HomeMy WebLinkAboutLaurel Urban Renewal Agency Minutes 04.06.2016 LAUREL URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY
April 6, 2016
11:00 am
Laurel Public Library
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Judy Goldsby at 11:09 am.
ROLL CALL: Greg Nelson, Kent Harris, Dean Rankin,Steve Solberg, Marcia Hafner, Heidi Jensen, Linda
Frickel,Shirley Ewan, Monica Plecker and Judy Goldsby.
INTRODUCTIONS: None.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING: A motion was made by Dean Rankin and
seconded by Linda Frickel to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. Motion carried.
Chairman Goldsby made a minor change to the agenda and New Business will be done before Old
Business as the presenters need to leave the meeting early.
NEW BUSINESS: Presentation by Kent Harris and Dean Rankin regarding information they have found
out about leases on railroad properties.
Kent Harris stated he talked with the real estate representative for MRL regarding leases. Rates for
leases go anywhere from .30 cents per square foot to as low as.05 cents depending on whether the user
is commercial, privately owned, non-profit or a municipality. If you work those figures backwards the
.30 cents per square foot ends up to be pretty high and unrealistic lease amount for most users. The .05
cents is intended to help municipalities and non-profit organizations by being affordable. Kent feels this
is a good starting point for negotiating with MRL.
Kent is proposing 3 things:
1. Set the range at 1 acre which would be $7,000 per year which ends up at .15 cents per square
foot.
2. Hire a commercial real estate appraiser who would do a good job coming up with comparables.
The appraisal should be done on properties within the TIF District. It would be a big advantage
to have these comparables so the board can speak with knowledge and strength when talking to
the railroad. The realtor they contacted, Randy Robertson would charge about$5,000 to do the
apprailsals.
3. Identify lease options and uses for the property:
• Parking lot for downtown apartment building tenants;or
• Beautification
Kent feels that providing a parking lot for tenants of existing downtown apartment buildings would
encourage them not to park on the street and open up more retail spaces for businesses. Having a
parking lot could also draw future developers to Laurel.
Dean Rankin stated by getting appraisals there would be a base price to work off of during negotiations
of a lease. He also suggested the board gather information from other cities in Montana that have the
same situations with land leased from the railroad.
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Judy Goldsby stated that if the board can show a viable plan it will be a plus for negotiations with the
railroad.
After a discussion the board suggested Kent Harris ask Randy Robertson to write up an agreement for
doing the appraisals and bring it back to the April 20,2015 meeting for further discussion.
Old Business: None.
New Business: Light District#3—Shirley Ewan
Heidi Jensen asked Shirley Ewan,Clerk-Treasurer to attend the meeting today. They are working on
adding another street into Light District#2 which is the city's residential light district. When Heidi talked
with Shirley they decided now would be a good time to add in other lights. Light District#3 is a
commercial district which includes SE 4th Street. There are currently future plans to do cross walks,
striping and bulb outs and possibly solar crosswalk lights on SE 4th Street this summer. Now would be a
good time to consider street lighting and adding a street into the commercial light district.
Heidi stated that there is not enough money in Light District#3 to fund the whole project but there is
some money the city could give to the TIF District to use towards those lights with the TIFD paying the
remainder. Heidi wants to start the discussion to see if the board is interested in doing this.
Heidi went on to say at this time there is no existing lighting on SE 4th and this is an opportunity to put
up lighting other than the large standard light poles. The lights could be solar and decorative. Over time
this type of lighting could be put into the entire TIF District.
Judy Goldsby asked if this would include S. Washington Street.
Heidi stated that it could be included and this would be the time to decide if they want to add S.
Washington Street and Bernhardt Road.
Linda Frickel stated she thinks they would only have to do lights on the north side of SE 4th Street as
Laurel Ford is already lit up at night.
Monica stated that the lights being considered are more for aesthetics. If they are going to do lights
they need to do it on both sides of the street.
Linda Frickel stated that she would like to see it go up S. Washington Street. Do a complete project.
It was also suggested it could go all the way to Walmart.
Judy Goldsby stated that once more buildings are occupied with businesses having lighting and
crosswalks will become a safety issue.
Steve Solberg is more concerned with the speed of the traffic going down SE 4th Street than he is with
the minimal amount of foot traffic. If there is a crosswalk or an island put in people are not going to use
it anyway.
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Monica stated that she agrees with Steve that this area of the district is designed more for vehicular
traffic. The decorative lighting would look pretty going down SE 4th Street and it is designed to help
pedestrians but the majority of the businesses are not open past 5 pm. The most ideal place to put the
lights would be along SE 4th Street. Monica does feel that with the striping and identified lanes with one
lane each way and a middle turning lane and having the three areas where you have crosswalks with
lights will,just out of sheer narrowing, reduce the speed.
Linda Fricke)thinks it doesn't need to be done fancy.
Judy Goldsby stated she would like to see it done in stages.
Monica stated this would be a place to start.
Heidi wants it done complete. If there are going to be lights installed, do it for the entire area.
Shirley Ewan added that once Northwest Energy bores the streets for lights the side streets can be easily
added at a later time.
There was a discussion on using solar lights which several board members expressed interest in. Shirley
Ewan stated that Northwest Energy will not put in solar lights and the TIF District would have to
purchase any solar lights.
Greg Nelson stated that he works at O'Reilly's at night and it would be highly beneficial to have lighting
in front of the store. He also sees many people that walk to Walmart during both day and night times
hours and it would be beneficial to have sidewalks on both sides and lights.Sidewalks and lights would
also encourage new businesses looking in the area of both Washington and Bernhardt Road's.
Question on who would be responsible for the electricity used for the lighting.
Shirley Ewan explained that it would be done through an SID and property owners would be responsible
for the electrical costs. She will get the cost for each business. Commercial businesses are assessed a
little differently than residential.
New Business: Priorities—None.
REPORTS:
CITY ADMINISTRATION: None.
CITY PLANNING: Monica stated two articles were in the Laurel Outlook about LURA calling for grant
applications.A quarter-page ad has been in the Laurel Outlook for the grant. The deadline for grant
applications is April 15, 2015. She has received two applications but was hoping for more.All
information for this grant is posted on the City of Laurel website under the Planning Department.
Monica asked for 3 people to be on the committee for reviewing the LURA grant applications. Ken
Olson expressed interest as did Steve Solberg and Linda Fricke).
CLERK TREASURER: None.
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BIG SKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Monica stated she will be working with BSEDA to design a flyer
that will give a comprehensive overview of what the TIF District offers.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON AGENDA TOPICS: No public wished to speak.
NEXT MEETING DATE: The next meeting will be at 11:00 am on April 20, 2015.
ADJOURNMENT: A motion to adjourn was made by Linda Frickel and seconded by Greg Nelson.The
meeting was adjourned at 11:49 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryll Lund,Secretary
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