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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20220118 Hybrid CRA Board Workshop - Board PrioritiesMINUTES OF HYBRID WORKSHOP - BOARD PRIORITIES DANIA BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022 - 5:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order/Roll Call Chair James called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Present: Chair: Vice -Chair: Board Members: Executive Director: City Attorney: CRA Secretary: 2. Items for Discussion 2.1 Board priorities Tamara James Marco A. Salvino, Sr. — via virtual attendance Joyce L. Davis Lori Lewellen Lauren Odman — via virtual attendance K. Michael Chen Eve Boutsis Thomas Schneider Director Chen noted the CRA is very well developed with projects and programs currently and he addressed everything that is underway. The Board should keep in mind timeframes when they discuss priorities because currently, the CRA staff is over capacity. Chair James questioned what the CRA software is. Director Chen responded it is database and contract software. Discussion ensued on the current CRA projects and programs. Chair James noted she does have some priorities she would like to see undertaken even with staff at capacity. Board Member Odman said she would prefer Director Chen let the Board know as over capacity is happening and not after it has happened. It would be helpful as he gives his report that he let the Board know. Board Member Lewellen felt Director Chen was letting us know where he is right now. Her concern is that adding additional projects at this time would impact the CRA budget, so she does not know if additional projects should be undertaken immediately. Vice -Chair Salvino commented the best solution we could do now is if we want to add things to the list, it could be the B list since the A list is already underway. Director Chen should report back when a project has been completed so that we can reevaluate where we are with the budget and the B list. Board Member Davis agreed with the other Board Members; we are not always able to balance all the projects. One of her priorities is to create an art district; the conversation could be started although it does not have to happen right now. There are different opportunities whether we have a deadline or not. Chair James said she does not want us to confuse City capacity with CRA capacity. The CRA projects are projects that are ongoing. The ideas or things we come up with can be put out there for discussion and we can prioritize three. She is not saying it must be done tomorrow. Regarding funding, our Finance Director told us there is wiggle room within reason. She said in talking about expanding Dania After Dark (DAD), NW/SW 1st Avenue, could be made an art type of walkway. She is thinking of something that we can showcase and that may be an opportunity. Board Member Davis agreed with expanding DAD along NW/SW lst Avenue and really make it its own destination. She would like to unify that entire area to make it a destination with live music. We have a real opportunity to make that area a mini destination with public art for our residents. Vice -Chair Salvino commented it is a great idea to vitalize NW/SW lst Avenue and make people come to the street. He added when we used to do the OASIS cleanups, everybody liked to be involved in them. Chair James agreed the OASIS cleanups were a good idea and she would like to bring them back. Director Chen noted the lists he read are active, ongoing obligations. Commissioner Davis is correct; simply because we have a lot of projects, that does not mean we stop answering the telephone. He has a meeting next week about a central arts hub and has already talked to Atlantic Studios. Also, last week, he had a conversation about an art hub in another area. Chair James said Director Chen might want to check with his CRA staff, we have had artists hanging sculptures and he may want to consider this as well as live art. Director Chen said creating an art hub is in the CRA Plan; staff is very anxious to see this, and they are working towards it. Chair James asked if he could bring back to the Board ideas for NW/SW lst Avenue. Director Chen felt we could better leverage private sector investments for this corridor, and he will keep the Board up to date on conversations they have. He thinks it will become a reality in the future. Minutes of Hybrid Workshop — Board Priorities 2 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, January 18, 2022 — 5:00 p.m. Board Member Lewellen noted she knows that FDOT would have a problem with us doing something on US-1; NW/SW I" Avenue would be a better idea and she questioned if something was already in the works. City Manager Garcia commented several months ago, she had conversations with the Deputy City Manager, and she would be amenable to looking into our reserves to hire a consultant to do an assessment of the corridor. Chair James asked that the cost for a consultant be provided. Director Chen agreed this is a good idea and spoke of the Complete Streets programs. He had talked to FIU to get Interact at the same table with Community Development with the idea of doing a street program and then have FIU investigate funding. City Manager Garcia said we can apply for funding. It would be a good investment for the City, and we must make sure we put in place a game plan for the antique places to fade away in the sunset. FDOT will not let us on US-1 so we should look at the back of the house. Chair James noted before we have consensus, she wanted everyone to speak. Board Member Odman questioned what we wanted the consultant to do. Chair James said the consultant would assess the whole street to see what opportunities are there and develop a vision of what is possible as it relates to art. Because of traffic concerns, we must create a more walkable town even if it is art pavers in the street to showcase the City. Board Member Odman asked if any of that would be covered as we have the consultant for the Art in Public Places and if there would be overlap. City Manager Garcia said we are talking about the entire street to be a corridor. The consultant would do an assessment to create an art and entertainment district all the way from Stirling Road to old Griffin Road. Board Member Odman questioned if there would be any overlap with the consultant for Art in Public Places. City Manager Garcia noted Assistant Community Development Director Lajoie would give a presentation at the next Commission meeting. The Art in Public Places board would pick and choose the pieces of art. She addressed what the consultant for the corridor would do and noted there could be some overlap. Board Member Odman said if the Board thinks it is best, she will support it. Chair James said one thing that is vitally important is every decision we make now has consequences for years to come. When the CRA was first created, we really changed the code Minutes of Hybrid Workshop — Board Priorities 3 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, January 18, 2022 — 5:00 p.m. and made developers want to come here. These types of things, 20 years down the road, people who want to come invest is because of the decisions we make. Regarding the crosswalks, not the decorative ones, when we talk about public safety, she is very concerned with pedestrians crossing the railroad tracks on NW lst Street and on West Dania Beach Boulevard. There is a safety component to much -needed improvements at the crossings. Director Chen spoke of the railroad crossways and said he thinks Chair James' idea is a very good one. It will take money, but it would be very good for our neighborhoods. Chair James thought the cost brought back to the Board was $200,000; she is willing to give this for the safety of our residents. She thought perhaps Director Chen could go back and check into this with the FEC railroad. Director Chen said he could explore this and consult with our Public Services Department. It may be a matter of extending the pavement four feet on either side of the street so people do not have to walk in the street. Vice -Chair Salvino recalled going through this four years ago. He remembers a question came up with this; the FEC had to be involved and we questioned why they were not paying for it. There have to be options for the FEC to help us pay for this and he felt there is an obligation for them to help pay for it. Chair James said it definitely has to be ADA accessible. This is not a request for funding but is a priority and we can investigate funding. Board Member Odman asked if anyone has contacted Brightline. We have had two safety issues in Dania Beach, and she knows they have done things in other municipalities to make improvements. She questioned if we could reach out to them. Director Chen agreed this would be good to investigate and we could reach out to Brightline. Board Member Lewellen said a lot of times when a company has a safety issue, they set up a fund, so maybe they have, and we could access that. It never hurts to ask. The other option is the infrastructure bill; money came in from that and the MPO may be a viable source. Chair James asked if there would be a five-year wait period. Board Member Lewellen responded she does not know; there could be but since it is safety related, it may not take that long. Chair James noted she has a recommendation that if this is prioritized, then we can talk about the options of getting it funded. Director Chen addressed the painted crosswalks; he is reaching out to the FDOT district office. Meanwhile, he is in process of writing an RFP so we can get an idea of what it might cost. As soon as he finishes it, it will be reviewed by Legal and could be out very soon. Minutes of Hybrid Workshop — Board Priorities 4 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, January 18, 2022 — 5:00 p.m. Chair James spoke of a business district in the NW section; there are significant stakeholders who would like to see a business district. It would help Director Chen's relationship with the community and help the Board envision its reality. Director Chen noted he is very interested in meeting with the community; it has been an interesting year with COVID. He wants to develop conversations with the community. He hopes to start the CRA Plan meetings in February and the target date would be July. The consultants will have heavy communication with the community. Dania Village is what he calls the NW/SW lst Avenue corridor, and he wants the consultants to look at this for the CRA Plan. Chair James asked what his current plan is for business retention and attraction in our CRA area. Director Chen said some of it is possible with our CRA Fagade grant program; many of our programs are part of this strategy. The Dania Beach Business Academy is meant to help businesses already here and to help attract businesses elsewhere when their leases are up. He said the phone is ringing more and more. He does not know if it is Dania Beach's reputation as a whole, but it is being elevated and we have started to get more recognition. We have at least three or four initiatives that combined are helping our business retention and attraction. He had an award -winning academy in Fort Lauderdale, and Dania Beach's program is better. Board Member Odman commented she remembers with the City we were having the Chamber do monthly updates. Perhaps Business Attraction & Investment Manager Harris could once a month give an update of what businesses have been brought in or recruitment undertaken and asked if this is something that could be done. Director Chen said it is actually in practice, but we can expand our monthly report. No business wants its details of what they are doing revealed, but we can provide generic details and let the Board know when they open for business. Board Member Odman noted residents would like to see what businesses are opening; she understands he cannot reveal their plans. Director Chen said we can expand our economic development activity report and can also report on businesses we have lost to another city. He can give the Board the information that is understandable to understand the market. Chair Lewellen commented we have a lot of empty buildings with for lease and for rent signs. She questioned sending an email or flyer to businesses that have already participated in the academy with a list of what we have available for rent and lease. This would tie it back to the Business Academy for businesses to come here. Director Chen noted he would like to have the Business Academy get a little more traction; once that happens, people will follow it as a resource for their business. He agreed with Board Member Lewellen and said he will bring programs forward to the Board that will address the vacancies. Minutes of Hybrid Workshop — Board Priorities 5 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, January 18, 2022 — 5:00 p.m. Chair James summarized that the RFP is going out for the crosswalks and the other projects were the NW/SW 1st Avenue Complete Streets art district and the crosswalks with FEC. Director Chen said we will take this on; these are important projects with a target that we bring the Board back information. City Manager Garcia noted Finance Director DiPaolo informed her that between ARPA and the infrastructure bill, we are going to be aligned with these priorities without touching reserves. Even with staffing challenges, the monies are there for us. Chair James said we should keep in the back of our minds that we need to do some type of Federal Highway beautification. We got a lot of flak when we planted palms on US-1; the residents disliked it but look how beautiful it is now. We should also look at for sale signs and get businesses to this corridor. City Manager Garcia noted we have a contractor in place to bring forward a complete Landscaping Master Plan which would address the Griffin Road corridor, coming up US-1 to Dania Beach Boulevard. Director Chen said the CRA and City have a lot of alignment of purpose. At the kickoff with the CRA Plan consultant, he will tell them to focus on visibility corridors, the first impression of Dania Beach. These are instructions he will be giving to our consultant. 2.2 Budget impacts associated with the discussed programs and activities All discussion occurred under item 2.1. 3. Adj ournment Chair James adjourned the meeting at 6:06 p.m. ATTEST: THOMAS SCHNEIDER, CMC CRA SECRETARY Approved: February 8, 2022 Minutes of Hybrid Workshop — Board Priorities 6 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, January 18, 2022 — 5:00 p.m. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY /1 TAMARA CHAIR — ( DANIA BEACH COMMUNITY NE06"LOPMENT AMMY