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Home My WebLink About03-16-2017 BIA Rate Payer Committee Meeting MinutesCITY OF Nancy Backus, Mayor V✓ WAS H I1N�GT1O,N 25 West Main Street* Auburn WA 98001-499B * wwwauburnwa.gov r 253-931-3000 BIA Rate Payer Committee Meeting Minutes City I[all, Council Chambers, 25 West Main Street, Auburn WA 93001 March 16, 2017, 1:30pm-3:00pm Committee: William Cowart, Giovanni DiQuattro, Josef Forsberg, Kelly Gordon, Darren Jones, Lynda Krill, Kirk Lantier, Ruth Neil -Stover, Ronnie Roberts, Laura Theimer, Megan White Alternates: Robert Klontz Members Present: William Cowart, Giovanni DiQuattro, Josef Forsberg, Darren Jones, Ruth Neil -Stover, Ronnie Roberts, Laura Theimer, Megan White Members Absent: Kelly Gordon, Lynda Krill, Kirk Lantier Welcome from the Mayor Mayor Backus thanked the board and stressed that your participation means a lot as your partnership ensures the success to Downtown and to the City. There are a couple of exciting projects in the works in the downtown area. A residential development of 137 units with a theatre and restaurant, as well as a two phase development which will have 175 units at each of the two Phases of which there will be a restaurant on the sixth floor and a glass enclosure with the view of Mt. Rainier. These projects will boost the Downtown presence. It. Roll Call a. Roll Call It was announced that unfortunately. Alternate David Haynes was no longer eligible to serve as an alternate his business is 50 feet outside of the BIA physical boundary, and he has been stricken from the membership roster. b. Elect a Committee Chair for 2017 — Committee Megan White volunteers to serve as Chair. No other nominations come about. William makes a motion for Nlegan to be elected Chair, Ronnie seconds the motion. Nlotion passes unanimously. 111. Review of Meeting Structure and Legal a. Legal Responsibilities — City Attorney Dan Heid congratulated the new board and shared some important information of which board members should be aware of in their new responsibilities. He encouraged if you have any questions, he is available to answer them whether his work or home phone number. Dan is also available to provide a 30 — 45 minute training session at a future meeting for board members AUBURN *MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED CITYOF -� WASHINGTON Nancy Backus, Mayor 25 West Main Street t Auburn WA 98001-4998 * wwwauburnwa.gov v 253-931-3000 -Documents are public records. With the advent of the Public Meetings Act, transparency and the public arena imposes compliance by local government to provide infonnation. Should any board members receive a request, please send that request to Doug Lein as there are requirements the City has to abide by with these requests. -The Board is able to enter an Executive Session to discuss sensitive matters. -Should six or seven board members discuss business whether in person or via email, that constitutes a public meeting which requires an agenda posted with the City Clerk's office. Any special meetings to be called require at least 24 hours' notice. You can talk amongst each other, just not solicit infonnation. So please be sensitive to this matter. - The responsibilities of the Chair of the board is to communicate with staff and use them as a main point of contact, maintain and develop the agenda, oversee the operations of the committee and the integrity of the agenda. -The City has an indemnification clause that covers board members, yet it is important to be aware of possible legal ramifications. -A subcommittee does not have to comply with the Public Meetings Act unless that group relegated to replace action of the full committee. The subcommittee can task staff which is here to help. to generate information and source information. -For any Public Records requests received, please give that to Doug or Dan, the City's appointed legal attorney as there is no legal requirement as to how a request has to be made. Any city ordinance work needs to be compliant with Washington law. b. Establish a quorum number- City Attomey With a board of eleven members, six members constitute a quorum. He cautioned that members also needed to be sensitive to the possibility of exceeding quorum when talking about business. c. Establish a meeting schedule for 2017 - Committee After much discussion, it was suggested that the next meeting would be Tuesday, April 18`1i at 5:30pm. The May meeting would be determined at this time as it was suggested to alternate meeting times to accommodate members who favored mornings and those who could only make it in the evenings. Josef motioned to set the nest meeting date as April 18"' at 5:30pm, and table the discussion for the following meeting date at that time. Darren seconded the motion. Motion passes unanimously. It was offered that the Council Chambers has capacity for a phone to be placed for those who couldn't make it physically but who might be able to call in. AUBURN* MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED CITY OF V1`I I\1 Nancy Backus, Mayor ASH I11N�G�LCON 25 West Main Street* Auburn WA 98001-4998 * www auburnwa.gov > 253-931-3000 Lorraine will send a survey link via Survey Monkey to gauge ideal meeting times and days. IV. The Committee needs to identity which areas to tackle first, and what resources they need to make informed decisions. a. Review ordinances 4293 & 6097 Megan indicated this review would be a priority. Doug offered for a Staff Briefing of an Ordinance Review for the nest meeting in which a line by line assessment will explain what currently exists identifying what we know and why it exists the way it is, an explanation of exemptions, the definition of downtown which has changed over the years, as well as an in depth explanation of the BIA; why some businesses pay more than others. b. Ordinance revisions The BIA Rate Payer Committee could potentially decide the amount of the business taxes, and have a working committee meet weekly to identify possible changes to have a potential draft of an ordinance for the May meeting. With previous billing methods, a business license was not contingent to paying the business tax. This could be addressed in a potential ordinance revision. c. Budget A budget update will be read at each meeting. To give perspective, a revenue of $71,000 was collected in 2015, $61.000 was collected in 2016. It is not known what caused the reduction. Megan wants to know the borders and see maps of the current boundaries. The City's GIS has already been tasked with an aerial view with an overlay in zoning, addresses to provide to the Committee. The BIA would keep money for operating functions or pay a third party to manage it as it had done in the past with ADA. Or to have a positive impact, can collaborate with other boards for added value based on shared goals. d. ADA Report An update of the ADA will be provided at each meeting going forward. Laura shared that currently the ADA has no staff or office space. The ADA is looking to hire an Event Coordinator who would be paid a small stipend and earn a portion of event revenue for planning an event and securing outside sponsorship to finance those events. To remain a 501(c) 3, the ADA has secured officer's insurance and will maintain the ADA website as smaller businesses that wouldn't have a web presence otherwise rely on their listing on the ADA site which provides instant value. Economic Development is able to assist the ADA to get healthy as much as they can for what not had been an anticipated expense in their budget. The Event AUBURN* MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED CITY OF T v Nancy Backus, Mayor ttvJJ WAIISJJH I NGTON 25 West Main Street # Auburn WA 98001-4998 + www auburnwa.gov k 253-931-3000 Coordinator and maintaining the liquor license are ways that Economic Development wanted to make sure that the BIA wouldn't be burdened. V. Adjournment Darren makes a motion to adjourn, Ronnie seconds the motion. IN'lotion passes unanimously. 44u Megan White, Chair 40 Holly Ferry, Board Secretary AUBURN *MORE THAN YOU IMAGINED