HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-04 - City Commission Special Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL WORKSHOP
THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Talabisco called the Workshop of the City Commission to order at
9:40 a.m. on Thursday, April 4, 2013 in Conference Room 105, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW
88 Avenue, Tamarac, FL 33321.
ROLL CALL: Mayor Beth Talabisco, Commissioner Pamela Bushnell, Commissioner Patricia
Atkins -Grad and Commissioner Diane Glasser were in attendance.
ABSENT: Vice Mayor Harry Dressler
Also in attendance were City Manager Michael C. Cernech, City Attorney Samuel S. Goren
and Interim City Clerk Patricia Teufel.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Beth Talabisco led the Pledge of Allegiance.
1. Introduction - Tamarac Village: City Manager Michael C. Cernech said previously staff was
asked to provide the Commission with regular updates on the progress of Tamarac Village,
and advised that since the last financial update in January, there has been increased interest
in the property and project. Today will be discussing ways to finance the development of the
infrastructure and to begin the process of developing Tamarac Village. Mr. Cernech said
Financial Services Director Mark Mason, Assistant City Attorney David Tolces as well as
individuals from Group 1, Mathews Consulting and Tamarac's financial advisor Jeff Larson
are here to provide said update and answer any questions. City Manager Cernech said that
when we are finished here today we will be continuing to move forward with the Tamarac
Village project.
2. Land Trust and 3. Community Development District: Financial Services Director Mark
Mason, City Attorney Samuel S. Goren and Assistant City Attorney David Tolces appeared to
discuss both Item 2 and Item 3 on the agenda.
Financial Services Director Mason gave a brief history of the Tamarac Village project over the
past year and said that today we will be talking about the financial aspects and how Tamarac
would be financing this project. At the financial update in January we talked briefly about a
Land Trust and how this would be the vehicle that will allow us to develop Tamarac Village
according to the vision of the Commission. Mr. Mason said that the Land Trust is a legal
vehicle that will allow us to go the next level which will be a Community Development District.
Mr. Mason said a Land Trust is a legal vehicle that will allow us to transfer our property for
the benefit of the City of Tamarac. Because it is a separate entity, it would be the entity that
would apply to the City for the Community Development District to do the infrastructure in
Tamarac Village. This is important because it will remove the requirement for Tamarac to go
out and sell debt to build the infrastructure and then figure out whether we will get that
investment back either through the sale of land or some other way, then maintain it over a
long period of time and be the point of contact for the developer of that area. The overriding
goal that was discussed in the past was that we wanted to remove the liability from the City to
be the developer and have it in a different location to be the developer. City Attorney Goren
said that in Florida we have a statute that creates Land Trusts, The Florida Land Trust Act,
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which says that essentially the Land Trust becomes the legal owner of the property and the
City becomes the primary beneficiary of the Land Trust, which keeps the property tax
exempt. The object here is to convey whatever property the City currently owns in Tamarac
Village into a Land Trust for the purposes of title holding. City Attorney Goren said that a key
factor in a Community Development District is that a governmental agency cannot be an
owner of property within a CDD, the consequence of which is the Land Trust will actually be
the owner of the property and coordinate with the CDD directly as the City cannot be part of
that process. City Attorney Goren reiterated that a Land Trust is simply a legal vehicle of
owning property and dealing with property so that ultimately the City is the beneficiary and if
we want to sell a piece of property then the City would direct the Trustee to sell the property
based upon a negotiated transaction following the statutes. City Attorney Goren advised that
Assistant City Attorney Tolces has done this multiple times.
City Attorney Goren, Assistant City Attorney Tolces, Financial Services Director Mason, Les
Brotman and Jeff Larson responded to questions from the Commission regarding Land
Trusts and Community Development Districts. Mayor Talabisco said that in the future she
would like to have something to help the Commission understand the terminology better, i.e.
glossary or executive summary, to enable the Commission to have a better discussion.
Mayor Talabisco also suggested the Commission meet with staff and go through this process
in depth so as to allow the Commission to have a better understanding about Land Trusts
and Community Development Districts.
4. Infrastructure and Design Concept Update: Community Development Director Jennifer
Bramley, Mathews Consulting and Group 1 appeared. Ms. Bramley said this is an update on
the design concept and infrastructure for Tamarac Village. Ms. Bramley advised that what
they are going to do is put the property in a Land Trust and develop the CDD and what
Mathews Consulting and Group 1 are working together toward is a design concept. The
infrastructure is Mathews' design concept and the real estate component is Group 1.
Eventually we will bring to the Commission for adoption design concepts for Tamarac Village
and those design concepts will not only be the concept of what we want the buildings to look
like, but also what the landscaping, street furniture and pavement markings will look like and
a theme for public art. Ms. Bramley said that in working and in partnership with the private
sector we understand that the City needs to be flexible. Ms. Bramley described in great detail
the process an applicant will have to go through in order for Tamarac Village to have a
uniform complimentary development.
Rebecca Travis, Mathews Consulting, introduced the members of her team from Mathews
Consulting, Urban Design Kilday Studios and Electrical Design Associates. Ms. Travis and
her team members gave a presentation, which is on file in the City Clerk's Office, discussed
their design concepts and responded to questions from the Commission.
Bob Koch, Group 1, advised that since he last spoke with the Commission in January Group
1 is enthused by the level of interest they have received from a very select number of potential
investors and developers, who they are using as a sounding board for ideas to make sure
that the pattern of the land development worked in concert with their business vision and
business understanding which also has economic appropriateness to the evaluation of the
market place that existed. Mr. Koch said their response was more than favorable and in fact
it was so encouraging, they expressed a willingness to go the next step; however, we cannot
go to the next step until the Land Trust and CDD have been created. Mr. Koch went over the
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process that needs to unfold before they can put forth the project to interested parties and
break ground and he also spoke of different markets and how they stand in these economic
times.
Mr. Koch presented the Commission with Group 1's Tamarac Village Progress Report and
design concepts, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. There was some
discussion regarding the disparities between the design concepts of Group 1 and Mathews
Consulting and staff responded to the Commission's concerns and questions.
Mayor Talabisco thanked everyone and said it is very exciting and Tamarac has been waiting
for this for some time.
City Manager Cernech said that the Commission will have a series of Commission actions to
be taken between now and the summer hiatus relative to the Land Trust and CDD.
There being no further business to come before the City Commission, Mayor Talabisco
adjourned the meeting at 11:39 a.m.
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Patricia _Interim �
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