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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-25-06 Minutes CRA COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CRA) BOARD MEETING Ocoee Commission Chambers 150 North Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, Florida April 25, 2006 I CALL TO ORDER MINUTES 6:00 p.m. Chair Vandergrift called the Regular Meeting of the CRA Board to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. Roll Call: Chair Vandergrift, Vice Chair Anderson, Member C. Johnson, Member Keller, Member Hood, Member Corless, Member Johnson Also Present: City Manager Frank, Assistant City Manager Croteau, and City Clerk Eikenberry, and Attorney David Cardwell Chair Vandergrift opened the meeting and asked the two Board members who were not City Commission to introduce themselves. Ginger Corless, 828 Keaton Park Way, said she is a certified planner and the President of HHI. She said HHI was instrumental in helping Ocoee draft the Redevelopment Plan for the CRA and she looks forward to working with the City in this capacity. Carla Bell Johnson, Assistant to the Director of the Growth Management Department for Orange County, said she holds a BS in Civil Engineering, is a certified planner, and she has been working for several years with transportation planning. She also advised she has lived in West Orange County for 14 years and will be a resident of Ocoee in the next few weeks. Assistant City Manager Croteau summarized this evening's agenda and introduced CRA Special Counsel David Cardwell. Attorney David Cardwell explained the CRA Board is a separate legal entity from the City of Ocoee. Florida Statute describes that a CRA Board is a body politic incorporate, a special district and it is separate from any other entity. The legislature allows Commissioners to serve on the CRA Board, and the City has chosen to have two additional members of the Board, and Member Corless and Member Johnson are here tonight for the first CRA Board meeting. Mr. Cardwell explained the Board's initial responsibility will be to organize, move along the process of the document plan, set up the trust fund, and then implement the Redevelopment Plan. The first step will be to forward the Redevelopment Plan to the City's Local Planning Agency (LPA), which is the Planning and Zoning Board (P & Z Board), to be reviewed for its consistency to the City's comprehensive plan. The P & Z Board cannot reject it or change it; they review and comment on it and send it back to the CRA Board. In the meeting on May 16, 2006, this board will receive the Redevelopment Plan back from the P & Z Board and make changes at that time, if necessary, as long as the Plan remains consistent with the City of Ocoee Comprehensive Plan. The CRA Board will forward the Redevelopment Plan for approval by the City Commission at a Public Hearing. At the close of the Public Hearing, the City can adopt a resolution passing the Redevelopment Plan. The plan is adopted by resolution, not by ordinance, because it is a guide or blueprint, not a land development regulation, zoning code, or building code. It may recommend changes to those documents, but it is not, by itself, a land development regulation. One of the provisions of the resolution will be that the Redevelopment Plan will not take effect until approved by Orange County, therefore the Commission will forward the Redevelopment Plan to the Board of County Commissioners at the time the it is adopted, requesting approval. Mr. Cardwell said under the terms of the Delegation of Powers from Orange County, the Plan cannot go into effect until it has been reviewed and approved by the Board of County Commissioners. The next step, once the Redevelopment Plan is approved by Orange County, would be for the Commission to consider an ordinance creating a Redevelopment Trust Fund which would provide for tax increment financing. This would require two readings, and a Public Hearing. II. Election of Chair and Vice Chair Attorney Cardwell said that the board needs to address the administrative duties: · Elect a Chair and Vice Chair Since the board is a separate entity from the City, they need to elect a Chair and Vice Chair. Some CRA's that are created with Commission allow the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tern to be Chair and Vice Chair, however, some choose to elect from all members of the board. Either way is correct. · Adopt By-Laws Mr. Cardwell also suggested that the CRA Board should consider by-laws, and that he and Assistant City Manager Croteau will bring back a standardized set at the next meeting, and it can be amended to suit the specific needs of the City of Ocoee. This will give a good reference as to how the CRA meetings will be carried out. . Set a Meeting Schedule Vice Chair Anderson asked if all of the money spent so far to develop the CRA will go back to the City once the CRA is established. Attorney Cardwell advised the Redevelopment Act specifically says that a City that creates a CRA may advance funds to a CRA, which can be paid back at a later date. If there are ongoing services provided by the City, you may want to create an agreement between the City and CRA to provide a mechanism for tracking such funds. Vice Chair Anderson asked about the enclaves within the CRA that are in the County, and if this would be a good time to petition the county to annex them into the City and the CRA. Attorney Cardwell said the Commission would have to make a finding that those enclaves are blighted, according to the definition of blight in the Statutes, and the area as a whole remains blighted. The City would then have to recommend that the County agree, under the delegation of power which specifies the boundaries, that the boundaries of the CRA are changed. City Attorney Rosenthal asked if it would be more difficult, under the new legislation, to make a finding of blight. Mr. Cardwell said the new legislation stays away from the blight issue, the new legislation applies mostly to non-charter counties. Discussion followed regarding current areas that are now under consideration for annexation, and that it would be easier if staff could get that done before the CRA is in effect. Board Member Anderson. seconded bv Board Member Keller. moved to appoint Board Member S. Scott Vanderarift as the CRA Board Chair. Motion carried 7-0. Board Member Keller seconded bv Board Member Hood moved to appoint Board Member Scott Anderson as the CRA Board Vice Chair. Motion carried 7-0. III. Redevelopment Plan (Asst. City Mgr. Jamie Croteau and Tom Kohler, Senior Vice President of Real Estate Research Consultants) Asst. City Mgr. Jamie Croteau said that the Board has the Redevelopment Plan before them, with the only change being the updated TIFF chart. Tom Kohler, President of Real Estate Research Consultants said he was CRA Director for the City of Orlando in 1981. He said his company provided the financial analysis and the Finding of Necessity. He said in his discussions on the Interlocal Agreement with the County, they were very supportive of the enclaves being included in the CRA at the appropriate time. He said there is no legal way to include the enclaves automatically into the CRA, even though both sides were interested in doing that. Mr. Kohler referred to the map on Page 14 and commented that the redevelopment program is focused on Colonial Drive, over 1000 acres which includes a major transportation corridor and an area with the most economic development opportunity. The real stimulus for future development is the corner of Maguire and Colonial. He noted that Colony Plaza is a poster child for the appropriate use of eminent domain. Without satisfactory resolution of that property ownership, it is going to have a governor effect on the development of at least two of the other three comers. We know that is going to be an uphill battle. He said Page 31 consists of the blueprint that Mr. Cardwell referred to; these are the projects that we identified which include transportation and infrastructure critical needs, including Stormwater drainage, sidewalks and some increased pressure for waterlines. The figures listed, totaling $95,680,000, will not be the actual dollar amount, nor will the income from the tax increment be as low as reflected. These are the key categories: A) Acquisition Costs, including Colony Plaza, B) Roadway and Infrastructure Improvements, C) Multimodal Transportation Improvements, D) Pedestrian Sidewalks and Crosswalks, E) Streetscape Improvements, F) Stormwater and Utilities, G) Open Space and Recreation Improvements, and H) Beautification going around Gateways, Signage and a Way-finding system. There is nothing extraordinary in the approach other than the unique situation with the Colony Plaza. He also pointed out on Page 47, that the tax increment projections have been updated based on the 2005 certified tax rolls. The chart also includes the relationship of the rebates that go back to the City and the County based on the Interlocal Agreement. The tax increment goes into the trust fund first, and then of the first million of increment, 100% remains in the trust fund; of the second million 30% will be rebated to the County; and above 52 million 50% gets rebated back to the County. The chart projects a 30 year period with low, medium, and high revenue projections. He introduced Daisy Staniszkis, who worked with him for twenty years in downtown Orlando, and was recently hired to work with his firm. Asst. City Manager Croteau advised that they need direction from the CRA Board to forward the Redevelopment Plan to the Local Planning Agency (LP A) (Ocoee Planning and Zoning Board) for their review. Board Member Anderson. seconded bY Board Member Hood. moved to forward the CRA Redevelopment Plan to the Local Plannina Aaency (City of Ocoee Plannina and Zonina Board) for their review. Motion carried 7-0. Board Member Johnson noted that the document references a forty year horizon, but the Interlocal Agreement and Resolution ponder a thirty year time frame, and she asked if there would be a concern in terms of consistency between the two. Mr. Kohler advised if you have indebtedness that goes beyond the thirty year window you have to honor that debt if you have a bond outstanding, and the way the law reads you would have ten years to pay that off. He said it is consistent with the way most Interlocal Agreements are now written. City Attorney Rosenthal clarified that the County would have to approve any long term debt under the terms of the Interlocal Agreement. IV. Select Regular Meeting Date and Time Asst. City Manager Croteau advised that the Board can hold off on setting a regular time and meeting date, but at this point they need to be concerned about the next meeting because of the tight time frame to get everything done by July. She said the LP A will review the Redevelopment Plan on May 9, 2006, and the CRA Board would need to meet on May 16,2006, prior to the Commission Meeting. Board Member Anderson seconded by Board Member Keller moved to hold the next CRA Board meetina on May 16. 2006. at 6:00 p.m. Motion carried 7-0. Asst. City Manager Croteau reviewed the time line, stating that on May 16, 2006, the CRA Board and City Commission are anticipated to approve the Redevelopment Plan, and the Commission will also be hearing the first reading of the ordinance creating the trust fund, and considering the resolution adopting the Redevelopment Plan. We anticipate the second reading of the ordinance creating the trust fund to be on June 6, 2006, which is the final step. Orange County has advised if everything is completed by July 1, 2006, we should be getting our first check into the CRA trust fund by the end of December or beginning of January. City Attorney Rosenthal asked Special Attorney Cardwell, if the City or the CRA needs to take any actions prior to the arrival of the first check, in order to address reimbursement, or is that addressed after the check arrives? Attorney Cardwell said that it will need to be addressed at a subsequent meeting, but certainly before October 1, 2006, to address the CRA budget and reimbursements. The consensus of the Commission. without obiection, was to have staff brina back some cost fiaures reaardina the development of the CRA. Attorney Cardwell said he strongly suggests that there is an Interlocal Agreement developed between the City and the CRA so there is an arms-length arrangement on the budget planning. Any other Interlocal reimbursement such as attorney time, planning time, etc., should be included in the CRA budget. V. New Business Attorney Cardwell said that there are some legislative changes concerning the use of eminent domain for the purpose of acquiring property for economic development. The issue of eminent domain has been highly publicized as governments taking peoples' property and then turning it over to developers. The legislature is responding by severely restricting (House Bill 1567) or eliminating (Senate Bill CS2168) the use of eminent domain for the purpose of redevelopment. These two bills will be voted on over the next 10 days during this Senate Session. The House Bill requires that the government entity hold property for five years after taking it by eminent domain before any development could occur. The Senate Bill completely eliminates the use of eminent domain for the purpose of redevelopment. The House Bill goes into effect on July 1, 2006 and applies to all actions pending on that date. The Senate Bill also becomes effective on July 1, 2006, but was amended to state that if a condemnation action has already been filed, you have until September 30, 2006, to file if you meet certain criteria. The Chairman, Senator Webster, is opposed to this extension of time, and as a result all of the amendments will have to be voted on individually on the Senate floor, instead of being incorporated into the Bill. Mr. Cardwell said if either of these Bills pass, we may not be able to clear the title to the Colony Plaza. If those two bills pass, and the amendments stick, the City may have to act very quickly during that window of May 23, 2006 when the Plan is approved by the County, and September 30,2006 which would be the new deadline for being grandfathered in under those provisions for filing eminent domain. Board Member Corless asked if there is anything that the Board can do. Attorney Cardwell said that Senator Webster's staff has been informed about Colony Plaza by the lobbyist from the League of Cities and the Florida Redevelopment Association. He said photos that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel have been sent. Senator Webster has not responded, but some other members have realized that these bills could cut off very legitimate condemnation action. Chair Vandergrift suggested that the lobbyists attempt to get the issues with the enclaves addressed in this Senate session. City Attorney Rosenthal said, in the case of using eminent domain with Colony Plaza, even though owners would have a loss, they would at least be able to realize their loss for tax purposes. He does not feel that there will be a lot of opposition from the owners. He said they have been dealing with this issue for years, and the problem is that if you are going to take down a structure you must have 100% of the interest, which is a challenge because it is a time share with multiple owners, most of whom live out of the Country. He said that while eminent domain may be the most preferable approach, they are pursuing other options in case that one is no longer available to us. Mayor Vandergrift asked that the Board assemble on the front steps of City Hall for a photograph, since it is a momentous occasion. The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. APPROVED: Attest: ~~S~t{