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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRC-01-09-02CRC Minutes, January 9, 2002 1 CARMEL REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Meeting, Wednesday, January 9, 2002 President Rick Roesch called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Commission members present were John R. Koven, Luci Snyder, Ron Carter and Edmund Burke, constituting a quorum. Also present were Mayor Brainard, Councilor Wayne Wilson, Steve Engelking, Les Olds and Kevin Foster from CSO, Kelli Hahn, Karl Haas, Jim Thomas from AMLI, and Stu Hirsch from the Indianapolis Star. Bidders were present but did not get the sign in sheet. Phyllis Morrissey present as support staff. Election of Officers This did not occur since the Council did not make its appointments. The officers will remain the same until those appointments are made. Opening of Bids for Reflecting Pond Mr. Roesch noted the bids include various alternatives for different pond depths. Mr. Olds: There is a base bid and a series of six alternates. Two bids have been received which are acceptable. (Two others were received but those were just for individual pieces of the pond and not acceptable.) The first bid opened was from Eden Enterprises. The base bid was $1,284,800. [See bid tab sheet distributed at January 15 meeting for bid prices.] The second bid was from Smock Fansler Corporation. Their base bid was $1,568,000. The bids are below CSO estimates. Mr. Olds proposed CSO meet with the low bidder since there are so many alternates in the bid, to make sure everything is included. He asked if the commission would agree to meet next week to award the bid. The meeting was set for 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 15. Approval of Minutes Mr. Koven moved the minutes of the December 7, 2001, meeting be approved. Following a second by Ms. Snyder, the motion was unanimously approved. Ms. Snyder moved the minutes of the December 12, 2001, meeting be approved. Following a second by Mr. Carter, the motion was unanimously approved. Report from Mayor Mayor Brainard noted he is continuing to get a lot of inquiries about retail possibilities in City Center. He hopes to have something more concrete for the next meeting. Report from Director Mr. Engelking noted he sent out a report with the packets. The Shapiro building permit was issued today. The drainage issue is being resolved. The subterranean drainage will also solve the problems on the Fire Department and Police Department buildings. That will increase the cost, but the City will participate in the payment. CRC Minutes, January 9, 2002 2 Originally the Shapiro’s plan called for water to come across Range Line via a road cut. Mr. Duffy has determined there is water available on the west side of Range Line so this will eliminate having to do a road cut. There is also a sewer tie-in available on the west side. Mr. Koven asked about Shapiro’s fill removal which had been discussed at an earlier meeting. Since they are not including a basement that problem is eliminated. They are using some of the parking lot debris for fill. Report from Kelli Hahn Ms. Hahn, Planning Administrator, will be the liason between the Department of Community Services and the CRC. Ms. Hahn wanted confirmation that the CRC wanted the lumberyard mall rezone to be moved along as quickly as possible. A February public hearing at the Plan Commission could still be scheduled. It would be helpful if DOCS could get a copy of the project agreement as soon as it is finalized since it is referred to by so many different petitioners. This should occur with each future project as early as possible. Mr. Engelking reiterated this, noting it will be helpful for the staff in reviewing projects. Mr. Hahn said she will be working on an outline of the DOCS process to make future transitions smoother. She will bring it to the February meeting for input. We have a contract with Schneider Corporation for a US 31 modeling project. They have proposals for other areas, including City Center area. Mr. Carter asked why we didn’t just buy the software ourselves and train someone to do it. He said there are at least ten or twelve projects the City (or developers) could use it on right now. “I think we should look at having this capability in house rather than spending $20,000 to $50,000 per shot.” Ms. Hahn was complimented by CRC members on her thoroughly detailed written report. Financial Report Mr. Burke reported Ms. Mielke is back in the office and making progress on some things he asked her to do. They expect to have definitive projections by the February meeting. Mr. Engelking said the exact amount of the TIF funds was still not known. Report from Attorney Old Town Mr. Haas: We have finalized the AMLI project agreement and escrow agreement. Six hundred thousand dollars has been deposited at Chicago Title. February 28 is the outside closing date; scheduled closing date is the day before the February CRC meeting. CRC Minutes, January 9, 2002 3 We have a clean Phase I from SESCO so no Phase II is needed. They will be checking with the power company to make sure there are no PCBs in the transformers. Shapiro’s Since last we met, that project agreement has been completed and funds deposited in escrow. Sherwin Williams Litigation Mr. Haas: There was a partial summary judgement granted and because SW had failed to extend their lease prior to the time when we brought our condemnation action, their lease terminated at what would have been their current term of June 30, 2001. Their extension doesn’t count either in reality in terms of whether or not they’re a tenant or for purposes of calculating their damages. So even if you take the inflated appraisal of their leasehold value by the court appointed appraisers and you back that off from being eleven years’ worth of damages to one year worth of damages, they’re down to a maximum of $30,000. If you use the $70,000 appraisal that we had taken, it’s even less than that. I’d expect there will be a settlement proposal soon. One of the results of this decision by the judge is that no one knew until this partial summary judgement was rendered that we had a month to month tenant (since June of last year). So we terminated the lease by a notice that went out before December 31. One of the important things is not to take rent for February. Mr. Engelking: We haven’t received rent from them since the end of October. Mr. Haas: All the better. I’d like to have settlement authority to settle with Sherwin Williams, presuming that SESCO comes back with a fairly clean report. I’d like to have authority to settle with Sherwin Williams so they walk away with no payment either way. Mr. Roesch said he gave a deposition today on Sherwin Williams. The subject of the spill and their lack of response to that spill did come up. Ms. Snyder moved Mr. Haas be given settlement authority per his request. Following a second by Mr. Koven, the motion was unanimously approved. Huffer/Goodyear Mr. Haas: I expect this will result in litigation though we’re not at that point yet. We filled out the required statutory form/condemnation offer. It is for $700,000 less any contamination cleanup costs. That went out about December 31 and they have twenty- five days to respond. By the next meeting we’ll know what their response is. Mr. Roesch: With this action, can we get control of that property and tear it down if we find a buyer? CRC Minutes, January 9, 2002 4 Mr. Haas: To get control of that property if there’s no settlement, we need to file suit, get the court appointed appraisers. As soon as the court appointed appraisers come back with a value, deposit that amount with the court. Mr. Roesch: What would the timing be if we were on a fast track? Mr. Haas: Two months. It would take two months from the time that they rejected an offer. Mayor Brainard: That assumes they don’t challenge the take. Ms. Snyder: Just to make sure… we could probably have control of the Goodyear property in March? Mr. Haas: That’s correct. If we needed it. Again you have the option as you did with Sherwin Williams of not depositing. Mr. Koven: Is Sherwin Williams, where we are now, does that leave us free to tear that building down? Mr. Haas: Yes. Mr. Engelking: I’ve been told by Karl, that after the thirty-first of January we are clear to go in. Village Cleaners We have been working with Plews Shadley [environmental litigation counsel], which I recommended. Chris Broad will be in charge of their efforts. I have been discussing with him, now that there has been some initial information from Mr. Renken, in fact his counsel has made a claim on his insurance, is there any reason to postpone any longer an eviction action? The response was negative, so an eviction action will be commenced. Further strategies will be discussed in Executive Session. Mr. Haas: An insurance claim has been made and SESCO has prepared a response to IDEM which was submitted today. Liquor Permit Mr. Haas: They are finding the CRC to be neither fish nor fowl. Mr. Roesch: Their concern is that we were taking this license out of circulation and so somebody else couldn’t immediately use it. It also has to be for our own benefit. The prior chair of the state ABC said he supported our use of the liquor license. That person has left and the new person in a telephone conversation also said he supported the use at the state level. The local board, however, didn’t want to listen to our attorney’s tape of that conversation and preferred to have that in writing. Also we “continued” for ninety CRC Minutes, January 9, 2002 5 days and they asked me to more or less justify who we were negotiating with who would use this license or use it for our own purposes. AMLI partnership possibilities were discussed which could include City Center or Old Town. AMLI has been talking with a restaurant that will be needing a liquor license. Mr. Haas noted our attorney from Ice Miller was still confident that once they receive the letter of support from the state level there won’t be any further problems. Report from Architect Parcel #5 Demolition Mr. Olds said a meeting is scheduled with the demolition contractor for January 15th to set out the game plan. We’re trying to stretch this out a little bit. The project should take 4-6 weeks. Every time they demobilize and then set up again, it costs an additional $2000. The Kroger and B shops should be started on February 1st, followed by the bulk of the parking lot except that piece needed by Shapiro’s. They will have to be demobilized again because of the Herrigan Building, which raises the costs. Mr. Carter asked if the demolition crew has to come back because of the Herrigan Building, can the $2000 be charged to Mr. Renken. Mr. Haas: We can if we terminate his lease. If we terminate the lease, he needs to leave. My presumption is that if we terminate the lease, he won’t leave. But if he doesn’t leave when the lease is properly terminated, then the answer is yes. Mr. Haas, noting the demolition crew will be on site on February 1st, said, “We will terminate his lease by then.” Mr. Haas continued: We have sent him the default notices so we will be able to terminate the lease at will. Discussion followed about demolition stages and further testing for contamination. Carmel Rotary Plaza Two of the wall plaques were delivered. Once the third one comes, they will be delivered to Flanner Buchanan who will install them. The last handrail was installed two days ago. So the work is basically complete. Mr. Carter asked if an additional handrail was needed in one area which is open. Mr. Olds will check on that. AMLI Pylon Sign Mr. Olds said AMLI needed a sign area approximately 36” square. Different designs and sizes were submitted with the packets. They are like the new pylon signs on Carmel Drive. CRC Minutes, January 9, 2002 6 It was noted that other similar signs might be located at various locations in City Center. Scheme D, the largest sign, would cost approximately $16,500. Mr. Thomas said AMLI will contribute $3,500 towards the sign. This will include the face of their sign. He said they might be able to increase that to $4,500. CRC will be reimbursed substantially for additional signs on the pylon as other businesses locate in City Center. Three signs can be on two different sides of the pylon. Mr. Koven cautioned to watch the location of the sign on the corner so it doesn’t block right turning traffic. Another pylon sign might be located on the northwest corner to form a “gateway” to the area. After further discussion, Mr. Burke moved the CRC approve Scheme D sign. Following a second by Ms. Snyder, the motion was unanimously approved. Field Survey Work Mr. Olds: The field survey work for the balance of Parcel #5 has been completed. The documents will be available for developers who are inquiring about the parcels. Reports from CRC Members Ms. Snyder, Mr. Burke and Mr. Carter attended the December TAC meeting for Shapiro’s. Ms. Snyder noted it would be most helpful for the CRC (architectural review committee) to have a schedule for when things are to be done for each of our projects. Ms. Snyder: It is obvious, at least for Shapiro, that the signage is quite unique. It doesn’t fit into the City’s signage package. So an ordinance has been created which was at the City Council Monday evening [January 7] and sent to Land Use and Annexation Committee and we’ll be meeting on it tomorrow evening [January 10]. We will work with Kelli and Mike to see how we can change the ordinance so that we (the CRC ) have architectural review, working directly with the department [Community Services] and it takes it out of the Plan Commission. Because, for instance, the painted signs that are going to be on Shapiro’s, that’s no where allowed any place else in the City. And yet if we say that’s allowed in the City, we might have another building in ten months for which it just doesn’t suit, so we have to be very careful, allow enough flexibility. We think our design standards are different and in many ways, more strict. For instance, we specify the type of brick. Mr. Roesch: Assuming we will have the Council appointments made by the next meeting. We have a lot of projects coming before us this next year. I think we need to have a strategic planning session, of course, open to the public. CRC Minutes, January 9, 2002 7 On the agenda would be plans for the coming year, what should come before what, review the financial projections. People attending should be CRC members, Mike Hollibaugh, Kelli Hahn, Mayor Brainard, Kate Weese. Discussion followed. It was decided to have it on Tuesday, February 19, in the Caucus Rooms, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Approval of Invoices Mr. Burke asked if the SESCO costs were recoverable. Mr. Haas responded affirmative. It was noted some of Mr. Haas’ billings would also be recoverable. The $2,000 charged for a trash receptacle at Rotary Plaza was in their fixed price bid. Mr. Koven moved the invoices be approved in the amount of $150,251.57 as submitted. Following a second by Ms. Snyder, the motion was unanimously approved. Old Business Mr. Haas covered the item listed in his report earlier. No New Business Next Meeting It was decided the next business meeting will be held in conjunction with the planning session on February 19 beginning at 9 a.m. The strategic planning session will be one of the items on the agenda. An Executive Session will be noticed following the meeting. Adjournment Ms. Snyder moved the meeting be adjourned. Following a second by Mr. Burke, the motion was approved and the meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m.