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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-13-19 Community Investment y 4)uTN'6 I U/�f 1.w y ... - PEACE x x 186 5 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK COMMUNITY INVESTMENT MAY 13, 2019 3:30 P.M. Committee Members Present: Gavin Ferlic, Regina Williams-Preston, Sharon L. McBride (late), Sara Boukdad (citizen member) Committee Members Absent: Oliver Davis Other Council Present: Jo M. Broden, John Voorde, Karen White, Jake Teshka (late) Other Council Absent: Tim Scott Others Present: Bianca Tirado, Joseph Molnar, Bob Palmer Presenters: Chase Schulte, Janine Betsey, Tim Corcoran, Randy Rompola Agenda: Bill No. 19-34- Economic Development Revenue Bonds 2018 (Cedar Glen) Bill No. 19-35- Resolution to Approve of the Written Order of the Area Plan Commission Regarding the Proposed Tax Increment Finance(TIF) Area Realignment Committee Chair Gavin Ferlic called to order the Community Investment Committee meeting at 3:30 p.m. He introduced members of the Committee and proceeded to give the floor to the presenters. Bill No. 19-34- Economic Development Revenue Bonds 2018 (Cedar Glen) Chase Schulte, Merchants Affordable Housing Corp with offices located at 11555 N. Meridian Street, Suite 590, Carmel, IN, stated, We are here with bond counsel as well to present to you Cedar Glen Apartments. We are submitting Cedar Glen Apartments to the South Bend Common Council for full approval of the bond induced resolution. A bit of background, we are submitting this project to the State for tax credits. It is an acquisition rehab of about one hundred and seventy- nine (179) units. These are on the east side of South Bend and will be about $4 million of rehabilitation and about a $5 million acquisition price. There are a number of queued upgrades including HVAC, plumbing and a number of other items. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit located in Indianapolis, Indiana (referencing a slide in a presentation which is available in the City Clerk's Office). We have about 2,300 units across the State of Indiana. A majority of those are all four percent (4%)low-income tax credit units. INTEGRITY' SERVICE'ACCESSIBILITY JENNIFER M.Corr,.AN BIANCA L.TIRAUO JOSEPH R.MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Blvd.I South Bend,Indiana 46601 I p 574.235.9221 I f 574.235.9173 I www.southbendin.gov CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK He continued, A number of our properties are located in Gary, Indiana. Cedar Glen, like I said, is about one hundred and seventy-nine (179) units. Originally it was constructed in 1952. It has undergone some rehab in recent years, but we are looking to do a lot more after we just acquired a new investor that had turned it around and brought it to a really good place. We are just hoping to build on that success.With that,we are the owner and developer. Construction would be through CRG. The property management is Bradley Company. They have been onboard for a number of years now, about four(4)years, and we are keeping them on board. We really like them.This slide (referencing the presentation) gives a bit more detail on our rehab plan. Like I said, we are going to go with a new roof, replacing a lot of plumbing, returning units that were offline back online, as well as amenity upgrades throughout the property, like building a new clubhouse and a new community room. This (referencing a slide in the presentation) is what all of the units should look like after rehab. They've already done a number of unit upgrades to look pretty good. He went on,These are the rent levels we are targeting.We are actually going to go with the income averaging subsidy through IMCA, it is kind of a new thing they are implementing as part of the new tax code to target families that are above sixty percent (60%) AMI traditional tax credit runners and try to reach up to eighty percent (80%) AMI. It is a mix of one (1) and two (2) bedrooms and then some larger two (2) bedrooms. Right now, we believe we'll keep about one hundred and forty(140) of the one hundred and sixty(160)or so households that are running right now under the rental and income restrictions. Twelve (12) of those households are students and, pending some further verification, may not meet some of the tax guidelines, but we hope to keep a good number of the residents that are there now. Our goal here is to partner with some service providers here in South Bend as well as partnering with the City. We are tentatively setting aside about five(5)units for supportive housing, targeting some service attachment and hopefully some subsidy attachment to that, as well. Merchants Affordable does have experience in supportive housing and so does Bradley Management. That is something we are hoping to do with a lot of our properties. The general timeline starts with hopefully your approval here in May. We are going to have our application submitted to the State by May as well. Hopefully we get underway with construction in October. We hope to finish up by next year and have everything ready to go by December 2020. It is about a$12 million project overall and then we are asking the City of South Bend to issue about $7.3 million tax exempt bonds. Committee Chair Ferlic opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. Committee Chair Ferlic asked, Can you explain the difference between the boards and who makes the determination regarding bonds versus other things the Council may be supporting? In other words, what other different board did you have to go before for, say, the low-income tax credits, etcetera? Mr. Schulte replied, So, we will submit our application to the State Housing Authority. Four percent(4%)tax credits are typically not competitive. There is not enough volume throughout the State for them to allocate or terminate every application that comes in, provided it meets the threshold. So, once we go to the State, it is about a two (2) to three (3) month approval process. Then we should be good to go. Councilmember John Voorde stated,These are the types of bonds that there is no potential liability for the City on, correct? EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson BvId South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 2 CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Mr. Schulte replied, Correct. Councilmember Jo M.Broden stated, If I might comment,the only thing that Council had received in our packet was a cover letter and then the resolution itself. So, I want to thank you for bringing this presentation today but I'm wondering if it could be made available to Council to look into for further detail. Mr. Schulte replied, Absolutely. (The presentation was available for Council Members) Councilmember Broden followed up, Did I quickly catch that you might consider up to eighteen (18) units for supportive housing? Mr. Schulte replied, That is correct. We are looking at up to eighteen (18) but are making a commitment of about five (5), provided they come with some services and subsidy. We will look at up to eighteen(18) if we can get a more formal agreement. Councilmember Broden then asked, What would be the timeline of those five (5)? Would that be when everything goes online? Then in terms of developing that partnership and formalized agreement,what is the timeline from your standpoint with regard to the City Administration?Then a more broad and general question related to that, is there a percentage per unit from your other properties, and you experience with other properties, for permanent supportive housing in terms of capacity? What is your understanding of the sweet spot in terms of total units and then percentage of permanent supportive housing? Is that a fair question? Janine Betsey, President and CEO of Merchants Affordable Housing Corp. with offices located at 11590 North Meridian Street, Carmel, IN, replied, We've been working with Pam quite a bit. We talked about working both with the Center for the Homeless as well as South Bend Heritage Foundation. We've been talking to both of those entities. With the Center for the Homeless, those funds come out of the City's Administration budget and they are looking to spend those sooner rather than later. So, to your second (2n1) point, this would come online later next year. So, we don't want to take out those five(5) while they need to spend those and get those allocations. We also would be in a position to make a longer-term commitment to it. So, we have another staff member who used to work at the State of Indiana who has a lot of skill with housing assistance programs. He is actually going to apply for a South Bend position, so we have a more ongoing source of subsidy. If we can increase the subsidy commitment, we would go up to eighteen (18) units total and really work with the onsite staff with Bradley. We felt ten percent (10%) of that property was as high as we wanted to go and that would be eighteen (18) total clients. Councilmember Jake Teshka and Committeemember Sharon L. McBride both arrived at the meeting at 3:40 p.m. Ms. Betsey continued, Because Pam is a fabulous salesperson and because we also want to commit to supportive units, we will commit to at least five (5) with the Center for the Homeless or the South Bend Heritage Foundation. But, we can garner additional subsidies for a total of eighteen (18). We've worked with the State to try and get some allocation of vouchers for those units because the voucher really provides a long-term financial commitment that we can actually take to our lender. So, that is our plan on those units. Then we do not have a property that has more than twenty-five percent (25%) homeless units. We don't have any one hundred percent (100%) EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 3 CITY OFSOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK properties. We are just not trying to integrate those units into our portfolio. This is one (1) of our tests outside of a different project that went through the Supportive Housing Institute. That will apply for tax credits and that is in Indianapolis. We also have another property that is one hundred percent(100%)for developmentally disabled adults. So,we provide complete wrap around support services in that scenario as well. We are versed with what it takes. We have some senior projects where we have service coordinators and other tools to really bring services. Committee Chair Ferlic opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to this legislation. There were none. He then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Regina Williams-Preston stated, First (1St), I want to say thank you. It is exciting to see a project that helps a different income level. I wanted to see how many units we are looking at for lower income. You said at one(1)point that one hundred and forty(140)units were at eighty percent(80%) AMI? Mr. Schulte replied, The one hundred and forty(140) units is how many we expect to retain based on their current income. So, it is actually the number is about one hundred and eight (108) total fifty percent (50%) AMI units, thirty-one (31) or so sixty percent (60%) and the remainder are eighty percent(80%). Committeemember Williams-Preston made a motion to send Bill No. 19-34 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Sharon L. McBride seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote four(4) ayes. Bill No. 19-35- Resolution to Approve of the Written Order of the Area Plan Commission Regarding the Proposed Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Area Realignment Tim Corcoran, Director of Planning for the Department of Community Investment with offices located on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, stated, So, as you know, starting late last year, we started talking to you about adjusting our TIF District boundaries. This is kind of a culmination of all that work. Also, behind the scenes, a lot of work has gone into what are called the development plans. They are sort of the backing plans behind these documents. They are simple,but they are important to have. It helps lay out the goals and objectives that we would like to see expending TIF funds in a particular area. So today, I want to talk to you about why we are adjusting the TIF boundaries (referencing a slide in a presentation which is available in the City Clerk's Office), what the adjustments are, some development plan updates and then where we are in the process of the timeline. He continued,By adjusting the boundaries, it is possible for the City to be forward-looking to fund future priorities and planning initiatives in the added areas as we create a plan. Such priorities include infrastructure, community assets and development projects. I will get into some of that in a moment. So, this (referencing a slide in the presentation) is the City of South Bend. These are our major arteries. These are the five (5) TIF Districts. We are talking about each one (1) but Douglas Road. We are not amending that one (1). The areas in grey are the areas being removed. The areas in orange are the areas we are adding. I will show this in a clearer way in a second. There are also two (2) parts in which we are swapping areas already in a TIF but swapping them to a different TIF District.The two(2)are removing a few properties from West Washington into River EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 I 10574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 4 •CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK West, and we are moving parts of the River West into the South East Plan. I'll get into some of the impacts of that, too. He went on,What this means is that currently approximately forty-three percent(43%)of the City is within a TIF District. This will reduce that number to forty-one percent (41%). The areas that are being added are about eight hundred eighty(880) acres and we are subtracting out about 1,468 acres. This (referencing a slide in the presentation) gives you a little bit of an insight into the transfer of the land. So,West Washington to River West,we are adding one point three(1.3)acres. River West to the South East is two hundred and twenty(220) acres. What this means is that there will be a shift of approximately $157,000 from River West into the South East District. I think there is about six hundred dollars($600) from West Washington into River West. That is not much of an impact there. The shifting of the areas as well as the additions or subtractions do not impact any of the debt service, which is mostly carried in the River West side of things. It has basically no net effect from a revenue standpoint because when you add property in, it baselines that property, so it is not actually generating any TIF at the moment. A project has to happen in order for TIF to be generated. He continued, This is a little bit of a simpler way of looking at it (referencing a slide in the presentation). The blue are the areas that are in a TIF District, the orange, again, are the additions. The areas outlined, those are the transfer areas. Generally speaking, the areas that are being adjusted into the TIF District fall within three (3) major categories. Areas that have been recently annexed, so, for instance the South Bend Chocolate site. Holladay Properties are doing a spec warehouse on it, so we got in right before that,so all that will be helpful for the River West District. This is the area west and down by the ethanol plant that we recently annexed not too long ago. Corridors, so if you remember in 2014 we added Western Avenue and Lincolnway West into a much larger adjustment to the TIF Districts. I think what we've seen is that was tied directly to a plan and maybe in this sense we are doing the TIF before a plan. But,we've seen the success we've been able to have on those corridors. The other areas we are looking at doing are Linden Avenue, Mishawaka Avenue, Miami Street and a little bit around Portage/Elwood. Those are some areas that are corridor-related that we would like to, hopefully in the future, start looking at ways that we can do some of the things we've been doing successfully in other corridors, in areas we haven't looked at in a while. There have been corridor plans for Mishawaka and Miami,but they date back a while. Parks and community assets. We have Potawatomi Zoo, Leeper Park, Muessel Grove Park, the City Cemetery, the History Museum, Pulaski Park, South Park and parts of what might be Coal Line Trail phase three (3). He went on, So, we've added that in there as well. Those kind of represent, if you will, the broad categories in which these adjusted areas fall in. This is maybe a clearer example of what those are (referencing a slide in the presentation). Annexed areas, corridors, parks and community assets. To zoom in a little bit,this maybe helps orient you a little bit. There are a few areas that are outside this,but it generally captures all the areas we are looking at. The development plans are relatively simple documents. There is a State Law that dictates what needs to be in a development plan but it's pretty loose and open to however we want to do it. We've chosen to be as simple and as clear as possible. What we've done is we went back to the Comprehensive Plan and utilized a lot of the goals and objectives from that Plan and rolled them into these development plans so that these documents talk to each other and there are no discrepancies between these documents.Then,where EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 5 CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK necessary, like for instance the West Washington/Chapin development area is more of an historic district, we added some language that speaks to its historic nature. So, we tried to add in specific goals and objectives, depending on if that district seemed to be different or that has something different and not really related to any of the other areas. He continued, So,overtime,the downtown area has been amalgamated, shifted, and there are a lot of different goals. It actually occupies two (2) drawers of a filing cabinet upstairs, so, I challenge anybody to find any information in that. So, what we want to do is amalgamate a lot of those things. It is practically unusable by anybody other than some of our staff here. It is not very accessible to the public. So,we want to change that, and we want to amend or replace a lot of these existing documents and want to align the development plans' goals and objectives to be consistent with our Comprehensive Plan.We want to ensure the develop plans are accessible and are relevant to staff and the public. We also want to ensure they comply with current State Law. This (referencing a slide in the presentation) is the required content. We have to talk a little bit about the history of the development area. The location which is a map and a legal description. The activities, so, what TIF can be used for. Again,this is permitted by State Law so we're not adding to this, we are just using State Law as our guideline. The goals and objectives of the District, statutory findings,acquisition of real property and procedure of amendment. So,what we are doing right now, effectively, is our procedure and if we ever want to amend it again, again, it is all part of State Law and a lot of this is very much about following the directives as outlined in State Law. He went on, The financial impact analysis. So, we have Baker Tilly, formally Umbaugh, in the room and he has prepared an analysis and impact statement to the overlapping taxing units. This is something that is necessary when you want to change a TIF District. So, we need to understand what those financial impacts might be. Overall, the adjustments will have no net effect to the overall TIF revenue. Approximately$157,000 of River West will shift into the South East in that transfer of land. Approximately six hundred and twenty-five dollars($625)from West Washington will move into the River West District. The acquisition list. So,this is a list of properties that might be a property that the City may want to acquire. I keep saying might and may because it is very vague and there is a reason for that. For instance, all of downtown, almost all of downtown, is in the acquisition list. That doesn't mean the City wants to buy all or any part of downtown, necessarily. But, it certainly can be helpful when, for instance the Fat Daddy's site had been demolished, if Vickie's Bar had been on the acquisition list, we may have purchased it in order to create a larger list, if she wanted to sell it. So, there are reasons why being on the acquisition list is actually beneficial to a property, even though it seems like the City is coming after them. So, I wanted to make it clear that this isn't about us trying to go and acquire property. There are nine hundred and twenty-five (925)properties that will be added to the acquisition list. During the last adjustment, I believe all of the areas were added to the acquisition list. I'm not sure if that is true but I know that was talked about in the past. We were thinking about having this policy where if any property is added to the TIF District,we would automatically add it to the acquisition list.That way the process is the same and it gets it all done in one (1) fell swoop and then it is there just in case. He continued, One (1) of the reasons the acquisition list actually exists is because, as you know, TIF funds are spent through the Redevelopment Commission, and the Redevelopment Commission does not have condemnation powers like the City does. So, if the plan the EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 6 CITY OFSOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Redevelopment Commission is supporting needs to purchase property, they need to be able to negotiate with that property owner. Part of that negotiation process relies on that property being on the acquisition list. This whole process of updating this takes approximately three (3) months. That is if everything lines up really well because it goes to the Redevelopment Commission first (1St), then the Area Plan Commission, then here, then back to Redevelopment Commission. It's not an easy thing to do just to get one (1) property on that acquisition list. That is why we are generally adding as many as makes sense. We did two (2) public engagement sessions and we mailed out over 1,400 mailers to property owners, and we set up a website. The two (2) public meetings we had were on March 27th at the River Park Public Library and April 2nd at the Charles Martin Youth Center. That is the flier we sent out(referencing a slide in the presentation). We got probably thirty(30)to forty(40)people that showed up and most people, I have to say,were pretty low-key. There were some questions related to what TIF is and if the City is buying the property. We went through what I just went through. We explained what TIF is and how it's generated. We wanted to make sure we got out ahead of this just to see if there was anything people were interested in and wanted to know about so that when it came here tonight, we didn't have a room full of people confused that we were going to take their property. Hopefully that message has been out there loud and clear and there won't be any major issues. He went on, Like I said, today we are here. We have to do a formal public hearing and notice. We send out a letter to all the new property owners to inform them they are being added to the acquisition list. Then there is a timing requirement for that. Then, it goes to the Redevelopment Commission for the confirming resolution. This is where there is a public portion to that meeting. We've moved it to the Council Chambers for this particular one(1)just in case more people want to talk about it and ask questions. With that, if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. Committee Chair Ferlic opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. Committeemember McBride stated, I appreciate the explanation in more detail, especially the community engagement. I know especially for the River Park area, explaining it at the meeting, they understand it a lot better and everyone engaged had a lot of misinformation, so thank you for the clarification. Committeemember Williams-Preston stated, I would like to thank you again,publicly. You know, this has been a process and you've been before us over time. In the very beginning,when we asked you to add Linden Avenue in for District Two(2) and look at filling in that area around the Charles Black Center, you guys responded. That is going to mean a lot to the community. So, thank you for that. Councilmember Broden stated, I have a couple questions if I might, thanks. First (1st) off, in the procedures of amendment of any of the specific area plans, it says that responsibility lies within the Redevelopment Commission. At what point is the public engaged on those individual plans and what is contemplated going forward? Mr. Corcoran replied, The public engagement happens at the Redevelopment Commission, during the confirming resolution at the Commission meeting. EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 7 CITY OFSOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Councilmember Broden followed up, So, when you talk about the amendment, is it to these individual plans? Or, what about the existing or current plans? Or, is this document a substitute plan? Mr. Corcoran replied,Yes,these arc proposed to amend and become the plan for each development area. Councilmember Broden stated, Let me go a little bit further then. So, what is the duty of the department to actually interface with the public, on an ongoing basis, over the twenty (20) or twenty-five(25) years of this plan's duration? Do you know what I'm saying? Mr. Corcoran replied, Not exactly. Councilmember Broden then stated, I'll try one (1) more time. So, this is a plan that goes with these TIF Districts. What is the length of these TIF Districts? Mr. Corcoran replied, River West is 2037, one (1) is 2035, West Washington is 2025. All these plans do expire. Now, the point of the plan is really just to say that funds can be spent in these districts that relate to these goals. TIF expenditures are outlined in State Law as to what we can and can't spend money on. Councilmember Broden stated, Ok, but I guess I'm still a little hung up on the community participation in an ongoing process. If my understanding is correct, this kicks to the Redevelopment Commission to evaluate whether or not, I mean, I get the overall goals and objectives, right? But, the burden shifts from elected officials, with the exception of the two (2) appointed to the Council, and the community engagement participation at the neighborhood level, heretofore individual plans. And, some of them are up to date and some of them are not up to date, right? But, if this document, let's say for River East, becomes the overall plan of direction for our Redevelopment Commission then, the process, in some regards in how the Commission currently meets and when they meet, actually removes a real high level of engagement by the community. I guess I have a concern about that. Mr. Corcoran replied, We aren't redefining what the Redevelopment Commission does. Councilmember Broden interjected, We can't do that, by law. So, I'm actually just stating what I think is the obvious. Mr. Corcoran replied,One(1)thing to note is that, for instance, any neighborhood plan or any plan that gets developed also is in that. I think we're adopting the plans we have in place that are, per district, in those districts. Any planning effort that has been done in the recent past is being folded into this as well as it would be. The public engagement comes when those plans are being developed. These plans are basically saying these goals and objectives, which are very high-level, are met. And, these are the activities in which TIF can be used. It's really not changing that at all. The public participation comes in during the specific project. That is my understanding. Randy Rompola, Barnes & Thornburg with offices located at 100 North Michigan Street, stated, I'm helping with the documentation for the amendment process. The plans that are currently in existence for development, because South Bend was an earlier adopter and user of the Redevelopment Statute and was trying to qualify for federal grants that no longer exist,those plans EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY ! INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana46601 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 8 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK are very thick and voluminous, and they have just sort of been carried forward and amended over time. So, the idea is to amend the plan that the communities have used for the many years to get a simpler function and ease of access. To answer your question, once the plan is adopted then and it moves to the Redevelopment Commission in their regular meeting process, as they undertake projects and expend TIF, they have hearings and meetings about that. That is the public engagement at that point. The plan will always be there and, at some point, the plan for each area might change or the idea the Commission has for an area might change significantly enough that, it requires a plan amendment. Unfortunately, as Tim alluded to earlier, it used to be that the Redevelopment Statute had a very short and abbreviated process that still required a public hearing to amend the plan. That has been taken away. So, now for every action to amend the plan, add to take away properties to the list, expand or reduce the TIF area, it takes up to three (3) months to go through that process. As far as carrying out the plan goes, it would be the Redevelopment Commission and their meetings in how they engage the public that way. Councilmember Karen White stated, I want to piggyback off of Councilmember Broden's comments. What would happen if we, as a Council, identify expectations in terms of the process? We know that you don't have any authority over the Redevelopment Commission,but we do have two (2) Council appointees. That community engagement piece would be ongoing, and it would be at a time when our citizens can participate, but then also that information would come back to the Council as well. That could just be a point of agreement from a standard operating perspective. I think I understand what Councilmember Broden is saying. After action is taken, then it is up to the Redevelopment Commission to go through the public hearing process as well and we only receive information through the minutes. I don't know if that is something we have to discuss as well. Mr. Corcoran replied, I think whoever remains,from a Council perspective,on the Redevelopment Commission, I mean I think that is why they are there is to help the interaction between the Commission and the Council. That is my understanding as to why the Council has appointees. Councilmember White followed, We do have those representatives, but I think we are looking at having a better understanding of the process in place in terms of starting the public hearing, the confirming resolution and the public hearing. That process would like to be more clearly defined than what it has been. Councilmember Voorde stated,One(1)thing we've always felt is the Redevelopment Commission meetings should be at a time where more of the public can participate. Councilmember Broden asked, Can I follow up with a second (2nd) question, please? So, I understand, and thanks for this discussion,but I understand the importance of the broad document as a plan. It is very consistent across the full area, so, to your point. But,however, I do think since I heard it's a three(3)month process to go back in and even tweak an element of this overall plan, the Redevelopment Commission has that authority to make those amendments over time. So, I guess, I'm really wanting to make sure that this document is as full and as complete as possible. I'm just going to touch on a couple things that appear to be missing in here that could be considered as additions. To what we were just talking about,updating the schedule, and I think I need to have a better sense of the existing plans and when and if they will be updated. For instance, the East Bank Village Master Plan 2008, we've been hammered over the head that it is outdated, but, it is EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 9 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK tucked in here as a reference document for the Redevelopment Commission, but we know it is already in need of update. So, I guess I would like to know, not just that plan but the other plans, that exceed ten (10) years in date, what is the overall plan? How will they be updated? Is there a pace or a schedule to update them? I know Council had heretofore requested that those be updated. And if we're being asked to, going forward, reference those, I think they need to be up to date. And if they're not going to be referenced, and this is going to be sort of the guiding golden document, I think that needs to be made known to our community. I guess I'm just not clear, at the point, the status of this document, to those others. In the Goals and Objectives section, if we look at land use and growth, I guess I would like to see either a stronger statement in there about green space,but I know it's in other areas of the document, section six (6) and seven(7). Mr. Corcoran replied, One (1) thing is, in order to make these amendments, we would have to reboot the entire three (3) month process,just so you know. Councilmember Broden followed up, Ok, well I'm going to continue, alright? Knowing it takes three (3) months to reboot the process. Two (2), in the section on transportation, I see the word balanced transportation but I'm not certain, if we were to look at Council's recent action on Climate Action, whether or not we would want balanced and if we would like to actually lean toward mass transit or active transportation systems. So, the word balanced, I have a question related to that. Then in the area of housing, I know we have the word abilities in there. I'm not certain, though, that we are inclusive of all, what I would consider, vulnerable populations or populations difficult to house. I think we benefit from a very strong and assertive goal tucked in there that talks about those challenged or vulnerable populations. In terms of economic development, I think I would like to see a stronger statement on inclusivity. I guess inclusive covers it all but I'm not so certain it is very strong in that entrepreneurship statement, either. Then on the sustainability and environmental management, something really positive about greenhouse gas would be my preference. Then the last piece would be on the education and training. You have the all ages. I think if we were really to look at the formal definition of Pre-K, we can actually put a statement in there that is early childhood/Pre-K to grade twelve(12). Early childhood would be an additional term I would put in there. That is because Pre-K is really known to be a specific age level. So, early childhood gets to some of our more challenging issues, locally. Those are just statements, I prefer to offer and would like Council to consider whether or not those priorities of mass transit, early childhood education, and the things I just enumerated might also be priorities. If we are going to send this document to the Redevelopment Commission, I hope our priorities as a community get followed up on with dollars. Committee Chair Ferlic stated, I don't disagree with the priorities. From my understanding, the language is relatively open to allow for this Council, this Administration, and future Councils and Administrations to have flexibility in their decisions. I, again, think those are all very good points and I think those can be implemented using the current language in the plan. That is my take on the document as it currently stands. Committee Chair Ferlic then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Abe Frofer,2409 Mishawaka Avenue, stated,Thank you, Mr. Ferlic. I was at the meeting Tim had in River Park. It was very well done and was good information. I've been arguing for a TIF District EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 10 CITY OF SOUTH BEND ! OFFICE OF THE CLERK for River Park and Mishawaka Avenue for ten (10) or twelve (12) years. I think this is just the beginning. I think it is a great asset for the City to utilize. I'm all in favor. Most of the members of the River Park Business Association probably sent a letter in support. So, we are all onboard and we thank Tim for all his hard work. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, I strongly back what Councilmember Voorde said. The Commission meetings are held during the day time and you don't get any community involvement when it is held during the day. That is a real problem. I also agree with Councilmember Broden. I think that language is very important and if it has to reset the process, so be it. Don't have the arrogance where you're going to just push it through. Especially she mentioned the type ability and age groups. I'm always here for the ADA and the seniors, I don't see strong enough language in it. So, what if you have to reboot ninety(90) days. Get it right. I'm tired of things being passed and not being right. Steve Durcke, 1408 Elwood Avenue, stated, Here is what I heard, and I just want to get some clarification.The Redevelopment Commission does not have condemnation authority. So,and this is in regard to the list, the City adds the property to the list to give the Commission that leverage in negotiations. I would just like to understand why someone would find that offensive.Why could it prohibit development coming into the community? First (1st) of all, I didn't receive a letter. We should have received a letter. This whole process we've been through here in South Bend has been crazy to me because we started down a path trying to change the cycle of generational poverty. What I'm getting at is when you grant the City the ability to circumvent what is protected by the Constitution, this goes under eminent domain abuse. This is not the first (Pt) City to propose something like this. But,when you use a third(3rd)party and you use the leverage you have as the City in order to give them condemnation ability,that is a problem.That makes it, so every property owner would like to know what is going on with their property. Committee Chair Ferlic gave the petitioners five (5) minutes for rebuttal. Mr. Rompola stated, The letters have not been mailed yet. That is the May 31st timeframe. The letters will go out in advance of the June 13th public hearing, so, there have been no letters sent yet. I didn't quite catch that comment,but the Redevelopment Commission does not have eminent domain. Putting the property on the acquisition list does nothing with respect to eminent domain at all. The Redevelopment Commission has that list solely for property negotiation. State Law states that the Redevelopment Commission does not have eminent domain. Committeemember Williams-Preston made a motion to send Bill No. 19-35 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember McBride seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. With no further business, Committee Chair Ferlic adjourned the Community Investment Committee meeting at 4:21 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Gavin Ferlic, Committee Chair EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 11