Rexburg Urban Renewal Agency
Meeting Minutes – April 21, 2021
Rexburg, Idaho
Attendance
Members: Williams Riggins, Tisha Flora, Doug Hancey, Doug Smith, via Zoom Robert Chambers, and Tracy Peterson
City: Scott Miller, Scott Johnson, Matt Neilson, Mayor Jerry Merrill
Visitors: Joe Allen, Jim Hirrlinger, Skyler Jenks, Jay Jenks, and Bron Leatham, and via Zoom Richard Horner, Megan Conrad, Christian Anderson and Sephlin Hepworth
Administrative Support: Krisi Staten from ECIPDA
Welcome
Chairman William Riggins called the meeting to order.
Administrative Items
The March 26, 2021 meeting minutes were reviewed. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Tisha Flora and a second by Doug Hancey. The motion was approved with all members saying “Aye.”
The invoices listed were motioned to approve and pay by Doug Hancey and a second by Doug Smith. The motion passed with all members saying “Aye.”
1. Elam & Burke: $100.00
2. Elam & Burke: $347.00
3. ECIPDA: $511.00
The RFQ for an Urban Renewal Consultant was discussed. The consultant will be a unique individual or group and will help with oversight for the Agency. They will help create the new College Avenue District. The Consultant will look at the downtown with the City’s vision in mind, particularly evaluate a mixed-use parking structure and identify what types of housing are desired downtown, complete a market analysis, and help negotiate properties for the district. The goal is to have them help with this first project but be available for future projects. The budget is unknown currently. The consultant will provide a proposal for each project and will bill hourly, not to exceed, per project. A motion to approve the RFQ and send it to consultants was made by Tisha Flora and a second by Doug Hancey. The motion passed with all members saying “Aye.”
North Highway District:
The board discussed quit claim deed to deed 0.20 acres of the Grover property to the City for rights-of-way. A motion to approve the quit claim deed was made by Tisha Flora and a second by Doug Hancey. The motion passed with all members saying “Aye.”
At the last meeting Joe Allen and Jim Hirrlinger discussed their ideas for development of the Grover property. An appraisal is underway and should be ready for the next meeting. Once the Agency has a better idea of costs Joe and Jim will finalize their proposal. They have secured an Engineer and have been evaluating options. Scott Miller will keep a spreadsheet capturing all the costs and benefits of this project and update the board next month to make a decision on sale price.
Washington School District:
Bron Leatham, Skyler Jenks and Jay Jenks presented to the board their latest proposal for Horner Corner. They have researched several different options and have decided that based on the current market for sale is a better option right now than for rent. They are proposing 26 to 30 two story townhomes be built on that corner. The townhomes would be two-bedroom one bath, and each have a garage. They have spent considerable time and money designing different options for that property. They will use Headwaters Construction; they been building these types of housing units. Leatham and Jenks are requesting a six-month extension to the exclusive negotiation contract to give them time to finalize a site plan and secure the necessary building permits and approvals. Once approved and secured they can break ground almost immediately. It was discussed that the Agency did verbally give an extension of time and the developers have done a lot of due diligence on the property. A motion to re-write the agreement and give a six-month extension of time from today was made by Tisha Flora and a second by Doug Hancey. The motion passed with all members saying “Aye.”
Downtown District:
No discussion
University Boulevard District:
No discussion
North Interchange District:
Christian Anderson with Zions Public Finance discussed with the board the current state of the bond and the options for refinancing the bond. The current bond has a rate that can be re-set every 3 years. He did contact DL Evans to correct the rate reset that was made 3 years ago, they have adjusted the rate back to what it should have been and refunded retroactively any overpayments. Current rates are not much lower than what the bond is currently but will give it a set rate. Due to the concentration of retail taxpayers, the bond may not look favorable to banks. Christian can use a placement agent to help sell the bond. He recommends going to DL Evans first, the current bond holder, to negotiate the terms to a fixed rate. If they are uninterested he will then reach out to the placement desk at Piper Sandler to find a buyer for the bond. There were no objections from the board for Christian to move forward and start those discussions. He will update the board at the next meeting.
North Central District:
No discussion
General Discussion:
No discussion
Next Meeting Date and Adjournment
The next meeting will be held May 19, 2021 at 12:30pm.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Doug Smith and a second by Tisha Flora. The motion passed with all members saying “Aye.”
Minutes prepared and submitted by Krisi Staten
Approved by: Board on ___________________________________________
X________________________________________________________________________
William Riggins, Chair