Evansville Redevelopment Authority Minutes--2-28-2006

Evansville Redevelopment Authority

Regular Meeting

Tuesday, February 28, 2006, 7:30 PM

City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, WI

MINUTES
Chairperson Hagen called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM. Present were Chairperson Hagen, Vice-Chairperson Eager, Betsy Ahner, and John Decker. Ald. Aikman, Ald. Anderson, and Dean Arnold were absent. James Otterstein, Rock County Economic Development Manager, Bill Connors, Executive Director, and David Wartenweiler, City Building Inspector, also were present.

The agenda was approved as presented by the executive director.

Motion by Decker, seconded by Ahner, to approve the minutes of the January 19, 2006, regular meeting as presented by the executive director. Motion passed.

Citizen Appearances Other Than Agenda Items Listed

Roger Berg gave an update on the Eager Building aka Economy Store project. The engineer’s opinion is that the bricks on the front façade moved to their current position a long time ago because of a lack of expansion joints and can be stabilized for a reasonable amount of money. The architect is working on blueprints.

Unfinished Business None.
New Business
The commissioners discussed the “pay back” provision in section 5 of the agreement with Triple B Investments regarding the Badger Coach Building. The full market value of the improvements was supposed to increase by $150,000, but instead it increased by only $86,746 (the assessed value of the improvements increased by $102,900. Roger Berg and Matt Brown of Triple B Investments participated in the discussion. They would prefer to make annual payments to fill in the gap in the anticipated tax increment rather than pay back a lump sum. Motion by Eager, seconded by Decker, directing the executive director to redraft section 5 of the agreement to provide for annual payments of the difference between the actual tax increment and anticipated tax increment and to have the redrafted text reviewed by the city attorney. Motion passed.

The commissioners discussed whether making a building comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act should be a prerequisite for the Redevelopment Authority to provide assistance. Executive Director Connors distributed copies of a letter from the city attorney’s office summarizing the requirements of the ADA on private property owners. David Wartenweiler, City Building Inspector, summarized the requirements of the ADA. Not all changes to a building trigger the requirement to make the building ADA accessible, and even if the requirement is triggered, making the building ADA accessible is not mandated if the cost of complying is large compared to the cost of the alterations (i.e., more than 20% of the cost of the alterations). The Pete’s Inn project probably did not trigger the requirement to make the building ADA accessible, whereas the Farnworths’ project at 12–14 E. Main St. probably will. James Otterstein pointed out that the Redevelopment Authority’s current policy requires applicants to comply “with all applicable City policies, rules, codes, regulations, statutes,” and the city building inspector enforces the ADA for all modifications of buildings in the city, so the current policy includes compliance with the ADA. The list of criteria recently added to the policy includes the following: “Make property accessible for persons with mobility limitations.” John Decker said that if making the building ADA compliant were a part of every project the Redevelopment Authority assisted, the Authority would be able to assist few projects. However, the commissioners said they will inquire about ADA compliance during discussions with applicants about future projects.

The commissioners discussed whether the application form should require the executive director to calculate the net present value of the anticipated stream of tax increment from a project, and if so, what assumptions he should use about variables such as rate of increase in market value, if any, after completion of the project and rate of decrease, if any, in the tax rate. Mr. Connors provided spreadsheets prepared by Ehlers & Associates for the Eager Building project to show examples of how changes in these variables affect the net present value of the anticipated stream of tax increment. Dick Woulfe, 255 E. Main St., suggested that the city should not promise positive financial results from the Eager Building project, but instead should stress its importance to the vitality of the downtown. Based on a suggestion my Mr. Otterstein, the commissioners instructed Executive Director Connors to research the inflationary increase in property values and changes in the tax increment tax rate over the last 20 years in Evansville to provide a basis for assumptions about the property-value inflation rate and decreasing tax rate.

The commissioners informed Executive Director Connors that the city engineer had decided that some front store entrances could be made ADA compliant without sidewalk ramps during the 2007 Main St. reconstruction project, so there was no need to make a motion regarding that issue.

Motion by Eager, seconded by Ahner, to go into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. Sec. 19.85(1)(e) to discuss possibly pursuing the purchase of or acquisition of options to purchase property located within TID No. 5, subject to approval by the Common Council. The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote at 8:45 PM.

Motion by Eager, seconded by Decker, to adjourn. Motion passed.

The meeting adjourned at 9:22 PM.

Prepared by

William E. Connors, Executive Director

The Minutes of meetings of the Redevelopment Authority are not official until approved by the Authority.