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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNovember 12, 2024 - 29th Meeting signedMINUTES OF THE 29th MEETING OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY The 29th Meeting of the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of Livonia was called to order at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12, 2024, by Chairman Scheel at City of Livonia City Hall MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: Lynda Scheel, Chairman Ken Harb, Vice Chairman Dillon Breen, Secretary Nicholas Lomako Andrew Lendrum Melissa Karolak (arrived 4:15) Steven Vandette Dan West Mark Taormina, Planning & Economic Dev. Director Jacob Uhazie, Planning & Economic Dev. Coordinator Stephanie Reece, Program Supervisor Tom Wackerman, ASTI Environmental Darian Neubecker, Robertson Homes ROLL WAS CALLED. A quorum was present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES On a motion by Lomako, seconded by Harb, and unanimously adopted, it was: #11-2024 _ RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the 28th Meeting of the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and held March 20, 2024, as amended, are hereby approved. Chairman Scheel 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 #21 (S-2024) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES Mr. Taormina: Thank you. As noted, this is reimbursement payment #21, with the total number of payments to the developer for this project capped at 24. The current taxable value, including both real and personal property, is roughly $12.5 million, resulting in an incremental value for capture of approximately $6 million, which translates to a total tax capture of $252,755, of which $231,466 Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 2 goes to the developer, and 20% to the LSRRF, the Local Site Remediation Revolving Fund and for Administrative Costs, or $21,289. You have the tax capture table provided by our Treasurer and the running total of all the payments made to date. After this payment, there are two (2) more payments. It terminates with the payment of the Summer 2025 taxes, with the ensuing five years of capture deposited to the LSRRF only. Ms. Scheel: Seeing no questions, a motion is in order. On a motion by Lendrum, seconded by Harb, and unanimously adopted, it was: #12-2024 - 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 #21 (S-2024) to Livonia Phoenix, LLC, for $231,466.64, for the reimbursement of eligible expenses; and 2)$21,289.02 for deposit into the Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority's Local Site Remediation Revolving Fund (LSRRF) and to pay for administrative expenses. Ms. Scheel: Any discussion? Chairman Scheel 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 #19 (S-2024) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES. Mr. Taormina: Thank you. This is payment #20 of 22 payments in total. In this case, the taxable value is $3.7 million, with incremental value for capture at $1.9 million. Total taxes captured equals $57,614, with $51,666 to the developer and just under $6,000 going to the State Revolving Fund. Ms. Scheel: And this is payment #19, correct? Mr. Taormina: Yes, this is payment #19. Excuse me. The total number of payments is 20. Thus, we have one payment remaining after this. Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 3 Ms. Scheel: Okay, thank you. Are there any questions for Mr. Taormina regarding this? Seeing no questions, a motion would be in order. On a motion by Herb, seconded by Lendrum, and unanimously adopted, it was: #13-2024 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 #19 (S-2024) to TMA-LIVCOM, LLC, for $51,666.52 to reimburse eligible expenses. 2. Payment of $5,948.37 to the Michigan Department of Treasury State Revolving Fund. Ms. Scheel: Is there any discussion? Chairman Scheel 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 #11 (S-2024) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES. Mr. Taormina: Thank you. This is payment #11 of 22. We're halfway there on this project. The taxable value for the Summer of 2024 tax collection period is $4,514,415. The incremental value for capture is approximately $3.2 million. Total taxes for capture are $45,104. In this case, 25% goes to the LSRRF and for Administrative Costs, $11,276, and 75% to the developer, $33,228. Ms. Scheel: Okay. Are there any questions for Mr. Taormina regarding this one? Seeing no questions. The motion would be in order. On a motion by Lomako, seconded by Lendrum, and unanimously adopted, it was: #14-2024 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: Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 4 1) Payment #11 (S-2024) to Livonia Market II, LLC, for $33,828.44 for the reimbursement of eligible expenses and 2) $11,276.15 for deposit into the Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority's Local Site Remediation Revolving Fund (LSRRF) and to pay for administrative expenses. Ms. Scheel: Any further discussion? Chairman Scheel declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. REVIEW OF LBRA TAX CAPTURE FOR HAGGERTY CENTER AND CONSIDERATION OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCE (TIF) REIMBURSEMENT PAYMENT #11 (S-2024) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES. Mr. Taormina: Thank you. This is payment #11, as indicated. The total number of payments for this project is 28. The taxable value for the Summer of 2024 is $12,865,549, resulting in an Incremental Value for Capture of $12,021,049. The total taxes for capture equals $168,985, with 20% going to the LSRRF and for Administrative Costs, $33,797, and $135,188 to the developer. Ms. Scheel: Thank you, Mark. Are there any questions for Mark at this time? Seeing none, a motion would be in order. On a motion by Lomako, seconded by Harb, and unanimously adopted, it was: #15-2024 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 #11 (S-2024) to Haggerty Square, LLC in the amount of $135,188.72 for the reimbursement of eligible expenses; and 2) $33,797.18 for deposit into the Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority's Local Site Remediation Revolving Fund (LSRRF) and to pay for administrative expenses. Chairman Scheel declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 5 REVIEW OF LBRA TAX CAPTURE FOR LIVONIA WEST COMMERCE CENTER 2 AND CONSIDERATION OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCE (TIF) REIMBURSEMENT PAYMENT #3 (S-2024) FOR AUTHORIZED ELIGIBLE EXPENSES. Mr. Taormina: Thank you. For this brownfield project, the current taxable value is just over $10 million, resulting in a tax capture of $282,527. Of this, 10%, or $13,668, goes to the LSRRF and for Administrative Costs, $239,690 to the developer, and 3 mills to the State Revolving Fund equal to $29,169.15. Ms. Scheel: Are there any questions for Mr. Taormina on this one? Seeing no questions, a motion would be in order. On a motion by Lendrum, seconded by Lomako, and unanimously adopted, it was: #16-2024 RESOLVED, that the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority does hereby approve the distribution of Captured Taxes from the Livonia West Commerce Center 2 Project as follows: 1) Payment #3 (S-2024) to Livonia West Commerce Center 2, LLC, in the amount of $239,690.17 to reimburse eligible expenses. 2) $13,668.18 for deposit into the Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority's Local Site Remediation Revolving Fund (LSRRF) and to pay for administrative expenses. 3) $29,169.15 to the Michigan Department of Treasury State Revolving Fund. Chairman Scheel declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST BY ROBERTSON BROTHERS HOMES FOR APPROVAL OF A BROWNFIELD PLAN AND TAX INCREMENT FINANCING FOR THE "7 AND VICTOR PROJECT," CONSISTING OF 100 RESIDENTIAL TOWNHOMES ON THE NORTH SIDE OF SEVEN MILE ROAD BETWEEN VICTOR PARKWAY AND NEWBURGH ROAD IN THE SOUTHEAST'/< OF SECTION 6. Ms. Scheel: Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 6 Thank you. And next we are on to item number nine. So, this is for the consideration of a request by Robertson Brothers Homes for approval of a brownfield plan and tax increment financing for the Seven and Victor project, consisting of 100 residential town homes on the north side of Seven Mile Road between Victor Parkway and Newburgh Road in the southeast quarter of section six. Mr. Taormina: Thank you, Madam Chair. And just before I begin, I want to thank Julie Alexander in the Treasurer's Office for her work in compiling and putting together the tax capture tables. She took over for Sharon Dolmetsch, who did this work for several years. This was Julie's first time doing it, and we greatly appreciate her efforts. The subject property is at the northeast corner of Seven Mile and Victor Parkway. The project would consist of 100 townhomes on 6.38 acres. Multi -family housing is allowed under a consent judgment approved by the City Council last December. This property has a long legal history, commencing in 1997 when the city approved a consent judgment with Oakwood Health Systems. Oakwood had sued the city after being denied a request to rezone the property from RUF to PO, Professional Office, to build a medical office and ambulatory care facility. The consent judgment divided the roughly 14-acre site into three parcels, which I will briefly describe. Parcel A is the site that is under consideration. It lies south of a drainage course that flows southeasterly across the middle of the site. The original consent judgment allowed Oakwood to build a three-story, 50,000-square-foot medical office on Parcel A with parking for approximately 320 cars. It also set forth the future use and development of Parcels B and C. Parcel B, which lies on the north side of the creek at the west end of the property, is about two acres in size. The consent judgment treats parcel B as open space and is subject to an open space preservation agreement. Parcel C is mainly on the north side of the creek at the east end of the property. Parcel C was approved under the original consent judgment to be developed as multi -family housing. However, in 2006, the City Council amended the consent judgment, allowing for the development of a child daycare facility on Parcel C. The consent judgment also stipulates a requirement for a landscape buffer 100 feet in width along the north end of Parcel B and a portion of Parcel C. Oakwood never built the medical facility. Parcel A was then sold to S&N Development Company. Next, I'll briefly show the Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 7 iteration of the various site plans that were approved for this site. First is the plan that was approved as part of the original consent judgment showing how Parcel A was to be developed by Oakwood for the medical office building. Next is the actual site plan for the medical building that was never built. The next plan was approved under the First Amendment to the consent judgment by S & N Development. It shows a three-story, 100,000-square-foot general office building that was also never constructed. In 2014, Etkin Equities purchased Parcel A from S&N and amended the consent judgment for a third time. Etkin's plan was for a one-story, 54,000-square-foot research office building. Etkin later partnered with a company called DTN to propose developing Parcel A and portions of Parcels B and C for medium to high -density residential. A plan was presented to the City Council in 2019 to rezone the property to R-8, High - Density Residential, but was rejected. In the latest iteration, Etkin has partnered with Robertson Brother Homes with a plan that would lower the density and construct townhomes only on Parcel A. The current plan represents the fourth amendment to the consent judgment. The submitted Act 381 Brownfield Plan describes the project, the brownfield conditions that are present on the site, and all of the other required plan elements under the statute. The site is eligible as a brownfield because it was previously used for residential, and it is considered a "facility" as that term is defined in Part 201 of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. Historical records show that the property was previously farmed and contained three houses. In the mid-70s, evidence suggests that portions of the site underwent considerable disturbance, which coincided with the construction of the 1-275 Expressway. It is believed that a significant amount of construction spoils was deposited over the site's low-lying areas, which contained peat. By the late 1990s, all the structures on the property had been removed, including a 1,000-gallon underground storage tank, which was the subject of two release incidents that were subsequently granted regulatory closure. Then, in 2024, as part of the due diligence for this townhome project, ASTI conducted some additional subsurface investigations and testing. Testing at two of the locations revealed the presence of arsenic and selenium at levels that exceed the State's residential criteria. The presence of these heavy metals provides the basis for eligibility under the Brownfield statute. Both were detected at depths from soil Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 8 borings taken in the north -central and northeast parts of the site. There is a plan that shows where that was done, and I'm sure the petitioner will show us in greater detail. The Brownfield Plan includes a single tax parcel at 37640 West Seven Mile Road. The project involves constructing 100 rental townhouse -style residential units. The concept plan shows 15 buildings, each containing four to eight apartment units per building. These townhomes would range in size from about 1,300 to 1,600 square feet. As you can see, the plan is for one access drive off Victor Parkway. The plan also shows additional green spaces in the form of courtyards and a stormwater detention basin in the site's southeast corner, adjacent to Seven Mile Road. The proposed development would encompass areas of the site where the fill and the naturally occurring peat are located, including where the contaminated soils were discovered. Tax Increment Financing over an estimated 10-year period is proposed to reimburse the Developer for addressing the construction constraints resulting from these conditions. Table 1 in the Brownfield Plan summarizes the costs of all the eligible activities, broken into three basic categories. The first is the "EGLE"-eligible activities. The second is the "Local Only" activities, and the third is categorized as "Other" costs. The EGLE-eligible costs total $75,200, including mostly soft costs related to Brownfield pre -approved eligible activities. These are the Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Studies, the Baseline Environmental Assessment, the Due Care Investigation, and the preparation of the Brownfield Plan. The statute treats these as pre -approved eligible activities and allows for the capture of state school taxes to pay for the associated costs. Next is the Local Only category, divided into two sections: Environmental Response Activities and Non -Environmental Activities. The Environmental Response Activities include removing, transporting, disposing, and backfilling the contaminated fill materials, as well as soil characterization and verification sampling. Thus, the Environmental Response Activities are related primarily to the contamination issues on the site. The Non -Environmental Activities also called the MSF-eligible activities, are really the various site preparation and construction costs due primarily to the poor soil conditions. These constitute the highest costs of the project, including installing the deep footings and the geo pier foundations, upgrading the road detail, exporting the unstable peat material, and then backfilling and Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 9 importing with clean fill, as well as mass balancing and grading activities. Added together, the Environmental and Non - Environmental costs total about $1.65 million. Of this, roughly $1.4 million are construction costs with the two largest being the geo piers, $450,000, and exporting the peat and the unstable fill material, just over $400,000. Including the EGLE-eligible activity costs, a contingency, and Brownfield Plan implementation, the total is about $1.985 million, all of which is reimbursable back to the developer. The final category, Other Costs, includes the City's Administrative Costs and contributions to the LSRRF and the State Brownfield Revolving Fund. That brings the total costs to $3.536 million. Tax increment revenues captured on the value of the Real Property above the established base value would be used to reimburse the developer for the proposed $1.985 million in eligible costs. This is the same process used for all the projects that have come before the Authority. In this case, the base taxable value of the property, which is established according to the current preconstruction taxable value, is $536,413. Table 2 in the Brownfield Plan provides the yearly estimates of the property's taxable value and the capture amounts for each taxing authority. Construction would be completed by 2027, which would be the first year of tax capture based on an estimated taxable value of approximately $7.5 million. We checked this number with the City Assessment Department which they feel is accurate. One of the assumptions built into the revenue projections is a 1% annual growth in the project's taxable value. Non -capturable millages include the Zoo, the Art Institute, and School Debt. Table 3 itemizes the reimbursements, including estimates of the total state and local incremental revenues collected yearly and how much goes to the developer, the LBRA for administrative fees, the State Brownfield Revolving Fund, and the LSRRF. The proposed duration of the plan would be 10 years for full reimbursement of the eligible expenses to the developer. The ensuing five years of capture would go to the LSRRF. The administrative fee would equal 10% of the annual local tax capture, which would total about $350,000 after 15 years. The average yearly disbursement to the Developer would be about $191,000. As previously mentioned, 2027 would be the first year of tax capture. 2036 would be the final year of distributions to the Developer. The tax capture from the school district is limited to the plan's first year to cover the $75,200 pre -approved eligible Ms. Scheel: Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 10 activity costs. The final thing to review quickly is the Development and Reimbursement Agreement. This basically outlines the obligations between the LBRA and the Developer, including the approximate reimbursement amounts, the duration and timing of the payments, and the distribution of the funds to the LSRRF. It includes a requirement for submission of costs by the Developer, and payments, which the LBRA would reimburse the Developer for eligible costs up to a maximum of $1.985 million. The payments would include 90% of the tax increment revenue to the Developer, 10% for administrative fees, and deposits to the LSRRF for the five years following the reimbursement of all the costs of the Developer. For the last five (5) years of the plan, 100% of the tax increment revenues would be deposited to the LSRRF, but not beyond the Winter 2041 taxes. I will note that even though the plan projects 2036 as the end date when the Developer would be fully reimbursed for all eligible costs and Brownfield Plan costs, the proposed agreement would allow up to five (5) more years of cost recovered to reach the maximum amount of $1.985 million. As part of any approving resolution, the LBRA should consider the year the maximum reimbursement amount is reached, or 2036, whichever occurs first. This is consistent with all the TIF plans the Authority has previously approved. The Development and Reimbursement Agreement also contains provisions for adjustments and the term going out to the winter 2041 tax year. With that, Madam Chair, I will answer any questions that the Board may have at this time. Okay, so we'll go with questions from our board to you before we bring up the folks from Robertson Homes. So, does anybody have any questions for Mark first before we hear from Robertson Homes? Mr. Harb: How do we decide whether it's 10 or 20 years for reimbursement? Mr. Taormina: You look at the projections provided in the Brownfield Plan. The estimate is that it would take 10 years to fully reimburse all eligible costs. And then you set that limit. If they get fully reimbursed, then fine. If not, the payments stop at the end of the established period you set. That's been the city's policy since the inception of the LBRA. Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 11 Ms. Scheel: Anybody else have any other questions for Mark? Mark, I have a couple. So, this is real property only, right, not personal? Mr. Taormina: Correct. Ms. Scheel: Okay, will this have to go back before Planning and Council for site approval? Mr. Taormina: Yes, but remember that the conceptual plan approved as part of the consent judgment sets the framework for how the site will be developed. So, we have a general layout. There are a lot of details that the Planning Commission and the City Council must review, such as landscaping, site lighting, building, building architecture, and parking. The items they typically review as part of the site planning process. However, the general layout and the zoning effectively are in place for the approval of the townhome development. Ms. Scheel: So, it would go through the normal planning and then on the council, just like the normal. Okay, and then my question, from looking at this is, where's going to be enough parking? Mr. Taormina: Yes. Each apartment will have a garage space. Unfortunately, I don't know if the renderings show this, but there are garages. One or two for each unit. Ms. Scheel: Okay, and then the parking that showing is for visitors or people? Mr. Taormina: Correct. Ms. Scheel: Okay, those are my questions so far. Mr. Lomako: I have a follow-up on the Planning Commission involvement. So, this general development plan in terms of setbacks and number of units per building is set as presented. Mr. Taormina: That's correct. Mr. Lomako: Okay. My only challenge, just for the record, is that the eastern most building closest Seven Mile, that setback for it, the number of units in that building seems insufficient to me. But that gave me pause, notwithstanding the Planning Commission involvement and council involvement there, I think there's Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 12 something the agreement that says material changes will be brought back here, is that true? I just want to make sure I understand what that means. Material changes to the plan have to be approved here at the Brownfield authority. I think I read that in the agreement. Mr. Taormina: I don't know what section that is. Mr. Lomako: So, maybe the applicant can address that. Thank you. That's all I have. Ms. Scheel: You're welcome. Any other questions before we bring... Okay? Seeing none. We have people from the Robertson Brothers Homes here. If you could introduce yourselves to us. Welcome. Tom Wackerman, ASTI Environmental, and we've got a whole slew of people here from Robertson brothers. They will introduce themselves in just a second. Thank you for that thorough introduction. I would make one comment on it, however, none of these are construction costs, it says that in your staff report, these are all site preparation costs, which makes them eligible under Act 381, for reimbursement. We're going to present the project in just a second. We'll go through a couple of details. The issue here is primarily site stability, soil stability. That's the problem. That's why this site has been such a challenge, and that's what all of this is designed to take care of. Yes, it's a facility. Yes, they're going to be challenges in terms of the environmental, we'll talk about those as well, but the big issue here is it needs to be buildable before anybody can put anything on it. So with that, Darian. Darian Neubecker, Robertson Homes. I want to thank Mark. He did a phenomenal job, kind of bringing you guys up to speed on this site. We're the fourth or fifth, fourth consent judgment, and court modification, so hopefully the fourth time on this site with this plan. So about two years ago, Doug Etkin called us and said, hey, I got a site in Livonia. I'd love you to take a look at it, see if there's something you can do. I tried to try to work the office angle and the office markets, obviously a challenge and I've also tried to do all that. I think residential is an appropriate use, but I went down a path with DTN and the apartment community, and that was not well received, I don't think by the neighborhood ultimately. Now, what Doug did try to approve before was a four- story building. I think it was very intense. I think there was 200 Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 13 plus units in it. So, he said, I know you guys do a lot of townhouses or three-story structures. Is there something you can do with the site. We thought it was an appropriate use from a townhome standpoint. It's the northeast corner, obviously, at Victor Parkway and Seven Mile, so it's got a sense of place. It gets a good transitional use from a residential standpoint, for the site. The challenge that we came up with early on, which is what we'll talk about today, is just the geotechnical issues on the site. There is some environmental as Tom said, but mostly it's geo technical. Essentially it was farmed for 50 years. There were low lying areas, and whether it was when they were expanding 1-275 or another road project, at some point in time, they filled in the site with uncompacted fill which you really can't put buildings on. They can shift and crack and move around so as well as put road patterns on, so the challenge on this site is a geotechnical issue. The one point 1 think I'll make, which I think you're probably aware, but the costs that we're asking for, these are extraordinary costs. These are not costs...if this site were, you know, a cornfield and they didn't have any soil issues, we would scrape the site, put the roads in, put the buildings up, and we wouldn't have any incremental cost. These costs here are the front-end costs are the testing to identify the phase one, phase two, all the geotechnical reports we've already done, and we've been on the site two or three times. We've done test bits. We've done enough to feel comfortable that we have our arms wrapped around roughly what the issue is. The other costs are, how are we going to deal with this, which I'm going to do in a second. But you know what we're going to deal with in terms of how we place buildings on 11 feet of fill that is underlying, generally, by two to three feet of peat, as well as, what are we going to do for the roads and utilities that we're going to place on the site, so that when we put those things in place, the buildings don't drop or shift, and the road doesn't drop, or the utilities don't drop, none of which is a good scenario. So, the only other thing I'll add, this is tangential. This is really not... It doesn't have anything to do with the Brownfield. But one of the things that I think was a concern in the past was what's going to happen to the open space, I know, Mark, conservation even over most of this, I think the whole lot was ever going to happen, but we were in conversations, and it was, you know, identified as if we could give certainty to that entire corner, I think that'd be a positive benefit to the city and the project. So, we were able to secure the entirety of the balance of the site. So, when we go, you know, if we're successful tonight, and go back for a final site Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 14 plan, we are going to go with the site plan that's going to show exactly that to be a lower left-hand corner, and all of that is going to be added in this permanent open space as part of the condominium. So, it'll never be developed. It'll be open space whether we program it as a, you know, as a passive recreation area with benches, seating, whether we do a little bit of berm and screening work, I think there may be some chances to reduce some of the costs in this plan if we can build some screening or some berming on that site to the north. But I think it's a benefit to the site. I think it might be a benefit, ultimately, the Brownfield, depending on how we're able to utilize that location. In terms of elevations, these are sample elevations we build. We probably build about 100 townhouses a year across the metro Detroit. We're very familiar with the project type. Oftentimes, we go to a community they want one elevation for a particular site, and we go to a different community, and they are looking for different elevation. So, we've indicated to the staff we're completely open and willing to work on whatever type of elevation everybody thinks is appropriate. So that's just an entire pallet of things we've done in the past. It doesn't even necessarily represent what we can do on this site. These are floor plans. So, there's two different product types we'll build. One is a 16-foot-wide unit. It does have a one car attached garage underneath on the first floor. And then the second unit is a 20-foot wide with a two -car attached garage on the first level. It has an apron on the back of it, which we'll get to on the site plan, but there's...all the units have either one or two car closed parking for the residents and there's always...the one car have an apron right behind the garage, so that if you had a second car. So, two folks are living there, one can park in, one could park out, and they get into who could park in and who can park out, but then the others, all the other parking you see on the site plan is intended for guest parking. So, everybody that lives here, short of three people living in a unit, is going to have the ability to privately park the car. 1,300 square foot units are two bedrooms and then the bigger units are 1,600-foot three - bedroom units. In terms of the project highlights. I'll blow through this briefly. I think that the product type is well received. I think the neighborhood, the folks that are aware of the site, when they realize it's three story versus four story, I think it will be well received. I think the reduction from 200 to 100 units in density, was well received. I think it helps with the concerns about traffic. It's parked sufficiently, in our opinion. I think it's an appropriate use, transitional to other areas. And I think there may even be Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 15 some other multi -family opportunities coming in that quarter soon as well. The development area is six acres. We (inaudible) in the three acres that we bought to the north. It's a total of 10 acres, 100 units. It's like 10 units to the acre, which, depending how you look at transitional use, you think that that's high density, or think that it's not high density. We build as high as 18 units to the acre, and we've obviously built suburbs that are detached, single family at two units to the acre. But I think for this location, at a hard intersection, it's appropriate density. The zoning is a consent judgment. We talked about the 100 units. You know, the open space, it was originally three acres, 48% open space, but the addition of the land of the north, if we move forward with site, is going to be six and a half acres, or almost 60 some percent open space. So, there's going to be a lot of open space. There's density, but it's condensed on the site plan because it's three-story products. Tom, do you want to talk about this? Mr. Wackerman: Yeah, let me talk about this. So, a couple of other points before I talk about this very briefly. First one is Robertson Brothers is not new to this game. They've done a lot of Brownfield conversions or retrofits, so they understand this process, just as you understand it, but the second thing I wanted to bring up is, Nicholas, you asked about substantive changes. The function, if I may, the function of the Brownfield plan is to determine costs and payback period. That payback period uses a bunch of assumptions. In this case, future taxable value increase, annual increases, things like millage rates, things like that. When people talk about a substantive change in the Brownfield plan. They're really talking about that equation, that math equation. What you're approving today is a dollar amount for reimbursement and an estimated reimbursement period. The intent is not to go into the planning or subvert or second guess the planning process. So as long as we keep to that, I think that's a good process. So very quickly, this is the number of test pits that were done on the property, and then in gray behind it, you can see some of the other borings. So, you can see there was a lot of work done. And just quickly to understand how it lays out. it's the Ronald Reagan School of Economics. Green is good, red is bad, right? And so here is where all the film material is, and that's overlaying natural peat, as Darien had said, go to the next slide. And the interesting thing about that is that absolutely follows the 1973 contours prior to dumping there. It makes perfect sense. The site had a swale in it or a lower area Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 16 in it. Through here it was sloping to this side, and it was built up all along here. And that's exactly where we found the fill material. The fill material is a combination of stuff, given the age, it's probably from 1-275 when they were moving soils around. And so we went out to some of the areas that had the greatest fill and we took three extra borings. Next slide, please. To determine if there were any issues associated with those borings. These are the three borings. In these two borings, we identified heavy metals. We then did what's called adaptive cluster sampling to determine the footprint of that. And as you can see here, in this area, we didn't completely define the footprint. Over here, we didn't either. So, there's still some more sampling work that needs to be done, and that's in the costs that are in your Brownfield plan. There may also be ways to manage this, other than dig and dump. That'll be determined when we talk about soil balance on the property, but in essence, it is a facility because of exceedance of GSI for selenium and state like fall for arsenic, fill, which therefore exceeds direct contact criteria. Next slide. Mr. Neubecker: I'm happy to do this one. Mr. Wackerman:Yeah, this, this is the fun one. So, this is the cross section showing the issue and the solution to it. Mr. Neubecker: Yeah, so, and 1 think Mark actually asked me to put this together, and I think it helps, hopefully, is there a copy in everybody's packet or is this the first time? So, the issue you run into with peat...peat is very wet. Right now, if you walk down on the site, the ground is stable, but peat can be very easily compressed. It doesn't have a whole lot of compressive strength, so if you put weight on peat, even if it's eight feet down, 10 feet down, it can compress. And then the whole surface elevation drops. We recently are...you know, if you've ever been to the intersection of Grand River and downtown Novi, we have a site going on there that had a lot of issues. In fact, peat is very hard to predict, and we had it all planned on how we were going to handle that peat. And at the end of the day, when we got out there, it was something we didn't expect it to do, and it actually literally squirt out the side of a pond that we were preserving. And so then we had 50,000 truck yards of peat that we had to haul for the water part in two months to get it out of the site. So it's a very challenging substance to deal with. It can be dealt with, but it does act unpredictable. So, I'm going to Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 17 start with two approaches, one of which is, how do you deal with it when you got a building, and how do you deal with it when you have the road pattern in between the buildings that we're talking about. The southern section of the site, as Tom mentioned, is basically at grade and doesn't have peat, you know, or at least it has peat at the surface, which is much easier to deal with. The northern section of the site they filled in the site, and so they filled in over they filled in fill it doesn't support structures over top of peat that doesn't support structure. So how do we support the buildings that are along that northern section of the site plan? Well, you can do a couple things. One, you can dig off the entire site, like we could just scrape, you know, I think it's about 11 feet of fill in its worst areas with two feet of peat underneath. So, we can scrape the entire northern section of the site and then fill it back in 13 feet. From an economic standpoint, that's not going to make any sense. You're in the millions of dollars. You're in the multiple, or multiple millions of dollars to do something like that. The approach that you typically would see on a site like this, and the one that we're going to take is you can either do the helical piers, which helical piers, which are little, you know, they're literally like pilings, but they're metal, and they get screwed and drilled into the ground until they get all the way below the fill. All the way below the peat, and then they hit an area where they can actually get resistance and support a structure. And you do them about 10 feet on center, and then you put beams over top of them, and then you can set up a house on top of that. The structure that, or the system that we're actually using, is very similar. It's actually called geo piers. In this case, its rammed aggregate piers. You basically you drill holes and you pound one by three aggregate into the ground. And by pounding it into the ground, it pushes out and it improves the ground around it. Keep pounding until it hits a point where you're through the peak, and it creates enough resistance that you can set a building on top. It's a solution that's used nationwide. It's actually ATS tested solution, so it's validated, it's vetted. It's what we used up at Novi, and I know it'll work. So what you're seeing here is this whole section right here. This is the...basically all the way down to this layer is 11 feet of fill. And then below that is two to three feet of peat. So, you see a standard three story building here, your foundations here, normally you would just go 42 inches down. Here, you're having to drill and ram just aggregate piles all the way down. And usually they go out about 20-25 feet. They go down ultimately, until they hit a certain amount of resistance. But in general, in Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 18 this case, it's probably 25 feet. And then you set the buildings on top of that. And then, in terms of the garage slabs, This is a garage or the car parts on the first level. It's much smaller solution, because you're carrying less weight. So the buildings themselves, it's $8,000 to $10,000 a unit. They come in, the contractor comes in, out of state, they put them all in over a two - week period of time and it's done. I want to say it's not risky. It's risky, but we've done it. We know what the numbers. There's a certain amount of certainty to that. The challenge you run into is in between these units, where the garages are, that's where those drive sections come in. And you not going to just completely improve where the drive sits or where the road is going to sit, and that's where your water lines run, and that's where your sewer lines are. So, what we're proposing here, because, you know, (inaudible) solution, is not going to be a solution for that. This situation is we're going to have to dig out on that whole northern section. That entire road is going to be dug down to the bottom, at least. That's our assessment right now, and that's what our costs are planning for. Because we're going to dig all that fill out, we're going to take the peat out and we're going to build that whole road base back up about 60 feet wide, and that's the $447,000. You got to take the soil out, and then you got to bring clean fill back in, and then build up the lifts. So that's how we're proposing to handle it. There's, I think, $100,000 and Tom will go over the cost. There's another $100,000 to deal with any...some of the environmental we found to get rid of it. But the general situation is the better part of a half million, $550,000 for the buildings, and the better part of $500,000 to $600,000 for the roads themselves. Then you add in the testing we've already done. You added a contingency on top of it, and then you added general masquerading, because when we start moving this dirt around on site, it's hard to separate. You don't come out and do one activity, stop and then do the next activity. It's kind of happening all at the same time, but that's in a nutshell, what the situation we're facing. Any questions? Ms. Scheel: Does anybody have any questions on this slide? On this slide? Go ahead. Mr. Harb. Mr. Harb: So where are you going to have to put the peat? Where are you going to deliver it to? Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 19 Mr. Neubecker: So, that's a great question. There's a number of answers. So, depending on the time of year when we take the peat out, if we have enough time, we can mix it with soil on site, topsoil and regular soil. If you can mix it, we can dramatically reduce some of the costs we have in there, because you can actually sell peat. If you have it in the spring and in the summer, and the landscapers are looking for peat and it's on the road, you can actually sell it. So, the good news is, some of these costs we have depending on the approach we can take in the field, and what I say up here, and what we do in the field, it may change and the area, may grow or shrink. We're going to find out when we get there. But if we're able to do certain things, like to sell peat because the time of the year works, then we, you know, we're only going to submit the cost we actually spend. So hopefully we're able to save some money. Ultimately, if we don't have a seller for it, and we can't mix it, or time doesn't allow, it'll either go to a landscaper and they'll set it in their yard to reuse, or worst case, it'll go to a landfill. We're assuming ifs going to go off, not to a landfill. It can go to a landscaper or somewhere to be reused. We're not assuming... I think we assumed $30 a truck yard to load it and haul it off. The other option is the open land. If we can build like a four -foot berm on that open land to the north, we can save a fortune to haul it up there, spread it and then re -topsoil and reseed on top. Mr. Wackerman: I would add that the Brownfield plan includes the costs because of facility, right? You have to handle the soil in a very specific way, includes the cost to support testing to allow that to happen. Mr. Neubecker: Yeah. Tom's right. We have to test it first to make sure that that section of dirt is cleaned correctly. Mr. Harb Another precedence may sound silly, but you have a garage and a two story condo, right? First floors, living room, second floor, probably the bedrooms, yeah, that type of thing. Why wouldn't that be considered three story? Mr. Newbecker: This is three stories. Mr. Harb: But you were saying earlier that it's a two story. Mr. Neubecker: Oh, if I did, my mistake. It's a three-story, three-story product. Ms. Scheel: Any other questions? Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 20 Mr. Wackerman: Okay, real quick closing slides. Thank you. So, as Mark said, the Brownfield plan is divided into two categories, one of the pre - approved activities, these are allowed to be captured from both local and school taxes without state approval. That's $75,200. Next slide, please. And then the bulk of it, as we've just discussed, is this site preparation work. This site can't be built on without this site preparation work. This is the biggest impediment to making this work. This is about 1.9 million, some of that includes environmental work up here. The thought right now is dig and dump the hot sections, do verification sampling, and then do site characterization on other soils that may be used elsewhere. And then final slide. The third category are the other expenses the LBRA, local and state, 10 year capture, five year additional years for the LBRA. I'd mentioned one thing about the caption, we go into Brownfield plan, obviously, if you have any questions. But that is, that is based, as you know, on a number of assumptions, assumptions of future taxable value, assumptions of annual increase, assumptions of future millage rates, assumptions of costs. So, if there's any way we could take that number, and I think it's 2032 what you said, I don't have the table in front of me. Whatever the last payment dated to 2036 and add at least a year to that. For those, for the various pluses and minuses on those assumptions, that would be a great thing, rather than just using the table. But right now, you got the tables in front of you. Any questions on the three tables that Mark brought up, the eligible activity tables, which I just showed you here, the tax capture assumption tables or the reimbursement assumption tables. Ms. Scheel: Does anybody have any other questions for Tom, right now? I have a question. So, because of all the things that you found on this site that it needs to be remediated, are we going to have to monitor this site forever or once you remediate it and take everything out, that we don't have to monitor the soils for gases or anything? Mr. Wackerman: There are no gas issues here. There are no vapor issues at all. So that takes away a big issue that's been plaguing properties in the State of Michigan for the last couple of years. The only issue is heavy metals. So, the only issue would be, if those heavy metals are within the top 12 inches, then you'd have to have a due care plan, but the assumption here is that part of the soil balance on the site is going to take those two hot spots and Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 21 remove them. So, the objective and the data will tell us whether we meet that objective is, is to make it so there are no additional conditions on the property going forward, but assuming if there are, the additional conditions, would be maintaining 12 inches of clean fill over the entire site. Ms. Scheel: There'll be no monitoring that is needed. Mr. Wackerman: No monitoring. There's no operation and maintenance issues long term. Ms. Scheel: Okay, thank you. Mr. Harb: So where you did your drilling, is that where the road is, generally? Mr. Wackerman: if you could go back, Mark, one more forward, is this primarily, but I don't even know... Mr. Neubecker: I didn't do an overlay, but it might be a little south, but yes, there's a... Mr. Taormina: There's an overlay right here. Mr. Wackerman: Oh yeah, there we go. I don't have my bees on here, so I'm deficient. Mr. Harb: So, you're planning on removing ten feet or so anyway, right? Mr. Harb: So, it's going to take care of a lot of the... Mr. Wackerman: if that coincides yes, and that when I... so, when I said, if the soil balance works correctly, we'll be taking out those hot spots. What I mean by that is, you've got to take out certain amount of soil for roads or for other problems on the site. Too much soil, for example, maybe the retention basin generates too much soil. That's the soil balance. And so our philosophy has always been, for example, if you've got to take out soil from your retention basin, and that has to go off site, because it's too much soil, we'd rather have you take it from the contamination area, take that soil off site and then keep this on site because it's clean soil. That's what I meant by soil balance. So, there will be a bit of a dance as to where the excavations are going to be, how they're going to be done, when they're going to be done, but Mr. Harb: Ms. Scheel: Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 22 when we're done, we're still going to have to do the verification sampling, we're still going to have to dispose of the contaminated soils in a type two landfill. We're still going to have to prove that the remaining soils can be used for other things, right? Thank you. Okay, open for questions. Anybody have any questions for Mark at this point, or from anybody that spoke from the Robertson? I have a question, Mark. I'm going to direct it to you, and if it needs to go...so just for talking purposes, are these...these are meant to be town homes. Are these meant to be owned or rented? Mr. Taormina: Rented. Ms. Scheel: These are going to be rental units. Is there a projected timeline as to when they're looking...I know they've got to get through Planning and Council, but is there a projected timeline as to when they would like to start construction that you know of? Mr. Taormina: I'm going to defer that too. Mr. Neubecker: So, I mean, I'm hopeful that coming out of today, we will be moving forward. We're gonna have to move forward the full size plan. Nick, I'm not convinced that those buildings are gonna exactly stay where they're at. That was a concept that was for the consent judgment. So, I'm not convinced...that issue may come up down the road, but the idea is to go forward with the final site plan approval through the normal approval process. In 2025 and I'd love to be in a position to be moving dirt late summer, fall of 2025. Ideally, we'd be paid by this time next year, and then we'd start vertical construction. It'll take us about a year. It'll take us six months to develop well, probably five months to develop it. In terms of getting all the roads in, and then about 10 to 12 months to build it vertically. We can build 10 to 12 units a month pretty easily. So ideally, we're paved this time next year and we're fully complete and finishing leases up at this time in 2026. Ms. Scheel: So, your goal is to keep it moving right along. You're not waiting fora couple of years to get started. Mr. Neubecker: We want to move. Ms. Scheel: Mr. Lomako: Ms. Scheel: Mr. Taormina: Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 23 Okay, great. Anybody else have any other questions? So if there's no other questions, there is a draft resolution on page four of item nine, if you want to look at what that is, and if somebody would like to make a motion. Anybody comfortable with making the motion? I have a question. The blank in that resolution? What are we attempting to do there in that? Mark you want to speak to that, if there's anything that we want to put in there. That was left blank on purpose for any conditions that the Board wanted to include as part of the resolution, such as limiting the Developer's reimbursement period to a maximum of 10 years, and also establishing the maximum amount of reimbursement to $1.985 million. On a motion by Harb, seconded by Lendrum, and unanimously adopted, it was: #17-2024 RESOLVED, That the Act 381 Brownfield Plan for the "7 and Victor Project" dated August 1, 2024, together with the proposed Development and Reimbursement Agreement between the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (LBRA) and Robertson Brothers Company, seeking the use of Tax Increment Revenues for the development of the property at 37640 W. Seven Mile Road, as presented to the LBRA at its meeting of November 12, 2024, are hereby approved, subject to a maximum duration of 10 years of tax capture commencing in the year 2027 for reimbursement to the developer for eligible activities costs not to exceed $1,985,199, and further subject to final approval by the Livonia City Council. Chairman Scheel declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Ms. Scheel: Thank you everybody that was here this evening to present this to us. Thank you very much for being here. We truly appreciate it, and we appreciate all the work that you're putting into this public hearing. Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority November 12, 2024 Page 24 On a motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously adopted, the 29th Meeting held by the City of Livonia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on November 12, 2024, was adjourned at 5:02 p.m. cO, ThuAn Dillon Breen, Secretary