On the agenda

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

   Approval of March 21, 2023 and March 30, 2023 CRA Meeting Minutes

   approved

   The CRA Board approved the minutes from the March 21, 2023 and March 30, 2023 CRA meetings.

   • motion:Approve the March 21, 2023 and March 30, 2023 CRA meeting minutes. (passed)

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   [00:00:16] Next item on the agenda is the approval of the March 21st and March 30th CRA meeting minutes. [00:00:22] I move we approve. [00:00:23] I will second. [00:00:25] Any discussion? [00:00:26] Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:00:29] Aye. [00:00:30] Opposed, like sign. [00:00:31] 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

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   Request to Enter into a Purchase and Sales Agreement for the Property Located at 5332 Acorn Street

   approved

   The CRA Board authorized the CRA director to enter into a purchase and sale agreement for a 0.37-acre property at 5332 Acorn Street for $800,000, with $80,000 due upon execution and closing within 120 days. The acquisition is intended to support assemblage for a future mixed-use redevelopment project providing ingress/egress from Main Street and US Highway 19, and to facilitate stormwater attenuation. Funding comes from FY 2022-23 CRA land assemblage program funds.

   • motion:Authorize the CRA director to make an offer on the 5332 Acorn Street property as described and make the required deposit. (passed)

   📍5332 Acorn Street📍Right of way between Main Street and Acorn Street🏢Gun Barrel Holdings🏢Riverside Baptist Church🏢SunTrust🏢Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council🏢U-Haul👤Allen👤Blankenship👤Debbie Manz👤Jeff Berardelli👤Larry Shallis👤Peters👤Roland Waller👤Sean#Clearwater Beach Resilience Conference#FY 2022-23 CRA Land Assemblage Program#RFP for redevelopment project#Resilience Action Plan (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council)#Stormwater attenuation pond#Vulnerability study

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   [00:00:32] Next is a request to enter into a purchase and sales agreement for the property located [00:00:36] at 5332 Acorn Street. [00:00:38] Ms. Manz? [00:00:41] Before I fully introduce this item, I do have an aerial at your places which is corrected. [00:00:52] Inadvertently, I sent out a map in your agenda packet which misrepresented the boundaries [00:01:01] of the property, and so therefore, I have removed two pieces of property from what was [00:01:12] provided to you on Thursday, one property that the city already owns, which is right [00:01:20] of way which spans from Main Street to Acorn Street between Waller's office and the former [00:01:34] Atomac Building, thank you. [00:01:43] And secondarily, a piece of what appears to be the holdings of Gun Barrel Holdings but [00:01:56] is actually owned by Roland Waller and it is a little independent piece, a little square [00:02:05] which is taken out of the rectangle which was originally presented to you as the ownership [00:02:14] of Gun Barrel Holdings. [00:02:18] The piece of property that we are talking about is actually .37 acres in size and it's [00:02:26] located in the southeastern quadrant of what is US Highway 19 and Main Street, and this [00:02:33] is adjacent to property which we have been for some time now talking about the redevelopment [00:02:42] of. [00:02:43] In that respect, there has been some discussion about the benefit of having a means of ingress [00:02:51] and egress from Main Street to this property, so we have been keeping our eye on the property [00:02:59] without having advanced any type of an offer for it. [00:03:06] We've been waiting for it to be market appropriate and we've been actually keeping our eye on [00:03:12] it as far back as 2020. [00:03:23] The assembly of property will allow the piece that we've already assembled to become much [00:03:36] more of interest to a potential developer having access to the property both from Main [00:03:43] Street and additionally from US Highway 19. [00:03:49] We really want, and I do and I'm certain that you'll agree, want people to rely very principally [00:04:03] on 19 and Main Street as a means of ingress and egress from the property and not for River [00:04:10] Road to be disturbed by any real traffic to and from that project. [00:04:20] So there have been offers on the property since it's been listed with a realtor over [00:04:31] the course of the last couple of years, none of which have really piqued the interest of [00:04:37] the real estate or of the owners of the property until very recently. [00:04:44] And I learned late last week that there was an offer submitted that they were giving serious [00:04:52] consideration to and that in all likelihood a sales agreement would be reached. [00:05:03] In that respect, I needed to make a presentation before you to determine whether or not you [00:05:12] want to exercise the option to enter into a purchase and sales agreement for the property [00:05:23] that would compete with the offer that is currently on the table and go forward with [00:05:33] an assembly that will make our proposed future project more marketable. [00:05:41] The purchase price that I think will present a strong offer on the property is in the amount [00:05:49] of $800,000. [00:05:52] The funding to cover the expenditure is available in the fiscal year 2022-23 CRA land assemblage [00:06:02] program funds. [00:06:07] The terms, if this is of interest to you and you would like to authorize me to enter [00:06:16] into a purchase and sale agreement, would entail a payment in the amount of $80,000 [00:06:23] upon the execution of a purchase and sale agreement. [00:06:28] The transaction closing would occur within 120 days of a fully executed purchase and [00:06:35] sale agreement, and then the balance of the funds would be paid at the closing on the [00:06:39] transaction. [00:06:44] And I wish that I was further along in discussions with some of the other adjacent property owners, [00:06:58] but this came up rather surprisingly as a good offer. [00:07:04] I have had discussions with Riverside Baptist Church, which I think is an important element [00:07:10] to introduce to you, and they have indicated an interest in selling a portion of their [00:07:23] unused parking area, and I think that that is something that will be necessary in order [00:07:34] for the full development of this plan to come to fruition. [00:07:40] And I'm prepared to respond to whatever questions you may have. [00:07:43] Open up for public comment. [00:07:46] Seeing no one come forward, I'll bring it back to the CRA. [00:07:49] Mr. Blankenship. [00:07:53] Yeah, maybe I can give a little quick recap of my understanding of the other element of all [00:08:01] of this, which is not only the assemblage, but also the attenuation pond and the grant that we [00:08:08] have that's out there, and I think that this would be an important piece. [00:08:16] Also, I think, Mr. Peters, I think you had been here to see the 3D modeling that was done by the [00:08:27] Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, where they had shown an innovative sort of recreation [00:08:34] retention pond, because I continue to hear folks say, well, we moved the retention pond, [00:08:39] or have it referred to as a retention pond, but the hope has been that this would be a real [00:08:45] signature project for us that would incorporate that increased residential density, [00:08:52] and as well as some commercial activity. [00:08:56] The property in question, the cigar or the tobacco business, really is a wholesaler. [00:09:05] There was no element of any retail. [00:09:08] I'm not sure who the interested party is, but that large industrial warehouse building isn't [00:09:14] exactly fit the concept of a green, well-designed, mixed-use project that we have, and I think [00:09:26] ultimately when we go out for proposals, that this additional acreage is critical to getting [00:09:33] the attention of some of the developer industry that will see the potential to put things [00:09:39] together, through which I think we're looking for a public-private partnership. [00:09:45] So when you add the transportation element that you mentioned, Debbie, with the stormwater [00:09:53] improvements that are already funded in our budget as part of this project, and some public [00:09:59] recreation opportunities that are there, that it's a wise choice, and I thank you for keeping [00:10:05] your ear to the ground and learning of this opportunity while we have it. [00:10:11] So I'm in favor, and I'll be happy to make a motion, or second a motion, after hearing [00:10:18] from my colleagues. [00:10:20] Mr. Peters? [00:10:22] Yeah. [00:10:23] I think there's a lot of potential for this whole general area, and you know, wouldn't [00:10:32] it be nice if it was just all vacant land and we could buy it and go to it, right? [00:10:36] So we have a hard row to hoe, so to speak, in doing this, and it doesn't come cheap. [00:10:48] You know, it appears that I'm just a little bit starry-eyed about the amount on this sale. [00:10:58] It really equals just about the same cost per square footage, square feet, paying for [00:11:05] this as we paid for the SunTrust building, which of course has U.S. 19 frontage, right, [00:11:11] and is a larger partial, and so it doesn't help us necessarily dilute the cost of the [00:11:25] whole land project here, but I agree that it is a critical link, as well as it's not [00:11:36] the last piece that I envision that either we're going to have to acquire or a developer [00:11:44] is going to have to acquire to make it a significant project to do. [00:11:54] But I know this, that if we don't get it, it just makes everything else that much more [00:11:59] difficult and could actually then end up hurting the whole area and the whole project, because [00:12:07] I don't know what the buyer would use that property for, whether it's buying it for the [00:12:13] warehouse and want to continue to use that for that. [00:12:17] Right in the middle of where we're trying to obviously do a downtown is moving this [00:12:22] way with nearby residential density, I would be in favor of the acquisition. [00:12:35] My first thought when we were talking about this sometime back was that with Peter's work [00:12:49] with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council in doing something that would help with drainage [00:13:00] out of that area, I pretty well envisioned that any storm drainage work would wind up [00:13:09] having to go across that parcel and down Acorn Street to the river ultimately. [00:13:16] And so it's from a resiliency standpoint I think is probably a critical purchase. [00:13:25] I am a little bit concerned that we've only got a three or five foot wide stretch of property [00:13:32] that links that to our current property, but if either we or the developer can convince [00:13:42] Riverside to give up enough of that back parking lot that they don't use to make it possible [00:13:51] to run the drainage, to make it possible to put an access road into there, I think [00:13:58] it significantly improves the whole project. [00:14:03] And as was stated by Mrs. Manns, to the extent that it keeps additional traffic off of South [00:14:12] River, that's probably a really good thing. [00:14:16] And it would be easy to do. [00:14:18] I did drive the area today after lunch and verified the strip of asphalt going from Acorn [00:14:28] Street to Main Street is indeed an asphalt improved what appears to be single lane alley. [00:14:35] So there is access there. [00:14:36] It would wind up of necessity probably being one way, but it is there. [00:14:44] So I would be in favor of doing this and asking Mrs. Manns to come back to the CRA at some [00:14:52] future point with an update on any discussions that she has that look like [00:15:00] be productive with Riverside. That being said, Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to [00:15:06] authorize the CRA director to make an offer on the property as she has [00:15:12] described and make the required deposit. I'll second that. Any further discussion? [00:15:24] Well, yes, sir. I think that the property that Mr. Waller has and Larry [00:15:30] Shallis, I think both of those properties are also older properties, older real [00:15:35] estate. Larry's CPA office has got a number of residential rentals, so the [00:15:42] income that he produces from his building is probably considerably more [00:15:45] than the income that Mr. Waller produces from rentals since he utilizes the [00:15:51] facility for himself. But I would suspect that those two property owners [00:15:56] will also be critical to this plan at some future point, whether or not when [00:16:03] you do go out for proposals that it's seen as potentials as folks start to [00:16:08] look at it. But I have spoken with both parties and they're not opposed to being [00:16:13] part of a redevelopment project if it comes around and works for them. Be nice [00:16:19] to have that public-private partnership when it comes in. And I don't know how [00:16:24] that all will work in terms of the advertisement that we have been [00:16:27] anticipating for the RFP or the request for proposals or projects, but I think [00:16:35] this will make it much more interesting and I would also encourage the [00:16:40] forwarding of the dialogue with the Riverside Baptist Church. That's it. [00:16:49] As far as, you know, drainage, Mayor, you brought up a question here that, you know, [00:16:54] drainage would have to go out to Acorn Street and then down to the river. So [00:16:59] if we were going to create, I know we don't like to use the term retention [00:17:08] pond, but that would be the functional of it, whether that's what it looks like or not. [00:17:14] Intenuation is the word. That's both ways, coming in and going out. [00:17:20] Yeah, so, you know, I just, you know, I don't know what the water table there is and, you [00:17:27] know, how much that can do, but hopefully we'd rather see the wastewater [00:17:35] if it's not stormwater. If we could divert it somewhere other than the river, [00:17:40] if we can hold it there and divert it somewhere else would be good. I know that [00:17:47] all our, everything wants to flow to the river, but we've got to start somewhere [00:17:53] in long-term plans trying to get that as clean as possible. We ever hope to, you [00:17:59] know, get the river in better shape. I could envision this with whatever [00:18:05] stormwater attenuation that is thought of to ultimately work in much the same way [00:18:14] that Orange Lake works for the downtown, where it can be drawn down in one former [00:18:23] fashion before a storm event and then ultimately pulls water off of the [00:18:31] surrounding properties quickly and then ultimately does go out to the river, but [00:18:38] like you say, with some coverage so we're not just dumping tons into the [00:18:44] river when it's mid-flood stage. Mr. Mayor, on that point and to Mr. Peters [00:18:51] question at the bottom of the orange drawing, Mike, off of the U-Haul [00:19:01] rental property across the street from River Road is the next [00:19:07] outlet into the river, and so whether it went acorn or the other way, the [00:19:13] whole concept was to treat it because both of those outlets right now are [00:19:18] letting the water in untreated, so whatever water there is. It seems the [00:19:23] nature of the beast is a lot of this water is going west under the highway, if [00:19:27] I'm not mistaken, Robert, from the highway side, so we have that ridge kind of in [00:19:32] the middle so we don't have to take all of the water in, but I think there [00:19:39] are options and once again hopefully the innovation of investors and private [00:19:45] partners who come around, because when that is let loose, you'll see some [00:19:50] interesting design concepts that will be trying to, I guess, encourage us on what [00:19:56] we can have, so my hope is that we will just sort of continue to feed those [00:20:02] concepts out as we go, but I'm happy to be here today and see this happen. [00:20:11] Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion please signify by saying aye. Aye. [00:20:16] Opposed, like sign. Motion passes. The only communication I've got is tomorrow is [00:20:23] Election Day. I would encourage all the citizens to come out and vote. We've got [00:20:27] what I regard as three excellent candidates and look forward to seeing [00:20:33] what the voters choice is. Anything Mr. Peters? No sir, not today. Mr. Allen? Just came [00:20:41] back from the Regional Planning Council meeting, our last meeting until June, [00:20:45] because May, early May, is the Clearwater Beach Hosted Resilience Conference and [00:20:55] there was a lot of encouragement at our meeting to get folks to attend. I think [00:21:01] you all got invitations to that, and I know that there are a lot of great [00:21:08] speakers and information from Jeff Berardelli, the weatherman, talking about [00:21:17] storm systems that are coming this year, to innovative ideas that are being used, [00:21:22] and I'm really excited that my role there has put me in a position where New [00:21:30] New Port Richey is getting attention, and so projects like this and our vulnerability [00:21:35] study, which should be coming out soon, will continue to allow us to be in the [00:21:40] front of that. There has been an offer to come in June or later by Sean, the [00:21:48] director of the Regional Planning Council, to talk about his resilience [00:21:53] action plan, and there's a action plan they've worked on for a year and a half [00:21:58] that is for us to consider and look at and pick and choose, but the desire is [00:22:06] that the cities will adopt some of the strategies that have been worked on [00:22:10] through that action plan, and hopefully, Debbie, we can make that appointment with [00:22:14] Sean sometime before the first hurricane. Most timely, I would be remiss if I [00:22:22] didn't mention there is an article in the Washington Post today discussing the [00:22:31] sea level rise as it affects the Gulf of Mexico and southeast US on the Atlantic [00:22:38] side, and I would commit it to you to to read apparently because the Gulf is [00:22:44] relatively shallow. It's warming up faster than the rest of the oceans and [00:22:49] resulting in significantly higher sea level rise, including at places like [00:22:54] Pensacola, so it might be worth keeping our eyes on that. [00:23:00] Ms. Manch, did you have anything? Nothing this evening, Mr. Mayor. In that case, I would [00:23:04] entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved.

   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
5. 5Adjournment