On the agenda

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

   Approval of September 15, 2020 and September 22, 2020 CRA Meeting Minutes

   approved

   The CRA Board approved the meeting minutes from the September 15, 2020 and September 22, 2020 CRA meetings.

   • motion:Approve the September 15, 2020 and September 22, 2020 CRA meeting minutes. (passed)

   ▶ Jump to 0:22 in the video

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   [00:00:22] Thank you. [00:00:23] The next item on the agenda is the approval of the September 15th and September 22nd CRA [00:00:26] meeting minutes. [00:00:27] Move for approval. [00:00:28] Second. [00:00:30] Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:00:33] Aye. [00:00:34] Aye. [00:00:35] Opposed? [00:00:36] Like sign.

   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

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   Retail Recruitment Grant Program

   approved

   Mr. Rudd presented a revised CRA grant program including a new Retail Recruitment Grant targeting specific retail business types (home decor, jewelers, galleries, clothing, sporting goods, bookstores, specialty brewers, wine shops, bicycle shops, hobby/gift stores). The program offers tiered rent reimbursement (100%/75%/50% over the first year up to $2,000/month) and 75% awards for interior/exterior build-outs up to $25,000, alongside revisions to existing grant programs. The board moved for approval after discussion and no public comment.

   • motion:Move for approval of the revised grant programs including the new Retail Recruitment Grant Program. (passed)

   📍building up north on 19 on the west side of the road (Oak Trace / Argus building)📍old post office📍three-story building on the south-east corner of Golf and Grand🏢Argus🏢Ella's🏢Payless Shoes👤Mr. Rudd👤Ms. Manns#Commercial Real Estate Grant#Downtown CRA#Exterior Grant#Highway 19 corridor#Interior Grant#Oak Trace#Rent Reimbursement Program#Retail Recruitment Grant Program#former HCA site

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   [00:00:37] Motion passes. [00:00:38] Next, Retail Recruitment Grant Program. [00:00:39] Yes, sir. [00:00:40] Mr. Mayor, Mr. Rudd will be introducing the agenda item, and we're going to talk to you [00:00:46] about a recruitment program that we are offering to targeted businesses. [00:00:54] It's a revision of our grant program and two other changes to grant programs. [00:00:59] Mr. Rudd? [00:01:00] Thank you, Ms. Manns. [00:01:01] We're going to have the presentation, so I'll try to be brief. [00:01:06] Essentially, I want to do, this is a continuation of the conversation we started during the [00:01:10] budget process and from our market analysis to where we identified gaps and where we had [00:01:18] a need in our market for services and acknowledge our desire for more retail downtown. [00:01:23] The primary goals of our grant program is to focus on three primary areas of the CRA, [00:01:29] the Highway 19 corridor, downtown, and the former HCA site area. [00:01:34] It's also to achieve and maintain a building inventory in turnkey condition and ready for [00:01:39] lease. [00:01:40] My experience over the years is those properties that are ready to go tend to fill up again [00:01:44] sometimes almost immediately. [00:01:46] It's the properties that need work that tend to sit sometimes for years without a tenant, [00:01:52] so we want to target those vacant spaces, encourage those property owners to get them [00:01:55] ready whether they have a tenant ready or not. [00:01:59] Also to maintain the exterior of those buildings so that our building inventory is attractive [00:02:04] and to assist in preparing interior space for specific tenants. [00:02:09] The space may be tenant ready, but they need some modifications. [00:02:12] We want to assist with that. [00:02:14] And also the same thing on the outside. [00:02:15] Sometimes they need additional windows or other changes to accommodate the particular [00:02:19] use. [00:02:20] And then finally to attract targeted businesses. [00:02:24] This is a, and I'll go into this more later, to assist those businesses that we specifically [00:02:29] want to get or trying to get to come downtown, particularly in the realm of retail. [00:02:35] And I put the asterisk assist only applicants from the list of desired businesses because [00:02:39] we may find that we have an applicant that's going into a historic building or an otherwise [00:02:45] building that's desirable to have it improved. [00:02:48] We may want to consider assisting them to get that building up to a usable condition. [00:02:55] And then secondary goals is just to provide a grants program ongoingly and to limit the [00:03:00] number of grants for each address. [00:03:02] As you'll see, we have some limitations in place now and we'll modify those slightly. [00:03:07] And the grants will be considered awards rather than reimbursements. [00:03:11] Currently we have a condition where if your father-in-law helps pay for something, then [00:03:15] we don't have proof that you paid for it. [00:03:17] And that creates a challenge in reimbursing those expenses. [00:03:21] So we want to do grant awards. [00:03:23] And then we want to limit the grants for really independent and locally owned, operated businesses [00:03:28] because we have other programs for franchises and corporations and larger projects. [00:03:33] So we don't want to eat up our grant program, you know, with a national franchise as an [00:03:39] example. [00:03:40] So finally, this is difficult to read, I apologize. [00:03:43] The column on the left is our current list of targeted businesses, which is essentially [00:03:48] restaurant and retail, as well as transportation alternatives. [00:03:53] What we're proposing is the revised program will have that same list for our general grants. [00:04:00] And then the recruitment grant will be the column on the right. [00:04:03] Home decor and home gifts, jewelers, art and music galleries, stationery and flower shops, [00:04:09] clothing, apparel, shoes, and accessories, sporting goods, bookstores. [00:04:13] I did include specialty brewers on there. [00:04:15] Those are a well-recognized redevelopment tool. [00:04:19] Wine shops in terms of retail, wine shops, wine sales, bicycle repair, sales and rental, [00:04:25] and hobbies and in general gift stores. [00:04:28] And some people like to make a joke. [00:04:29] I talk about we need a shoe store downtown, but I'm not talking about pay less shoes. [00:04:32] I'm talking about a boutique store. [00:04:34] If you've been into Ella's, a store like that often will have a line of shoes, of women's [00:04:38] shoes, and maybe custom shoes that are made by a local artisan and so forth. [00:04:44] So that's what we're talking about with our retail. [00:04:47] So the rent reimbursement program as it now stands, we reimburse 50% up to $1,250 a month [00:04:54] for the first year, and that cannot exceed $15,000 a year. [00:04:58] We're recommending keeping that. [00:05:00] That is a reimbursement because they've already paid each quarter, then we reimburse them [00:05:04] for the quarter. [00:05:06] But for the recruitment, for the specialty retailers that we're looking for, we're sort [00:05:11] of doing the inverse of what we often hope that a property owner will do. [00:05:14] We hope a property owner will sort of forgive them the first few months of rent and then [00:05:18] ramp it up a little bit, and then finally by the end of the year, they ramp it up to [00:05:22] the full to help them get through that first year. [00:05:24] So ours will be 100% reimbursement up to $2,000 a month for the first three months, and then [00:05:31] 75% reimbursement for the second three months, and then finally 50% reimbursement for the [00:05:37] remainder of the year. [00:05:38] And again, this is a way to help get them established and really make it more attractive. [00:05:44] So we have a way of recruiting restaurant and retail with our 50% reimbursement, and [00:05:49] this is to really drill down and go after retailers that we really want downtown with [00:05:54] a larger assistance program. [00:05:58] And then our exterior grant would be currently it is 50% reimbursement up to $25,000, and [00:06:05] there's five years between eligibility to get that grant currently. [00:06:09] We would revise that to a 50% award up to $25,000, and then there'd be a two-year distance. [00:06:16] But within that two years, for instance, if an applicant got a $10,000 grant and then [00:06:21] they went out of business, the next applicant, there'd still be $15,000 available to make [00:06:26] some modifications to that property before we restart the clock for the two years. [00:06:32] And then for the recruitment program, this would be 75% for the exterior award. [00:06:39] That won't cost us anymore. [00:06:40] It's still up to $25,000, but it will put more money back into that applicant, again, [00:06:46] to help them with that build-out and to get started and to be attracted to this place [00:06:51] to set up their business. [00:06:53] Same with our interior grant, it's currently 50% up to $25,000. [00:06:57] Again, we would continue that but make a two-year distance between grants, and then 75% award [00:07:05] for the interior build-out as well. [00:07:07] And I'll answer any questions. [00:07:10] Questions, anyone? [00:07:11] I like the program, but I just have one question. [00:07:15] We went through a long hassle with a building up north on 19 on the west side of the road. [00:07:27] We finally got it fixed up. [00:07:29] We finally got them fixed up with a lot of fines. [00:07:31] What was that? [00:07:32] Oak Trace. [00:07:33] Oak Trace. [00:07:34] Oak Trace, but there was, yeah, there was, it was an Argus building because, yeah, Argus, [00:07:43] that's what I was trying to, couldn't remember Argus building. [00:07:46] So it finally took it, but it, you know, and I don't, I'm not saying this program would [00:07:50] have fit that, but we have a building now, a three-story building on the south-east corner [00:07:56] of Golf and Grand, and I just wondered if they can come in and just steal our money [00:08:01] and not really get that building straightened out. [00:08:04] Well, that's an office building, so it wouldn't be eligible for these targeted grants. [00:08:09] Well, I mean, it could be retail if they redesigned the first floor. [00:08:15] Well, we would take a close look at it to make sure. [00:08:18] Okay, because, I mean, it's deteriorating, you know, and I guess it's getting fined right [00:08:21] now, right? [00:08:22] Yes. [00:08:23] You know, and so, you know, you know, it's, you know, I just wanted to make sure we're [00:08:27] not going to hand money to these people, that's that type of situation. [00:08:32] It's unlikely. [00:08:33] Okay. [00:08:34] Any other questions? [00:08:35] Yeah, I'm just, a couple. [00:08:39] When would this go into effect, and how would we transition, we have a deadline for someone [00:08:46] to apply under the old process, or would it go into effect immediately if we set this [00:08:52] up now? [00:08:53] I mean, what do we do next? [00:08:55] Our recommendation is that we make the new program effective concurrent with the adoption [00:09:02] or your acceptance of the grant programs. [00:09:06] And as to the larger projects that we've seen that have, for example, the central, [00:09:15] what are they calling it now, the old post office that's under construction now, that [00:09:20] there's a, was there not a different kind of a large product grant, is that? [00:09:27] Under our commercial real estate. [00:09:30] That's not affected by this? [00:09:32] Correct. [00:09:33] That's correct. [00:09:34] Right. [00:09:35] Okay. [00:09:36] Thank you for all, for acting so quickly to really might like to just say you focused [00:09:41] in on the products that our consultant identified from doing psychographics of the money that [00:09:47] people are spending in our zip code or in our close region, and where there's an actual [00:09:54] not just desire for them, but also that there is the potential for success for those businesses [00:10:00] based on their recommendation to us. [00:10:04] And so thank you. [00:10:05] Any other questions? [00:10:06] Hearing none, I'll open it up for public comment. [00:10:13] Seeing no one coming forward, bring it back to the CRA. [00:10:16] Move for approval. [00:10:17] Second. [00:10:18] To the mayor. [00:10:19] I already stopped.

   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.

4. 4Communications▶ 10:20
5. 5Adjournment▶ 12:47