TIF - Part 3 in a Series

Intersted in learning more about Tax Increment Financing and the projects applying?

Read the final installment of our three-part series on TIFs at http://www.discoverthedistrict.com/pdf/TIF_3.pdf

TIF - Part 2 in a Series

Interested in learning more about Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and the projects currently applying?

Check out the second in a three-part series on downtown TIFs: http://discoverthedistrict.com/pdf/TIF_2.pdf

Roots 'n Blues Informational Meeting

The city is hosting an informational meeting for all bars and restaurants regarding the Roots 'n Blues Festival on Monday, July 13 at 3:00 p.m. in the second floor mezzanine conference room of City Hall.

Anyone interested in applying for a caterer's license or a sidewalk cafe permit needs to attend this meeting. On hand will be Janice Finley (City Business Licensing), Chief Ken Burton and Bill Alton (State Liquor Control) to review policies for:

• Catering licenses
• Sidewalk cafe permits
• Alcohol regulations at the festival
• Signage regulations

Permit applications and alcohol regulations will be distributed at this meeting. The deadline to apply for either a catering license or a sidewalk cafe permit is August 3 at 5:00 p.m.

This year Council will be approving the entire layout of the festival, including placement of sidewalk cafes and beer/snack stands on private property, so this deadline is firm.

TIF Overview

Interested in learning more about Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and the projects currently applying?

Check out the first in a three-part series on downtown TIFs: http://discoverthedistrict.com/pdf/TIF_1.pdf

Standing Committee on Public Art

The Standing Committe on Public Art will meet June 24 at 5:15 p.m. in the Community Room of the Walton Buidling, 300 S. Providence Road. This is the committee that oversees our District traffic box program.

For details, see the following pieces in the Columbia Daily Tribune:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/jun/17/utility-box-art-results-in-a-second/

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/jun/20/veto-ellis/

Downtown Leadership Council

The Downtown Leadership Council meeting is at 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 23 in the Mezzanine Conference Room= at City Hall, 701 East Broadway.

AGENDA:

1. Approve Minutes from May 5, 2009.

2. Adjustments to the Agenda.

3. Election of officers for FY 2009-2010.

4. Tony to update on funding the urban design charrette – written report provided

5. Discussion - Sustainable design assistance team from the American Institute of Architects.

6. FY 2009-2010 plan of work:

A. Need feedback from City Council on recommendations in the interim DLC report.

B. If funding for the charrette process is approved in 2010 budget, the DLC will help guide this project.

C. Next couple of meetings, through Sept 09, could focus on the scope of work for the charrette RFP.

7. Other items.

8. Public Comment

9. Next Meeting

10. Adjourn

City Hall Parking and Pedestrian Options

When: For at least one week, stating June 19, 2009

Where: Existing building and addition under construction, north side of Broadway, between 7th and 8th Streets

What: The covered walkway in front of the City Hall construction site at 8th and Broadway has been removed in preparation for storm sewer line work along the front of both the new and existing buildings. There will be no pedestrian way in front of the addition on the north side of Broadway between 7th and 8th Streets through the rest of this week and all of next week, at the least.

The sidewalk in this area also may be affected. There will be no parking in front of the Daniel Boone building over the same time period.

Relocation of existing perimeter fencing is expected to start Friday, June 19. Saw-cutting in the parking spaces is expected to start Monday, June 22 with excavation following immediately after.

Barriers, signage and security fence will be in place to prohibit pedestrian access to the work zone. The public is urged not to cross barriers, ignore flag persons and or walk in the west-bound traffic lane.

Parking Garage Cleaning

Power washing continues today at the Sixth and Cherry Parking Garage.

Business Promotions

Thumper is currently putting together a plan designed to help better promote District businesses. This will involve ways in which the festival can help promote your business as well as suggestions for stores and restaurants on how to attract attendees to your business.

We will keep everyone posted.

Revised Roots 'n Blues Timeline

Below is the new timeline for the festival:

July 6 - Festival plan (including footprint) sent to Council as a report. No public comment on reports but standard comment time is at the end of the meeting.

July 10 (approximately) - City holds informational meeting to answer questions bars and restaurants have regarding alcohol sale and licenses. (City will send a letter to all bars and restaurants and we will keep everyone posted on the details.)

July 20 - Festival plan to Council - public hearing and vote.

August 3, 5:00 pm - Deadline for bars and restaurants to submit paperwork for catering licenses, sidewalk cafe licenses, etc. with City's business license office.

August 17 - Complete festival operations agreement--including any bar or restaurant license agreements--to Council for final approval.

Family Fun Fests: Stream Extravaganza

Monthly family fun at Flat Branch Park! This Wednesday, an evening of fun, frogs, fishing poles, nature tattoos, learning and more for the whole family. Over 20 fun activities for all ages.

Wednesday, June 17 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Roots 'n Blues Update 2

Festival organizers have decided to stick with the original footprint as approved by CCA, MU and the Special Events Committee. The map posted in the previous blog is now the correct one.

The festival will still be discussed at the pre-Council meeting and it will be up to the Council to decide whether or not to place it on the agenda. If they do change the agenda, it will happen at the start of tonight's 7 pm. meeting. If they address the report during the regular meeting it will be the last item on the agenda. The standard public comment time will come directly after that.

City Council meeting can be viewed in real time online at http://gocolumbiamo.com/Council/Meetings/meetings.php.

Roots 'n Blues Udate

Due to some last minute changes to the festival footprint, the Roots 'n Blues report will NOT be on tonight's Council agenda.

The organizers have requested the addition of a wine garden in the Sub Shop parking lot and two Southern Comfort "slushy" booths within the open container footprint. The City Manager's office has requested they resubmit the new proposal to CCA, MU and the City's Special Events Committee for approval.

Festival Map without the proposed changes.

City Council Meeting

The City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 15 at 7 pm. on the 4th floor of City Hall.

Relevant agenda items include:

1. Approval of the Tenth, Hitt, Elm, and Locust Neighborhood Association (THELA).
2. Report on the proposed back-in angle parking pilot project on Ash St. Back-in angled parking is safer for bike riders and frees up one side of the street for a bike lane while losing only one parking space.
3. Accepting a donated computer from Central Missouri Computer Center for our new police substation.
4. Report on the Roots 'n Blues Festival.

Note: The Roots 'n Blues report is not yet available. Please check back later today for the report and for the proposed schedule of public hearings.

Full agenda available at http://gocolumbiamo.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=2.

Traffic Patrol

Police plan a traffic detail tomorrow to crack down on traffic violations in downtown Columbia. Officers with the traffic and downtown units will perform the enforcement spurred by numerous complaints received by the traffic unit, police said.Police will enforce all motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian ordinances but will focus on violations such as bicyclists following traffic laws, emerging from alleys or driveways and riding on sidewalks; pedestrian-crossing violations; and motor vehicles blocking intersections, speeding and stoplight violations.

From the Tribune:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/jun/11/police-plan-special-traffic-control-effort/

Standing Committee on Public Art

Description:	A sub-committee of the Standing Committee on Pubic Art will meet at 4:15 p.m. in the 4th floor conference room of City Hall, 710 East Broadway.
Date:	Thursday, June 11, 2009
Time:	4:15pm-5:15pm CDT
Duration:	1 hour
Topic:	Presentation by Dennis Murphy, the local artist selected for the traffic box project located at Hitt and Broadway.

Email Subscriptions

If you are subscribing to our updates via email, you should know that our service only sends out emails once a day. For more up to the minute information, either subscribe through a feed reader (such as Google Reader) or bookmark this page so you can check it throughout the day.

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TIF Commission Meeting

Location:	Mezzanine Conference Room of City Hall
Date:	Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Time:	2:00pm-4:00pm
Attachments:	Agenda

Downtown Officers - Contact Info

Sergeant Chris Kelley heads up the new downtown beat. He's available via cell at 864-7408 , pager at 441-4818 and e-mail at cbk@gocolumbiamo.com. Continue to use 911 and the non-emergency line at 442-6131 to report crimes but feel free to contact Sergeant Kelley with any concerns you may have.

Officer Tam Adams is back on the daytime beat. She's available at 268-8963 or tjadams@gocolumbiamo.com.

Officers Matt Gremore, Patrick Corcoran, Aaron Wheeler, Chris Hessenflow and Eric Hughes have also started patrols. They've been introducing themselves as much as possible but they're doing quite a bit of undercover work to cut down on underage drinking, panhandling and graffiti so they're trying to keep a lower profile than Officer Adams.

Officers will be patrolling on foot, bicycle, and horseback, within the boundaries of downtown. Chief Burton assures us that his top priorities include graffiti, vagrancy, and unruly behavior among the late night crowds.

The new police substation in our downstairs location is now up and running. The CPD stores their bikes and patrol equipment in our back room and we we have a computer linked to the main police station so officers can file their reports from a more convenient location. (Big thanks to Central Missouri Computers for the computer!)

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Parking Garage Cleaning

Power washing of District parking garages continues this week. Scheduled for cleaning today is the garage on Tenth and Cherry.
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TIF Commission Meeting

The Tax Increment Financing Commission will be meeting on Tuesday, June 9th at 2 pm on the second floor mezzanine of City Hall at 700 E. Broadway. The Commission will be reviewing and voting on two proposed projects: the Tiger Hotel and the mixed-use development on Tenth & Locust.

Both proposals are available on the city's website.

Some things to know about TIFs:

• TIFs are not directly funded by the city. Developers don't simply receive a check from the city.
• Tax entities (such as the schools or the SBD) don't see a reduction in their current revenues.
• The developer must receive a loan for the entire project amount and this loan is not secured in any way by the city.
• Development projects are funded by future sales and property taxes the new development would generate.
  
• Property assessment values are frozen at the current amount and the current tax amount is still paid. As the project is completed and the property increases in value, 100% of this additional tax goes to pay off a portion of the loan (usually around 15-19%).
  
• 50% of new sales taxes generated by the project go to pay off a portion of the loan, the other 50% goes to the taxing entities.
• Unlike TDDs, no tax rates are increased. The consumer will not see any change.
  
• If the project fails and cannot generate enough to pay off the loan, the developer is responsible for the entire amount, not the city.

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City of Columbia Feeds

For your convience, we also provide feeds from the City of Columbia on this page. If you'd like to subscribe yourself, right click on the links below and select "Copy Shortcut" or "Copy Link Address". Paste the feed address into your reader according to their instructions.

Subscribe to the City Council feed.

Subscribe to the City of Columbia's Calendar feed.

For more information about other City feeds go to GoColumbiaMo.com.

Standing Committee on Public Art

A sub-committee of the Standing Committee on Pubic Art will meet on Thursday, June 11 at 4:15 p.m. in the 4th floor conference room of City Hall, 710 East Broadway. Dennis Murphy, the artist commissioned for the traffic box project on Hitt and Broadway, will be presenting his design.
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Central Columbia Association Meeting

The CCA Board will be meeting on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. at 11 S. Tenth St. On the agenda is the street closure request for the Roots 'n Blues Festival.
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Special Business District Board Meeting

The SBD Board will be meeting on Tuesday June 9, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. at 11 S. Tenth St.

Full meeting packet.

AGENDA

Call to Order

Welcome of Guests
Ted Curtis – GetAbout Columbia
Kelly Veach – THELA Neighborhood Association

Approval of the May Minutes

Financial Report

GetAbout Presentation (asking for SBD endorsement)

Committee Reports
Downtown Leadership Council – Wilkerson
TIF Commission – Vangel
Solid Waste District Committee (tentative) - Timberlake

Old Business
CID Steering Committee Recommendation and Vote - Vangel
Noise Ordinance Review

New Business
GetAbout Proposal – Review and vote
THELA Neighborhood Association
Graffiti Ordinance Review

Director’s Report
New District Updates
Roots ‘n Blues
Traffic Box Project

City Update

Public Comment

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Tax Increment Financing Meeting

Tax Increment Financing Commission Meeting will be held Thursday, June 04, 2009 on the second floor Mezzanine of City Hall, 700 Broadway.
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Community Improvement District Meeting

The Community Improvement District (CID) Steering Committee will be meeting on Thursday, June 4 at 2:00 p.m. at 11 S. Tenth St.
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