Minutes: Evansville Redevelopment Authority: March 2005

Evansville Redevelopment Authority
Special Meeting
Thursday, March 17, 2005, 7:30 PM
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, WI

MINUTES

Chairperson Hagen called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. Present were Chairperson Hagen, Vice-Chairperson Eager, Ald. Anderson, Betsy Ahner, Dean Arnold and John Decker. Ald. Kooyman was absent. Bill Connors, Executive Director, also was present.

The agenda was approved as presented by the executive director.

Ald. Anderson, seconded by Ms. Arnold, moved to approve the minutes of the February 7, 2005, regular 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

None.

New Business

Executive Director Connors presented the documentation he received from MD Group LLC and Grange Store LLC. Mr. Connors reported that he had reviewed the documents and inspected the first floor of the Grange Building with City Building Inspector David Wartenweiler, and based on this information he could represent that MD Group had spent at least $100,000 on eligible improvements under the redevelopment agreement and Grange Store LLC had spent $50,000 on eligible improvements under the redevelopment agreement. He also reported that Grange Store LLC had provided sufficient documentation that it had replaced the windows on the first floor as required by the redevelopment agreement. The problem was that MD Group could not obtain evidence of competitive pricing (e.g., two third-party estimates) for many of the improvements because MD Group hand not obtained estimates for many items. In the future, the commissioners recommended that when a redevelopment agreement requests documentation of competitive pricing, the agreement should require the financial assistance recipient to provide the documentation for review and approval before work starts. Motion by Ms. Ahner, seconded by Mr. Decker, to authorize Mr. Connors to disburse $100,000 of forgivable loan proceeds to MD Group LLC and $50,000 of forgivable loan proceeds to the Grange Store LLC, as provided in the redevelopment agreement. Motion passed, with Vice-Chairperson Eager abstaining.

Kevin Kleinert of Central States, Inc. made a presentation about a concept for redevelopment of the roller rink site, 128 E. Main St. and adjacent parcels. Central State, Inc. is a design-build firm with offices in Waunakee and Valders. Mr. Kleinert is an architect and one of the four owners of the company. Mr. Kleinert said his company is involved in 16 development projects in Wisconsin and upper Michigan, including projects in TIF districts in Portage, Valders, Two Rivers, Cleveland, Marinette and Ashwaubanon. He said his company has two of the parcels in the roller rink site under purchase agreements with 90 days to clear the contingencies, and he is working on purchase agreements on the three other parcels. He provided a sketch of two buildings that might be constructed on the site. Both buildings would be three stories high, with enclosed parking or retail space on the first floor and condominiums on the second and third floors. He estimated the value of the new improvements to be $3.5 million, and he suggested his company would need to receive tax increment to finance 13% of that value. His company would want to be allowed three years to pre-market the condominiums before starting construction, with full tax increment not being generated until after five years. His company and the owners would personally guarantee to make up for any shortfall in tax increment needed to recover the city’s investment in the project. He said his company would not raze any of the existing structures until it was time to begin construction of the new improvements.

After Mr. Kleinert left the meeting, the commissioners discussed his presentation and authorized Mr. Connors to begin negotiations with Central States, Inc.

Communications and Recommendations from the Executive Director.

None.

Vice-Chairperson Eager, seconded by Ms. Ahner, moved to adjourn. Motion passed.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM.

Prepared by William E. Connors, Executive Director

The Minutes are not official until approved by the Authority.