Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority - Regular Meeting

Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority 400 Franklin Street SE Minutes Packet Grand Rapids, MI 49507 March 16, 2022 @ 11:00 AM ICCF Community Center PRESENT: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Commissioner Senita Lenear (11:09 AM) ABSENT: Darel Ross, Reuben Ramos, Commissioner Nathaniel Moody OTHERS: Verah Narh-Kamara, Tricia Chapman, Layla Aslani, Stam Breese, Tim Burkman, John Bartlett, Christine Barfuss, Richard App, Ken Miguel- Cipriano, Carlos Calderon, Esan Sommersell, Marcel Price (The Diatribe) I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 11:02 AM by Chair Helen Harp II. Public Comment on Agenda Items None. III. Minutes Approval 1. Approval of Minutes from February 16, 2022 No corrections or comments were noted. Motion to approve minutes from February 16, 2022 RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Jonathan Farman, Member YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos IV. Financial Statements 1. Interim Financial Statements as of February 28, 2022 Tricia Chapman presented this item. No corrections and comments were noted. Motion to approve statement C, schedule of expenditures for the period ended February 28, 2022 Generated 3/24/2022 09:54 AM Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 2 March 16, 2022 RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Jonathan Farman, Member SECONDER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos V. Action Items 1. Facade Improvement Program Guidelines Update Kelsey Liebenow presented the revised guidelines with all the previous board suggestions. The board discussed the revisions and suggested some new edits. Kelsey will include language around rescinding applications and add bullets to page 3 to make it distinct. Kristian Grants expressed the need to include language that will protect façade applicants who are not property owners. She believes the project could be to their detriment if the property owner turns around and decides to increase the rent due to the improvements. Commissioner Lenear mentioned there is a similar language in that protects tenants in the Lead Abatement program with Community Development. Kelsey Liebenow will make inquiries about that agreement. Verah Narh- Kamara will consult Mike Hoeker, the Legal Counsel for the CIA to get some insight on this request. Motion to approve the façade guidelines with the edits suggested by the board. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Jonathan Farman, Member YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos 2. Recommendation to Increase Facade Program Funding Ms. Liebenow presented this item to the board. She explained that the CIA has committed all the funds allocated to the facade program for FY 22. This increase will make provisions for incoming applications. Commissioner Lenear would like to know what budget line the extra funds will be taken. Ms. Chapman explained the revolving loan funds and the committed funds budget lines are both untapped areas on the FY 22 budget. Motion to increase the façade program budget by $100,000 for fiscal year 2022 Generated 3/24/2022 09:54 AM Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 3 March 16, 2022 RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Jonathan Farman, Member SECONDER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos 3. Green Spaces Budget Allocation Ms. Liebenow and Helen Harp presented this item. Based on the Southtown Business Area Specific Plan (BASP), the Design Committee wants to create a green space budget line to make funds available for each business district to explore opportunities for green spaces in their district. Commissioner Lenear would like some more information on this request, she believes there could be other avenues available to fund such projects. The Design Committee members present explained the idea and expectations behind the budget request, the Commissioner agreed to make a $50,000 budget allocation for green space instead of $120,000. She would like to see proposals from the business districts on their proposed green space projects. Motion to approve the green space budget line allocation for $50,000 instead of the $120,000 requested amount. RESULT: APPROVED WITH CONDITIONS [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Jonathan Farman, Member SECONDER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos 4. Recommendation to Increase the Marketing Budget Ms. Liebenow presented this item and explained the request is to support the Marketing Request for Proposal that will be discussed later in the meeting. Motion to approve the marketing budget increase request of $25,000. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Jonathan Farman, Member YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos 5. Southtown Facade Improvement Program Projects Ms. Liebenow presented this item. There were no questions about the projects. Generated 3/24/2022 09:54 AM Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 4 March 16, 2022 Motion to approve the three façade projects presented for a total of $23,800. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Jonathan Farman, Member SECONDER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos 6. Public Art Funding Request - Project 49507 Marcel Price and Esan Sommersell with the Diatribe took turns presenting the project idea and locations to the board. Motion to approve the public art funding request of $30,000 for project 49507 with The Diatribe RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Jonathan Farman, Member YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos 7. 1420 Bike Racks Funding Request Ms. Liebenow presented this item to the board. There were no questions or concerns. Motion to approve the 1420 Madison bike rack funding request of $600. RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Kristian Grant, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Jonathan Farman, Member YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos 8. FY2023 Budget Recommendation for the Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority Ms. Narh-Kamara presented the budget to the board. The board expressed the need to have an in-depth discussion on the budget. Ms. Narh-Kamara informed the board they could still make amendments to their budget after approval by the city commission. She also provided the option to have a meeting in April to approve the budget before recommending it to the city commission. The board agreed to recommend the presented budget to include new budget lines for green space and marketing. Generated 3/24/2022 09:54 AM Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 5 March 16, 2022 The board would like to see the final budget with the suggested additions before it is presented to the city commission. Motion to recommend a revised budget to city commission with green space and general marketing budget lines included. RESULT: RECOMMENDED TO CITY COMMISSION [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Senita Lenear, Commissioner SECONDER: Jonathan Farman, Member YEAS: Helen Harp, Jonathan Farman, Kristian Grant, Senita Lenear ABSENT: Darel Ross, Ruben Ramos VI. Presentations 1. Engineering Department - Seymour Square Project Updates A team from the engineering department presented on the Seymour Square project. They provided updates on the project and listed their next steps. Some board members expressed their concerns about the loss of parking in the design. The engineering team informed the board the design was adopted from the BASP and the traffic data collected from the location. Commissioner Lenear suggests the team takes another look at the design to address the loss of parking. She would also like to see more engagement with the business owners affected by this project. 2. GROW Proposal for the Southtown Facade Improvement Grant RESULT: WITHDRAWN 3. Environmental Site Assessment Grant Ms. Kamara presented this item to the board. VII. Discussion Items 1. Request for Proposals- Marketing This item will be discussed at the next meeting. VIII. Reports 1. Corridor Manager and Committees Reports were not reviewed at this meeting. Generated 3/24/2022 09:54 AM Southtown Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Full Page 6 March 16, 2022 IX. Other Business None. X. Public Comment None. XI. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 12:46 pm by Chair, Helen Harp. Generated 3/24/2022 09:54 AM