News Brief: Committee Updates 11.29.2021

Published on November 30, 2021

Economic Development & Finance Committee

It was a full agenda with multiple updates from Unified Government Departments.

Hudson Apartments Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRB)

This is a proposed joint development project with Lane 4, Hunt Midwest, and KU Endowment to provide new, market-rate multi-family housing located generally at 3600 Rainbow Boulevard. The $48M project will demolish the outdated 44-unit Cambridge West Apartments and build a denser housing complex with amenities on that land and the surrounding Endowment land. The proposed project would begin construction next Fall 2022 with construction completion anticipated in Fall 2024 and is in alignment with both the Rosedale Master Plan and the University Town District Plan.

The project is requesting Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRB), an financing tool used in Kansas for the acquisition and construction of commercial projects by a private business or non-profit agencies. an IRB requires the Unified Government to act as the "issuer" of bonds, which means we will hold ownership interest in the project for as long as the IRBs are outstanding. For this project, the proposed IRB will provide a ten-year 100% tax abatement with a ten-year annual payment in lieu of taxes totaling $2.3M. The project has LBE/MBE/WBE goals in place with a 4% escalator as an annual penalty and additional tax payments (8 mills) for school district's capital outlay levy will be collected separately.

The Standing Committee voted to fast-track this to Thursday's Planning Commission meeting for full approval so that the request for industrial revenue bonds aligns to the planning process for the project. You can watch the presentation of this development here.

WIFIA State Revolving Loan Approval

The Department of Public Works requested authorization to file an application with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for a Loan under the Kansas Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund Act. Public Works will presented information on the State Revolving Loan Fund and the stormwater infrastructure projects to be funded in relation to the WIFIA Program. This revolving loan program will be used to fund the repair, replacement, and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure, including stormwater sewers, combined sewers, sanitary sewers, culverts, and curb and gutter repairs. The Committee voted to fast-track this to Thursday's Commission meeting and, if authorized, a public hearing to be held at a future date is required prior to approval of any loan. 

Cash and Investment Policy

The Interim County Treasurer made the annual presentation of the Unified Government Cash and Investment policy. There were no proposed changes to the policy and the Committee voted to advance this to the full Commission for consideration.

Bond Sale Resolution: 2022-A Bonds and 2022-I Temporary Notes

The Committee unanimously advanced a resolution for municipal temporary notes and general obligation bonds totaling $163,679,000. These bonds will be offered at a competitive public sale of municipal temporary notes and general obligation bonds to fund a long list of infrastructure projects. The complete list of projects included in this sale is listed in the resolution.

Visit Kansas City, Kansas 2022 Budget and Marketing Plan

Alan Carr, Executive Director of VisitKCK presented the 2022 proposed budget and marketing plan for the Visit Kansas City, Kansas tourism bureau. Mr. Carr provided an overview of some recent successes including the fact that, since the summer, we have been exceeding 2019 hotel rates (average daily rate). The organization has also successfully launched a new website with record traffic, new branding, neighborhood showcases, and product development such as the KCK Taco Trail.

Did you know? To date, there have been over 11,299 sign-ups for the KCK Taco trail, far exceeding the app providers average of 2,000 people. Since its launch, Visit KCK has had over 17K check-ins at the 50 restaurants along the trail with about a dozen people have completed the entire trail!!

Upcoming efforts will include creating new KCK Legacy Trail programs to highlight the heritage of the various communities within Kansas City, Kansas, including: Indigenous Peoples journey; Black journey; Eastern European journey; Latino journey; and a Modern Immigrant Experience. By focusing on our rich diversity, Visit KCK hopes to attract even more visitors to check out key historic sites, cultural centers, restaurants and other businesses. In addition, the organization plans to launch a Sports Advisory Committee and Wyandotte County Hospitality Job Board to help promote and advertise for those jobs. Visit KCK works to increase the number of visitors to KCK; improve visitor experience; and strengthen tourism industry overall. To better tell our story across the region, in 2022, Visit KCK will be partnering with KC Restaurant Week and the Parade of Hearts as well as working on a location for a visitor center and a tourism master plan for KCK.  

Third Quarter Budget Revision and Budget-to-Actuals Presentation

Deputy Chief Financial Officer Debbie Jonscher presented proposed budget revisions and the budget-to-actuals for the third quarter. Any revisions over $10K (up to $50K) are approved by the County Administrators Office and presented to the Finance Standing Committee. Any changes over $50K are reviewed by the Mayor and, depending on the nature of the spend, by the full Commission. You can also review the financial report here. These two presentations were for information-only so no action was taken.

Neighborhood & Community Development

AMENDMENTS TO LANDMARKS ORDINANCE

The Department of Planning & Urban Design presented proposed amendments to the Landmarks Ordinance. Initially, the Landmarks Commission had requested a change to the environs review - reducing the boundary from 500 to 250 feet from historic site - and staff did a full review of the ordinance and have proposed language changes to clarify intent, removing conflicting information, and simplifying the existing ordinance. A summary of proposed changes can be found here. This revised ordinance will appear on the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting on December 2 where there will be a public hearing if you have any comments.

Landbank OPTION Applications & Property Transfers

A presentation of several applications for landbank options and a single property transfer were heard by the committee. The advanced applications will go to Commission next for final review and approval. Check out the presentations and discussions on the various properties here.