DDA Board Minutes

Cascade Charter Township

Downtown Development Authority
Board of Directors

October 17, 2006

Cascade Library Wisner Center
2870 Jacksmith Ave. SE

ATTENDEES: Lori Chu, Ron Clark, David Huhn, Mike Julien, Diana Kingsland,
Dan Wallace.
Absences: Ray James (expected), Julie Johnson (expected), Joann Noto (unexpected)
Others Attending: Assistant to the Manager Sandra Otey; Admin. Assistant Lisa Hern.
Guests: None.

ARTICLE 1: Call the Meeting to Order
Chairman Clark called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

ARTICLE 2: Approval of the Agenda
Chairman Clark requested a motion of approval of the October 17, 2006 DDA Agenda. Member Kingsland motioned for approval, supported by Member Chu. All in favor of motion, none opposed. Motion carried.

ARTICLE 3: Approval of the Minutes of May 16, 2006
Chairman Clark requested a motion of approval of the May 16, 2006 minutes.

Member Julien requested a correction to the spelling of his last name. He then motioned for approval of the May 16, 2006 minutes with the correction, supported by Member Chu.

All in favor of the May 16, 2006 Minutes as amended, none opposed. Motion carried.

ARTICLE 4: Update of Centennial Park Business Owners re: establishment of a Special Assessment District

Assistant to the Manager Otey said that the Centennial Park Business Owners Association was present at the May meeting to discuss the status of Centennial Park and approached the DDA about the possibility of funding a Master Plan for park improvements. At that meeting, the DDA made a motion to provide up to $35,000 for a portion of the Master Plan study for Centennial Park, this was also approved by the Township Board. The Master Plan study would include improvements such as streets, sidewalks, streetlights, landscaping and other improvements.

Since that meeting in May, Requests for Proposals (RFP's) have been mailed out and returned. Eleven (11) proposals were mailed and four (4) were returned to the Township. Three (3) companies were interviewed and Beckett and Raeder was selected as the company to perform the Master Plan study. The committee, of which Chairman Clark was involved in, felt that they had the best handle on what was being asked for and were best able to detail how they would do the work. Fishbeck will also be assisting Beckett and Raeder as they have worked with the Township over numerous years. The bid was just under $75,000 and the DDA has agreed to fund $35,000.

Centennial Park Business Owners Association has a meeting on October 19th that she and Planning Director Steve Peterson will be attending to discuss the setup of the Special Assessment District (S.A.D.). The next step that needs to be taken to establish the District is the Association needs to submit a petition with signatures from fifty-one percent (51%) of the District showing an interest in creating a District. The assessment amount can be determined by several methods. Staff is anticipating that it would be set up by one of the following methods:

1. It can be split evenly among property owners.
2. It can be based on the SEV of the property.
3. It can be based on the acreage of each parcel.

Once the petition is turned into the Township, the Township Board will hold two (2) hearings for developing the S.A.D. The S.A.D. would be granted for no more than three (3) years (to be decided by the Business Owners Association). Once the S.A.D. is established, the Township would bill each property owner once a year for the duration of the District. Any amount due that is not paid is placed on the winter tax bill. Beckett and Raeder is ready to begin the project after the November 1st start date. The study is expected to be completed in nine (9) months.

Member Huhn asked if the S.A.D. is done by the DDA Board Members and Chairman Clark and Assistant to the Manager Otey confirmed it is. Member Huhn asked if the Association believes they can obtain the fifty-one percent (51%) of the signatures for the petition and Assistant to the Manager Otey believes they will. She said if the assessment amount were split evenly among the property owners, the total cost of the S.A.D. for the District is $45,000, divide amongst the owners is approximately $1,400 per owner for one year.

There were no other questions of Staff and Chairman Clark thanked Staff for the update.

ARTICLE 5: Consider 2007 DDA Meeting Schedule
Assistant to the Manager Otey noted the DDA Board needed to approve the 2007 Meeting Schedule since this is the last meeting of the year. The DDA is required to meet four (4) times per year and five (5) dates have been scheduled. The meetings are held on the third (3rd) Tuesday of the month and all meetings will be held at the Wisner Center at the Cascade Library.

Member Wallace motioned to approve the 2007 DDA Meeting Schedule as submitted supported by Member Kingsland. All in favor with none opposed. Motion carried.

Assistant to the Manager Otey noted the 2007 Meeting Schedule would be presented to the Township Board for their final approval.

ARTICLE 6: Any Other Business
Chairman Clark opened the meeting for any other business.

Member Julien noted the Township Board recently approved the Capital Improvement Plan and asked Assistant to the Manager Otey to provide some of the DDA highlights included. Assistant to the Manager Otey said that the sidewalks on the south side of 28th Street are planned for 2008, this follows the sewer completion in 2007 also on the south side of 28th Street.

Member Julien also asked if there are plans for sidewalk installation behind Meijer's due to the new MVP Sportsplex project. Assistant to the Manager Otey said that is correct, the new project will be installing sidewalk connecting from Kraft into their site. Turnberry will also be installing sidewalk along Kraft connecting on the north side of Meijer.

Member Julien noted that this is the DDA's last meeting of the year and asked if any of the Board Members terms were due. Assistant to the Manager Otey said that Member Chu and Member Noto both have their first terms due. Member Julien asked them to submit their decisions for continuation on the DDA Board to him by December 1st.

Assistant to the Manager Otey asked the DDA Board if they would like to receive electronic copies of the Board Meeting information instead of paper copies. The DDA Board Members noted their preferences to her.

ARTICLE 7. Chairman Clark requested a motion for adjournment. At 7:25 p.m. Member Julien motioned for adjournment, supported by Member Kingsland.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa Hern, Recording Secretary

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