical [01:02:03] impact on our redevelopment efforts [01:02:05] when we have homeless drug addicts in our US 19 corridor. [01:02:09] Not just in our city, but all the way up in US 19. [01:02:11] So I think we have to continue to try to engage [01:02:13] the county, the private sector, come up with a game plan [01:02:16] as a county. [01:02:17] It was the first step I'd seen the county do [01:02:19] as far as acknowledging the problem that we have. [01:02:22] You know, to be honest with you, some of what I've heard, [01:02:26] and I'm not gonna mention names, from our elected officials [01:02:28] at a higher level, I was not very impressed with at all. [01:02:31] More Narcan, more Narcan, more Narcan. [01:02:34] That's not the answer, you know. [01:02:35] It's gonna help save deaths from overdose, [01:02:37] as I get that, but that's not the answer. [01:02:39] So, other than that, if we could just get one project [01:02:42] in one of these main critical areas, [01:02:44] redevelopment projects going, just like we started [01:02:47] with Sims Park, look what's happened from there. [01:02:50] So, that's kind of all the input I have, [01:02:52] and I know I kind of rambled around and jumped a lot, [01:02:54] but I've kind of written my notes. [01:02:56] Let me take off on what you said about the boardwalk [01:03:02] or the bridge under the US 19 bridge. [01:03:08] In order for that to not be a proverbial bridge to nowhere, [01:03:14] at the point that we get a commitment from New Port Richey [01:03:21] the state, Pasco County, whomever, [01:03:25] to work on funding that boardwalk, [01:03:28] so we can get pedestrians, bicycles, and golf carts safely [01:03:32] under US 19 without them getting killed, [01:03:36] we need to be prepared here to take the immediate step [01:03:43] of making it feasible to go from Grand Boulevard [01:03:48] and Massachusetts north all the way [01:03:51] to the New Port Richey city limits, [01:03:54] doing something along that corridor, [01:03:56] so that if New Port Richey then fills in [01:03:59] their little piece of it, you will be able to start [01:04:03] at Gildogs, or for that matter, anywhere [01:04:06] on the New Port Richey west of US 19, [01:04:11] come under the bridge, and then have a safe route [01:04:14] that gets them all the way down here [01:04:16] to downtown New Port Richey, and then ultimately [01:04:19] south to the overpass and to Southgate and beyond. [01:04:24] But that stretch, north of Mass on Grand, [01:04:30] and it may be as simple as one weighing it [01:04:32] and designating half of the existing street [01:04:37] to be multi-use path, I think it's very doable, [01:04:42] but we need to have that in the back of our mind [01:04:44] that when this other thing hits, [01:04:47] we want to be ready to jump on it [01:04:48] and basically tell New Port Richey, [01:04:50] okay, we're doing our part, you need to get your piece [01:04:53] of this done as well so we can make it a complete route. [01:04:58] Great ideas. [01:05:00] Mr. Mayor, on that topic still, following up on that too, [01:05:04] have they envisioned which north or south side [01:05:08] of the river they were planning to cross on? [01:05:09] North side. [01:05:10] So that means? [01:05:13] Don Belia there. [01:05:16] So a comment I heard from someone over in Gulf Harbors [01:05:20] today when they were talking about how many golf carts [01:05:22] there were, I don't know if that's because there used [01:05:23] to be a golf course there and they have had them, [01:05:27] but they drive around in there with their golf carts. [01:05:30] And so you all talking about it has caused me to think, [01:05:34] you know, are these golf cart people going to be driving [01:05:36] under these, and are they going to drive over? [01:05:39] It needs to be done. [01:05:40] Generally, you have bicycle paths and pedestrian [01:05:43] that don't allow for anything motorized. [01:05:45] I think we need to specifically make this one allowed for, [01:05:48] because right now. [01:05:50] When you say this, are you talking about the underpass, [01:05:51] the overpass, and Marine Parkway? [01:05:52] Yeah, I'm just saying either way, I don't know if it's [01:05:55] feasible or if it's even something that's done, [01:05:57] but I think because we have this new little trend going, [01:06:01] it might be something. [01:06:01] Well, it's a safety issue, and it's my understanding, [01:06:05] Ms. Manson, please correct me if I'm mistaken, [01:06:08] but right now you can't legally take a golf cart [01:06:15] on the west side of US 19 and drive it across US 19. [01:06:18] Right, that's correct. [01:06:19] People do it, but you're not. [01:06:20] No, you do it, but they can't. [01:06:22] And quite frankly, if you're trying to go across [01:06:24] at Marine Parkway or Grand Boulevard up in New Port Richey, [01:06:28] that's not particularly safe either, because people are, [01:06:33] we've got idiots on the road with three ton cars, [01:06:36] and those golf carts do not have the protection they need. [01:06:40] We need to have a safe way to get them [01:06:41] from one side to the other. [01:06:43] And it may be that New Port Richey, New Port Richey, [01:06:45] I'm just bringing it up, because again, from Tammy's slide, [01:06:48] there were people who liked to walk, [01:06:51] but there was just as many people who wanted [01:06:52] to ride the golf carts. [01:06:53] Right, so the objective of the underpass, [01:06:55] one of the key selling points we had [01:06:56] with economic redevelopment is the parking problem [01:06:59] that they have at the waterfront in New Port Richey, [01:07:01] the fact that people really enjoy golf carts. [01:07:03] I'd love to get on, maybe next meeting, [01:07:05] or in our city manager's report, [01:07:07] a list of all the registered golf carts in New Port Richey. [01:07:10] I'd just love to know what the number is. [01:07:11] I know there's some that are on the roads [01:07:12] that aren't registered, but anyway, [01:07:13] the objective of the underpass was, [01:07:15] tying in with economic redevelopment [01:07:17] and the golf cart craze that's going on in both cities, [01:07:19] is to have the wooden boardwalk [01:07:21] wide enough to fit two golf carts. [01:07:23] My question. [01:07:24] Yes, that's already been discussed, [01:07:25] and that's the goal, at least with the underpass. [01:07:27] With the overpass at Marine Parkway, [01:07:29] once again, I let Ms. Manns know, [01:07:31] but we have to, Ms. Manns and Mr. Biles, [01:07:33] has to coordinate with the city, [01:07:36] our state legislators have to coordinate together, [01:07:38] the city and county, so if the state legislation [01:07:40] is able to bring the targeted amount, [01:07:42] I know we have some funds set aside, [01:07:45] budgeted for that project, [01:07:47] but when that money comes from California, [01:07:49] where'd California come from? [01:07:50] Tallahassee. [01:07:51] Tallahassee. [01:07:53] The county and the city need to be ready this time. [01:07:56] So, once again, on the blight and the CRA [01:07:59] and the blight study, [01:08:01] and I had the pleasure of having the architect planner [01:08:06] who did the architectural standards for Hyde Park, [01:08:11] who was a friend of my sister's, [01:08:13] who came over a week or two ago and went to the town, [01:08:16] and went to the Corman's Landing or Sunset Landing, [01:08:20] which is where my family first moved into town [01:08:23] in the 40s, right there, [01:08:25] and went along Olsener or some of this background, [01:08:28] and it is all sort of like blighted, [01:08:31] and when you talk about your homeless population [01:08:34] and what's happening, we've got a lot of woods, [01:08:36] it's county, it's undone, [01:08:38] so this one section you're working on [01:08:39] is just like kind of the tip of the iceberg [01:08:42] of what is going on on that side. [01:08:44] So, again, the county has talked about [01:08:48] forming a tax increment plan [01:08:51] so that they would take the growth in their revenues [01:08:54] and put them into a trust fund [01:08:56] to be used for redevelopment. [01:08:58] I'm just kind of trying to double up to say [01:09:01] what we're doing is something they're looking to do. [01:09:04] What we're doing, we're getting their money [01:09:06] and our money has to go over. [01:09:07] If they did it, they'd just have to isolate their own money, [01:09:11] but to have a fund. [01:09:12] So I would love to see some of these initiatives [01:09:16] that you're onto, which is absolutely correct. [01:09:19] You've got the beach, all the best places to be, [01:09:22] limited amount of people can move in there [01:09:24] because of the coastal high hazard zone, [01:09:27] but it shouldn't be the population that's there now [01:09:31] in the long run. [01:09:32] And if we can't annex them in, [01:09:35] and many of them are in our service area, [01:09:37] we can sewer them, fix up those communities, [01:09:40] put roads, and some of that can be done [01:09:42] with some of this major money, [01:09:44] particularly if the county throws in. [01:09:47] And if they throw in, [01:09:48] they won't be up there pounding the sand [01:09:50] pointing to us as being the bad boys in Florida [01:09:52] that need to cause them to stop having CRA. [01:09:57] Your comments, Mr. Altman, are a perfect opportunity [01:10:00] to interject something I meant to say before, [01:10:04] but neglected to mention, [01:10:06] and that's a relationship with the county. [01:10:11] And just to give you some background, [01:10:13] I don't think you have to worry about offending [01:10:17] Pasco County with your CRA. [01:10:22] When you think about it, [01:10:23] Pasco County has a property tax base of $25 billion. [01:10:28] Yours is a little over a half a billion. [01:10:31] If you were to add all the municipalities in the county, [01:10:35] which are few, [01:10:37] I dare say you would not exceed two billion [01:10:40] in taxable value of your communities. [01:10:42] Compare that with where it maybe is regarded as a problem, [01:10:48] Broward County, Palm Beach County, [01:10:50] which are mostly municipalities, [01:10:53] and there's several others, [01:10:54] and their total combined tax base, [01:10:57] and each one of them may have one, two, or three CRAs, [01:11:00] is well more than half of the county taxable value. [01:11:04] So there's a big hand in the county pockets [01:11:08] in those counties, much more so than Pasco County. [01:11:12] Pasco County shouldn't feel threatened at all. [01:11:14] And on Pasco County, [01:11:16] the three of the projects that we highlighted [01:11:19] as redevelopment targets, [01:11:21] the Riverside Inn property at the north end on 19, [01:11:25] speaking about 19 and the needs in that corridor, [01:11:29] the Rivergate area, which is Main Street South, [01:11:34] and River Road, US 19, [01:11:38] and then the Leisure Lane, Van Doren Avenue neighborhood. [01:11:42] I think these are excellent opportunities [01:11:46] to partner with the county on redevelopment. [01:11:50] For example, we recommended in our report [01:11:53] that if you enter into an annexation agreement [01:11:58] with the county to take on Leisure Lane [01:12:01] and Van Doren Avenue, [01:12:02] there should be a cost-sharing arrangement [01:12:04] as part of that annexation agreement, [01:12:07] where you share in the cost of law enforcement [01:12:09] and other types of administration of the neighborhood, [01:12:15] even housing program implementation. [01:12:19] So there's a sharing there. [01:12:21] You're doing the county a favor by taking on that problem, [01:12:25] and there should be a recognition of that [01:12:27] in some sort of cost-sharing partnership arrangement. [01:12:31] The other two, the county has spent [01:12:34] in their Vision 19 program, planning program, [01:12:38] and we've reviewed all of those very carefully [01:12:40] and made comments on them in our report, which you'll see. [01:12:45] The county spent a lot of planning money [01:12:48] on that Vision 19 program, [01:12:49] and they focused on some specific locations, [01:12:54] including Rivergate and the Riverside Inn area. [01:12:58] It seems to me that given the investment and interest [01:13:02] that they already have in those properties, [01:13:05] that they ought to be a willing partner [01:13:08] in helping to revitalize and redevelop those areas, [01:13:11] helping to market them. [01:13:14] So we just offer that as things [01:13:17] that the city can persuade the county [01:13:20] to get involved in more directly. [01:13:22] I believe they're already kind of on board. [01:13:24] We have a great thing going. [01:13:25] I think that's the point, and the point you make, too, [01:13:28] is that the value is there. [01:13:29] They're not under the gun. [01:13:30] The sheriff isn't going to break the bank on them, [01:13:33] which is like some of the old stories. [01:13:35] And so now is the time to act. [01:13:37] I'm kind of amazed that all this stuff [01:13:39] is kind of coming together all at a point [01:13:42] when we can formalize the plan. [01:13:45] I think we get a lot farther by demonstrating that to them [01:13:50] to offset that criticism. [01:13:52] And in the sense that we lowered our tax rate [01:13:55] by a small amount, but we can say we lowered it, [01:13:59] I may still be an advocate to say, [01:14:00] find a section of town [01:14:02] that's not getting all of this attention, [01:14:04] and when we add something, [01:14:06] maybe we can subtract something [01:14:08] just so we cannot be told [01:14:10] that we've included every property in the whole city, [01:14:13] because that's the soundbite. [01:14:17] And so when we look at the redevelopment plan, [01:14:20] if there are areas we don't intend to invest in, [01:14:23] then we can save the arguments [01:14:28] that we're going to hear from that area. [01:14:31] One new community off of Magnolia Valley, [01:14:34] or Magnolia Valley, I think, over, [01:14:36] was a relatively new community, well-finished, [01:14:40] that runs from Rowan Road on into Congress. [01:14:47] I don't know that we have any need or intention [01:14:49] or right-of-way or anything we can do in there. [01:14:53] And it doesn't add up to a lot of millions. [01:14:55] So, you know, there's the story of the monkey [01:14:58] that puts his hand in the jar [01:14:59] and does the... [01:15:00] a goal of something, and I'm just saying, it might be a politically wise move for [01:15:05] us to say, you know, there are, there may be an area that isn't blighted, that [01:15:11] hasn't experienced this loss. You did it in zip code by, by zip code range. [01:15:16] It doesn't have all of these things and, but the rest of the city is because I'm [01:15:22] ready to make the argument and whatever council decides, I'm all in. [01:15:25] I'm not going to be a fly in the ointment because I, I think I, I love this stuff. [01:15:29] I think it's great. Sorry to wrap this up. [01:15:33] We were talking about some of those maps. [01:15:35] Were there specific maps that you wanted to go back to? [01:15:37] Yeah, if we can just flash through them real quick and have a 30 second box. [01:15:43] We, we all, hospital. [01:15:46] Yeah, I, I did notice, if you go back to that one quick though, I did notice that [01:15:49] next to your Marlowe Elementary, there's a for sale sign by the school board on [01:15:53] some property that's adjacent to city limits. [01:15:56] Excess property, the vacant property there. [01:16:01] Mario, you know where that is? [01:16:02] It's on Grand. [01:16:03] Pine trees. [01:16:05] Pine? [01:16:07] Yes. The pine trees, yeah. [01:16:09] Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it accesses us to it, but to the degree that's some [01:16:14] piece to look at, I don't know if they're giving it away or we have any use for it. [01:16:17] But when you talk about growing, that would take us to Marlowe Elementary. [01:16:23] And I don't know, with all of the legal police requirements now in the schools, [01:16:29] I don't know how many more schools the city can afford to be responsible for. [01:16:33] But anyway, I noticed that piece, and I just bring it up because it's adjacent to [01:16:38] that, I think. [01:16:41] The. [01:16:41] Yeah, next slide, I guess. [01:16:44] That one, the, the area that you've got marked residential, there's a church there [01:16:48] that the last we checked was still very active. [01:16:51] So I don't see that happening. [01:16:53] The rest of it is probably ripe for redeveloping all the way around them. [01:17:00] And you guys made a deal way back to sell off that little piece of the church for [01:17:04] drainage. [01:17:05] But I haven't heard of the progress, and I would love to see if we can review that [01:17:11] plan. [01:17:12] It looks like kind of any other corner to me, but I'd be interested to see how that's [01:17:18] going at some point. [01:17:20] Okay. [01:17:25] Oh, the Magnuson, back to that one. [01:17:27] Again today, the suggestion was made by a county commissioner to me that where that [01:17:33] lever ox was, where it'd be a great place for a new restaurant, would be a great [01:17:37] place for a new boat ramp. [01:17:38] I'm sure that would make the folks at Culver's very happy to have the boats [01:17:42] coming in and out. [01:17:44] But an actual boat ramp with access to the gulf on that run somewhere. [01:17:50] Or a boat ramp marina, potentially, in that. [01:17:54] I don't know if you have enough room there for parking with trailers and whatnot [01:17:58] there. [01:17:58] We've got that secondary side road that's all through there. [01:18:03] I don't know. [01:18:04] But anyway, I'm just commenting. [01:18:05] That was what I heard. [01:18:06] So it's not my idea. [01:18:08] But as far as chain hotels, I'd love to see a brand new hotel there with a nice [01:18:12] pool area on the water and a nice restaurant. [01:18:14] And Mary, I've stressed that to you so many times, if you could... [01:18:18] It's for sale and there's been offers made on the lever ox property. [01:18:23] You know, I think there's two interested parties in there and very encouraged, [01:18:28] I think, going forward because of its north channel to the Gulf of Mexico. [01:18:31] I think it presents a real opportunity. [01:18:33] And I think that they're really banging their heads and trying to do something [01:18:36] there. [01:18:37] And we do have fairly consistent discussions with those property owners. [01:18:42] Okay. [01:18:42] Is that all inside city limits now that's marked out on there? [01:18:51] I believe it is, yes. [01:18:52] I believe so, yes. [01:18:55] Yeah. [01:18:55] That actually makes us more contiguous to the New Port Richey waterfront than I [01:18:59] thought we were. [01:19:00] I'm still trying to figure out why someone built a hotel on the river there [01:19:02] and didn't have windows facing the river on the river side. [01:19:08] And that vacant piece is half city, half county, isn't it? [01:19:12] The piece on the top left where you say hospitality, isn't there a slice of that [01:19:17] property that's in the city and a slice of it that's not? [01:19:20] And that hotel owner was hit by chronic nuisance and he came in here and laid [01:19:25] into the court system that we had. [01:19:29] I sat in the audience and just bit my lip for several minutes. [01:19:34] But I drive out every day. [01:19:37] I keep my boat at Marina right past there. [01:19:40] It's just another extended stay motel. [01:19:42] It's not a motel. [01:19:43] There's people living there on a regular basis. [01:19:45] And I see the foot traffic that comes in and out of that motel. [01:19:48] It's just... [01:19:50] And it's a great piece of property. [01:19:53] And I say... [01:19:54] It's a shame. [01:19:55] Yeah. [01:19:55] It's being used for what it's being used for. [01:19:56] And it's a gateway into the community. [01:19:58] It's a first impression. [01:20:00] And I agree with Councilman Altman. [01:20:01] I mean, I'm on the west side of 19 from Main Street to... [01:20:05] To the Gulf. [01:20:06] Yeah. [01:20:06] Well, from Main Street north to the Sunsetland and Marina on a regular basis. [01:20:10] And just the potential for redevelopment back there and being in such close [01:20:16] proximity to the open Gulf of Mexico, to that park, to other waterfront [01:20:22] opportunities, it's just... [01:20:24] I spent a lot of time back there as a kid. [01:20:25] I had friends that lived back there on the water. [01:20:27] And it breaks my heart to see what it's turned into and the potential. [01:20:32] That whole west side from Main Street all the way up to the river, north to the [01:20:37] river in New Port Richey, it's just... [01:20:39] The potential is just through the roof, I think. [01:20:41] And this is one here, too, where we believe as the downtown is having its [01:20:51] success, how to create additional parking opportunities, but also, you know, [01:20:57] wrapping it with residential and retail. [01:21:01] Is this the one you did the map on? [01:21:04] Yeah. [01:21:04] Well, I don't know what... [01:21:06] No. [01:21:07] What am I looking at? [01:21:08] I'm not... [01:21:09] That's... [01:21:10] This is Main Street. [01:21:13] This is... [01:21:14] Oh, okay. [01:21:15] I'll stand at the right cross street in orange. [01:21:17] This is Bank. [01:21:17] This is Nebraska. [01:21:18] And this is... [01:21:19] What we've shown is the closure of Lafayette coming through here. [01:21:23] One of the things we talked about at a work session, I guess it was Tuesday night, [01:21:32] Railroad Square, Nebraska, instead of having that just sort of curve down for [01:21:38] Lafayette Street, which is the old railroad line, and that's why it curves, [01:21:44] would be to cut... [01:21:46] It's kind of straight. [01:21:46] ...and go straight across, which would allow us to significantly improve that [01:21:52] parking area. [01:21:55] We did several studies for Ms. Manns on this, and that was one of the ideas, [01:21:59] is whether or not Nebraska continues further west and then creates a development [01:22:05] pad and a nice, clean parking pad. [01:22:08] Yeah. [01:22:08] And I don't know that we need the green retail as much as we need that particular [01:22:14] parking. [01:22:15] That's the most heavily utilized parking lot in Richmond. [01:22:19] Yeah. [01:22:20] I personally like the retail off of Main like that. [01:22:22] I don't think we have enough of it. [01:22:23] I think as more people move into these apartment complexes that we're building, [01:22:27] we're having more people on the street. [01:22:28] I think our current retail is going to fill up, and I would like to see some newer [01:22:32] retail buildings. [01:22:33] They could be architect-based, historic, you know, to match older buildings, [01:22:38] but I would like to see some newer retail availability added. [01:22:42] And my question to Mario is, how eager is Mr. Pridgen right now to start any [01:22:47] development on that property? [01:22:48] Is he still sitting back on the sidelines waiting to see what's going to happen? [01:22:51] I've always felt that he would come to the table. [01:22:54] I think we're getting real close to that. [01:22:56] He does present on a fairly consistent basis. [01:22:58] His imaginary different ideas and concepts are fairly substantial, [01:23:01] but I think it's about time he come and have a conversation with us on this. [01:23:07] Along those lines, you all may know I had recruited him into town initially, [01:23:14] and so I keep in touch with him as well. [01:23:17] And he told me just last week that he is either going to cut his plans back and [01:23:23] do something that might not be as favorable, not the harmest, [01:23:27] but as what we could have, but he's ready to do something now. [01:23:31] And so you are absolutely right, Mario. [01:23:35] It's time for him to come in because you all will recall we had that last thing [01:23:41] at the incubator, and there was discussion about how high buildings could be. [01:23:46] And I know that the city manager has been helping to pursue what could happen there as well. [01:23:51] And I think my comment to him was, well, the city's trying to move forward with this from what I understand, [01:23:59] but we have to get a consensus on the city council as to what height we have. [01:24:05] So if he forces to call everything from the bridge end to downtown like a historic district [01:24:12] and have some restrictions on height or design that might not work for him, [01:24:18] I hate to lose him as a developer because he's interested in doing something in the town. [01:24:23] So I think a real open discussion with him. [01:24:26] He's ready to make that appointment if you all can make it and meet with you all. [01:24:31] I think with Grady, because we've been talking for several years, is just I think he's been looking for execution. [01:24:37] I mean, you know, he took it on the chin quite a bit a long time ago. [01:24:41] And I think that I've always felt in the conversations with him that, you know, it's like with Main Street Landing. [01:24:47] You know, there's a degree of confidence in execution, and Grady tends to be a little bit more conservative. [01:24:52] But I think we're there now. [01:24:54] I think that we have a lot of execution, but positive conversation. [01:24:57] We have a good entrepreneurial community here, and I think that we can convince him. [01:25:01] Well, I know that his expectations would be that the city would build the parking garage and he would then build around it. [01:25:09] And so that's a big investment and one that I think if he's got a plan that he should put it up there [01:25:15] and we can find out whether it's going to make us willing or interested with the extension of the life of the CRA [01:25:23] and the indebtedness and some of the available funding because of our low income, some of the loans that we have access. [01:25:31] We could do something like that. [01:25:34] But I know there's a lot of concern as to how that's going to look against the Hacienda background. [01:25:39] And there was the comment made, I think you all heard it at that meeting, [01:25:42] of putting the higher density, taller buildings in the gateway area on the other side of the bridge. [01:25:49] So he's actually been talking to another stakeholder on the other side of the bridge as well that there could be some exciting stuff that could happen. [01:25:58] So I think getting more than one stakeholder in and working on a master plan on that other side would work. [01:26:06] But anyhow, that is certainly a targeted area. [01:26:10] I think nobody doubts that. [01:26:11] I'm a little skeptical of the parking garage simply because of how breathtakingly expensive it is per spot. [01:26:19] Well, that's what I said. [01:26:20] We just need to fritter this thing out and stop pretending he's going to build something. [01:26:25] If he's got demands, we probably need him to tell us what they are. [01:26:28] And if we can't meet them, maybe we can relocate his plan to do something, as you say, [01:26:34] on the other side of the highway or trade a piece of land. [01:26:36] We've got a million dollars' worth of land behind Gulf Harbors. [01:26:40] But it's exciting, and you're correct that there are investors ready and interested. [01:26:47] So land use changes, the pre-zoning, all the things that you're talking about are going to be critical for us to make this work and consistent with Starkey and everybody else. [01:26:58] And now that we've got a development director on board, we can lean on him to do stuff on... [01:27:04] You can't see it now, but I don't know, did board member Starkey hear about the parking issues that we discussed on Tuesday for the expansion around the Hacienda? [01:27:18] Yes, I'm sorry. [01:27:19] It was my daughter's birthday. [01:27:20] I wanted to be here. [01:27:22] But did you get a chance to see that little sketch or see what they're talking about? [01:27:26] Not yet. [01:27:27] Okay. [01:27:27] You need to. [01:27:30] I voice concerns with Hacienda parking once it's open. [01:27:33] Mr. Altman made a suggestion, and it kicked something in the back of my mind. [01:27:41] And so we all stood there, and they put an onion skin overlay over the Swanson parking lot. [01:27:47] And by the time we were done, we had added a ton of additional parking in there. [01:27:51] So we're good. [01:27:53] I thought it was one of the most productive work sessions we've had. [01:27:56] It was really good. [01:27:58] Maybe I should miss more often. [01:27:59] Yeah, no, it was good. [01:28:01] But it's timely because we have a CRA meeting, and we have a capital improvement plan. [01:28:07] And I think you hit the alarm button that this thing's going to be open in a year, and we need to know what we're going to do. [01:28:12] And that was what prompted the two of us to. [01:28:14] That'll be more of an immediate discussion for us to have, but good. [01:28:18] That was what prompted the two of us to say we need to do something with this lot. [01:28:22] And by the time we got done, it was significant. [01:28:26] So anyway, how about the next one? [01:28:30] I think that might have been the last one. [01:28:34] No, it's Leisure Land Ventura. [01:28:35] That one, I think, and Debbie, correct me if I'm wrong, but Habitat's got digs on 40 of them now? [01:28:46] They're 50. [01:28:47] Between 40 and 50 of the 100 lots, they've already got. [01:28:51] And they're aggressively working to pick up the other 50. [01:28:56] Are we within the 110 acres on that side, or is it a little bigger? [01:29:01] It's actually smaller than 110. [01:29:03] So we could move forward with annexation on that one if we could make an agreement. [01:29:08] The biggest issue is getting the zoning changed before we do the annexation, as I understand it. [01:29:14] That may not be the case any longer. [01:29:17] We have had some subsequent information from the city attorney related to the zoning of the property. [01:29:27] And it appears that our consultant might not have given us completely good information. [01:29:32] Well, if we can, at the point that we can do it without screwing up the zoning, I'm ready to move forward on that. [01:29:41] The data that you have in your report, because we've dragged you through the garden for so long, references fiscal year budgets. [01:29:50] And we have new, not estimated, but new information as soon as our budget year is done. [01:29:56] So I would like to suggest, again, that if. [01:30:00] If it's additional work still for you or not, that we try to get this annexed in so that we can make it in the CRA so that we can dedicate funds to it right away and that we can sort out some of these issues about whether there's any contraction or any support for any contraction or any need for contraction and continue to have the olive branch that we seem to be working on with the county. [01:30:28] That being said, you know, I think we could be pretty good. [01:30:34] Right. [01:30:35] And I'm excited about the annexation because I know with our slum and blighted, we're going to go in there and just clean it up. [01:30:40] Clean it up. [01:30:41] Because to me, the lot they chose to build the first small elevated house on just directly adjacent to Southgate with all the dilapidation and, you know, drug addicts and prostitutes surrounding that area that's still there. [01:30:59] I guess we just want to get one up to show everyone what the potential is for each unit. [01:31:04] But I don't know why the purpose was to build one right now until we get everything cleared out and get a plan. [01:31:11] I know, once again, People Places is working on street lighting, sidewalks, community park, a whole, you know, they have a whole plan that they're working on with Habitat for that. [01:31:21] But just the quicker we can get an annex because the county is just sitting back and, you know, nothing's changed in there really. [01:31:29] They've torn a few down. [01:31:30] You know, they've been more proactive than in the past. [01:31:32] But I guess, once again, with my patients issue that I have when it comes to things like this, I just I want to get in there and get it done ASAP. [01:31:40] And it's not going to happen until we annex it. [01:31:42] And I have perhaps not been as tactful as I might have been in discussing this particular thing. [01:31:47] But I absolutely agree with you. [01:31:49] I think it is this it's totally surrounded by the city. [01:31:52] It's the city's responsibility. [01:31:54] And the sooner we can annex it and take full responsibility for it, as far as I'm concerned, the better. [01:32:00] I know it's going to cost us more in services than we're going to collect in property taxes. [01:32:07] But it's just got to be done. [01:32:08] That area is dragging down everything in the city that's anywhere close to it. [01:32:14] So anything else? [01:32:19] Thank you. [01:32:20] Just one more. [01:32:21] Honestly, if you couldn't, if it's all right with my colleagues, if we could add that area from Green Key on the west side, [01:32:27] 19 Green Key to Main Street as a projected redevelopment site, that would make me happy. [01:32:32] Are you guys okay with that? [01:32:33] That's fine. [01:32:34] And while I'm thinking about it, Jack Mariano approached me at the 9-11 ceremony [01:32:43] and indicated that some of the members of the county are looking to do a multi-use path [01:32:50] that would go all the way out to Green Key Road or out to Green Key Beach. [01:32:55] And there may be a portion of that within the city that we'd want to pop in on, too. [01:33:00] Since I can't normally tell you guys anything unless we're sitting at a meeting, good time to tell you. [01:33:06] And I thanked him very much and told him I suspected that all of us would be pretty excited about [01:33:12] working with him to make that happen. [01:33:16] Thank you. [01:33:17] No problem.

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4. 4

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   Approval of FY2018-2019 Operating Budget & Work Plan

   approved

   The CRA Board approved Resolution 2018-18 adopting the FY2018-2019 operating budget and five-year work program, with $3.575M projected revenue largely dedicated to the Main Street Landings tax incentive ($1.475M) and CRA debt service. The motion included renaming the 'Main Street Grant Award' line to 'Main Street Initiatives' to give the city manager more flexibility, and directed staff to schedule a future session to develop a five-year capital plan incorporating the under-the-bridge/Graham Boulevard project.

   • motion:Approve the FY2018-2019 operating budget and Resolution 2018-18, rename 'Main Street Grant Award' to 'Main Street Initiatives', and request a future date to review the five-year plan. (passed)

   📍Graham Boulevard under the bridge project📍Hacienda📍Marine Parkway overpass🏢Division of Historic Resources🏢Hacienda🏢Lakeside Inn🏢Main Street Landings👤Casey👤Councilman Altman👤Mr. Iazzoni👤Mr. Starkey👤Ms. Manns#Business Facade and Leasehold Improvement Program#Business Incentive Program#FY2018-2019 Operating Budget#Five-Year Work Program#MPO plan#Penny for Pasco#Resolution 2018-18#Streetscape project#Under the bridge / Graham Boulevard project

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   [01:33:18] Thank you. [01:33:19] Do we need to take a break? [01:33:20] Are we okay to go on to the approval of the operating budget? [01:33:24] Ms. Manns, operating budget. [01:33:25] All right. [01:33:26] Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the city council. [01:33:30] This evening we are asking for your approval of the 2018-19 operating budget [01:33:37] and work plan for the Community Redevelopment Agency. [01:33:42] And Mr. Iazzoni is prepared to present the proposed budget. [01:33:47] Thank you very much, city manager. [01:33:52] It's a unique year in the fact that 95% of this budget is going to go to the tax incentive [01:33:59] that we provided for Main Street landings of $1.475 million. [01:34:05] And the other portion of that is the payment on the CRA debt. [01:34:11] So we're kind of tight basically in terms of any other projects except for the fact that I think the most effective [01:34:18] plan we have is our business incentive program. [01:34:21] It's a great energy that's occurring in the city. [01:34:24] We're developing a really good entrepreneurial climate within the city. [01:34:28] And as I've talked to the city manager, my recommendation is that we stick to our knitting [01:34:32] and get these projects in place. [01:34:38] We're projecting $3.575 million in revenue. [01:34:45] We have payroll expenses of $26,390,000. [01:34:49] That is one half of the fee for actually Casey, who is a great asset in terms of organizing a lot of programs for me. [01:35:02] In the operating section, the big line item there is the $200,000, which is a carryover of business incentive funds. [01:35:09] We're seeing a lot of people making their own investment and not really coming in a whole lot. [01:35:14] But, you know, we're executing. [01:35:18] You know, we had quite a bit from last year. [01:35:19] We're carrying $200,000 this year. [01:35:21] And we've been focusing more on the bigger projects and have had quite a bit of conversation with different individuals [01:35:28] in other areas of the city. [01:35:30] And those would come in the form of development agreements. [01:35:34] So we have $200,000 budget for mainly our business facade and leasehold improvement program. [01:35:42] We have Hacienda, which we would hope that would open by the end of the year. [01:35:47] And so the windows are currently in manufacturing about four hours north from where I'm at in Pennsylvania. [01:35:54] And hope to be receiving those windows no later than January 11th. [01:36:01] And once they're in and once we stock all those things up, we hope to be out of that grant agreement. [01:36:06] So that's $475,000, which would be the second half of the $750,000 invested in the windows. [01:36:14] And then another small matching grant that we have from the Division of Historic Resources [01:36:19] that's totally dedicated to completely shelling out the building from a stucco perspective. [01:36:24] So capital outlay including Main Street landings incentive is $1.970 million. [01:36:31] We are transferring $315,000 to the general fund and as debt service payment there. [01:36:38] Any questions? [01:36:40] Questions, anyone? [01:36:42] Yeah, I have a couple. [01:36:43] Okay. [01:36:44] Mr. Altman. [01:36:47] As short as the list is, I've got a number of things I'd like to reference. [01:36:53] One, which is more of an accounting issue maybe for the finance director, [01:36:57] but the unused redevelopment incentives from prior year, [01:37:03] are we escrowing or somehow restricting those incentives in the sense that they're carryovers [01:37:09] or is that just a representation of what we didn't use? [01:37:13] It is what we didn't use. [01:37:15] Okay. [01:37:16] So when we look at the general fund and the way the financials present, it's use of prior year fund balance. [01:37:22] And so those two items, they've got a revenue code, carryover of unused funding sources from fiscal year. [01:37:30] I'm just thinking accounting-wise, it's either restricted or it's not and it's fund balance. [01:37:35] Do we treat CRAs differently in the way we reference them [01:37:38] or did we just pick a different name for that stuff? [01:37:41] I was trying to be more explanatory so that it's – I just didn't want to lump it all together, [01:37:48] so I just broke it out just for ease of understanding what the buckets were. [01:37:53] The issue is generally in government, if you don't use it, you lose it, you've got to reallocate it. [01:37:58] And so I really had just a question if we're setting aside a particular fund and if we're keeping track of it. [01:38:04] So that answers that question. [01:38:06] On the Main Street Grant Award of $15,000, [01:38:11] I'd like to change the name of that to like Main Street Initiatives [01:38:15] because we've had some really popular things that have been occurring [01:38:19] and they are part of the Four Point Program [01:38:23] and they're not all coming from the Main Street organization. [01:38:28] So I would like to give the city manager a little more flexibility [01:38:31] so that she can direct that money towards the CRA's Main Street Program purposes [01:38:39] and that may mean that she can have a little more leverage, I guess, [01:38:43] in determining if they're staying to the chart. [01:38:47] Historically, we don't see a whole lot of reporting or referencing of those four steps. [01:38:51] I don't know how that organization is doing. [01:38:54] I know it was a question when I was running for office about funding. [01:38:58] I would just like to not direct it to another organization yet, [01:39:02] but leave it more open for the city manager. [01:39:06] Is that acceptable to not the city manager? [01:39:09] At this point, the director, the executive director, what do we call him? [01:39:14] I like the idea, Councilman Altman. [01:39:16] Thank you very much for the suggestion. [01:39:19] All right, now to the next idea that may or may not sink into the punch bowl. [01:39:27] All of these costs, electric, trash removal, water, sewer, street light fees, stormwater assessment, [01:39:32] they're identified at the same level as the previous year, [01:39:35] and I know that's probably a combination of the incubator and, in some cases, the Hacienda, [01:39:41] because we've had to pay electric and insurance on all those buildings, [01:39:46] to the Hacienda if the owner, because we're putting another $175,000 of our own money in post-deal, [01:39:54] and I guess part of our deal was we'll complete the grant, and we had a grant match, [01:39:58] so we have to put the money in because we said we would. [01:40:01] So I think we're selling it for like $25,000 down. [01:40:05] I can't remember what the payment is or if the payment is coming, but when cash comes to us, [01:40:11] but it's pretty much not cash. [01:40:12] It's for them to make a substantial investment in the Hacienda. [01:40:16] That's kind of our – their promise is how much money they're going to do to fix it, if I'm correct. [01:40:21] I haven't reviewed that, but it's kind of with my understanding. [01:40:25] So my question really is at the point that we finish the windows, [01:40:30] and I got some report back from the director that it might be March-April when we're done with our grants. [01:40:40] Yeah, the grant, the small match, the special category grants are two-year grants, [01:40:44] and that actually our due date would be June 30th, but we want to get it done much faster. [01:40:53] But our agreement with Lakeside Inn is that within five days of closing out that grant, [01:41:00] and we hope that we want to close it out sooner than later, [01:41:02] and I think our general contractor wants it also, [01:41:05] is that we must inform them that they have 15 days in which to exercise the option to purchase the Hacienda, [01:41:14] which they would take title, and then we would be out of the expenditures associated with that. [01:41:19] There's no major payment that comes along with that option. [01:41:24] Their option is we accept the agreement, we're going to buy it, and we're going to finish it effectively. [01:41:29] Yes, we've received an upfront payment already. [01:41:32] That's what I'm saying. [01:41:33] So there's no more money to come in or revenue to put in the thing, [01:41:36] but my point is that hopefully we won't have a whole year's worth of electricity and insurance, [01:41:42] and they'll be taking that over as the owner-operator, [01:41:47] and so that might allow this budget to save a little money in that category. [01:41:51] Potentially six months in. [01:41:53] And then to the incubator, it's just a thought, [01:41:58] but I know we've got some $600,000 or $700,000 worth of capital improvements identified for the library, [01:42:05] and one of the things they said about the library was, [01:42:08] and I just don't like seeing it closed in like the big open stairway and the noise that's upstairs, [01:42:14] and they're talking about the noise problem and the meeting space. [01:42:19] You know, one potential to relieve some of the debt from the CRA as well, [01:42:24] and I know that hasn't come to fruition yet, [01:42:27] but is allowing that to become some kind of audiovisual, learn filming and studio, television, [01:42:37] get the kids involved, something. [01:42:39] If that were the case, then it might be that the city would take it back as an asset of its library [01:42:47] instead of offering it for sale and trying to sell it, [01:42:50] because I think it's premature to sell it, and maybe finding some use. [01:42:55] You hold meetings there all the time. [01:42:58] The purpose to me is to have another entity that manages meetings to free you up in the economic thing, [01:43:06] to not have the, you know, be managing a building [01:43:11] when you could maybe be working on some of these other projects. [01:43:16] But it's fine to leave it in the budget, but I'm just putting the idea out that it's kind of empty now, [01:43:22] but it's a great opportunity for meeting spaces, [01:43:25] and I'd like to explore before we spend our money on the library doing a bunch of internal improvements [01:43:32] and having figured out how the fire department moves off that site [01:43:37] and what we're going to do to—it's already there. [01:43:41] We're paying the electric. [01:43:43] We have a shortage of meeting space. [01:43:46] Maybe we talk to the library and say can we get—or to the city manager and say [01:43:51] maybe there's some functional needs in the city that we could use that space [01:43:55] as a municipal space for whatever reason. [01:43:59] It wouldn't mean that the economic development couldn't still be holding its functions there, [01:44:05] because the meeting—it's just you're managing a meeting room, [01:44:08] and I think that it might have—it might turn out to get it off of the books of the CRA [01:44:17] and into general government. [01:44:19] Just a thought. [01:44:21] Any others? [01:44:24] Yeah. [01:44:25] Five-year capital plan. [01:44:27] We had this great presentation with all these financial things in it [01:44:32] and all these things to accomplish, [01:44:34] and so I'm happy to approve this now because that's just been a work in progress. [01:44:39] We haven't identified it, [01:44:41] but I'd like during the course of the year to hold some CRA meetings [01:44:45] and to really look at what is the long-term capital plan [01:44:49] so we can jive it up with the amendment and the extension and all of the stuff. [01:44:57] So it's so neat to see all those. [01:45:00] different studies all be consolidated and sort of digested. That study has a plan in [01:45:07] it, and somehow that plan might become our plan, because under the law, once we do extend [01:45:12] the life, then that's the plan we have to adhere to. So we're kind of like finished [01:45:17] with the 30 years, so this is kind of right in that sense, because we have to extend that [01:45:24] life. Once we do, then I think we backfill it with a five-year plan and start trying [01:45:32] to follow the advice that we got today, which again, it's almost too coincidental just how [01:45:38] the timing of all of this is working out in my mind for us. That being said, there are [01:45:47] other sources of funding that are doing redevelopment work. The parking lots, for example, we don't [01:45:52] see them here, and we see Penny for Pasco paying for some of the projects that are [01:45:57] really your redevelopment projects. When Councilman Starkey sees the parking lot that the City [01:46:05] Council held, the parking lot improvements, we're going to see that exceeds the $100,000, [01:46:11] Mr. Chairman, that we have in our budget for parking, and we need to make those adjustments [01:46:16] pretty quick so that we get them in the budget. And similarly, a county commissioner asked [01:46:22] this, and I think it's a good idea, when we look at our capital improvement plan, part [01:46:27] of the redevelopment plan that we see as the City Council, because we're not looking at [01:46:32] it here, was that under the bridge project and the crossover of the bridge, and we don't [01:46:41] have in our capital improvement plan any funds in there, because we don't have the feasibility [01:46:46] study, we don't know the numbers, but it's important for us to put some money in that [01:46:51] budget, so that when Councilman Starkey's at the MPO, and we're talking about whether [01:46:57] the funding is there, that we can say that it's budgeted. And when I went to Tallahassee [01:47:02] the first time that we got that $750,000 allocation, the question that I was asked was, is it in [01:47:10] the MPO plan, and is it in the City's budget? And if you go to the Department of Agriculture [01:47:16] or any other financial place, they're going to say, is it in your plan, and is it in the [01:47:21] budget? So I would ask if we could kind of on a quick basis take a look at that capital [01:47:26] plan and have maybe an amendment for us to look at to include the under the bridge project, [01:47:32] and you could call it maybe the Graham Boulevard under the bridge project, because there are [01:47:38] other parts of that plan that will connect us. Just to get it in there, not to say we [01:47:44] don't even know what we're building yet. [01:47:46] Ms. Manz, correct me if I'm wrong, we have $600,000 in capital improvement towards the [01:47:51] overpass at Marine Parkway, correct or no? [01:47:54] I'm sorry, I don't recall off the top of my head what we have. [01:47:58] I thought that's what you texted me when I was texting you during the MPO meeting. [01:48:00] I texted you that it's accurate. [01:48:02] Okay, that's what you had texted me during the MPO meeting. [01:48:06] Well, yeah, I appreciate it, but this is redevelopment stuff, so I'm just trying to make the point [01:48:11] that these CRA meetings are going to be good places for us to hold these conversations, [01:48:17] and there are places to find it. So if you all are in agreement to just have a short-term [01:48:21] task to try to identify that project, get it in the plan, and allocate a figure to it. [01:48:26] Even if we've got the second and final budget hearing on Tuesday night coming up, even if [01:48:33] we're not prepared to do it at that point, I see no reason why we can't keep looking [01:48:39] at it, because these are priority items for sure. [01:48:43] I think we can be prepared to do it, because there are unused funds in gas tax and transportation [01:48:50] and other places. I'll bet you that they can find it. As a CRA, I would like to make a [01:48:58] motion to approve the budget and request the director to prepare an option for the city [01:49:07] council at the budget. [01:49:08] That is premature at this point, but I'll come back to you when it's time. [01:49:12] Did you have any other questions for staff? [01:49:14] No. [01:49:15] Okay. [01:49:16] Mr. Starkey, did you have... [01:49:19] The only thing I was going to add is, as far as the underpass goes, I made a point that [01:49:25] when we were asked for money for the feasibility study, we didn't bat an eye. We gave the $15,000, [01:49:31] I believe it was, as to how much the county is going to ask from the city, because it's [01:49:35] not even in the city limits. But I explained that we understand the economic impact we're [01:49:39] hoping it's going to have. I understand what you're saying, but without a cost, without [01:49:44] knowing how much, what percentage the county may or may not ask us for, I don't know how [01:49:48] you budget. [01:49:49] Well, I think if we call it a project, which they do, it's a continuation of our streetscape [01:49:55] project. So maybe what I'm really saying is, we show that project and we identify what [01:49:59] is in the city limits, which is some figure for us for engineering or design or whatever, [01:50:05] because it's not even in the plan for us to do this. [01:50:09] None of that project whatsoever would be in the city limits, underpass? [01:50:12] Yeah, it would be. Everything from Graham Boulevard, from Sims Park out to it is going [01:50:16] to be our link. [01:50:17] It's not going to be in the city limits, if you include everything. [01:50:19] Right. I was just talking about the boardwalk. [01:50:21] Call it the trail and put some funds in there to show that it's a multi-government issue. [01:50:26] Got you. [01:50:27] Anyhow. [01:50:28] I understand, sir. [01:50:29] Let's drag this back on topic. You have a resolution that you need to read to us, sir? [01:50:35] Yes. Resolution number 2018-18, a resolution of the City of New Port Richey, Florida Community [01:50:41] Development Agency, a public body, corporate and politic, adopting the 2018-2019 operating [01:50:48] budget, adopting the 2018-2019 five-year work program for the Community Redevelopment Agency [01:50:55] of the City of New Port Richey, Florida, and providing an effective date. [01:50:59] Thank you. I'm going to open this up for public comment. Seeing absolutely nobody coming forward, [01:51:06] I'm going to bring it back to the CRA and Mr. Altman, I believe you had a motion that [01:51:10] you would like to make? [01:51:11] Yes, sir. I would like to move to approve the budget in its current form and approve [01:51:17] the resolution and request that the city set a future date for us to look at the five-year [01:51:22] plan and incorporate it into what will become the final CRA plan. [01:51:29] And just to clarify, that motion includes modifying the title of the Main Street... [01:51:36] I called it incentives. [01:51:39] Incentive package, okay. Do we have a second? [01:51:42] A second. [01:51:43] To the maker, anything else? [01:51:44] No, I've talked way more than anybody wanted me to, but thank you for listening. [01:51:48] To the second. [01:51:49] No, good, thanks. [01:51:50] Mr. Starkey. [01:51:51] I have five points I want to bring up. I'm just kidding, no, I'm good. [01:51:55] Go into more detail later on that. [01:51:58] At that point, we're going to adjourn until 10 p.m.? No. [01:52:02] Oh, excuse me. [01:52:05] I'm happy with where we are at the moment. I appreciate your comments and encouragement. [01:52:13] We do need to see as we're getting into that final part of the budget session, with the [01:52:19] other hats that we wear on, if we've got some funds that we can at least designate that [01:52:26] will be available at some point for those projects, that would give us a little more [01:52:32] leverage with the county and the state folks. [01:52:37] The point's well taken. [01:52:39] If there is no further discussion, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [01:52:44] Aye. [01:52:45] Opposed, like sign. [01:52:48] If there's no further business, I'd entertain a motion to adjourn.

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5. 5Adjournment▶ 1:52:50