Ellettsville Redevelopment Commission

October 26, 2006

 

 

The Ellettsville, Indiana Redevelopment Commission met in regular session on Thursday, October 26, 2006 in the Fire Department Training and Conference Room located at 5080 West State Road 46.  Frank Buczolich called the meeting to order at 7 PM.  The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Roll Call: Frank Buczolich, David Drake, Amber Ragle and Ray Freetage were present; Darby McCarty was not present. A quorum is present.  Minutes from the September 28, 2006 meeting are included in packet; Frank N. notes typos and grammar corrections that will be fixed.  David motions to approve the minutes.  Amber seconds the motion.  Unanimous approval of September 28, 2006 minutes

 

Treasurer’s Report: Amber does not have a treasurer’s report.  Amber noted that members need to meet with her about pay and sign a sheet to such extent.

 

Tentative Meeting Dates for 2007

 

Frank Nierzwicki presented the 2007 tentative meeting dates which were requested by the fire department.  Note all meetings are the third Thursday of the month except for March (March 8th moved to accommodate Spring Break), there is a meeting scheduled for July but can be taken out for a break, and the December meeting was moved forward a week to get away as much as possible from the holiday season.  Advisory board meetings were tentatively set for Tuesdays: Jan. 9, April 10, August 14, and October 16 with two joint meetings in June & November.  They begin at 7 p.m. as well.  Ray moved that the meeting dates be approved; David seconded.

 

Chair is ready to entertain a motion to break up into the advisory board but Frank N notes that Bill Williams would be needed to make a quorum; advises the group waits to break into small groups.

 

Old Business:

Heritage Crossing Redevelopment Plan Introduction:

Frank Nierzwicki: Redevelopment staff was asked to come up with a new name for the district.  Background: the area in question encompasses the trail area called the Heritage Trail.    He wanted to give the packet to the board tonight; November 9th it will be brought up for procession & implementation.  Much of the packet deals with Indiana Code and what are required under that.

 

Page 5: declaratory resolution declaring the desire to have the redevelopment plan; a draft of the plan is enclosed.  Once the redevelopment commission passes the resolution it requires Plan Commission review then it needs town council approval, notice of public hearing and TIF impact statement.  Timetable: tonight, discuss, listen and revise.  November 9th, adoption and pass it on to the Plan Commission in December.  Take it to Council in December also.

 

Page 7: how the town intends to meet the statutory findings.  Currently there is stress on Ellettsville infrastructure because of SR 46 is only street funded by federal funds.   As a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, Ellettsville is eligible for federal funding.  Long range projects in the area: improvements along Union Valley road (only a portion is in town but the majority is in the county).  For major infrastructure improvements, there needs to be another way of helping it along.  The TIF district would help with seed money.  Example: the trail; the Town received $169,000 in a federal grant to construct a downtown trail.  It’s an 80/20 match; need 20% to proceed with the project.  With the TIF, that could be one mechanism to have funding come in. 

 

For discussion purposes, these are general planning issues.

 

A new east-west road to be constructed from Lakeview drive to Hartstrait Rd. west to a new connection to Paddington Way

 

Lakeview Drive improvements

 

Completion of the Heritage Trail

 

The document states that the redevelopment area would want to encourage development; it would not pay for development that a developer would pay for.

 

Other types of improvements:

 

Streetscape improvements along sale and Vine Street to encourage new businesses/expansions

 

New municipal building/post office building that could encourage other development

 

February 28, 2007: the magic date—for changes to the tax purposes, must be complete by March 1 for funding available in 2008.  We must think ahead for long range planning.  Also for bond issuance and money for buying land/buildings; options are bonds or pay-as-you-go.  When the plan is approved, the redevelopment commission can amend the plan to add up to 20% more territory to the area.  Going above 20% means the plan starts over again and the process begins all over.

 

Frank Nierzwicki then discussed each of the maps.

Included is the area of Campbell Park and Township land that runs south from SR 46.  Those areas would not generate revenue; businesses would not come in to displace a park.  Whereas it would not be a generator of revenue, it would be an area that could receive revenue.

 

Page 12 Appendix B, draft with description of improvements previously discussed.  The idea is to have the projects in the plan so that the commission can designate funding for the different projects; what you have in there is what you can fund without going through to redo the process again.

 

Comments:

 

David Drake: Notice the gaps highlighted in the map—white splotches in the map.

 

Discussion of individual parcels not included in the map.  Reason why many of the white parcels are not included in the district is because they are not in town; Frank Nierzwicki has not received any indication from the property owners wishing to be annexed.

 

Much of the property in question is up for annexation in November or December.  The land does not have to be continuous; Frank Nierzwicki notes that much of it will be added shortly.  Frank Nierzwicki notes that there are 2 options: wait until the land comes into Town in January of next year (appointments expire Dec. 31) or have part of it in beforehand. 

 

Discussion topic: 100 acres currently; 20 more acres would be the break-off point before having to go through the process all over again.

 

Jeana suggests Frank Nierzwicki approaches the property owner to see if they would like to be in Town.  Frank discusses many of the November annexation plans and notes that annexation does not mean development; some areas annexed into town have not been developed and vice versa.  The commission promotes the idea of Frank trying to discuss with the property owners the possibility of annexation & to be part of the TIF district. 

 

Jeana Kapczynski: Asked about the cost of paperwork for annexation. Being part of town raises taxes by a third; there is not additional paperwork fee.  Cost is $4.64 for each certified letter to each adjacent property owner; must have a legal description (possible cost).  No filing fee for voluntary annexation.  For a super voluntary annexation it is relatively simple legally.  And must have a deed showing proof of ownership; must make sure that group has the authority to sign the paperwork. 

 

David Drake made the motion for Frank Nierzwicki to entertain voluntary annexation. Ray Freetage seconded.  Roll call motion passed with unanimous approval. Will bring back the Heritage Crossing plan and have it ready ASAP before the next meeting.

 

Frank Buczolich moves into new business for subcommittee workshops.  Committee divides into Planning, Finance, and Public Relations/Process groups (with overlapping members splitting their time between their subcommittees).  Frank leads the Planning &

Finance committees; Ashley Porta leads the Public Relations/Process subcommittee meeting.  Committee reconvenes.

 

There are no non-agenda items

 

David Drake: Makes a motion to adjourn.  Ray Freetage Seconded the motion.