|
| | 1. | | Call to order.
Minutes note: Meeting convened at 9:10 a.m. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 2. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Member Vernon joined the committee at 9:23 a.m. during item 5. | | | |
Roll call
|
Not available
|
|
| | 3. | | Review and approval of the previous meeting minutes from April 17, 2019.
Minutes note: Member Smith moved approval, seconded by member Garrison, of the meeting minutes from April 17, 2019 without objection. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 4. | | Bronzeville RFPs, listings, projects, programs, initiatives, events, activities or updates.
Minutes note: a. DCD Commercial Corridor grants for update, review, or approval
Individual appearing:
Terrence Acquah, DCD Commercial Corridor
Mr. Acquah gave an update. Rise & Grind restaurant applied for the retail investment funds to revamp the inside of their existing space. Funds can be used for a variety of work including architecture, engineering, fixtures, etc. Staff is waiting for further application materials and estimates. Rise & Grind was approved last month with a signage grant.
Chair Crump requested Mr. Acquah to try to bring representatives of Rise & Grind to come before the committee at a future meeting.
b. Other
Mr. Acquah gave an update on the Bronzeville website. Staff has been working with the Information and Technology Management Division to come up with a framework. Once a framework has been established, the website content can proceed. An initial website example can be shown to the committee at its next meeting. A desire is to have one or more advisory committee members partake in the design of the website. The goal is to roll out with a new website by July prior to Bronzeville Week. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 5. | | Discussion on criteria, scoring, and evaluation relative to committee recommendations.
Minutes note: Individuals appearing:
Amy Turim, DCD Real Estate
Ald. Milele Coggs, 6th Ald. Dist.
Ms. Turim commented. A new scoring evaluation sheet template was provided to members for their review and was updated to include comments made from the last meeting. The first page of the template (General Proposal Information and Project Specific Experience of the Development Team sections) would be for DCD staff to provide objective information when RFP responses come before the committee. The advisory committee would be responsible to complete, score, and possibly add its own set of criteria on the second page of the template (Bronzeville Advisory Committee Review and Additional Criteria sections).
Chair Crump said that the template should also include outcomes and timelines of other projects under the Project Specific Experience of the Development Team section.
Ms. Turim replied that the categories of "Developer Team Completed Past Projects" and "Developer Team projects in Progress or Pending (Incomplete)" can be moved from the General Proposal Information section to the Project Specific Experience of the Development Team section.
Member Vernon joined the committee at 9:23 a.m.
Ald. Coggs commented. She created the committee with the intention for the committee to have influence on RFPs in Bronzeville, to be an additional lens for DCD, to consider further insight that DCD does not do, and to not duplicate aspects that DCD already does. The former Garfield school RFP evaluation was a good example of the advisory committee providing that extra lens. The committee should establish basic criteria as a foundation and to stay focused since RFPs will vary. There is no legal opinion on arts and culture as the only criteria for the advisory committee to consider, however, the committee should not reject proposals solely based on arts and culture. Providing a scoring sheet to developers would allow for them to be better prepared. Other criteria to add to the template would be additional licenses or permits being sought since they may be a crucial part of a project.
Members further discussed. A challenge would be to identify and quantify those criteria, perhaps solely based on arts and culture, which the advisory committee would uniquely consider without violating any legal rights. Another challenge for the advisory committee is to determine whether or not it should see DCD scores and rankings of projects. The main criteria theme for the advisory committee is what is ideal for Bronzeville. Other possible criteria items to add to the sheet template would be diversity, ongoing operations, visual look, sustainability, tenancy, local community inclusion/representation, parking arrangements, property lifespan, and zoning clarification. Having a scoring sheet is good for transparency. The scoring sheet template should be shared to applicants, especially new developers, to help them understand the important elements that the advisory committee is looking for.
Members inquired about the ability to know all parties involved in a project, upcoming RFPs, exterior aesthetics, DCD scores/rankings, and providing scoring criteria to applicants.
Ms. Turim replied. DCD staff does get informed about all parties involved in a project and can provide that information. Saving buildings for projects is more affordable than demolishing buildings for new developments. There is one potential RFP building that her office is trying to make safe. The 7th and North Ave. RFP will be relisted. The relocation of the billboard there is moving forward. DCD staff does consider and balance historic and modern exterior aesthetics so that projects do not visually become out of sync with the look of a neighborhood. There are King Drive guidelines on exterior aesthetics and perhaps DCD staff can come before the committee to provide more information on those guidelines. She can add to the template the criteria of current zoning, zoning needed, and BOZA requirement. Ideally, DCD should only provide summary information within the scoring sheet and not any scores or rankings so that no influence is being made upon the committee. Much of the scoring sheet criteria are included in RFP listing sheets, but the scoring sheet can be shared to applicants if that is the preference of the advisory committee. The preference is for DCD to only bring to the advisory committee proposals that meet minimum RFP requirements and not all proposals.
Members discussed ways to help redevelopment in Bronzeville; giving sites to ACRE students as projects; and making intentional connections between developers, owners, businesses, and organizations.
Ald. Coggs commented. DCD staff is available to assist developers and buyers through various means, such as via open houses and dialogue sessions in collaboration with her office. There have been lunch and learn sessions, in partnership with LISC, giving education to developers (primarily ACRE students) on permitting, zoning, and available resources. The lunch and learn sessions will occur again for this year. It would be beneficial to have sessions on specific RFPs, especially the 7th and North Ave. RFP. DCD, in partnership with LISC, has worked with ACRE students in the classroom to create projects on available Bronzeville sites and will be pushed to do more. A national cohort did come review those ACRE classroom projects. There has not been any execution of those ACRE projects beyond the classroom, but there is one being pursued. The ACRE projects have led some students to do other projects in the area. There cannot be sole dependence only on ACRE projects for redevelopment. The current ACRE class all have a real estate background. Making connections is challenging. She and the Historic King Drive BID have engaged in making connections through events like Bronzeville mixers and annual entrepreneur summits. There can be more intentional gathering of developers, business owners, and organizations.
Chair Crump commented. Further modifications to the scoring template should be made, based on comments made at this meeting. Another modified scoring template should be brought before the advisory committee at its next meeting for review. The advisory committee, at its next meeting, should examine its portion of the template more thoroughly, establish its own criteria, and determine the weight of each of its criteria.
| | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 6. | | Announcements.
Minutes note: Member Garrison announced the retirement of Mac Weddle from the Northcott Neighborhood House and a Department of Natural Resources property assessment session for tomorrow.
Members discussed doing a booth at Juneteenth Day festival, and Chair Crump said that he will work with either the Fire & Police Commission or Ald. Cogg's office about possibly sharing or doing a separate booth for the advisory committee.
Diana Wilkinson, Historic King Drive BID, appeared and announced a BID social for tomorrow from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the 4th Quarter Sport Bar and Grill.
Member Boynes announced that Jasmine Tyler from Ald. Milele Cogg's office is recovering from a medical surgery.
Ald. Coggs announced an open dialogue session at America's Black Holocaust Museum on Saturday, May 18th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. regarding the revitalization of the historic MLK building.
Member Vernon announced that her daughter will be attending Clark University.
| | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 7. | | Next meeting date and time.
Minutes note: a. Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at 9 a.m.
Next meeting was rescheduled to Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 9 a.m. so there would be no conflict with Juneteenth Day on June 19th. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 8. | | Agenda items for the next meeting. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 9. | | Adjournment.
Minutes note: Meeting adjourned at 10:24 a.m.
Chris Lee, Staff Assistant
Council Records Section
City Clerk's Office | | | |
|
Not available
|
|