Minutes: Evansville Redevelopment Authority: July 12, 2004

Evansville Redevelopment Authority
Regular Meeting
Monday, July 12, 2004, 6:30 pm
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, WI

MINUTES

Chairperson Hagen called the meeting to order at 6:33 pm. Present were Chairperson Hagen, Vice-Chairperson Eager, Ald. Connely, Ald. Kooyman, Betsy Ahner and Jane Oberdorf. Dean Arnold was absent. Also present was Bill Connors, Executive Director.

Vice-Chairperson Eager, seconded by Ms. Ahner, moved to approve the agenda as presented by the executive director. Motion passed.

Ald. Kooyman, seconded by Ald. Connely, moved to approve the minutes of the June 22, 2004, special meeting as presented by the executive director. Motion passed.

There were no citizen appearances on items not listed on the agenda, and no public hearings.

Old Business

Vice-Chairperson Eager, seconded by Ms. Ahner, moved to recommend to Council approval of a redevelopment agreement between Grange Store LLC, MD Group LLC d/b/a Evansville Family Health Pharmacy, Evansville Redevelopment Authority, and the City of Evansville regarding the Grange Building at 19/33 W. Main St. Mr. Connors presented a draft agreement that was the result of a meeting between Dan Strause of the pharmacy, Brian Fick of Grange Store LLC, and David Wagner, Ehlers & Associates, the city’s financial consultant. Members suggested that there should be a “due on sale” clause for the pharmacy as well as for the building owner. Ms. Ahner asked whether the new first floor windows would be historically appropriate, and after discussion of this issue, members concluded that the process for obtaining approval of work on this building listed on the National Register of Historic places probably would address that issue. Vice-Chairperson Eager and other members discussed if it would be possible for the forgivable loan to the building owner to be reduced below $50,000 if the cost of the lighting and wiring was less than $50,000, and Mr. Connors responded that could be included in the agreement. Vice-Chairperson Eager asked what procedure would be used to ensure that the invoices provided were for work performed in the space that will be leased by the pharmacy rather than elsewhere in the building. Mr. Connors said he would have the city building inspector inspect the work to make sure it matched the invoice. Ms. Ahner and other members suggested that “store fixtures” be clarified to indicate they include historically appropriate counters. Mr. Strause requested that the deadline for completing the work or ordering certain components be December 31, 2004, and that the deadline for submitting invoices be a later date. Members agreed this was acceptable. With an understanding that these changes would be incorporated into the redevelopment agreement to be presented to the Council, the motion passed.


Vice-Chairperson Eager, seconded by Ald. Kooyman, moved to recommend to Council approval of a redevelopment agreement between Triple B Investments LLC and the Evansville Redevelopment Authority regarding the former Badger Coach/ Party Port building at 133 N. Madison St. Mr. Connors presented a draft agreement based on comments from members at the June 22, 2004, meeting. Roger Berg of Triple B Investments LLC asked that additional costs, such as labor for installing siding, insulation, windows, doors, shingles, and re-painting “Badger Coach” on the side of the building, be included in the list of eligible costs, because the difference in the cost of wood siding versus metal siding (materials only) was less than $30,000. Ms. Ahner objected to including the cost of insulation, because new insulation would be required in any event, but any increase in the cost of labor from installing wood siding instead of vinyl siding should be an eligible cost. Members agreed that the list of eligible costs should be expanded to include this difference in labor costs, the difference in cost (materials only) of installing dimensional shingles instead of standard shingles, the difference in cost (labor and materials) of installing historically appropriate wood windows versus standard vinyl-clad or aluminum-clad windows, the difference in the cost of using deluxe exterior doors versus standard exterior doors, and the cost of re-painting “Badger Coach” on the side of the building. Members decided Triple B Investments LLC should be required to provide the following documentation in order to receive a $30,000 grant: two estimates for vinyl siding (labor and materials), the invoice for the wood siding (labor and materials), a catalogue price for dimensional shingles, a catalogue price for standard shingles, two estimates for standard vinyl-clad or aluminum-clad windows (labor and materials), the invoice for historically appropriate wood windows (labor and materials), a catalogue price for deluxe exterior doors, a catalogue price for standard doors, and the invoice for re-painting “Badger Coach” on the side of the building. With an understanding that these changes would be incorporated into the redevelopment agreement to be presented to the Council, the motion passed.

New Business

Mr. Connors asked members whether they would be interested in acquiring the property of Nelson Equipment Painting and assisting the business in moving to another location in Evansville so that the city could construct a new street connecting E. Main St. with the intersection of Enterprise St. and E. Church St. between the properties of the VFW and Main Street Signs. Members expressed some interest, but want to have more discussions of their vision for the downtown in general and this area specifically before discussing this specific issue further.

In the interest of time, Chairperson Hagen asked that the remainder of the agenda items be deferred to the next regular meeting.

Chairperson Hagen, seconded by Ms. Ahner, moved to adjourn. Motion passed.

The meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm.

Prepared by William E. Connors, Executive Director

The Minutes are not official until approved by the Authority