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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04142010CRA4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1 -4 A. 3/24/10 Meeting 5. NEW BUSINESS CITY OF HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CRA) (CITY COUNCIL) MINUTES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2010 5:30 PM CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN ST, SEBASTIAN, FL 1. Mayor Gillmor called the CRA meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. ROLL CALL City Council Present: Mayor Richard H. Gillmor Vice -Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Eugene Wolff Council Member Don Wright Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Airport Director, Joseph Griffin Finance Director, Ken Killgore Growth Management Director, Rebecca Grohall MIS Senior Systems Analyst, Barbara Brooke -Reese MOTION by Mr. Hill and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve the March 24, 2010 minutes passed with a unanimous voice vote. 5 -32 A. Facade, Sign and Landscape Grant Award 80% of Project Costs to Island Smoothies Cafe Not to Exceed $7,500 for Sign as Specified (GMD Transmittal, Sign Designs) The Growth Management Director said the Grant Review Committee worked with the applicant to design a sign smaller in height and width with a reader board as specified on circle page 8. She said a member from the Committee is present for any questions. Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting April 14, 2010 Page Two 33 MOTION by Mr. Hill and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve a grant reimbursement of 80% of project costs not to exceed $7,500 for Island Smoothie Cafe sign. Result of the roll call: AYES: All NAYS: None Motion carried B. Consider Funding Indian River State College Business Analyst Position with CRA Funds (City Manager Transmittal) The City Manager said this was a request to consider a business analyst position in conjunction with the Indian River State College. Mayor Gillmor said he was approached by Dean Jan Pagano at the recent Economic Summit, with the concept of promoting businesses in Sebastian, with an expense to base a person in the CRA District which would be $15,000 for 20 hours per week, and $22, 000 for 30 hours per week. He explained the resource person could connect with small business people by going out and talking to the business people, and forge relationships. He said in any economic downturn it is a great birthing time for small businesses, and they need all the help they can get. Donna Rivett, Dean, Industrial Education, Indian River State College (IRSC), said her office is the Small Business Development Center for the four counties and the position would be a part -time business analyst who is certified, well- trained and will network to become part of business community. Ms. Coy asked how long the program has been in place in Stuart, Florida. Ms. Rivett said an analyst has been with the IRSC Small Business Development Center at an office in Stuart for about a year and prior to that (through an agreement with the Florida Atlantic University) he was at a location that covered the area. She said the Martin County analyst is working closely with the Business Development Board and the chambers assisting about 30% clientele of Martin County. Ms. Coy asked how the analyst position was funded and what benefits the City of Stuart received. Ms. Rivett said part of the position was funded by the City of Stuart and part through grants that come through the Small Business Development Center. Ms. Coy said her concern is helping business owners outside the CRA district with CRA dollars and asked who those businesses could receive help from. Ms. Rivett responded there is an another analyst located one day a week at the Richardson Center, two days in St. Lucie County, and one day in Okeechobee funded through a state grant. Ms. Coy suggested tying into one of those locations and pointed out those, locations are receiving the service without the expense. Mayor Gillmor said one day per week would not help that much and questioned how the business owners would know when the analyst was available. Ms. Coy said the businesses outside the CRA are also important. 2 Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting April 14, 2010 Page Three Mr. Hill asked the City Attorney if there was a legal problem using CRA funds to help a business from C.R.512. The City Attorney said it was not a problem if one of the major focuses is the analyst will have an office in CRA district and the emphasis is going to be on CRA businesses and the fact that there are ancillary benefits will be okay. Ms. Coy said she didn't see why they needed an intermediary if they can refer people to the service, then asked who they hired and their credentials for the Stuart location. Ms. Rivett said to work in the Small Business Development Center, the credentials are that you have to have a BA degree or higher in business, in most cases many have had their own businesses, and they must go through a rigorous training program. She said Nanyail Smoke covers one day per week at the Richardson Center and one of the problems with people in the north county is they have to take the day off to visit her. She said Ms. Smoke sees six individuals a day by appointment and lives in north Ft. Pierce, and she would like to hire someone from Sebastian for the north county. Ms. Coy asked why we are sending money to IRSC and not funding a position ourselves to have ultimate authority over the position. Mayor Gillmor said the City would be on a contract basis with the college. Ms. Rivett added that according to state regulations, if a person is going to be working as a small business analyst they must be an employee of a Small Business Development Center. Ms. Coy said she needed assurances that the person would be assisting business operations in the CRA district. Mr. Hill said they should be a little broader than that because businesses outside of the county could employ Sebastian residents. Ms. Coy agreed but she would be far more comfortable funding the position with using general funds. Mr. Hill respectfully disagreed and said this is a fine use of CRA funds and suggested a quarterly report to gauge the services. Mayor Gillmor suggested talking Fellsmere into participating with their CRA for 10 hours per week. MOTION by Mayor Gillmor and SECOND by Mr. Hill to instruct the City Manager to bring a contract back to the Board for services; providing someone from Sebastian is hired to fill the position. Mr. Wright asked what the population is in Martin County and if the success of the program is measured by how many people signed up for classes at the college. Ms. Rivett said she did know the population but the Small Business Development Centers are hooked up with higher education institutions to provide access to faculty so they are not recruiting for the college. She said the State has an extensive data system requiring input on each client to track them, if they have received loans and it issues quarterly reports. Mr. Wright said this program is not coming from a demand from people in the CRA district and although he was comfortable with how this has come about; he did not feel it was difficult for people in Sebastian to go to Ft. Pierce to use their services. He also said the City should be frugal about establishing a new program with an employee implying that the position could be short term, medium or long term; and there are free parallel programs 3 Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting April 14, 2010 Page Four that businesses could take advantage of and the bottom line for the CRA businesses is that they need more customers, not business plans. He said at their recent workshop they discussed redoing the CRA master plan at $15,000 to $100,000 and to pay for a new position did not make sense to him. Mr. Wolff said using the issuance of a loan as a metric in evaluating the program may not be a sign of success as money is not freely available right now. He asked what other metrics were in place to evaluate the efficiency of the program. Ms. Rivett said they look at the business' sales, jobs created, jobs retained, successes that can be reported to the State such as renovations or relocating to a larger facility. She said the amount of time actually spent with a client over a period of time is looked at by the federal Small Business Administration which is called economic gardening. Mr. Wolff said he was reluctant to support the creation of a position financed with CRA or City money until they go through the budget as they may have to reduce staff which would reflect poorly if they created a new position. He said he would like to consider this after the budget process. Mayor Gillmor asked him which budget process. Mr. Wolff said the general budget process, after they see that positions are secure. Mayor Gillmor said that is why he was looking at CRA funds to give a grant to the College as they would handle the bookkeeping. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: Hill, Gillmor NAYS: Coy, Wolff, Wright Motion failed 2 -3 The City Manager reported that Joe Schulke will have designs for the bumpouts and landscaping in about a month; Frank Watanabe, Engineer with Neel Schaffer will start working on gateway concepts and wants to meet with each of them for input; and he has contacted the TCRPC to facilitate the review the CRA master plan but they are busy so he is contacting the Florida Redevelopment Association which may be able to facilitate the review for just cost. 6. Being no further business, Mayor Gillmor adjourned the CRA meeting at 6:13 p.m. Approved at the April 28, 2010 CRA meeting. tAIII Richar: H. Gillmor, Mayor ATTE Sally A. Maic('MMC City Clerk 4