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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20220426 CRA Board Planning-Budget Hybrid WorkshopMINUTES OF PLANNING/BUDGET HYBRID WORKSHOP DANIA BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2022 - 4:30 P.M. 1. Call to Order/Roll Call Chair James called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Present: Chair: Vice -Chair: Board Members Executive Director City Attorney: CRA Secretary: 2. Items for Discussion Tamara James Marco A. Salvino, Sr. Joyce L. Davis Lori Lewellen Lauren Odman K. Michael Chen Eve Boutsis Thomas Schneider 2.1 Discussion of interests and priorities with Neale Stralow, Project Manager, Vanasse, Hangen, Brustlin, Inc., for the CRA Plan update Director Chen gave a brief introduction and noted he was asked to bring ideas to today's workshop. There are programs going on and a broad description of funding needs is coming up. We are still looking to address the existing CRA Plan. As we come into the next fiscal year, the CRA is going to need an additional employee; there are many things coming up requiring this staffing. The CRA website needs to be re -done and improved to strategically portray the CRA and the City to attract investors to our community. The cost is between $25-30,000.00; there are also maintenance costs to the website. Vice -Chair Salvino agreed a website is essential and needs to be properly done. He asked why there are all these open projects in the CRA, and staff intends to add even more. He questioned having two different websites, the CRA's and the City's; they should be looked at as one effort. Director Chen described the consultant hired to maintain the CRA's websites; the way it is designed currently, it is not set up to have a combined website. Vice -Chair Salvino questioned the cost of maintaining the CRA website. Board Member Davis asked for a breakdown of the four different websites of the CRA and the costs, as well as the upgrade and maintenance costs. Director Chen noted he does not know the history of the websites, which are the CRA, the PATCH, DAD, and Arts & Seafood Celebration; he wants a consultant to look into it and felt a new consultant would bring a solution at a not very expensive cost, along with maintenance. Board Member Davis asked what the salary would be for the new person. Director Chen responded the range would be $51,000-$75,000 per year ($ 1 00,000/year total cost, including benefits). Board Member Odman asked if it would make sense for the CRA website to be part of the City's website as most residents do not go looking for a CRA website. Director Chen said he recommends the CRA and City have separate websites; however, this does not mean they would need to be maintained separately. The CRA is starting to get an identity of its own. Board Member Lewellen felt people look for the City first regarding websites, then the CRA within that. She questioned the new full-time person. Director Chen said the compensation would be the same as Strategic Communications & Community Outreach Representative Eugene's when she moved from part-time to full-time. Chair James noted COVID was not the reason Strategic Communications & Community Outreach Representative Eugene went part time. She felt $100,000 for a new person would be costly to the CRA and she would instead favor a part-time position. Board Member Lewellen commented she would be more comfortable with a part-time person rather than full-time. Director Chen explained the workload and noted he would bring forth a job description. Vice -Chair Salvino said he would like to see the programs Director Chen has to offer. He felt Director Chen should lay out for the Board what each of the CRA employees do and the Board may be more inclined to approve a new full-time position. He said the Arts & Seafood Celebration should not have its own website and addressed how the CRA website should be operated. Director Chen needs to come back and tell us why there are four websites, why he needs a new website consultant, and why we need another full-time employee when we just got one. Chair James asked if staff spoke to the vendor who is the current consultant for the CRA website. Director Chen said there have been preliminary discussions. Chair James asked if Director Chen knows if they are capable of accomplishing reconstructing the website. Minutes of Planning/Budget Hybrid Workshop 2 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, April 26, 2022 — 4:30 p.m. Director Chen responded he has not had that conversation with the consultant. Chair James noted she knows social media is cheap. Her understanding is the type of websites Director Chen wants are cheaper, which is not a bad thing. She felt if the Board understood why the CRA needs these things they could better make a decision. Her opinion on a new staff person is that she would be open to a part-time position. Board Member Davis felt we could have separate websites, but there should be some cross - promotion. We should consider how we maintain the websites and the exposure when considering consolidating the websites. She wants to see how we can work together to maximize the exposure of the CRA and the City. Chair James asked CRA Operations Manager Weekes to explain the websites. CRA Operations Manager Weekes said basically, we have two consultants, and she explained their roles. She addressed RTMG, the media consultant, who posts on social media on an on- going basis. She addressed the four websites and social media posts and noted they need to be constantly active. She strongly recommended we keep the separate websites. Director Chen noted he wants two tools to install on the website. The first is a property search for those businesses exploring relocation. The information is part of the prescription fee and is around $2,000/year. They have been using a Co Star service; this new tool does not require us to do anything, and it costs $5,500/year. He also feels we should design a new business attraction program and addressed the program which includes incentives, built on two tiers. He felt this would be very effective. Board Member Odman asked if there is another City doing this. Director Chen responded he has done similar programs in other cities; he has done them on specific corridors they were trying to revitalize. This program should be extended to people who have existing businesses that are looking to expand. Chair James noted she thought we just re -worked the commercial grants. It seems like we are bending over backwards for businesses and not for our residents. She questioned where programs are for first-time homebuyers and affordable housing. She gets pushback on this sort of thing. We just re -worked this program and now we are looking at additional ways to assist them further. Director Chen said this would be different than the facade grant program and he further addressed the new program's components; this is to expand our range of material merchandise and materials available to residents. Business Attraction & Investment Manager Harris addressed the facade grant recipients and those in the pipeline. Chair James questioned how many applications have been received. Minutes of Planning/Budget Hybrid Workshop 3 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, April 26, 2022 — 4:30 p.m. Business Attraction & Investment Manager Harris said one. Board Member Lewellen felt that doing something like this will help us see the results of the Business Academy. For a long time, there have been a lot of signs for vacant properties; businesses should be hopping on this. She thinks it is a good idea to offer a program with incentives. We have quite a bit of money set aside for affordable housing because of the ARPA funds, and this would not take away from that. She sees things that could be improved for businesses; she has no issue offering incentives especially since it is tied to another program. Chair James noted she would feel differently if we had a waiting list of businesses wanting to relocate here; she does not feel the programs we have now have been successful. She wants to see more results before we continue to invest in new programming. Director Chen said the idea of a business attraction grant is very different than a fagade grant. These are investments in our community to attract more product and services for our community. They have an ongoing ripple effect that benefits the community. This is not just for outside businesses; this is also for residents who have ideas for a business. He would like to see more fagade grant applications and they are working on this, but this is not the same as a business attraction grant. Mr. Stralow explained they are in the data gathering phase of the plan update and this is a listening forum for him. Board Member Davis noted she has two priorities near and dear to her heart; she is very interested in creating an arts and entertainment district. She asked Mr. Stralow what he has seen so far. Mr. Stralow said he sees a lot of opportunities within Dania Beach for public art. It is not only one corridor; it is Dania Beach Boulevard, US-1, and within parks. He noted he met with City staff yesterday on the City's public art program; he thinks he will be able to come forward with opportunities. Board Member Davis questioned maximizing the potential of the PATCH and growing its visibility. Mr. Stralow noted one of the first conversations would be regarding digital presence and telling your story. He added it comes down to how much can be produced and the backlog is contracted for. It comes down to programming the space, school integration and building your own market. Board Member Lewellen said she wants the arts and entertainment district, and more public art in the CRA. Also, a housing assessment (affordable or workforce) is happening citywide but how it incorporates the CRA needs to be determined. Board Member Odman spoke of designing for our City and CRA what sustainability is going to look like for us; she wants building in sustainability in everything we do. She would be Minutes of Planning/Budget Hybrid Workshop 4 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, April 26, 2022 — 4:30 p.m. interested in a community dedicated to sustainability and affordability, such as reflective painting on roofing. She wants us to look at what Deerfield and Hollywood have done. She thinks there has been a shift post-COVID to how do I provide for myself. Perhaps in small part, be able to provide growing land (the PATCH). She would like to see the PATCH be a sustainability boot camp. The PATCH could serve as a learning center for all these concepts. There is a ton of space in the City; this all ties in with the arts and affordability. Vice -Chair Salvino noted everyone has a lot of great ideas. He is going to defer at this time and follow up with the CRA Director. Chair James said yes to the arts district, especially downtown; yes, to the PATCH plan; yes, to sustainability; yes, to housing along with a beautification program. Another thing she thinks we need is funding for the CRA because we are a TIFless CRA. We have a lot of great ideas, but we are very limited at what we can do. It is very important to have some type of plan, so the CRA is sustainable as well. She is in favor of workforce preparedness and placement. Citywide wayfinding is coming through, but it should be prioritized in the CRA. She wants more policing or enhanced code enforcement program as we have a lot of problematic and blighted areas. We need some type of enhanced code enforcement program. She knows within CRA abilities, they can have police and code enforcement. Chair James noted technology is huge now; how efficient and user friendly for our residents, accessibility and training is important. She said the PATCH is underutilized; we could have a lot more opportunities there. She would like to see more things addressed in community charrettes and an overall better relationship with our CRA community. Mr. Stralow noted he appreciates the ideas, and it is a great list. The nuances and individual Board perspectives are very critical. Ultimately, it is about implementation and how you fund the programs. Director Chen said the Board's input is very valuable. He addressed the workshop held last January and noted things are happening as a result, such as the shoulders have been widened at the railroad crossings. Chair James questioned connecting sidewalks and CRA Operations Manager Weekes responded. Director Chen noted he would follow up and bring the Board responses to their questions and comments. Janet McCombs, 41 SW 5th Street, asked the Board to re -address the mixed -use zoning change along Federal Highway. Minutes of Planning/Budget Hybrid Workshop 5 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, April 26, 2022 — 4:30 p.m. 3. Adj ournment Chair James adjourned the meeting at 5:54 p.m. ATTEST: f '�mjr- -'u CRA SECRETARY Approved: May 10, 2022 Minutes of Planning/Budget Hybrid Workshop 6 Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, April 26, 2022 — 4:30 p.m. COMMUNITY AGENCY TAMARA JAN CHAIR — CRA DANIA BEACH COMMUNITY REOEVELOPMEpT AGENCY