REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING

July 25, 2011

 

The regular meeting of the City of Mishawaka Redevelopment Commission was called to order at 6:30 p.m., Monday, July 25, 2011, in Room 205, City Hall, 600 East Third Street, Mishawaka, Indiana.  Commissioners Eberhart, O’Dell, Troiola, Mammolenti, and Stillson were present.  Absent:  Commissioner Gebo.  Also in attendance:  Lory Timmer, Community Development Director; John Gourley, Legal Counsel; and Kari Myers, Administrative Planner.

 

Commissioner Mammolenti moved to approve the minutes of the June 27, 2011, meeting.  Commissioner Troiola seconded; motion carried.

 

BID OPENING FOR CITY-OWNED PARCELS

Mrs. Timmer said the Department recently advertised three (3) vacant lots for sale: 219 S. Cedar Street, 809 S. West Street and a partial parcel north of 420 Lincolnway West.  Two bids were received and will be opened at tonight’s meeting; one for 809 S. West Street and one for the land north of 420 Lincolnway West.

            ADDRESS                             BIDDER                                BID AMOUNT

            809 S. West Street                  Del Laidig                               $1,500.00

Commissioner Troiola moved to accept the bid from Del Laidig for 809 S. West Street in the amount of $1,500.00.  Commissioner Mammolenti seconded; motion carried.

            ADDRESS                             BIDDER                                BID AMOUNT        

            420 LWW                               Mishawaka Office, LLC         $5,000.00

Commissioner O’Dell moved to accept the bid from Mishawaka Office, LLC for 420 LWW in the amount of $5,000.00.  Commissioner Troiola seconded; motion carried.

 

Mrs. Timmer said the adjacent property owner of 219 S. Cedar Street has expressed interest in acquiring the vacant lot, but has been out of the country and will return this week.  She said she is requesting permission to receive bids for the lot located at 219 S. Cedar Street at the August 22, 2011 meeting.  Commissioner Troiola moved to accept bids for 219 S. Cedar Street at the August 22, 2011 meeting.  Commissioner O’Dell seconded; motion carried.

John Gourley said he wanted to update the commissioners on a problem property located at 1110 W. 4^th Street.  He said he feels it is necessary to declare an emergency and receive quotes to demolish the property.  He said the house has holes in the roof, has been boarded up for some time and the owner refuses to do anything about it.  The house has been condemned by Bo Hundt, Building Commissioner.  Mr. Gourley said a letter has been sent to the owner indicting the City’s intent to demolish the home and place a lien against the property.  Mrs. Timmer said she tried to purchase this property, but the owner would not sell.

 

Mrs. Timmer provided the following updates to the Commissioners:

TIF UPDATES

River Center Parcels

Retail Property Development, LLC has been in frequent contact with us regarding their plans for the three River Center parcels.  They met with Bob Stephens and Dennis Murphy of IronWorks, and the two groups are exchanging information and coordinating their marketing efforts.  Retail Property Development is also working with the City’s Engineering Department to discuss utility locations and traffic flow around the sites.  Ken Prince has discussed signage and architectural features with them, as well.  All suggestions and requirements are being incorporated into a concept that Retail Property Development will use to form a marketing plan.  A preliminary site plan should be presented at the August 2011 meeting.

 

Main Street - Church Street Connector

Rieth-Riley has removed the pavement from the existing northbound lanes from Lincolnway to the bridge.  They are currently installing new storm and sanitary sewer for the new northbound lands and the new Police Station parking lot located on the east side of Church.  This phase of construction is expected to be completed in mid-September.

 

Main Street Widening to Four Lanes - Edison Lakes Parkway to Day Road

Appraisals have been prepared and offers have been made on the four parcels required for this project.  Specifications are currently under review.

Edgewater Drive Improvements

Niblock Excavating is the contractor.  Pavement removal is complete on Edgewater Drive.  Installation of storm sewer outfall structure is in progress. 

 

Edison Road and Grape Road Intersection Improvements

This project will be bid in July 2011 and awarded in August.  Construction is expected to begin after Labor Day.

 

Douglas Road Medical Park, PH. II

John Boettcher Sewer & Excavation is the contractor.  Bridge installation is scheduled for the week of July 25.  Bridge footing construction is in progress.  Sanitary Sewer installation is also scheduled for the week of July 25.

 

Bremen Highway Improvements

Drainage studies, lane configuration plans, corridor aesthetic enhancements and geotechnical investigations are all underway.

 

Demolition of 413 and 421 North Cedar Street

R & R Excavating has completed demolition and has graded and hydroseeded the site.  Erosion fabric has been installed on the sloped areas, and ground cover will also be planted in those areas to eliminate the need for mowing.

 

NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAMS

 

Mishawaka River Center Apartments

Kil Architecture and Planning, the project architect, reviewed the qualifications received from general contracting firms.  It was determined that all ten (10) companies meet the minimum requirements established in the Request for Pre-Qualifications:  

 

                        Ziolkowski Construction                                South Bend

                        Majority Builders                                            South Bend

                        Thompson Thrift Construction                       Indianapolis

                        D. J. Construction                                           Goshen

                        Millstone, Inc.                                                 North Salem

                        Gibson-Lewis Construction                            Mishawaka

                        Casteel Construction                                       South Bend

                        Brown and Brown General Contractors         Wakarusa

                        Robert Henry Corporation                              South Bend

                        Ancon Construction                                        Goshen

 

These ten (10) firms will be invited to bid on the construction project in September.

 

PY 2011 CDBG Funding

Mrs. Timmer said information was included in this month’s packets showing how program funding was reduced to offset our CDBG grant reduction for 2011.  Also included was a history of our CDBG entitlement.  Cuts for 2012 are estimated to be anywhere from 9% - 60%.  As mentioned at the June meeting, Mrs. Timmer met with the Mayor and the City Controller to discuss options for the Department if funding is cut as severely as some predict.

 

Neighborhood Stabilization Program 1 (NSP1)

Habitat for Humanity has completed two builds this summer that utilized NSP1 funds:  116 E. 7^th Street and 715 E. 6^th Street.  The house at 548 W. 6^th is almost complete.  The foundation at 614 E. Battell has been excavated. 

 

A lot in South Bend that they planned to use for their Notre Dame Student build fell through, so they will instead build at 311 Laurel.  That lot is very narrow and doesn’t have access to an alley.  There doesn’t seem to be a way to place a garage on the lot, and none of the other homes along that block have garages.  Instead we’ve suggested that they build a parking pad and storage shed on the site.  The shed would have a poured concrete floor.  Mrs. Timmer said she’s asking permission to allow Habitat for Humanity to make these changes to the plan, and modify their development agreement with the Department.  Commissioner Troiola moved to allow Habitat for Humanity to make changes to the plans for 311 Laurel Street as outlined above.  Commissioner O’Dell seconded; motion carried.

 

 

Neighborhood Stabilization Program 3 (NSP3)

Owner of 22 vacant or foreclosed properties in our NSP3 target area have been contacted.  Two properties have been appraised, and pending approval from the State Historic Preservation Officer, we will make offers to purchase those properties.

 

Summer of Service Program

The weekend of July 15-17, Rivervalley and Epic Churches completed exterior repairs at 330 Park Avenue.  The work included demolition of a substandard garage, scraping and painting the house, landscaping and general clean-up.

 

The same weekend, Evangel Heights Church did exterior repairs on the house at 918 Charlotte.  The work included scraping and painting the house trim.  They rebuilt the porch and the shed, and painted both. 

 

The weekend of July 22-24 Faith Community Church removed a substandard shed at 427 Wenger.  They also painted and scraped the garage, reroofed it and replaced the service and overhead doors.

 

FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER PROGRAM

Construction is underway at four of our five houses:  611 E. 3rd, 311 Cleveland, 510 W. 10^th Street and 407 W. 6^th Streets.  We expect to close on 311 Cleveland and 611 E. Third within the next 30 days. We’re still looking for a qualified buyer for the fifth house at 519 W. 6th Street. 

 

The buyers of the home at 611 E. Third Street did not like the location of the garage service door, so Place Builders moved the door at a cost of $350.  The buyers have agreed to have the $350 added to the amount of their mortgage

 

LEASE AGREEMENT - 817 CHRISTYANN

Client #867 heads a household of four.  The family’s annual income of $28,388 is at approximately 48% AMI for St. Joseph County, therefore they are considered Very Low Income.  They currently rent their home from the Department for $230.00 per month.  The Department pays taxes and insurance on the property; the family pays utilities and maintains the home.  The client has been promoted to full-time butcher at Martin’s and now earns $3,000 more annually. This has allowed him to quit his second job as a waiter at Hacienda.  The client’s wife is a full-time student at IUSB, and anticipates receiving her bachelor’s degree in December 2012.  Her Pell Grant was reduced from $5,500 to $4,300 this year; however, she received a $1,000 academic scholarship.

 

Due to the increase in annual income, the recommendation is to raise the client’s rent from $230.00 to $240.00 per month.  The clients have made steady progress toward improving their family’s financial situation, so it is reasonable to increase their rent accordingly.  Their Housing to Income Ration, if rent was increased, would be 20.7%.  Their Expense to Income Ratio, if monthly rent was increased, would be 55.7%.  Commissioner O’Dell moved to increase the rent to $240.00 per month.  Commissioner Mammolenti seconded; motion carried.

 

RELEASE OF MORTGAGE (4)

The terms of the five-year Real Estate Retention Agreement for lead work performed at 115 N. West Street have been satisfied, therefore the agreement will be released.

 

The property at 133 E. LaSalle Street recently sold, and the Department was paid $4,817.00 to satisfy the balance of the rehab loan.

 

The property at 1436 Penn Avenue recently sold, and the Department was paid $5,510.31 to satisfy the balance of two loans:  One with a balance of $4,651.00 and another with a balance of $859.31.

 

 

 

 

ANYTHING BROUGHT BEFORE THE COMMISSION

 

RESOLUTION 2011-11:  APPROVING THE HIRING OF A PROGRAM COORDINATOR

This resolution allows the Department to hire Marilyn Nelums to fill the position of Program Coordinator.  Approximately 60 resumes were received, three people were interviewed, and Ms. Nelums was determined to be the best fit for the position.  The annual salary for the position is $33,615.  This was advertised as a Long-Term Temporary Position.  We wanted to make sure that the person accepting the job understood that it would be eliminated if our funding cuts in 2012 are as drastic as predicted.  Commissioner O’Dell moved to approve the hiring of Marilyn Nelums as Program Coordinator.  Commissioner Troiola seconded; motion carried.

 

Commissioner O’Dell said he noticed on a recent trip to Lincoln Park that there were cars parked in the spaces designed for boat and trailer parking.  He said there are no signs indicating parking is for boats and trailers.

 

NEXT MEETING

The next regular meeting of the Redevelopment Commission will be Monday, August 22, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. in room 205.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted:                                              Approved:

 

_(Signature on file)___________________                _(Signature on file)___________________

Kari Myers, Administrative Planner                           M. Gilbert Eberhart, President

 

_(Signature on file)__________________

Lory L. Timmer, Community Development Director

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