Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMichigan Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority Meeting Minutes 3.21.251 Michigan Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority Board of Director’s Meeting Friday, March 21, 2025 – 8:30 AM Foster Community Center 200 N. Foster Ave., Room 211 Lansing, MI 48910 Members Present: Yvette Collins, Scott Gillespie, Laurie Baumer, Jon Lum, Elaine Barr Mayoral Designee: Members Absent: Tim Daman (excused) Christina Campbell (excused) Facilitator Present: Kahleea Washington (LEDC) Klein Klein (LEDC) Public Present: Recorded by:Yvette Collins Call to Order/Roll call Chair Lum welcomed everyone and called the MACIA Board of Directors meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Public Comment None Approval of January 17, 2025 MACIA Meeting Minutes - Action MOTION:Baumer moved to approve the January Meeting Minutes. Motion seconded by Collins. YEAS:Unanimous. Motion carried. Approval of 2025/2026 Annual Budget - Action MOTION:Barr moved to approve the 2025/2026 Annual Budget. Motion seconded by Gillespie. YEAS:Unanimous. Motion carried. Discussion around the budget included confirmation from Washington that the approval will go before the city council and that there might be some differences between the projected budget 2 amount being less than the actual budget. Washington confirmed these budget dollars are placeholders that can be adjusted later. Approval of Development (E. Helzer) Contract – Discussion There was a review and discussion regarding the Advanced Redevelopment Solutions proposed contract. Lum says he thought the client section of the contract needs to reflect the LEDC address on Washington Square and not the Foster Community Center address. He thought he’d reach out to Eric, but we’ll need to make sure it is adjusted to the proposal in the actual body of the letter. Baumer expressed her support for working with Eric, although she pointed out that in the overview of services and fees it was not clear how he would accomplish the work. Collins inquired about what we would ask of him not covered in the Scope of Work. Baumer asked Klein his thoughts on incentives. Klein says there are a lot of things his team could put together. He is aware that Eric has done this work with other CIAs, specifically Delta Township. It’s all about what CIA wants to be. Baumer shared that there are mechanisms we can employ to purchase properties at a higher value and then recoup the differential through programs/incentives. Lum shared part of this process was to look back into the TIF plan. Klein seems to think there is no opportunity with the city to bond. May depend on how much or how it’s backed. Gillespie reminded the MACIA that when Laurie first brought him in it was with the intent of how effective we could be as an authority. Gillespie thought part of this would make an incentive for developers to come in to entice more investment along the corridor, without a necessary focus on purchase. Klein asked if there were any specific parcels you’re looking at? Lum responded, not specifically. Generally, there are some concerns about various parcels. Klein said if we work together using what we have - the CIA, the Brownfield Authority there are resources out there. Klein noted that have looked at putting together packages: It will take the EDC, the Brownfield Authority and the CIA to work together. We often do that with developers. In this case the CIA could be the developer holding the property. It looks like the Scope of Work is pretty light. Barr says she feels like the Scope of Work is light - eight months essentially for data gathering. She doesn’t like large chunks of the scope of work. Lum says that a lot of this capacity can be handled in house and has no bonding potential. Baumer says if we want to move forward, we need more clarity, more defined scope. Gillespie says that maybe our issue is we didn’t have any specifics for him. Maybe we need to pick a few properties (even if fictitious) and we want to understand what his process would be to get out to developers to promote development - help us get to the RFP to get a package out to developers. Gillespie said we need to narrow it down and have clarity as a board for what the end goal is. Klein suggested pooling resources with other CIAs as what we’re trying to accomplish is not unique. Baumer asked ‘Would the LEDC pull together the CIAs to determine capacity to do or not do. Then we know what the gap is and where we could determine what we need Eric to do. Klein offered that there had been discussion at the LEDC about convening the four chairs of the CIAs. Washington wants to convene a meeting with all the chairs of the CIAs. Baumer suggested the meeting of the chairs happen soon. Lum asked Washington, “what percentage of time she spends on work for all the CIAs?” Washington responded that she spends about 75% of her time working on the CIAs. Lum says, because of this discussion it sounds like there is consensus on tabling the proposed contract. As part of this, Baumer added there needs to be a convening of the chairs. Washington doesn’t believe it could be any sooner than early April. Who would be the person to work with Eric to narrow the scope of work. Barr said she’d be happy to do that. Gillespie said he is stepping down but not running away. He would be happy to help. 3 Approval of Development (E. Helzer) Contract – Action MOTION:Barr made a motion to table the adoption of the development contract. Motion seconded by Baumer. YEAS:Unanimous. Motion carried. Update on the Block 2000 Projects Baumer shared that the MOU document is a bigger lift than what she and Washington thought it might be. There was discussion on adjusting the meeting agenda to approve the corridor facade improvement MOU and to name MACIA as the grant recipient and the business owners as the project beneficiaries. Baumer asked if the board can move forward while looking at potential contractors. Baumer wants to get things moving. We have the community foundation dollars at risk and ARPA funding if we don’t get moving. Gillespie said we’ve had two contractors look at it. Of course, the project has morphed and changed since the initial concepts. Gillespie said last time we talked he was going to step down and then just get it done. Baumer asked if Gillespie can work on the cosmetic changes, then we’ll know how much to spend on each item. He offered to put something together with the possibility it may change. Approval to adjust the agenda to create an action item to approve the corridor facade improvement MOU and name MACIA as the grant recipient and the business owners as the project beneficiaries. – Action MOTION:Collins made a motion to adjust the agenda to create an action item to approve the corridor facade improvement MOU and name MACIA as the grant recipient and the business owners as the project beneficiaries. Motion seconded by Baumer. YEAS:Unanimous. Motion carried. Approval to approve the draft corridor facade improvement MOU and authorize the chair to negotiate, finalize, and execute the contract on behalf of MACIA. – Action MOTION:Baumer made a motion to approve the draft corridor facade improvement MOU and to authorize the chair to negotiate, finalize, and execute the contract on behalf of MACIA. Motion seconded by Barr. YEAS:Unanimous. Motion carried. Update on the Michigan Ave. Construction Gathering Not much more to say. Other Business None Adjournment Chair Lum adjourned the Michigan Avenue Board of Directors at 9:34 a.m. Jonathan Lum, Chair Michigan Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority