ready yes sir right call in the meeting to five o'clock all right uh invocation and pledge you would uh everyone bow their stand stand and bow their head Lord God thank you for all you've given us and please give us the strength and wisdom to guide this board it's many projects to help this city in in the best ways we can and thank you for all many blessings in Jesus Christ name we pray Amen to of the United States of America to the it stands Nation indivisible okay all right we're going to move on to the minutes we have two sets of minutes and PR of us one from uh one from this year and one from 2022 so uh thank you for resurrecting these old minutes and getting everything cleaned up to you guys uh we are we in good shape after we do this one or we uh we kind of not quite um I believe it's like two more or something like that yes sir but you know we're Ming that direction you know I mean great excellent all right well sounds good all right um everyone you've had a chance to look over these has anybody got any comments or changes to either either sets do we want to make we need to do them two separate two separate you can approve them all together unless people have comments on any of those well actually is it is that the correct date November 30th 2022 yes sir then let's do two separate ones because we do have that much spread between them okay well we'll start with the the May 2024 okay all in favor say I I I all opposed motion carries 5 V okay now moving on to [Music] 2022 all right we got a motion in a second all in favor say I I all oppos say no okay motion carries 5 all right like to welcome Miss Lenny Hatcher my first time to be you uh thank you for joining the board and congratulations and uh read the resume look like you uh have some good skill sets that could help this board so uh thank you and we look forward to serving with you thank you good to be here great miss Hatcher Kay Atkinson attorney for the board just a few comments you and I can get together and we can talk Sunshine Law Public Records law ethics ethical obligations in much more detail I won't take up all their time because unfortunately few of y'all have heard it on multiple board jobs served on from me and nobody wants my 20-minute rendition they've already heard P or six times the big thing I do is look around the table make sure you see everybody sitting from Miss Mosley back over to you Mr Irvin's employee he doesn't P this members of your board don't talk to them about any CRA matter don't email them don't text them don't Facebook message them no communication with these people outside of a public meeting okay okay but give me a call um we'll get you my number just give me a call anytime this week or next umide about 230 minutes for me we'll go over everything big thing is don't talk to these guys outside of a public meeting about CRA business okay don't want you go to jail don't want that the biggest thing is that reply all don't ever reply all to an email with she and I will go through that in great detail but Josh isn't G be out in the next day that we require that thankfully I learned that many years ago the hard way great all right well uh moving on financial report good evening commissioner so in your packet you will find the uh financial statements nothing really uh notable to report here other than just the general transactions that we've had uh since last last month any uh anybody have any questions or concerns the financials motion to approve all in favor say I I I all opposed say no okay motion carries 5 all right so the next item I have here is the growth and development assistance grant tracking sheet as you'll note in that sheet we've had quite the interest in our grant program so far this year we've issued 20 total so far totaling $66,500 that's about 25,000 more than we did all of last year and since our last meeting I've had the pleasure of awarding three new grants and then I closed out two and in your packet you should see those that I closed out um with the check and the before and after photographs so what this says AAA trust does that mean you wrote um wrote a check for new Tresses or what what no so in your packet there you should see uh the Improvement that we made there they had a kind of a bled open Barn I guess you could call it structure that they closed in put some new Roofing on got it so that's what that gr W is for okay great oh yeah looks great these before and after pictures are I like them I like to see this yeah and I must admit that the colors that I've selected here are from a brand standard that um a consultant did for the city back some years ago so with the program that I use I'm able to kind of change that up but but keeping with the standards that they identified for the CRA so those are our identified colors for ourand great me remember I thought we li this to 5,000 did we not limit it to 5,000 the 5,000 was the residential vacant lot right yes so in our uh residential site and building Improvement Grant guidelines it's up to 5,000 as a 50% reimbursable Max for single family up to 10,000 as a 50% reimbursable match for multifamily on the commercial side it's based on square footage so if the commercial building is 3,000 square feet or less it's up to 5,000 as a 50% reimbursable match if it exceeds 3,000 it goes up to 10,000 as a 50% reimbursable match how much money do we have left on that account I have to go back and look here at the financials to tell you just put in that we did we just funded it um so let me get to that page so many pages here see incentive Grant so we have according to this 85,86 of50 and out of that how much is Z Mark to be spent so that includes uh it should include all of that money that I just identified the 66550 what happens when I make the grand award I go ahead and encumber the funds so we issue a PO for that so we can track that so when you'll see that encumbrances uh column on that Financial sheet that's what that references those awards that have been um awarded and encumbered and then once they're actually paid out you'll see that there in the fiscal activity column where the check was actually cut that's how that should be represented there in in the financials so we have $85,000 left in that account 85 86250 this is the first $10,000 one that we have granted is that correct it is the first for the commercial uh you all did a special consideration Grant award for a residential over off of Maine that's where they asked for two different two they asked two different they received one and then they came back and asked for another that's right so I was able to give them the 5,000 because it was a single family then they came and asked you for that additional five through the special consideration criteria most what we spent has been residential is that correct that's correct yes sir byy large it's been residential and most of it's been blinded is that correct yeah I mean I would say that a good mixture um I can tell you that there's been a significant kind of interest in pockets in fact I think we have three right now on College Avenue I'm meeting with another uh owner tomorrow morning who has already fill out an application so there'll be four on College Avenue within I don't know 500 feet of each other um so I'm starting to see that Trend where we make an improvement on one property The Neighbors start to become aware of that then they too want to make those improvements so that's certainly the goal of of the program and all of these properties have the CRA sign on them so like people when they ride by they it makes them aware that the grants are available it's somewhere along the lines I missed that there's a $10,000 for commercial and I think that we need to protect the money for residential small businesses more so than we do for commercial that's something this up to the board but you take eight eight commercial businesses that'll wipe out to $8,000 and I like brother see 22500 5,000 and even on Main Street when they came back and they asked for an additional you can look at that structure and and being bled in the area the hard work they're doing I just we want to take and reconsider that 10,000 on Commercial so you're thinking lower lower I think I think on Commercial I think it needs to be somewhere Limited at 5,000 tot when you start there's a lot of commercial businesses and when you start they start coming in getting 10,000 we won't have money left for the people I think really that needs it right and plus you know it started out where we doing water and theur to people to build in the city to get the tax revenue so they could also come to us and ask for every there's somebody that you found youd have the special exception criteria I mean that may that that do bother me if the board wants to wants to move in that direction I think that's probably I don't see why we could do that just do special we don't have many that we're doing with this you know it's above 5,000 criteria increase that yeah that's what concerns me if they if you have eight come in next week would right another idea would be to to look at more funding and how we have any more funding we could allocate to it we could always move money you know from other accounts or funds if we need to and I will tell you the logic behind the criteria for the commercial based on square footage was you know if it's a large building it's obviously going to require more money to be able to make those improvements versus a smaller building and based on my interaction with the interested parties for the commercial uh grant program most of those buildings are smaller than 3,000 square um so I think the the opportunity is certainly there for you know anyone within the area to come and ask for you know the funding um so long as those improvements qualify but I would say that by and large the larger buildings that would qualify for that 10,000 are fewer than those that are less than that so y'all want I mean if y'all want to go in this direction we could just we could just really make it where you know everything over 5,000 is a special exception you want to make a motion ition 5000 for any purpose would have to come to the board for consideration second okay all right we have a motion and second discussion can I get clarification on that is that just for commercial or for residential I think he's saying everything everything okay that was basically anything over 5,000 it will require a special exception where somebody has to come to the board and get approved okay everybody understand okay all right we got a motion in a second all in favor say I I I'll oppose say nay okay motion carries 5 so and and I'll bring back those new guidelines at our next meeting for you guys to uh vote on yeah and I don't discourage people I'd say encourage them just get them to come ask us you know I think I mean we don't want I think the goal is not to discourage a bunch of people it's just you know protect their invest protect to I mean you know get more bang for your buck and and if it makes sense the board you know will probably lean that way I guess but you know sure all right I'll make those changes and get them updated tomorrow so I wanted to ask you on this one this one on West Orange what it says junk removal that's looks like they got a lot of issues there well I'm pleased to report they have no issues uh that case has been closed removed all the junp sorted with the use of our dump tra great so and they took down all that stuff that's it yeah wow that's great okay good that's good news I've got another one off of Woodward this similar that I'm working with right now unfortunately the property owner um is actually located in North Carolina so there's been a little bit of a challenge getting you know the paperwork back and forth but um they seem to be very responsive and ready to to make some improvements there so great okay cool all right well let's move on let's there's any other comments um move on to the next next item all right so uh moving on under old business item a update on the string lighting project so I'm sure each of you have probably seen the new poles that the city installed there on bowan Avenue they actually were able to get those up kind of sooner than they had anticipated so the next phase is getting the cabling new cabling put back uh up across those poles to be able to hang the lights from and some remaining electrical work that needs to be done uh in preparation for the attachment of the lights I did see a box that came in today for some of those components so I'm hoping that by the end of you know this month we'll receive all of those little ancillary parts that they need and the goal is to to have them up by Labor Day weekend um you know that certainly our Target I think uh City staff is very much uh engaged in you know getting the project completed so the good news is we're a lot closer than we were so you know we're still U working on completing that but we're in a much better spot now than we were um you know just a few months ago so I'm excited about that great so what do you when do you think that'll be completely so I'm hoping by Labor Day weekend Labor Day yep you know there's no way to get it done any sooner though no unfortunately not um just due to the components yeah unfortunately not so I mean it there may be some miracle you know that makes it happen but considering that we haven't received all the components yet um probably not so it's a component issue not a labor labor force well it's you know kind of uh it's a combination of things uh you know Lake Fest obviously um directed a lot of Staff uh to you know prepare and clean up after that event so it's just a function of uh you know getting the materials in and then prioritizing which the city has certainly um stepped up and said they'll do um but you know that's that's really is getting all the components in that's necessary to complete the project why wasn't the components quartered with the lights I me one you know this has been going on year year and a few months I mean one one why so they were hopeful that they were going to be able to use the existing cabling and infrastructure that was up there when they started taking it down they realized that it just wasn't adequate so didn't want to put up inadequate um infrastructure when you know we can replace it put it all up new so that way we don't to worry about it coming apart and all that so that's why it took a year and three months to figure that out no it it it took a matter of you know a few weeks actually um so you know it's infrastructure that was already in place that was inadequate I mean that's about the only way I can answer that question so they didn't figured this out until they got up there is what you're say yeah when I started taking it all down and you know started doing an inventory of it and realizing that you know we can maybe make this work the problem is none of the cabling that was up there had turnbuckles so it was very difficult to adjust the tension so some were you know over tent um tents and others were under and so at that point you that's what led to some of the bending of the polles where they should have been attached differently so that didn't happen so it's just a function of recognizing that there's a better way of rigging these cables um and something that allows for maintenance and adjustment so that's that's where it came to any other questions or comments okay all right let's move on all right so item two update on 27 Crescent Drive Direction on interest by cultureal Arts Alliance so first I did reach out um to the building department spoke with Mr Buren he did indicate that the only thing that he's concerned with is the interior as far as accessibility is concerned he did state that the door openings need to be 36 Ines on a commercial structure uh need to have have a an accessible bathroom and really anywhere that the public is expected to go needs to have an accessible route of that 36 in De menion additionally I reached out to a local contractor and he informed me that he'd be glad to go do anything with the understanding that there'd be no liability and there'd be no warranty um with with those improvements um he didn't really like the idea of going out there and laying asphalt or conrete without specifications to go off of so that's kind of what I learned from that I did reach out to duberry to see if they had any opportunity to adjust that proposal price and they basically informed me that hey we looked at the scope of work uh we looked at what it was going to take for us to put together that site plan and we put it together um you know with the continuing Services agreement um labor rates that have been identified by that so in other words they're not willing to move on on that price so that's kind of where we are on that I can tell you the exciting news is I've had a lot of conversations with the cultureal Arts Alliance who's expressed genuine interest in occupying that building um kind of wanted to have some conversations uh with the board to learn a little more about what your desires are as far as what that relationship looks like whether it's an actual lease uh whether it's ownership um if there are any desires and you know kind of have those discussions and give me some direction on how to further those conversations we've met with the Cultural Arts Alliance out there at the building they too have you know concerns with accessibility so at some point someone's going to have to make those improvements whether it's them us or a combination um but that's kind of where we are on that so I'm excited to know that we have a good um organization like the culture Arts Alliance that has expressed interest in that building um and not only in that building but interest in moving the Arts north of the bay and having more of a presence up here so that's that's pretty neat to see so well are we still looking at putting your office there well I mean that's up to the board um you know my my goal was to identify an RFP to put out um to solicit proposals from interested parties and let the board kind of figure out if we got any uh which direction you wanted to go but when the Cultural Arts Alliance expressed genuine interest I figured you know what let me come back and and had this conversation um because in my opinion I think that they would be a great partner um you know I won't speak for them but they do have you know interest in in the site so did uh did they Express if they would like to purchase the building I mean do they have the money to purchase the building I mean it's there I mean I think it was an opportunity for the board so we purchased it I don't I don't know that any of us have any have any plan for it you know I'm I'm excited about this I was hoping that we' be this is a great opportunity I think the market out Main Street said they didn't want to do it and they run the farmers market so Main Street does not want anything to do with it unless the county wants run the farmers market or something like that Main Street can't it's over there there's no way that that could be used and then they could still do Main Street on weekends you know the two weekends I mean it was if they wanted to do it they they told us absolutely I understand they can't do but I'm just thinking about the farmers market would we want a farmers market five days a week I mean one lady came up and discussed that she was kind of sided the fact that it could be an opportunity more so than two who would who would take care of it and run it though that's the problem because Main Street does not they made it clear to me they didn't want anything but it's not that they didn't want anything they can't well is there a possibility they they prefer a different avenue I think the the Ben the benefit they get is being right on Bald when businesses get that benefit of having that added traffic you take the traffic and you put it on the other side of the tracks and mind it's a different different animal but if you did it two days a week I only run in two days a week I mean you know the county or anybody wants to step up and run it I mean I don't think it's the CRA I don't want our board to run the farmers market and that's not what we're doing I we need to talk to the county and see if I think it's a good idea to talk to the county it's a good idea to you know try to use that $300,000 that we got off the sale of the 331 use that for improvements that would be amazing I mean I think that's one option and I think this the culture Arts Alliance is another option or maybe they can jointly do it I don't care but I think I think we need to try to figure out you know um what what the options are you know go to the county talk to them about you know the possibility of you guys have any desire to run an in in the week farmers market that does not compete with Main Street Farmers Market I will say this to answer your question as far as do they have the money they did indicate that they did have funds um that they've identified for purchase you know I I would say that in response to some of this discussion I think it's important if we're serious about having conversations with the Cultural Arts Alliance that we see what that materializes into I don't mind going and having conversations with the county but what I would caution against is if we're going ahead in this Direction having conflicting discussions over here so you know I I'll do whatever this board asked me to do but that's from my perspective kind of how I see this conversation I would say why don't you go ahead have the conversation and see what what what options you can come up with preferably I I would like to sell the building because I mean I don't see any reason for the CRA just to keep a building a leases if they could afford it and we saw them as a benefit I would say yeah let's look at leasing but I'd just say could sell it to them I that would be ideal and then with the farmers market thing something else might pop up you know I mean so I would have never along building it consideration Farmer Market the farmers market though Main Street told us clearly prior to the purchase yeah it would but they clearly told us I mean who's going to run well I think the county need to be in that they need to take can spend well I'd say this why don't we run the traps we're not agreeing anything let him run the traps on the CAA come back next board meeting to see how that goes then let's go to the county if that does materialize that's what I would suggest and so is the general consensus of the board that there's a preference for a sell versus a lease is that the direction that the board that's I primarily want to go that's what my view would be yes I think this is an opportunity for us to buy something that needs needs to be improved and is an asset for the areas well let me ask you would reaching out to the you know we did originally purchase that hoping it would be a farmers's market now I know prior you know prior to closing we knew that Main Street was not going to take care of it but can a call be made to the county prior to CAA just to clarify to to just it would you you know what what do you know if you engage with the CIA right now and get them very interested in it and then the county decides that they do want to use it with the $300,000 they have wouldn't that be worse than the other way around you know that's entirely up to the board um I think I can certainly reach out to the county and have conversations staff to staff as far as what that may look like if there is any interest at the staff level I think ultimately that decision would come for the board of County Commissioners um you know getting it before them got to try to you know iron out some of the wrinkles so to speak um but you know I can tell you this we know we have interest from the culture arts life I'm I'm really excited about too I can't guarantee that's going to materialize in anything but all I know is based on my conversations uh both over the phone and in person that there's genuine interest and they had no issue with me coming to you tonight to inform you with that um and they're very much waiting to hear back what that response was to that interest so that was kind of my idea tonight is to put that idea out there see if it was received well by the board and if so use that to further those conversations so I can have you know more intimate conversations about what that looks like whether it's a lease or ownership and it sounds like that there's more of an interest in an ownership than it would be a lease so it's entirely up to the board how you all want to direct me in that regard but that's that's kind of how I see it I think think if the CAA wants it it would be for sale just agree yeah you know unless we have to take a large loss on it I would say the preference would be to sell it and CAA didn't come through and the county did great I still think we should sell it I mean I would ideally like to sell it but re reuse that money to do something else okay and I don't have a problem with soever going and having those staff level conversations with the county uh in addition to the conversations with cult Arts just to see if there's any interest you know that may tell me straight up he we have no interest I just tell both parties that you're just talking to both of them just talk to both of them and just say look we we got some board members that that that would like for this to be a farmers market some that would just like for somebody like the CIA to come in and and and own this building and and do what they do up here and let's just see see where it goes I would say talk to both not going to hurt and tell them both honestly that you're talking to two different people so don't lead anybody down a path yeah sure well and I should say what what led to the conversations is the ca as I understand has an art studio in marire beach and unfortunately that building is going up for sale they were given first right um and they unfortunately couldn't afford it or didn't want to make the commitment to afford it um so they had express interest in coming to thec and and discover that our building had been purchased so in addition to their art gallery or whatever that is they have some pottery making equipment uh that they need you know a good home for as well um so I think there's a lot that would come from their occupancy how we get there if we get there all to be determined but it was certainly um encouraging to know that here is an opportunity that we may not have seen early on so Mr chairman Let's uh it gets us back to about the farmers market that the county has the money that they have to spend they approach us to help them with it so let's say we sell the building and where does that take us on the farmers market conversation there's another there we can we can help them identify another opportunity and it might be something that is more expensive who knows whatever but there are going to be other opportunities out there so no my understanding also was is that $300,000 could have went to the Main Street project for their Farmers Market absolutely could you know because that was part that's where it was initially that was their money their money is geared for a farmers market correct but main Street's master plan still has the farmers market the one that they originally talked about which is what they came to us originally for the one right up town I understand yeah and they got negative feedback from this board I wasn't at that meeting they got negative feedback and now they don't want to ask for it so I don't know so got negative feedback they wanted $58,000 to do a study like engineer drawing and I think the location a lot of us weren't happy with the exact location right the negative feedback was to me if I was one doing a negative feedback was go to the business that operate that that the dentist the banks the druggists get them on board with it that they're not opposed to losing 18 parking spaces and I I vote for it yeah but when you could when you sat down with those businesses and they have a time with parking and they say well they don't want it how is that part of name Street I don't disagree with you they can call that negative whatever they want to that's realistic well I think that I mean personally I think you should be able to park into the thing during the week and then use it as the farmer's market in the weekend I think that that way you don't eliminate all the parking I agree eliminating parking is probably are they not building a a at at the airport they're building a covered driveway that you could park under and can't you do that same design at the Fort Walton airport they redesigning that aren't they building where you park under you know you put it next to the the edge of the parking of the the property and it comes up I know what you're talking about I haven't seen it but I mean I know what you're talking about I think that's would be a good idea I don't know but but when you do that also you're not interfering with the concrete therefore you don't have to pay $100,000 for a holding F I agree why that 300,000 and do a covering and use the covering just it take it's a covering so it's not so hot you can have the farmers market when it rains and all that kind of stuff I think it's a no- brander to do that but they're board declined to P pursue that so um and they say that there is only going to be three parking spots is all it's going to take up is three so I I totally agree and but that's their baby and it's been their baby and the county already but but the but the county has so long to invest that money correct and and they were in a hurry that's why Main Street wasn't moving forward then they ended up coming to us to try to partner with Main Street and the main street I don't know if you got that email from Rachel but everybody I think got the Rachel's email and they they don't they don't want anything to do with that I have a hard time with Main Street L including everybody on Main Street I don't know that's just I mean we got we can't we can't force if other groups that are leading their projects decide they don't want to do them we just got to move on you we got understand 100% but we my only problem my only deal is this we have a building if the Count's willing to use it to advance the farmers in this area to me that's my priority if the farmers will use it for a farmers market Monday through Friday then they can have theirs downtown on Saturdays two times a week I think that's conversation Josh needs to have with the county to see if there's interest in them running this thing like you're talking about there's not then I think they're off the table I agree that 100% but we're g to solicit thoughts on both see if CAA can afford to buy the building is interested in buying the building you're going to talk to the county see if they're interested in running the farmers market in the week and and would like to purchase the building you know what price are you gonna sell it to them now I think we sell it to either one of them at what we purchased it for I I think our I don't think our goal is to to to make money off of it the goal is to get one of these assets when they're coming up and let's try to one more thing I'm G to shut up Mr chairman but let me ask you this when I made the motion it was for the farmers market but I don't think it's if it's if it wasn't going to be for the farmers market and I don't think we did not we absolutely did not we said when I made a motion in my mind it was for a farmer's market that was in your mind that was in my mind but it wasn't not in the mo it was not part of what we agreed to with the purch the what it is I don't we have a use be what it is I don't think that we should be in the buying real estate until it's on the market and see if it's sold first she came and offered it to us and she offered it to us to satisfy the farmers market best Sovereign maret well she offered it to us and we asked her we said are you sure are you okay if it's not a farmer that because I already knew that that was not going to be a farmer I don't think we need be buying property and then turn around just because somebody want to sell it let them put it on the market Mark like them Sol it's I think the the reason in my mind since we're talking about our minds my mind that's right we're taking a building that needs to be improved and updated it does and we're controlling that when we purchase it and that's going to enhance the area now if we can sell it and get our money back and redeploy that money and we don't have to do any of that that's even better however if somebody bought it and didn't do anything to enance it that doesn't really help our goals of this board in my mind in my mind I understand our mind disagree they do a lot so absolutely but we have discussion that's right we're still friends I thought that we said that you know that when we got it that because Main Street couldn't go across the street that not we would possibly look at other options it wasn't just the f I do believe that many of us knew when we on already backat dead we done Joe you made me break with P okay all right so just to make you understand I'm going to further conversations with the culture Arts Alliance with the board's desire to sell billing not lease additionally I'm going to have conversations with the county as to their interest in operating a farmers market and a purchase of the building yes okay that's correct right we're all on the same page best we can be you sure good cool all right you don't have to speak up she she will eventually she will giving her trial by fire may not come back Joe what did I get into I okay we'll set you over here next time okay all right under new business item one request to approve closing documents for 111 and 129 North 6 Street parel what you're effectively doing you're approving the two settlement statements and the amounts um as you will recall the agreement was that they would net 30,000 for each of the two properties um unless any cost required to clear title um we did identify a $1600 tax certificate that have been issued on one of the properties that's necessary so they've agreed to do that the other issue that I spoke to Mr Irving about is the need to prate taxes um typically that is a very standard option given these are land trusts that are special purpose entities set up solely to hold these each of these two pieces of property it's my position that we don't get their prated share at the taxes that going to come due next year now we're likely never going to get it from them so we're talking about a grand total of just over $1,100 um Mr Iran has spoken to Mr H he has agreed you'll know we are paying the recording fee and Doc stamps on the two Deeds respectively um which was our initial agreement but with immigrating to pay the prated taxes I think we are in a position we're we ready to move forward and close board is agreed okay we would need a motion to approve the closing motion motion second second okay discussion all right all in favor say I I I all opposed say nay nay okay noted that Mr Johnson was against and everybody else was for yes sir okay all right moving on so the next item uh is regarding the amphitheater um project as you may recall in our Redevelopment Plan update that was identified as one of our Capital Improvement projects I've been approached by many organizations and individuals about where we stand on that um in advance of this meeting I had conversations with City staff and church Development Council staff about what that partnership may look like if we were to move forward with it they uh indicated to me that we would probably be better suited with the feasibility study to help identify a uh to what degree you know that Amphitheater project needs to be constructed at probably most importantly would be who's going to operate the Ampitheater and secondly what is that operation cost going to be what we all agreed to uh at that particular meeting um was that if we do decide to move forward it would be a great request or an appropriate request of the T development tax to help fund or to fund entirely the feasibility study so if the CRA is so inclined to move forward with the Ampitheater project it would be simply that let's move forward as a first step let's go to the tourist Development Council and see if there's interest through the T development tax to help fund a feasibility study that the board of County Commissioners would ultimately approve and the county would lead a charge on on doing that study they're in the process of doing one for another venue in South Walton so it be very similar they've already kind of identified the scope and things of that nature so they're in a good position to really get that out and get it on the street and help with procurement of that consultant uh to to identify that so that's kind of my request uh does the board want to move forward I can tell you that the ewf historic trust has certainly expressed interest in you know that amphithe theer being more than what it is uh for some of the activities that they have planned culture Arts Alliance too has expressed interest in that uh many other individuals and businesses as well so you know I think this is a great opportunity for us to move forward with the project um understanding that moving forward doesn't really tie us to anything other than simply saying hey we support uh this effort and we want to move forward to the next step with you know the TCH Development Council and the the request for the feasibility study that they would fund would the feasibility study cover um cover the the the like if whether the amphitheater should have a a covering over it or whether it should be in a different design or would it just cover the feasibility of whether there's a market for uh for updating it you know updating I I I think um maybe indirectly as the way I understand it it would be more of is going to come to this you know to what demographic things of that nature I would suspect that as part of that you know the feasibility it would be to determine you know kind of what that overall structure or Amphitheater project looks like including parking possibly I we could structure it that way to identify hey what kind of parking where they need to park and all that could certainly be part of that I can tell you that the uh tree and beautification board has sent out surveys they've solicited public input and have a pretty good framework as to what the public that's responded to those surveys would like to see in the amphitheater project in in my view once the feasibility study is completed and we have an idea of what this thing needs to to be uh then we can move forward with some conceptual planning and civil design and all that that would get more detailed as to you know the finished product to incorporate some of the things that the feedback rather that we've already received from the public so you know this is a multi-year effort you know if we start with this feasibility study you know I would anticipate it to be probably a six month ordeal once they get the uh the task order to move forward they do the study bring it back we look at it and then we decide to move forward with you know design that's probably 12 18 month effort would be my guess um then we can have a general idea as to what it's going to cost and then kind of go from there so you know at the end of the day move M this forward uh is just that it's starting this long process of the project but the longer that we stall that the longer it's going to take you think it'll take 18 months to to do to do the plan I think so by the time we go through the procurement effort um we you know award the contract and they get started I I think so um it is but if you think about the amount of work that goes into something like that so you've got Structural Engineering you've got civil engineering you've got Landscape Architects um so you have a number of subc Consultants that would need to be part of that process uh each for their own Staffing and timelines and things of that nature so I think considering the complexity of that you incorporate parking into that as well you know it it it becomes a little bit more you know I guess difficult to to do it in less time but we can always ask um is there I'm sorry is there any way in the feasibilities study for us to be able to find a way to um cross over the railroad tracks from the Ampitheater to Main Street I would say we can always try to include that I would caution against that I think um that can be part of the actual design um when we get down to that detail I think the feasibility study so we can include that in the amphitheater that's correct and and parking or what other components you want to include um you know this feasibility study is more just to identify um what this Amphitheater project needs to to be designed or be built to accommodate and most importantly who's going to operate it what are those costs and all that so we don't go off in a direction where none of us are prepared to operate and maintain it and I will say that I wanted to put on like last month's agenda about you know Crossovers and councilman Valley was was was real cautious of that because was connecting communities grants you want to make sure with our match we you know it would apply and he thinks that's a really big part of it and so um I would say whether it's whether it's this project or whether it's a separate project I think it's important it is it's really important the flow and everything so I think it's something that something that should be done but it may have to be kind of cut out and separate I just didn't want to have to come back later and then say we can't do it because it wasn't part of the Ampitheater project right you know so we last Joe is motion to included well you know that's what I would like I would like to see it just hypothetically be someone included I like the idea of that but I would say again talk to council Valley about it because he was he was specific about not wanting to spend that money do anything that he it would not apply to that that grant that the city I wouldn't want to do that but then again I don't I agree I don't want to go through it and then find out that we could have had a part of it and then we can't we can't do it later because however we can add it we need to add it let's make sure we add it in a way that's jobs if you added in the feasibility study that wouldn't really influence it until you vote to adopt the fees of build that study you would think that shouldn't interfere with the what Mr valy was speaking on I'd say we could he could probably talk to them in the feasibility period and just say hey look we want to do this to can you talk about it in your plan yeah just instead of doing something that's going to you know affect that he was real sens okay so so do we need to vote on this or can we just I would recommend it I mean we've talked enough about it I think you probably need to put some memorialize some action do this this time is it going to cost us anybody none zero it doesn't cost anybody yet Joe it's going to cost us zero dollar we're talking about the Ampitheater okay I make a motion that we proceed with the feasibility study the co communication with the feasibility stud um with ti you going TDC TDC TDC C can I can I maybe offer a suggestion that the motion be to move forward with the project with the first step being working with the tourist Development Council to identify opportunities for feasibility study yes I make that motion okay are you going to tell the park then yeah and I yeah and and that was another one of the things because she mentioned parking too the two things that I'm interested in if we're working on that Amphitheater would be the crosswalk and maybe trying to mark off some lines around the circle for parking okay second let's get a second got have a second before we ask questions okay I second you second we're good discussion okay so we did have we were going to get an RFP or get some kind of procurement for a solicitation for a parking study we talked about that at some point right it was going to be something so we don't know where that's going to come in at but we're already that we'll be able to see that too you know so what it comes in at now if we could combine it all together that makes all the sense the world well you know and on the circle so ideally you know all these things will kind of intertwine and you know we can so as long as they're in the motion the motion okay so we're just saying parking is within that motion so I certainly request that but what happens if and we're still in discussion here what happens if they say no well you're all you're doing all you're doing is giving him direction to move forward with the project and as part of that direction that he is to work with the TDC to determine the options and availability of a feasibility study and that you're directing him to explore the options second element of this to explore the options of parking crosswalks associated with the amphitheater the feasibility study may come back with additional parking recommendations on top of what you just talked about but it's including that within our direction of moving forward with the project okay not the feasibility all right so we're clear okay all right Jos y good all in favor say I I all opposed say Nate okay motion carries 5 all right next item I have here is to request Direction on schedule a budget Workshop um so as you can recall in our bylaws we provided some guidance in there that we would submit our budget to the City by July 30th of each calendar year so our meeting uh next month is just before that so felt like it was probably important to to try to schedule a workshop prior to that meeting so it looks like the 17th of uh July would be the preference for that and we could do it same time five or whichever other time or if there's another date that works best and then we'd have the meeting the next the 24th the 24th would would be the meeting where you guys would adopt that budget that we we would then send over to the city that's fine with me I'm good with everybody else okay we're going to say CRA budget Workshop is the 17th and the board meeting will be the 24th let's have a motion to set that Workshop please motions to have the workshop on July 17th so second all in favor say I I all oppos say n all right so the last item I have here is request Direction on historic standards um I was educated earlier today that I should say standards and not guidelines um so my apologies for that confusion on this but uh essentially what what we have here is after meeting with several of the various interest groups we identified an opportunity where through our Redevelopment plan upate uh guidance we can certainly help with the um creation of historic guidelines uh or standards for the respective historic districts so what this particular request would be is for me to bring back to the board at our next meeting in RFP to go out forbid to hire a consultant to help us with those historic standards uh I can tell you the WWF historic trust has very much been uh behind this effort um you know this is simply a function of creating a standard and a guideline document uh that would identify the standards for the historic districts that would be used for both the planning and for uh owners or respective owners of those properties within the historic district and provide opportunity for public input on what those standards should look like things of that nature so this is simply just a request for me to come back at our next meeting in July with an RFP um that you all could review and then approve to go out for bid to solicit those proposal and you can do that with general direction not a motion since he's got bring you the RP back and these these guidelines once the once it is done then the City Planning Department would follow those guidelines that's right so the way I understand it is now there's um some loose language uh for those standards and the Planning Department issues what's considered a certificate of appropriateness which is basically looking at the uh other properties within the district and isn't appropriate isn't appropriate uh I think that having an objective set of standards uh and a framework if you will that the planner can look at it would be more consistent um for the district as the planner comes and goes you know so does his or her interpretation of that appropriateness so this is just a function of establishing that level of standard that everyone understands uh and is you know better represented I think in a document that has viewable kind of images and things of that nature that you can look at for those standards not just just text but other things would the city council have to approve the finished product yep so the way that I would see this going down if we hire a consultant to help us with these through our public engagement you they would come back through the various organizations Main Street um the planning U commission uh certainly the CRA and then obviously the city council for codification or the formal adoption of those standards um along with all the VAR ious meetings we'd have with staff level um individuals so now you're saying you're sending out an RFP for what so the RFP would be request for proposals to hire a consultant to help create said standards and guidelines okay and that he bring that back to and he would bring that back to us with prices or or he bring the RFP back first so that all he's doing today is getting your blessing do you want him to pursue this idea no motion needed he'll come back to you with the document that will be the public procurement for the RFP you'll decide whether you like the RFP or not it'll go live on the street and then you'll select from those proposals who you want or you'll reject them all and then we would we we would use our funds to create that to to move further that's correct so clay this is not um one of those issues where it's a city function and we're yeah that's what I was wondering so I told Josh about a little bit what I would say is this part of our M part of our blight remediation Mission unfortunately focused on the historic district out of necessity you're going to do a blight remediation and you have a historic district we can't I mean there is overlap I'm not going to deny there's overlap but what can we do the question we should be asking is what can we do in terms of remediating blight with in a historic district if there are not guidelines for reconstruction rebuilding Rehabilitation new construction that's outside of our Pur the city wants to talk about new construction guidelines U for full demos things like that that's a different animal but if we're talking about what that would look like and adopting it we can play a part what is that are we stepping into their function no but as to the to the extent that it goes to our blight remediation role yes I believe this is there the RFP the we're going to issue is going to have to be very nearly tailored for our purposes and the responses the ones we select are going to have to truly understand that they're focusing on their guidelines under the blight remediation of and it may be that what we ultimately get is an RFP and we go out and we get a project proposal that this entire blight element is only one part of a bigger guideline package or standards package excuse me that the city would be pursuing that's the collaborative effort we look to there's a group called Place economics and they well it's an RP we don't need hold on hold on I'm just telling you this group is specifically what they do not you put it out on the street right but we got to get an RP I got all like naming groups and we're talking about there okay there's a group out there that literally they they do historic grants for for for towns and cities where they have if we do the guidelines and having some kind of Grant like we've already got around some of this it might be more beneficial to us to to to have some kind of guidance on that kind of stuff so um there are probably plenty others that do it too I'm just saying maybe that's that's something that needs to be looked at in this process just because that would that would completely jve what we've already been doing and some of these historic properties are way more expensive than than the $5,000 Max so you might want to you know sure just think it think about think about that well I will say how we got to this position is through a number of you know observations and discussions of trying to borrow standards from this community or this community or that community and try to through a h pod effort make it into our community while that can happen it gets a little complicated because those standards they were created for that particular community so my opinion here's a great opportunity for us to create standards for our community that we have it bastardized for lack of a better word um into something that they were never created to be that makes sense is there a possibility that we could go through all these motions and all the way getting through the consult and come up with the the guidelines and then the city council doesn't approve them is is that something that Happ that's why I said we have have to be very clear with what we're doing with the RFP I would not recommend you send out an RFP that could possibly produce a consultant that does not understand that they're going to be providing a deliverable that the CRA has to incorporated into its plan two once you select that consultant I would never recommend you engage consultant who takes the approach of well all I'm going to be doing is generating a plan for the city council to adopt to me if they are providing something the city council may not adopt standards that come out of this but they would be standards we would utilize in our blight remediation within the historic district so there would be a benefit there would have to be a benefit directly to the CR even if the council does not adopt those same standards the goal would be for it to be all adopted together and and one thing I will add to that is through that effort there would be a lot of public engagement so it wouldn't be the CRA just single-handedly working with the consultant it would be you know in conjunction with the city staff with the public at large similar to how we did our Redevelopment Plan update having those public engagement sessions to get General input from the public therefore when it gets to that place of you know formal adoption or the opportunity for that all of that's been considered it's not just kind of been done in the dark and then all of a sudden here's this document and no one really understands it so you know that's my certainly would be my goal through that issuance of the contract we have some public comment here wait your turn grandmother Melinda Henderson a resident of the historic district I don't know if you're aware but there are 15 vacant properties on Circle Drive as new people come in they may not understand where we came from and where we'd like to stay and they will be trying to update the properties and it may not fit with what we already have to maintain our historic district they have to meet standards and if they don't meet standards they become a non-contributing resource if a certain number become non-contributing we lose our historic designation alog together so Mackenzie Brown representing the University of West Florida historic trust um so as I was speaking with Josh about this issue um and speaking with my supervisors at the University of West Florida they wanted me to read this statement from them um this is from Ross prera the University of West Florida historic trust historic preservationist at the historic village down there um he wanted to say that the historic trust offers full support for the plan to put out an RFP for consulting services to create a a set of historic standards uh if an RFP is developed the historic trust would be prepared to help advise the CRA and on which of the respondents is most suitable and qualified in a historic sense uh as well as to evaluate continuing work of that consultant as they do their work uh it's imperative that we get a qualified and exper experienced consultant to do this because although it may be possible to create a document with the help of volunteers such as the historic preservation interest group and with assistance from the planning department the historic trust Etc uh the document would not be as thorough and detailed as we would need and would lack impartiality this has been a problem in Milton uh they attempted to do their own set of guidelines uh and he said there were personal problems impartiality is important because this is a very sensitive topic especially to people who want full control over their property and meeting those concerns where they are is something that a qualified consultant could do with public workshops uh and with targeted interviews with home and business owners uh it's important that people be honest and be able to be honest not that the historic preservation interest group or the CRA itself couldn't run a good Workshop but outside parties can help reveal things that we may not think to ask uh a set of guidelines produced by this C consultant might seem too harsh or too black and white but that's a good thing because the language can always be softened when we want to present it to the public what we need is the expertise to be able to make those black and white distinctions uh finally we like to bring to the board's attention that there are Grant funds available through the small matching grants program at the division of historic resources in Tallahassee that could help with the cost of this consultant if we get good responses to the RFP it probably wouldn't cover the entire cost of the consultant but it would be a bonus thank you thank you okay so is everybody found with Mr Irvin bringing you back in RP at the next meeting everybody found that yeah I think it's a good idea okay I'm fine with it but I also would like for him to pursue the grants that she spoke off to have pay for it well I would just say that I'll be glad to do that um but we got to have an idea of I understand that I just want on the record that you know that you have to see the grant so once we get a price just pursue seea that's all that I have I will say that I am going on vacation in July 3D I'll be back in the office on July the 10th so um looking forward to getting with my family for a little while I will be in a remote area so I'm not sure about you know what level of internet connectivity I'll have but you know I do have the ability to communicate C just wanted to make you all aware of that yeah have a good trip thank you um yeah I just um are we I was gonna do public comments and Bo yeah let's just do public comments because I just have one more thing and I'll shut up any public comments okay what's that was oh public comments was behind that sorry I didn't see it on there and I was like I no we didn't it was on the back U so okay board I was just curious about um if we're going to try to bring back Rock the block again it's been a year um of course I don't want it in July at all and um you know Main Street did Express an interest and maybe it would kind of be nice if we did partner with Main Street in something we could agree on so so to answer your first question maybe we could do it in September October January so so to answer your first question uh we are planning to have Rock The Block this fall okay um I've identified another property that Habitat for Humanity is is analyzing to see if they're going to qualify over off of Maine um it's in desperate need of some assistance um as far as Main Street is concerned I did speak with Rachel and and certainly willing to go help with their efforts on Balwin I don't have the date in front of me it's sometime in August talking about for their clean up for their clean up that's right um and and so you know I think they um obviously have an interest in their five block region that they represent um but I would like to think that we could extend an offer you know once we have this identified date for rock the block um and you know their efforts to maybe join in if they so desire but now their efforts of joining in with us but still partnering with habitat that's correct and Main and Main Street together that's correct um H habitat has very much expressed to me that you know they have a hard time committing to more than one day and considering the amount of effort and kind of the results from the last project you know they want to focus more on repairs to a building more so than clean someone's yard yeah and and that's been somewhat of a difficult process to kind of identify those that would benefit from a one day event we actually had another property over off of dorsy that I was hoping we were going to be able to include but it's just so far gone that you know where do you end and they were very hesitant to do a whole lot of activity there considering they may create more problems for the homeowner you know in just one day so that's been so some of the challenge you know is trying to figure out um an interested party who's willing to receive this first and foremost and then secondly how does it fit within that one day event and you know all that is it possible to do um like a one day with habitat and then another day with in partner with Main Street and partner independently with them not together sure I mean we could look at that um I haven't had Direct conversations with Main Street about them doing something outside of their five block region um know I had talked to Rachel and I mean she was aware what rock the block does and I mean she sounded like she was very excited about it but just just check with her if you would we we had a conversation about it sure be glad to um you know getting interest uh is it's challenging surprising I I agree and you know that's not a cop out that's just kind of the reality that I've I've found myself you guys can come to my house well yeah we'll do it uh oh Clay's going like conflict of just I was just kidding clay I know I didn't say anything okay yeah I appreciate it um I have a question do we have two historic districts here like Circle Drive and dorsy so we have the dorsy district which is a recognized district and then we do have the historic district which based on whether you look at the state the fed the city map there's at least two versions and you can actually make an argument there's a third version of but we have two separate districts the traditional historic district is one dorsy is a new separately created district is it an NPS district has not been uploaded to my okay so but the the Park Service the national there's a national district and like you say then there's a city district that's kind of confusing too there's a lot of overlap there okay so will the plan cover the plan will Encompass the broadest of those areas and also apply to dors now there's several buildings that got excluded um from the Park Service District because like Miss Henderson was saying they're non contributing now because they look they got such bad shape the blighted and and if we don't keep these buildings and houses up they'll they'll take them off the district and once you lose a certain amount of them it they just exclude the whole thing so it's it's really an important thing for the city to get it you know keep it healthy so all right any other comments questions you had enough Hatcher you you done this was a productive meeting today actually we were very productive I think just kid but we're glad to have you and and U appreciate everybody for attending um I won there's I'll accept a motion motion to adjourn all right we're adjourning at 612 good