TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
OCTOBER 3, 2023

Board Members Present:
Lyle Holmgren, Chairman
Connie Archibald, Board Member
Wes Estep, Board Member
Bret Rohde, Board Member
Rick Seamons, Board Member
Lyle Vance, Board Member
Shawn Warnke, Executive Director
Linsey Nessen, Executive Secretary

Chairman Holmgren called the Tremonton Redevelopment Agency Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Those in attendance were Chairman Holmgren, Board Members Archibald, Estep, Rohde, Seamons, and Vance, Executive Director Warnke, and Executive Secretary Nessen. Also in attendance were Assistant City Manager Marc Christensen, Public Works Director Paul Fulgham, Downtown Manager Sara Mohrman and Fire Chief Brady Hansen (arrived at 6:14 p.m.)

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Board Member Archibald to approve the October 3, 2023 agenda. Motion seconded by Board Member Estep. Vote: Board Member Archibald – aye, Board Member Estep – aye, Board Member Rohde – aye, Board Member Seamons – aye, Board Member Vance – aye. Motion approved.

2. Approval of minutes – August 29, 2023

Motion by Board Member Seamons to approve the minutes of August 29, 2023. Motion seconded by Board Member Vance. Vote: Board Member Archibald – aye, Board Member Estep – aye, Board Member Rohde – aye, Board Member Seamons – aye, Board Member Vance – aye. Motion approved.

3. Presentation

a. Autoliv Solar CRA – Cody Deeter

Mr. Deeter said I represent a group called Solar Farmers, who are developing the project for Autoliv. I would like to share with you the purpose for the project area and the incentives to help it move forward. This will create renewable energy for Autoliv and ensure the whole facility is here. The project will be built in two phases. This would be assessed as personal property opposed to real property. Putting this in a CRA would allow taxing entities to capture increment and gain new revenue as an incentive to the project. Of the revenue generated, 60% will go to the taxing entity and 40% will go to the solar company. This is an asset to Autoliv as it helps them reach their renewable goals. Manager Warnke had mentioned there was an interfund loan between the RDA and water fund and that loan was forgiven ($368,000). Another option is using these funds to help pay for affordable housing programs. When you create a project area you hire someone to do that and we would take on the costs to create the project area and administer that. Over the 25-year project, $2.49 million increment would be generated. Of that 40% (just under $1 million) would go to the solar company, while $1.4 million (60%) would go to the taxing entities. About $50,000 would go to the County for assessment and collecting property taxes. This gives Tremonton $413,000. That would be considered new revenue that you would not be received if it was not in a CRA.

Mr. Deeter said the resolution would outline the boundaries for the project and authorize the RDA to draft a project plan and budget and a description on how the increment would be used. If interested, we would inform the other taxing entities of this opportunity and invite them to participate. We would also review the budget with City staff and provide notice to the taxing entities and Autoliv. A public hearing would be held and then we would enter into an inter-local agreement with all the taxing entities.

Executive Director Warnke clarified, we had the 10th North Project Area for water and sewer infrastructure back in the 90s. The creation of this project included Autoliv, T&M Manufacturing and IPG. This helped us create infrastructure to attract those businesses. The City loaned the RDA money to install the infrastructure and was going to pay that back with tax increment. The RDA paid a portion of that back, but then was no longer collecting tax increment. The remaining balance was $368,000 and the City had no choice but to forgive that loan. Board Member Vance said so over a 25-year period Tremonton is going to get $413,000 and that is where the funds will come to pay this back. Executive Director Warnke said yes, we would have the RDA make good on that loan and that would be the funding source.

The Council also discussed the boundary of this project area, which is 55 acres in Tremonton, with some additional land in Garland. They would hold the public hearing sometime around December.

b. A review of the Tremonton City Main Street Manager after one year – Sara Mohrman

Downtown Manager Mohrman presented what she has accomplished for Main Street in her first year. The biggest thing with Main Street has been the Farmer’s Market. In our second year we started the season with about 40% of our vendors being consumable goods. Our goal was to have a minimum of 50% of our vendors being that category. Starting that strong in our second year was encouraging. About 40% of our vendors this season paid for all six months. This made our planning a lot easier. We consistently had 35 to 40 vendors in Midland Square, as well as two to three food trucks each month. We also had a waitlist to ensure the square was full. We had several volunteers, including Heather and Joel Russell who are new in town. She works for a company called Care About Child Care and offered to run our kids’ activities. They participated in all of them and helped with setup, too. In talking to our downtown businesses, we have seen an increase in foot traffic on those weekends.

Downtown Manager Mohrman said we had new events and program this year, too. In February we had a Mardi Gras celebration. This is from my background and I wanted to bring that here since there is not much happening in the winter. We held a scavenger hunt, craft, and a king cake contest. We also started the second Friday Stroll. A lot of our businesses downtown were struggling with getting foot traffic and their sales were down. The second Friday stroll came out of that. Businesses who participate stay open later and have a special or put out treats to entice people to come out. They are given a punch card and a map so they can visit each store. No purchase is necessary they just show up. Each of the businesses that participate donate items and we create a basket for one winner. Five businesses currently participate and we hope that will grow.

Downtown Manager Mohrman said going forward we are starting a local business group. We are looking for businesses that are active in participating in things the City is doing. They would learn from one another—get ideas or advice. This is an opportunity to collaborate with each other. I am a firm believer that a rising tide raises old ships. We want to get our businesses to work together and share customers in our community. The Box Elder County Chamber of Commerce is willing to work with us and do some trainings. We are going to continue with existing events. I assisted with the Holiday Extravaganza, which is a huge event. We will be moving that to Shuman Park this year so we have more room. I also helped with the Chalk Affair event and Hay Days. I was in charge of all our vendors. This year we had 60, which is a new record. I also worked with a lot of City employees on grants. We received a TTAB grant for $40,000. That was prior to me coming on and that goes toward our wayfinding sign project. We also received a TTAB Quick Grant. That is the first one I worked on and that went toward our Christmas lights. I also helped with a Rural Communities Opportunity grant ($405,000) to renovate Midland Square. We received the Implementation Grant of $25,000 to help with the wayfinding project, as well. Another TTAB grant for $20,000 paid for the new branded benches and bike racks. We applied for the T-Mobile grant ($50,000) that would help with wayfinding and we should hear back in a month.

Downtown Manager Mohrman said we have new businesses downtown and the new mural of Chief Sagwitch was completed. Developers took down the front façade on the building with the Candy Bomber mural. They have a long way to go, but it looks better than what we had before. The Jays sign renovation and update is done. Also, the grain elevator turned into a functional retail space and it looks better. There has been media promotion of downtown. In December I met with Logan’s downtown manager and discussed how we are the same and different, and how we could work together. Our events have also been promoted on social media. Our goal is to continue what we have been doing and to build on that going forward. Our shop local holiday passport is coming up. I will participate in the Midland Square renovation project as well. We hope we can start removing signs on Main Street that are broken and outdated. We are working on a page on the website that would highlight downtown and show what we have to offer. We may also start up the Spring Sidewalk Sale again. I am working with Rocky Mountain Power to get streetlights on Main Street. Board Member Vance said we appreciate all you are doing—it is making a difference. Mayor Holmgren said thank you, we appreciate everything you have done.

4. New Business

a. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 23-13 amending a professional services agreement with Sara Mohrman filling the duties of Main Street Manager

Assistant City Manager Christensen said we started this last year and part of it was to give an annual review. The only amendment to this is taking her initial term of compensation and adding the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that we give to every other City employee.

Motion by Board Member Vance to adopt the resolution. Motion seconded by Board Member Archibald. Roll Call Vote: Board Member Archibald – aye, Board Member Estep – aye, Board Member Rohde – aye, Board Member Seamons – aye, Board Member Vance – aye. Motion approved.

b. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 23-14 initiating the process of adopting a community reinvestment project area plan by designating a survey area known as the “Autoliv Solar CRA Survey Area #1

Motion by Board Member Estep to adopt the resolution. Motion seconded by Board Member Archibald. Roll Call Vote: Board Member Archibald – aye, Board Member Estep – aye, Board Member Rohde – aye, Board Member Seamons – aye, Board Member Vance – aye. Motion approved.

5. Adjournment

Motion by Board Member Archibald to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Board Member Seamons. Vote: Board Member Archibald – aye, Board Member Estep – aye, Board Member Rohde – aye, Board Member Seamons – aye, Board Member Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The meeting adjourned at 6:41 p.m.

The undersigned duly acting and appointed Executive Secretary for Tremonton City Corporation Redevelopment Agency hereby certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes for the RDA Meeting held on the above referenced date. Minutes were prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 16th day of January, 2024.

 

____________________________
Linsey Nessen, Executive Secretary