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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRedevelopment Commission Minutes 4.8.21 South Bend Redevelopment Commission 227 West Jefferson Boulevard, Room 1308, South Bend, IN 46601 SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING April 8, 2021 9:30 a.m. https://tinyurl.com/RDC040821 Presiding: Donald Inks, Vice-President South Bend, Indiana The meeting was called to order at 9:34 a.m. 1. ROLL CALL Members Present: Don Inks, Vice-President Quentin Phillips, Secretary Troy Warner, Commissioner Eli Wax, Commissioner Leslie Wesley, Commissioner Members Absent: Marcia Jones, President Legal Counsel: Sandra Kennedy, Esq. Redevelopment Staff: David Relos, RDC Staff Mary Brazinsky, Board Secretary Others Present: Santiago Garces Amanda Pietsch Charlotte Brach Brian Donoghue Zach Hurst Jordan Gathers Laura Jensen Lori K. Hamann DCI DCI Engineering IT Engineering Mayor’s Office United Way Councilmember South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – April 8, 2021 2. Election of Officers A. Commissioner Warner nominated the current slate of officers of the Redevelopment Commission for 2021 (Marcia Jones, President; Don Inks, Vice-President and Quentin Phillips, Secretary). The nomination was seconded by Secretary Phillips. The motion carried unanimously to keep the current slate of officers in 2021. 3. Approval of Minutes • Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Thursday, March 25, 2021 Upon a motion by Secretary Phillips, seconded by Commissioner Warner, the motion carried unanimously, the Commission approved the minutes of the regular meeting of Thursday, March 25, 2021. 4. Approval of Claims • Claims Submitted for March 31 and April 8, 2021 Upon a motion by Secretary Phillips, seconded by Commissioner Warner, the motion carried unanimously, the Commission approved the claims for March 31 and April 8, 2021 submitted on Thursday, April 8, 2021. 5. Old Business 6. New Business A. River West Development Area 1. Development Agreement (United Way) Mr. Donoghue presented Development Agreement (United Way). This is a Development Agreement toward local public improvements for the United Way's construction of a community center at Dubail and Fellowes Streets. The improvements will include the purchase of playground equipment, site preparation work, landscaping, stormwater management infrastructure, asphalt paving, and/or concrete flatwork. Approval is being requested in the amount of $1.4 million for this project. The United Way has raised over $3.5 million for the remainder of the construction costs. Laura Jensen from the United Way states this will be a 3-part venture, which will provide childcare for local families (approximately 100 children) in conjunction with Headstart of St. Joseph County which would provide free infant and toddler care for up to pre-k (6 years). The center will provide before and after school care activities for school aged children, and provide a gathering space for others with a multi-purpose room. We will also rotate non-profit and social services based on needs with office space. We will have a healthcare pharmacy and are partnering with Aids Ministry to bring provider’s on-site to also include Health Link. There will South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – April 8, 2021 also be mobile food pantries for the community. Commissioner Wesley asked project start date. Ms. Jensen stated June 2021 to start and finish no later than June 2022. Commissioner Warner noted that this is an exciting project and is glad a neighborhood center is going in. We are happy that the street improvements have been happening along the corridor. Partnering with the United Way will bring a much-needed center to the community. Upon a motion by Commissioner Warner, seconded by Secretary Phillips, the motion carried unanimously, the Commission approved Development Agreement (United Way) submitted on Thursday, April 8, 2021. B. River East Development Area 1. Consent to Easement (Fire Arts) Mr. Garces presented Consent to Easement (Fire Arts). We are requesting approval of a consent to easement through the parking lot of the property located at 216 Sycamore and asking for an easement of no greater than 20' from the northernmost boundary of the parking area behind the structure. In order to facilitate the I&M transmission line to the hydroelectric project being constructed by the University of Notre Dame and improve the reliability of the power grid by interconnecting two substations (Muessel and Colfax), I&M requested this easement. This will help improve connection through the Hydro Electric station with Notre Dame underneath Seitz Park. Commission approval is requested. Upon a motion by Commissioner Warner, seconded by Commissioner Wax, the motion carried unanimously, the Commission approved Consent to Easement (Fire Arts) submitted on Thursday, April 8, 2021. C. River East Residential Development Area 1. Budget Request (Howard Street Reimbursement) Ms. Pietsch presented Budget Request (Howard Street Reimbursement). Requesting $673,180 from River East Residential to reimburse REDA for the previously approved project of Howard Street/Corby Street Boulevard. Since that budget request was made, we determined that the project is more appropriately funded from River East Residential as that is the TIF area this project directly serves. Commission approval is requested. Commissioner Warner asked that Ms. Pietsch elaborate on the purpose of moving the money. Ms. Pietsch stated that historically River East Residential has been used to pay just debt service in the Eddy Street Commons section. We have a sufficient surplus cash flow in this fund. Moving surplus dollars would free them up to use in the River East Development Area benefiting other projects. This is the area South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – April 8, 2021 outside of the development known as Trader Joe’s. Upon a motion by Commissioner Warner, seconded by Secretary Phillips, the motion carried unanimously, the Commission approved Budget Request (Howard Street Reimbursement) submitted on Thursday, April 8, 2021. D. Other 1. Mortgage Release (Burnoski) Ms. Kennedy presented Mortgage Release (Burnoski). In 2001 the Department of Redevelopment executed a mortgage in the original amount of $2,200 to Mr. Richard Burnoski with zero percent interest. Mr. Burnoski passed away in 2020 and we filed a claim against the estate for the amount of the mortgage and received a check on April 1, 2021. This is now cleared to be released. Commission approval is requested. Upon a motion by Commissioner Warner, seconded by Commissioner Wax, the motion carried unanimously, the Commission approved Mortgage Release (Burnoski) submitted on Thursday, April 8, 2021. E. RDC General Pokagon Fund 1. Budget Request (Invanti) Mr. Garces presented Budget Request (Invanti). We are requesting $250k from the Pokagon Fund for a programmatic engagement with Invanti LLC to support the city’s innovation and inclusive economic development practices over the next two years. As part of this engagement, Invanti will provide consulting services based on human centered design and innovation practices to address complex social issues that are prioritized by the City of South Bend including but not limited to: affordable housing, education, childcare, workforce development, financial equity. Additionally, Invanti will facilitate sessions, utilizing electronic and physical templates, provide guidance, and support the efforts of the City and its partners to find innovative solutions to these problems. This group will work with Invanti and their co-horts as our city employees would receive training from Invanti and guidance on how to address complex social issues. The city would receive training and a platform to match issues with people who can help in resolving them. Commission approval is requested. Commissioner Wax asked what the 250k would be used for. Mr. Garces responded that the dollars are for 2 years of professional services of development, materials, and templates to guide and understand the issues and training to resolve the issues. Commissioner Warner asked if there are particular agenda item for the 2-year program. South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – April 8, 2021 Mr. Garces stated financial empowerment and address the gap of evaluation and cost of construction. The memo attached gives a broader spectrum of the focus areas. Mr. Donoghue stated that they will also continue to develop Workforce Development in DCI. Commissioner Wesley asked to walk through what Invanti and the co-horts will do. Mr. Garces stated we will have 4 engagements over the period of 2-years. Initially they will sit down with the city to finalize areas to work on. Two city employees will go through their training identifying areas to work on. They will then identify problematic areas defining the root cause and providing solutions to help dissolve them. Second, once we have the resources, it will help the city develop new policy and programs. We will also help entrepreneurs (Invanti will help train) with new resources. Councilmember Hamann stated that the city has multiple grant programs and other training programs in place dealing with entrepreneurs and start-ups. Her concern is that we are creating silos that do not work with each other and throwing a lot of money at a problem that is segmented through the entire city. At what point do we bring all the programs together and work on the problem as a whole instead of working on these small pockets of efforts taking place. And can we bring a follow-up report to the Council. Mr. Garces states the way we think about this is like an eco-system. Different players play different roles within the system. There are people that provide funding, people that provide training. Invanti is different as it gets people that are passionate about a problem but do not understand how to focus on it yet and they develop methodology on how to frame and solve the problems. There are a lot of issues that face economic growth. Homelessness, housing affordability and workforce. Invanti is part of the larger eco-system that work closely with regional partnerships like Spark. Yes, a follow-up report can be brought to the Council and Commission if they want one. Upon a motion by Secretary Phillips, seconded by Commissioner Warner, the motion carried the Commission approved Budget Request (Invanti) with Commissioner Wax voting no: submitted on Thursday, April 8, 2021. 7.Progress Reports A.Tax Abatement B.Common Council C.Other 1.Ms. Pietsch noted that the TIF Management Report is informational and satisfies two requirements; the 1st is the treasurer’s report due by April 1st of every year. The second is the state reporting to Gateway by April 15th of every year. The full report is available on Gateway with every parcel listed of each TIF area. South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – April 8, 2021 8.Next Commission Meeting: Thursday, April 22, 2021, 9:30 a.m. 9.Adjournment Thursday, April 8, 2021, 10:04 a.m. Donald Inks, Vice-President Marcia Jones, President