Revitalization Commission Agenda and Packet 2020 05 06

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Revitalization Commission Minutes April 15, 2020 Page 4 of 7 City Attorney Kathleen Kelly said there had been discussions with bond counsel to determine the legal means for the URA to assist businesses as a result of the pandemic. TIF is to be used to eliminate blight and further the vision of the URA plan. TIF revenue is to go into a special fund to pay indebtedness of LRC. There is not a mechanism to fund grants directly. An agreement between the LRC and the City will allow reimbursement to fund grants to businesses within the URA. One of the visions of the plan is to prevent the spread of blight. She indicated the proposed structure would subordinate funds pledged to previous agreements. The way the agreement is drafted, the LRC would have a cap on indebtedness and only businesses in the URA would receive funds. Finance Director Kevin Watson said the Finance Director would process checks. Decisions of who receives checks will be made by Economic Vitality Staff or a committee, based on City Council decision. Chair Fisher said he is increasingly not in favor of this. Director Pierce said there will be some reprioritization of the work plan. We can build short-term items into the work plan. Commissioner Gambale senses that there is value in LRC providing assistance to URA businesses. Our core area is largely in a shut down. He suggested the LRC may want to put out the call to businesses to share their ideas and needs; for instance, the infrastructure needed for restaurant carry out as things will be different. No perfect answer for everything but need to look at different ways to innovate and support business. Commissioner Tofte is in favor of some assistance. He agrees with Council member Lipton that the LRC start with an initial amount. Perhaps businesses will come forward with ideas that will help them but need to get initial help out then reassess in a few weeks. Commissioner Bradfield feels this is important in scope of charter to help alleviate blight. Once core businesses are gone, it will be hard to put back together. Anything the LRC can do to keep business entities together will be helpful. It may be good for only a few weeks but this may be the bridge to keep downtown together. Don’t want property values to go down. This is within our scope, and the LRC should take a measured and conservative approach. We should be willing to come back with more money later. Commissioner Adler said it is important to approve this resolution and support businesses. There are 176 brick-and-mortar businesses in the URA that currently fall into the applicant pool being reviewed by the EVC. Director Pierce said the EVC continues working on components of grant program; the more strict criteria limits applications. Broader criteria means more