12-13-23 Urban Renewal Agency Board MinutesDECEMBER 13, 2023, —4 P.M.
CITY HALL— FIRST FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM AND VIA ZOOM
MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE
Marc Rold Jarod Nygren, Development Services Director
Catherine Potter Katharine King
Dave Girardot
Cara Lemire via Zoom
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
PREVIOUS MEETING SUMMARY
November meeting summary accepted.
TIF & TEDD
Safe Streets and Roads For All Safety Action Plan contract in negotiation with Kittelson & Associates. Jarod
reported Kittelson submitted a strong scope of work and the City expects to sign the contract within a week.
Work under the contract will be in full swing in January with an aggressive timeline for the planning phase of
the project to be complete in July 2024.
Per November URA discussion of increasing TIF policy funding level limits, Jarod presented the URA's
recommendations. Following discussion, Dave Girardot moved the expenditure limits for the West Side and
Downtown TIFs be increased as follows:
• Street Tree Placement Program grant increase from $5,000 to $10,000;
• Sidewalk Placement Program grant increase from $5,000 to $15,000;
• Historic Facade restoration projects grant increase from $50,000 to $150,000;
• Facade Improvement Program loan program increase from $50,000 to $250,000;
• Rehabilitation/Code Compliance loan program increase from $50,000 to $250,000;
• Site Demolition/Preparation/Cleanup loan/grant program from $50,000 to $250,000;
• Technical Assistance Program grant increase from $5,000 to $20,000; and
• Threshold for Third -party analysis of financial feasibility increase from $100,000 to $200,000 TIF
funding requests.
Catherine Potter seconded the motion. All voted in favor. This recommendation will go to City Council for
consideration.
BROWNFIELDS
Working with Montana DEQ's Brownfields TBA program, the City has recently gotten two phase I
environmental site assessments (ESA's) completed and has two more underway in support of property sales in
the downtown and Core Areas.
URA members asked staff for an update on the proposed Charles Hotel and Parking Garage projects in the
Downtown TIF District. Jarod outlined the work of the Montana Hotel Development partners to shore up
funding with existing capital group or replace the group. It is expected the project will either clearly take
strides toward project implementation in January or the City will begin the process of preparing a new
Request for Proposals for the city -owned property(ies). The URA will be informed as new information
becomes available.
NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
The Board's next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 4 p.m.
Meeting adjourned.