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262947 WH17E - CITY CLERK 1 PINK - FINANCE CO1111C11 262��►� B�.UERY- MAVORTMENT GITY OF SAINT PAUL File NO. . � - � � ouncil Resolution Presented By - �� � Referred To Committee: Date Out of Committee By Date RESOLVED� That the Council of the City of Saint Pau1 does hereby authorize the City Planning Coordinator to obtain the services of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority staff to assist in the planning and implementation of the various Development Districts, the services to be rendered by such staff under the direction of the Planning Coordina.tor and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contracts which shall be entered into between the City and Authority and as authorized by the Ma.yor, subject to availability of funds in the budget of the Planning Of f ice . COUIVCILMEN Requested by Department of: Yeas gutler Nays � Konopatzki In FavOr �. Meredith _� Against By �x Roedler ��des�s Mme.President B[lC3Bt HLtri't Adopted by Council: Date JAN 1 8 �974 Form Approved by ity tto Certi ' s ed by Co il ary BY By Approved M or: Date � � Approve�,N�yor f Submissio cil . �, i. 'J /7 _ � � �. � �j./��� �. /�.J By BY _ �_�_ Pu�wsH�n JAN 26 i91� . . c ����yy� . . � ► L-��.. � � Honorable Lawrence D. Cohen and Members of the City Council City of Saint Paul City Hall Saint Paul , Minnesota 55102 Dear Mayor and Council Members: At our Development District Task Force meeting on Monday, December 17, at 3:30 p.m. , Mr. Coughlin, the City Planning Coordinator, outlined to the Task Force his proposal for the staffing of development districts, both city-wide and, more particularly, with regard to our development district number 1 . Mr. Coughlin indicated that the concept had received the approval of both the Mayor and the City Administrator and had been presented to the City Council in an informal session the previous week. A copy of the memorandum detailing Mr. Coughlin's proposed approach to staffing is attached. In addition, Mr. Coughlin indicated to us that a corollary recommendation had been made by him to have Mr. Simonowicz enter into a direct reporting relationship to the City Administrator in order to bring the Mayor and Council into the closest possible contact with the original formulation of development district concepts. With regard to staffing, we understand that Mr. Coughlin is proposing that the Housing and Redevelopment Authority staff be utilized under the contractual relation- ship with the City, with the Executive Director of the HRA reporting directly to Mr. Coughlin as Planning Coordinator. Mrs. Slawik moved that the Task Force accept the proposal as presented by Mr. Coughlin and the City for this kind of coordinated work effort with HRA. The motion was seconded by Mr. Konopatzki and passed unanimously. Given the time constraints that we are operating under with regard to major decisions by companies within Development District No. 1 , the Task Force would recomnend the expeditious approval of this proposal so that staff can immediately be assigned to this development district to begin the detailed planning. Very truly yours, Arnie Joh on, Chairman Development District Task Force No. 1 ! � � DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT MEETING Monday, December 17, 1973, 3:30 P.M. Development District Number 1 Present: Mmes. Shapiro & Slawik, Messrs. Anderson, Feder, Guthmann, Johnson, Konopatzki , Ruschke, & Samuelson Absent: Mme. Schweizer, Messrs. Mogol , North, Tedesco & Lanpher Guests: Mr. Vince Coughlin, City Planning & Mr. Don Cosgrove, HRA. First item on the agenda was approval of the minutes of the December 10, 1973 meeting. It was noted that Mr. Konopatzki was present at that meeting and not absent as the minutes indicated. Also, regarding the motion passed to allow members of the task force to send representatives to the meetings, it was intended that this be meant for businessmen and property owners in the area. Mr. Simonowicz was instructed by the task force to check out with Legal Council whether task force members could appoint alternates to represent them at meetings when they are unable to attend. The minutes were then approved as submitted with the above mentioned corrections. Mr. Coughlin then read excerpts from his memorandum to the Mayor. (copy attached) He said the worst thing we could do would be to get into development districts and not adequately staff it and not provide the kind of day to day well thought out and sensitive input that is required. He said he did not want to duplicate expertise with the tax dollar where the expertise already exists. The task force asked exactly what position Mr. Simonowicz would hold in this plan. Mr. Coughlin said he would be assigned full time to development districts and he would get into a direct reporting relationship with Frank Marzitelli . The kickoff then for any development district would be from the Mayor to City Council and the Planning Commission's role would come later. Mrs. Slawik moved that the Task Force accept the proposal as presented by Mr. Coughlin, that the city have a coordinated work effort with HRA. The motion was seconded by Councilman Konopatzki and passed unanimously. Mr. Simonowicz mentioned that most of the property owners had been contacted in the area but one of those who had not been contacted was raising a question of constitutionality of the law that they propose to operate under. This is the first real opposition to the project that has surfaced. A subcommittee of three, Mr. Mogol , Mrs. Slawik and Mr. Simonowicz were designated to meet with the opposition, listen to them and answer their questions and see if the problems could be worked out. Next, under old business, a subcommittee was appointed to pinpoint the particular problems concerning the Open School and find solutions for them. Appointed on this committee were Mrs. Shapiro, Mr. Samuelson, Mr. Guthmann and Mr. Anderson. r � . .A time 1•ine was requested from this committee on the relocation of the Open School . Mr. Coughlin responded that the one aspect of land assembly that would not lend itself to precise prograrr�ning was relocation, and that if relocation is to be carried out sensitively, the timing must remain flexible. Ultimately the decision on when to move ahead would rest with the City Council and the Development District Task Force. There was discussion on setting up a timetable to identify problems of relocation for the area, perhaps until February or March. Mrs. Slawik suggested maybe the boundaries of the development district could be extended to include an area that could be used by her company to relocate and have enough room for parking also. Mr. Simonowicz will meet with Mrs. Slawik to discuss these problems. The next meeting will be January 7, 1974 at 3:30 P.M. . f � . . . . � - � ' . . �. . • - ' ' nnEnnoRAN�unn ' CITY OF SAINT PAUL � OFFICE OF THE MAYOR CITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT VINCENT M. COUGHLIN TO: Mayor Lawrence D. Cohen PLANNING COORDINATOR FROM: Vincent M. Coughlin � SUB)ECT: RoIe of Housing and Redevelopment Authority with regard to District Development Legislation . DATE: December I0, ..I973 .� , . � • . , ' . I have been reassessing the role of the Planning staff in light of both the budget reductions and the informal indications of concern that I received trom a number of sources regarding the sweeping scope of the program originally proposed. I have now arrived at a number of tentative recommendations regarding what l consider to be the functions that this department can best perform in providing the Mayor, the Council and the Commission with a planning direction during the coming year. An outline of this modified and drastically scaled-back •work program is attached. However, any consideration of the optimum use of the limited staff must take into account the role that the Planning Department can perform in the imple- mentation-of Development District Legislation. As you are aware, ever since the legislature passed this enabling legislation last Spring, I have assigned one of � our most competent and experienced planners to this program to the virtual exclusion of any other activities. Reflecting on our experience in presenting the Downtown Development District to City Council on November 23, it becomes obvious to me that the continuation of our present approach to development districts, with a one-person staff and "donated" talent from other departments and agencies, is not a workable alter- , native. In assessing the strengths and capabilities of various departments and agencies within the City, I have concluded that only the HRA possesses the �equisite staff skills, at the present time, to successfully carry out these p rog rams. _ Recently, et the request of the Executive Director of the HRA, I discussed with him and several of his key staff inembers the possible role of the Authority in the carrying out of these programs. Durirg the session, the HRA staff pointed up the following factors: I . The HRA Executive Director and staff are more than willing to accept direct . supervision from me, and whatever advisory boards ar�e created in the detailed planning and execution of any development district activities assigned to them. 2. At the present time, HP,A, despifie serious staff attritions over the last year, still possesses the requisite skills in the areas of land acquisition, iand 421 Wabasha, Sairt Paul, Minnesota 55102 . . (612) 298-4151 . , , __. _ __ . _ _ _._.�._..�,,� . Mayor Lawrence D. Cohen - 2 - December 10, 1973 di.sposition, land use planning, business relocation and family relocation, demolition, project design, project engineering, administration and coordinat-ion. 3. Despite the fact that there have been numerous discussions on the future role of HRA, the steady erosion ot skilled professional staff is continuing and will continue until and unless a definitive understanding is reached between the City and the HRA as to their future role. In this regard, HRA is also considering a significant staff reduction commensurate with their reduced level of funding expected next year. � 4. It was further pointed out that HRA continues to receive the revenue from a one-mill tax levy which is specifically designated for those planning activities which are not reimbursable by Federal funds. Consideration - might be given to using some of these funds for maintaining present key professional staff and contracting out for special studies as needed. 5. Of primary concern to the HRA staff are the present loose and disjointed attempts to receive the input of individual HRA staff inembers in the packaging of development districts without any clearly assigned division of labor, delineation of responsibility, or supervision within the HRA structure. Based on this discussion and consultation with others, and on my own personal knowledge of the HRA staff capabilities, it would be my recommendation that � we "farm out" the, detailed p .roject planning and project imp(ementation activities to the HRA with the Executive Director being directly accountable to me and any Development District Advisory Boards subsequently created. Clarence Simonowicz would continue to be assigned primary coordinative respon- sibility with an emphasis on the formulation of the original concepts relating to development districts. It is at this stage that I feel your personal input is particularly crucial .. � One area of possible concern would be the role of the HRA Board in this program. To assure continuing input by the HRA Commissioners, it would be my recommenda- tion that consideration be given by Council to the appointment of the two HRA Board members, who are also members of the Council , to all Development District Advisory Boards created. Further, in order to insure adequate input from the Planning Commission, I would recommend at least one, and possibly two, Planning Commission members be assigned to each of these Advisory Boards with the criteria for their selection being residence or place of business within or in the general vicinity of the contemplated development district. Finally, with regard to the sequence of activities as outlined on the flow chart � attached, I would like to discuss with you one modification which would be that you make the first recommendation on any Development District directly to Council with appropriate staff support from this department. If this recommendation is adopted, I would visualize the following sequence of activities: 1 . The prelim_inary analysis by Mr. Simonowicz of this staff for presentation to Frank Marzitelli and me; we would, in turn, recommend it to you. . , . � Mayor Lawrence D. Cohen - 3 - December 10, 1973 2. if you approve the general concept, you would appear before Council stating that the preliminary proposal warrants further consideration and recommend- ing its formal transmittal to the Planning Commission and staff tor further development and subsequent evaluation. 3. Simultaneousiy with the referral of the concept to the Planning staff and Commission, an advisory board would be tentatively designated. 4. At this point the Planning Coordinator would refer the matter over to the Executive Director of HRA without contract to prepare the following: a. Cost estimates � b. Relocation Feasibility c. Financing plan d. Illustrative site plan e. Retated studies 5. The HRA staff, upon completion of this work, transmit its findings and recommendations to Frank Marzitelli , me and our staffs for comment. 6. Once our approval has been secured, the matter would be transmitted to the Planning Commission for their review and recommendations. 7. Only after a favorable recommendation to Council is forthcoming from the Planning Commission, and Council approval and the creation of an advisory board, would a formal contract be executed between HRA and the City pursuant _ to the joint powers agreement. This contract with HRA would assign overall responsibility for the detailed planning and execution to the HRA Executive Director and Planning Coordinator, wifih HRA playing essentially a consulting � - role to this department and creating a direct reporting relationship by the Executive Director to me. These are my preliminary thoughts on the question of the role of HRA in Development District Legislation. I feel , in any event, that it is necessary at this time to define precisely what role, if any, the City wishes HRA staff to play in this program. If you feel that this recommendation warrants further consideration, l would suggest that we discuss it with Mrs. Hunt and M�. � Konopatzki to determine its acceptability. • Since one Development District Advisory Board has already been established and the creation ot a second is imminent, 1 would like to reach some firm conclusions on this matter in the immediate future. . • �`7 � • Planning oordinator � VMC:da Attachments