HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 25, 2023 - 26th Meeting signedMINUTES OF THE 26th MEETING OF THE
CITY OF LIVONIA BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
The 26th Meeting of the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of Livonia was called
to order at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, 2023, by Chairman Engebretson at
City of Livonia City Hall
MEMBERS PRESENT: Jack Engebretson, Chairman
Lynda Scheel, Vice Chairman
Ken Harb, Secretary
Melissa Karolak
Nicholas Lomako
Andrew Lendrum
MEMBERS ABSENT: Dillon Breen, Treasurer
Steven Vandette
OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Taormina, Planning & Economic Dev. Director
Michael Slater, Director of Finance
Stephanie Reece, Program Supervisor
ROLL WAS CALLED. A quorum was present.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Lendrum, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#01-2023 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the 25th Meeting of the City of
Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and held November
2, 2022, are hereby approved.
Chairman Engebretson declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
REVIEW OF LBRA TAX CAPTURE FOR LIVONIA MARKETPLACE AND
CONSIDERATION OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCE (TIF) REIMBURSEMENT
PAYMENT #18 (W-2022) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES
Mr. Taormina: You'll notice we changed the format of the reports. The next four
items are all standard distribution items. The first one involves
Livonia Marketplace. This is the Winter 2022 tax collection period
and constitutes payment #18 to the owners of the Livonia
Marketplace, which is Livonia Phoenix LLC. We note that the total
capture was $89,558 with 20% going to the revolving fund and to
pay administrative costs. That amount is $17,911.61. For the
developer, the amount is $71,646.44. A resolution has been
prepared to that effect. As we've done on all of these items, we
provide the running total of what has been paid to the developer
Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
April 25, 2023
Page 2
and what has been deposited to the LSRRF along with the number
of remaining payments. Thank you.
Mr. Engebretson: Seeing no questions, a motion is in order.
On a motion by Harb, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#02-2023 RESOLVED, that the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment
Authority does hereby approve the distribution of Captured Taxes
from the Livonia Marketplace Project as follows:
1) Payment #18 (W-2022) to Livonia Phoenix, LLC, in the amount
of $71,646.44, for the reimbursement of eligible expenses;
and
2) A deposit of $17,911.61 for deposit into the Livonia Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority's Local Site Remediation Revolving
Fund (LSRRF) and to pay for administrative expenses.
Mr. Engebretson: Any discussion?
Chairman Engebretson declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
REVIEW OF LBRA TAX CAPTURE FOR LIVONIA COMMONS AND
CONSIDERATION OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCE (TIF) REIMBURSEMENT
PAYMENT #16 (W-2022) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES.
Mr. Taormina: The incremental value for capture in this case was $1.6 million and
some change. We break that down between the local tax capture,
school tax capture, and then of course, the total for capture, which
in this case is $41,465.38. All of which is paid to the developer.
There is no distribution as part of this tax collection period that
goes to the state revolving fund. The full amount goes to the
developer.
Mr. Engebretson: Are there any questions regarding this? Seeing none, a motion
would be in order.
On a motion by Lomako, seconded by Harb, and unanimously adopted, it was:
Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
April 25, 2023
Page 3
#03-2023 RESOLVED, that the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment
Authority does hereby approve the distribution of Captured Taxes
from the Livonia Commons Project as follows:
1. Payment #16 (W-2022) to TMA-LIVCOM, LLC, in the amount of
$41,465.38 for the reimbursement of eligible expenses.
Mr. Engebretson: Is there any discussion?
Chairman Engebretson declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
REVIEW OF LBRA TAX CAPTURE FOR LIVONIA MARKET II AND
CONSIDERATION OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCE (TIF) REIMBURSEMENT
PAYMENT #8 (W-2022) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES.
Mr. Taormina: In the case Livonia Market II, the capture is split between the
LSRRF and the developer. In this case, 25% goes to the Revolving
Fund. You'll note that each one of these has different values and
amounts going to the funds. The Livonia Market II capture going to
the revolving fund is 25%, and the balance, 75%, to the developer.
In this case, with a total capture of about $45,264, it is split
$11,316 to the LSRRF and $33,948 to the developer.
On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Lomako, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#04-2023 RESOLVED, that the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment
Authority does hereby approve the distribution of Captured Taxes
from the Livonia Marketplace II Project as follows:
1. Payment #8 (W-2022) to Livonia Market II, LLC, in the amount
of $33,948.10 for the reimbursement of eligible expenses; and
2. A deposit of $11,316.03 for deposit into the Livonia Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority's Local Site Remediation Revolving
Fund (LSRRF) and to pay for administrative expenses.
Mr. Engebretson: Is there any discussion?
Chairman Engebretson declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
April 25, 2023
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REVIEW OF LBRA TAX CAPTURE FOR HAGGERTY CENTER AND
CONSIDERATION OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCE (TIF) REIMBURSEMENT
PAYMENT #8 (W-2022) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES.
Mr. Taormina: This is the largest of the group. In this case, the total capture is
$183,544.90, which is split 80/20 between the developer and the
revolving fund and administration. The breakdown is $146,835.92
to the developer and $36,708.98 to the LSRRF. I'll just point out
that when you look right above the line that says current
disbursement information, it says contribution to LSRRF and
administration. The "20% + 100% Post Five Years," means that
100% of the taxes collected will get distributed to the revolving
fund for 5 years following the last payment to the developer. We're
showing that on the table. When we get to that point, whoever is
sitting in these seats will be able to see the various amounts going
into each one of the funds.
Mr. Lomako: Question.
Mr. Taormina: Sure.
Mr. Lomako: I see the final payment on the table that follows that.
Mr. Taormina: Yeah.
Mr. Lomako: But there's more than five years post there. Am I understanding
that wrong? Why are there 29 through 38?
Mr. Taormina: Each year has two payments.
Mr. Lomako: Okay.
Mr. Taormina: There is a summer and winter collection period. I can show that the
next time. I can make those changes to make it clear,
Mr. Harb: It does say S-2019, W-2019.
Except for when it goes down
Mr. Slater: When you go to 29 to 38, (inaudible)
Mr. Taormina: It doesn't have the dates on it. It's easy enough.
Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
April 25, 2023
Page 5
Mr. Engebretson: Is there further discussion or questions?
Ms. Karolak: Just going back to the other ones, they didn't either.
Mr. Taormina: No, I know I'll fix them all.
Mr. Engebretson: Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none, a motion would be
in order.
On a motion by Harb, seconded by Scheel, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#05-2023 RESOLVED, that the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment
Authority does hereby approve the distribution of Captured Taxes
from the Livonia Haggerty Center Project as follows:
1. Payment #8 (W-2022) to Haggerty Square, LLC in the amount
of $146,835.92 for the reimbursement of eligible expenses; and
2. A deposit of $36,708.98 for deposit into the Livonia Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority's Local Site Remediation Revolving
Fund (LSRRF) and to pay for administrative expenses.
Chairman Engebretson declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Ms. Scheel nominated Mr. Engebretson for Chairman. Mr. Engebretson spoke of
some personal matters and explained that he would still accept the
position of Chairman if the board felt comfortable with that
decision.
On a motion by Scheel, seconded by Harb, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#06-2023 RESOLVED, that Jack Engebretson is hereby re -appointed to serve
as Chairman thru the spring of 2024 or the next time at which a full
slate of officers is elected.
On a motion by Engebretson, seconded by Harb, and unanimously adopted, it was:
Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
April 25, 2023
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#07-2023 RESOLVED, that Lynda Scheel is hereby re -appointed to serve as
Vice Chairman thru the spring of 2024 or the next time at which a full
slate of officers is elected.
On a motion by Lomako, seconded by Lendrum, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#08-2023 RESOLVED, that Ken Harb is hereby re -appointed to serve as
Secretary thru the spring of 2024 or the next time at which a full slate
of officers is elected.
Mr. Engebretson: I think we are finished with number eight.
Ms. Reece: Treasurer. Dillon Breen was temporary Treasurer.
Mr. Engebretson: We don't have a treasurer anymore. I think the finance department is
basically acting as treasurer.
Mr. Taormina: I think it's in the bylaws.
Ms. Reece: It used to be Mr. Fried. We temporarily nominated Dillon Breen to step
in.
Mr. Taormina: We probably should elect someone unless you want to hold off on
that, out of respect for Mr. Breen, but the other option is to change
bylaws and eliminate that if you don't think it's necessary, but I don't
know if it's a statutory requirement or not.
Ms. Scheel: If we just elect someone, we're good. We don't have to change ... so
let's just elect someone.
Mr. Engebretson: Let's do that, and if we feel that we should change the bylaws to do
that we can do that later. So who is nominating whom?
On a motion by Lomako, seconded by Harb, and unanimously adopted, it was:
#09-2023 RESOLVED, that Dillon Breen is hereby appointed to serve as
Treasurer through the spring of 2024 or the next time at which a full
slate of officers is elected.
Mr. Engebretson: Number nine, and I'll yield the floor to anyone that may have
anything. I have a couple of things, but I'll yield to all of you.
Lomako will go first and then Harb.
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April 25, 2023
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Mr. Lomako: Mr. Chairman, just an open question to anybody who can respond.
Is there anything new on the library? The Alfred Noble library?
Mr. Slater: There is nothing. That is, we're still on pause. I guess. If you saw
the Mayor's State of the City address, she said we're gonna be on
pause for a moment, and we still are on pause. It doesn't mean
there isn't discussion behind the scenes as to next steps, but there
have been no next steps defined yet.
Ms. Scheel: So, at the last meeting, if you don't mind me stepping out?
Mr. Slater: Please do.
Ms. Scheel: So, at the last Brownfield meeting, we voted to use our money, but
the council still had to vote to take the building down first, right?
Mr. Slater: Correct. I'm sorry. That was the question. Yes. So, we're assuming the
commitment from the Brownfield Authority is still there, but in terms
of going to council to request that the building actually be
demolished, that has not taken place, and that's what's on pause.
Mr. Engebretson: If I recall the minutes correctly, this board was going to have
some role to play in the selection of the demolition contractor. So,
we're not at that point.
Mr. Slater: We are not at that point yet.
Mr. Taormina: Also, we are getting closer to securing, potentially, some additional
funding for the project. As much as $85,000, from Wayne County
through its Blight Elimination program. It would be a grant award.
So, should we get to that point, the impact to the revolving fund
could be $85,000 less, which is good.
Ms. Scheel: Is there a time that you have to use that grant?
Mr. Taormina: I think we're good for right now. I don't think it's in jeopardy as a
result of the pause...I can't see going more than a few more
months. I mean, something has to budge, right? That's my take on
it. So, we'll see.
Ms. Scheel: So earlier today, I might have agreed with you.
Mr. Taormina: There's a lot happening. There's a growing number of
people... we're not sure how many at this point, that want to see
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April 25, 2023
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the library saved. And many want to see it become an historic
resource. A mid-century modern architect by the name of Gunnar
Birkerts was responsible for the design. He's done some other
buildings that are world-renowned, which helps make the
argument.
Mr. Engebretson: Mark, isn't the inside of that building, virtually destroyed by mold
and other elements?
Mr. Slater: It's gonna be very, very, very costly. Very costly to rehab that.
Mr. Engebretson: It was my impression that it really has to come down.
Repurposing it would probably be a lot more expensive than taking
it down and building a new building.
Mr. Slater: The numbers we've seen ... that isn't the case yet, but
Mr. Harb: what is the number?
Mr. Slater: Well, what was the last OHM report we got?
Mr. Taormina: $1.6 million, but that doesn't address all of the issues. So, assume
for the sake of discussion, it's a $2 million fix. If we were to build a
new library, it would certainly be more than $2 million. The other
thing happening is the Library Commission has just begun
developing a strategic master plan. They are going to answer the
question of what, if any, library services should be provided at that
site. Right now, all of those services are being provided by the two
other libraries, the main library and the Sandburg Library, which
have been able to be absorbed all of the additional services that
were once provided at the Alfred Noble Library. It's a tough issue.
Mr. Engebretson: It is when you start to engage in all of the political back and forth
that is based on special interest groups of various flavors in
competition with each other. It doesn't necessarily lead to a lot of
discussion, and doing the right thing, because the special interests
are usually interested in their plan. That is my personal opinion.
Mr. Taormina: What we do know is that the City does not have the money to
undertake this project. There are too many other priorities. We just
completed a capital needs study identifying at least $10 million of
funding needed just to keep all of our other buildings equipped and
properly maintained in the next three years, five years.
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April 25, 2023
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Ms. Scheel: It's $10 million a year, isn't it? $10 million a year for 10 years.
Mr. Slater: That's an eye-opening number.
Mr. Engebretson: Good discussion. Thank you for asking the question that I was
wondering. I had written that down and you beat me to the punch.
Very good. Mr. Harb?
Mr. Harb: Well, my question was adding on to this. What is the balance now
of the LSRRF fund right now?
Mr. Slater: Without adding these in, I think it was...
Mr. Harb: $320,000 and $59,000, 1 thought.
Mr. Slater: We are a little bit higher than $350,000, $360,000, something like
that. I don't have the exact number in front of me, but there'll be
some obviously added as part of what you were approved tonight.
We'll be approaching $400,000.
Mr. Harb: And that number to take down the library, I believe was around
$350,000. We don't need to add to that at all or...
Mr. Slater: Not at this time. Like Mark said, we're hoping to get some grant
money for it. The Plymouth Road Development Authority has also
offered support if needed, if the cost ended up being higher than
what we expected. So, we would not be coming back to the
Brownfield Authority necessarily for the full cost of this if the cost
rises.
Mr. Harb: So, do we want to basically wipe out the LSRRF fund for one
project? Or?
Ms. Scheel: Well, what we approved last time was...
Mr. Harb: $346,000 1 believe.
Ms. Scheel: I thought it was not to exceed $350,000?
Mr. Taormina: Yeah, I mean, that's right. That's a question for the board. You
know, the decision was made at our last meeting, knowing how
much money the fund has and will have moving forward, and the
priority of this project. The fund will grow again, and especially
when we get the next project online, which will start this summer of
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April 25, 2023
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2023 tax collection period. We'll add the Livonia West Commerce
Center project, and that's probably going to be a fairly significant
amount of money going into the fund. I think it is 10%.
Mr. Lomako: The other thing, too, I thought our last discussion was that given
the location of that library, having frontage on Plymouth Road, and
the potential for a private user to come in there, you know, if that
property was cleared and a private user was coming in, I would
assume we, the city, would negotiate with their private user to get
some of that money back.
Ms. Scheel: Well, they're looking for private public, right?
Mr. Slater: Everything is on the table, so I wouldn't say that there's a definitive
here's what we're going to do at this point because there isn't.
Mr. Taormina: Does the potential exist? I mean, it certainly has that opportunity,
but the decision in the end that has yet to be made, you know, if
it's going to remain 100% public, or if there'll be some private
interested in it or not.
Mr. Lomako: I understand the end user is still up in the air. Sure.
Mr. Taormina: We know that it's tied to Shelden Park, too. Another question is
how the two properties relate? What do we do with that property or
if that library remains with the park surrounding it? There are a lot
of unanswered questions. I know the Mayor's committed to
reaching out to the community to help answer them.
Mr. Harb: I think Plymouth Road needs another chicken spot.
Mr. Taormina: Likely to get one. If you think all the chicken places have come to
Livonia, you're wrong. I still get calls. There's another one out there
and they want to come to Livonia. It's unbelievable.
Ms. Scheel: They realized they were missing the party.
Mr. Lomako: And we must like our Chicken in Livonia. Yeah, I
Mr. Engebretson: Anyone else? I have two left. Actually, the Noble library was my
second question, and I just want to tell you that I found the minutes
to be intriguing and very interesting, but I think it's been covered
well enough where I don't need to pursue that any further. So, I'll
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April 25, 2023
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go to my last point and ask what exciting new things lie ahead. If
there's anything you can tell us about, that would involve this
board.
Mr. Taormina: Nothing imminent. Probably the two properties that I would expect
to have at least a discussion on would be Sears and Comerica. To
take these buildings down and redevelop the sites will more than
likely involve some type of incentive. Brownfield TIF would make
the most sense. For those of you who don't know, the Comerica
operation at Six Mile and Haggerty Roads is going to be empty by
the end of 2023. They're moving to Farmington Hills. The property
is on the market and it's my understanding that a preferred
developer has been identified. We fully expect that the site will be
completely redeveloped into a mixed -use project. The only thing
that will likely remain on that property is the parking deck and
maybe the stormwater management pond, but everything else will
get completely redeveloped. Now, I'm just speculating that
whoever gets that property tied up, they're going to come to us and
want to have a discussion about brownfield financing.
Mr. Engebretson: Do you think, Mark, that you'll have an opportunity to go over
there and find that beam that we all signed?
Mr. Taormina: I remember that. We did that at a couple of locations. I remember
at Masco we did the same thing.
Mr. Engebretson: I did have one other thing and that is that the minutes provided a
very good summary of the discussion that Ashley capital presented
last time. I'm really sorry I missed that. Can you in summary form
or give us a picture of where we are right now? I've read the
minutes as carefully as I can. It was very interesting. Where are
we? Where are we now?
Mr. Taormina: The building I believe is 100% occupied now. The two main
tenants are DHL and Penske Logistics. It's mostly warehouse and
distribution. In the case of Penske, I think they're servicing the TJ
Maxx stores and Home Goods stores. DHL, probably just general
warehouse distribution as part of their logistics operations. FedEx
is leasing a large portion of the added parking lot on the site. If you
remember, the project was not just the building, but also included a
large parking area just to the north and east of the warehouse. As I
recall, Mr. Morton indicated that the eligible costs associated with
the project ended up being approximately $4 million less than what
was approved. There were several reasons for this, including they
Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
April 25, 2023
Page 12
were able to obtain a large amount of fill for free that came from a
project in Van Buren, a sewer project or something. Also, the
amount of contamination was not as bad as predicted, which
required less remediation. And they did not employ any part of
their contingency, which was an added cost approved as part of
the eligible expenses. So, all said and done, the project is
complete. It went from projected eligible expenses of around $9.2
million to roughly $5 million, maybe 5.4 million. That will have the
effect of reducing the number of years of capture from about 28 to
19. All good news.
Mr. Engebretson: I found it curious that the construction project exposed a lot of
surprises, underground, including foundations, 30 inch pipes, and
that there were six inch pipes and getting that free dirt apparently
was really helpful thing for them, but then they had to get rid of
contaminated stuff to with the heavy metals, but that's all done
now?
Mr. Taormina: It's all done. It's a great looking project too when you drive by the
site. If you remember what it was... for years and years. First, the
whole structure that used to be the Delco plant and then when it
was torn down, what they left sitting there for almost 20 years. Just
the concrete and everything else that was on that site and the
problems that it was causing. This is the biggest project to date
that this body has been involved with.
Mr. Engebretson: Was the gentleman that was here Rick Morton's son?
Mr. Taormina: Yes. Kyle Morton
Mr. Engebretson: He his great guy. Okay, well, anything else folks?
Mr. Taormina: Ashley is involved in developing the old Buick City, so they've
moved on to even bigger and larger projects. I don't know how
many acres it is, but it's a massive undertaking.
Mr. Engebretson: Well, they've certainly shown capable they are. They do what they
say they'll do, on time and on budget apparently. Anything else,
folks? If not, we are going to adjourn the meeting. I'll give it one
last call.
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On a motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously adopted, the 261h Meeting held
by the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on April 25, 2022, was
adjourned at :5:40 p.m. /
Ken Harb, Secretary