title
Ordinance Dissolving the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency and Creating the Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (B)
Ordinance No. 181001
An ordinance of the City of Gainesville, Florida, deleting in its entirety existing Chapter 2, Article V, Division 9 titled Community Redevelopment Agency, and replacing it with a new Chapter 2, Article V, Division 9 titled Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area in the City of Gainesville Code of Ordinances; providing directions to the codifier; providing a severability clause; providing a repealing clause; providing an effective date; and providing for dissolution of the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency and transfer to and acceptance of its assets and liabilities by the City.
explanation
The City Commission, at its meeting of May 2, 2019, directed the City Attorney to draft and advertise this proposed ordinance.
After discussion at several meetings (Agenda Item #170788 heard at the February 12, 2018; March 12, 2018; April 30, 2018 and May 31, 2018 Joint City/County Commission Meetings), the City Commission and County Commission each approved an Interlocal Agreement that requires the County's annual contributions to the CPUH Redevelopment Trust Fund to be calculated using the City's millage rate; and 2) expressed the parties agreement to actively engage in a collaborative process to rethink, envision and design the future of the CRA with a goal to reach consensus and develop a mutually agreeable solution. The executed Interlocal Agreement was recorded on July 18, 2018, in Official Record Book 4615, Page 591, of the Public Records of Alachua County.
After work by City and CRA staff, discussions by the City Commission and County Commission (Agenda Item #180389 heard at the October 11, 2018 General Policy Committee meeting; the November 1, 2018 City Commission meeting; the December 10, 2018 Joint City/County Commission meeting; the January 15, 2019 County Commission meeting and the February 11, 2019 Joint City/County Commission meeting), the City and County Commissions directed their respective Managers to negotiate an agreement based on a five part motion. The staff negotiated Agreement was presented to and approved by the City Commission on April 4, 2019; by the County Commission on April 9, 2019 and was recorded on April 11, 2019, in Official Record Book 4675, page 2154, of the Public Records of Alachua County. Among other provisions, Section 5 of the Agreement requires the City Commission to consider adoption of an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Article V, Division 9 titled "Community Redevelopment Agency" of the City Code of Ordinances to, at a minimum, rename the existing CRA, consolidate its four existing Agency areas (Downtown, College Park/University Heights, Fifth Avenue/Pleasant Street and Eastside), establish a consolidated restricted fund, provide a public process to review and revise the four existing Agency area redevelopment plans into one consolidated plan and address all other governance, management, fiscal and administrative matters necessary to accomplish Community Redevelopment.
City and CRA staff prepared a draft ordinance and presented same for Commission discussion on May 2, 2019. The draft was also shared with County staff. Since that time, the draft ordinance has been updated to include a legal description and boundary map, specify a 7-member advisory board, continue to restrict the use of the CRA trust funds that were collected prior to October 1, 2019 to the geographic redevelopment area in which they were collected, provide for an October 1, 2019 effective date to coincide with the City's budget year and specify that the existing redevelopment incentive programs will continue until such time as they are terminated and/or replaced with new programs for the GCRA.
In addition to the ordinance, the attached Assignment of Agreements/Obligations and Personal Property and Special Warranty Deed are intended to document the assignment and assumption of all assets and liabilities from the CRA to the City, effective as of October 1, 2019, in accordance with Section 5 of the Ordinance. All transferred assets and liabilities of the former CRA will be administered and accounted for by the City on behalf of and for the account of its new GCRA Department. All documents executed by the interim City Manager pursuant to this authorization will be held and not recorded until after the City Commission adopts the Ordinance on second reading and the Interim CRA Director executes all documents.
Fiscal Impact
None at this time.
recommendation
City Commission: 1) adopt the proposed revised ordinance; and 2) authorize the interim City Manager to execute the Assignment of Agreements/Obligations and Personal Property, the Special Warranty Deed and any other documents necessary to effectuate the transfer of assets and liabilities from the former CRA to the City effective as of October 1, 2019, subject to review by the City Attorney as to form and legality. .