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02-09-1994 Regular MeetingFebruary 9. 1994 The Downtown Smyrna Development Authority met February 9, 1994 at the Smyrna Community Center. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chairman A. Max Bacon. Present was: Willouise Spivey Absent: Jimmy Wilson Jim Pitts C. J. Fouts Hubert Black Doug Stoner Steve Shupert Also present were Council members Jack Cramer, Bill Scoggins, Pete Wood and Wade Lnenicka, and City Clerk Melinda Dameron. Mayor Bacon gave an update on the last of the condemnation appeal hearings, after almost 4 years of litigation. The jury awarded Mrs. Tufts an additional $110,000 for her property over what had already been paid in to the Special Master. The Cooper appeal was based on the fact that Mr. Cooper claimed that he had a valid contract to sell his property before it was condemned by the City. We had paid $162,446 to the Special Master and the final settlement by the jury was for $83,500. Approximately $60,000 was returned to the City immediately but the remaining balance had already been withdrawn by Mr. Cooper and we will probably have to take legal action to recover. The Holder case was settled out of court on advice of our attorney. Mr. Holder was claiming loss of business as the basis for his appeal and was asking for close to $1 million. The exact amount of that settlement cannot be disclosed but the settlement was considerably less than that. Mr. Holder will also sign a release which will not restrict the use of the property. Mayor Bacon said for the last 6 weeks he has been meeting with different businesses about the downtown area. One is Bob Russell with Ernies Steak House. Gwynn Ross with Childress Klein Properties has been instrumental in arranging the meetings and has brought a lot of people to the area. Mr. Russell liked the downtown area and asked that he be given first consideration but they lease building space and are not interested in constructing their own building. Mayor Bacon said he had also met with a consultant who works with a number of restaurant chains and he felt that we had a good location but felt that the best locations would be on Atlanta Road, rather than the King Street area as was originally planned. Today, Mayor Bacon said he met with William Humphlett of Morrisons. They have a new chain of restaurants called Sweet Pea which is similar to the Blackeyed Pea but they recently made a decision to stop all site locations and are not ready to make a commitment. On January 25 and again this week, Mayor Bacon said he met with John Frasier with Publix and showed him several sites including Four Seasons Mall, the property on South Cobb adjacent to Walton Park apartments under construction, the old 84 Lumber site and the American Legion property. Mayor Bacon said he felt the 84 Lumber site would be ideal if we could get someone to assemble that property along with the old Smyrna Cable TV property and Jonquil Plaza Shopping Center. Tomorrow we are meeting with J. D. Daniel to see if he would be interested in selling the Jonquil Plaza property. Publix is also building a new store on Paces Ferry near Home Depot and Mr. Frasier felt it might be too close to the new location. There is also some concern about ground contamination caused from storage tanks at the old Smyrna Cable TV site. Mayor Bacon said he showed them the American Legion property because he knew that Publix had already been contacted about that site, but tried to discourage him because of the problems they would have with rezoning. Mr. Frasier did not seem interested in the South Cobb Drive property but felt that Four Seasons Mall had great potential although he was somewhat concerned about it being too far north of the City. Mayor Bacon said he also talked with John Wieland several weeks ago and he is still interested in developing the property behind the Community Center. Hubert Black said the City had obtained an appraisal for the house at the corner of Bank and Hamby Street, but the owner is still asking for $100,000 and the appraisal was for $70,000. Hubert said they had also offered to purchase him a comparable home and he said he would February 9. 1994 meeting - continued consider it and let us know. Mayor Bacon suggested that we may need to find a developer who would be interested in coming to the downtown area to market and develop the area. Pete Wood suggested that one think we might consider to entice people here is to allow them to use city parking facilities which would reduce their investment. You could also develop the property through funding obtained through the DDA and build under long term lease agreements. Doug Stoner suggested that we find someone who specializes in a mixed use development similar to Lenox Park. Several different developers were suggested; Julian Lecraw, Dan E. Burge with Diversified Developments, Inc., Butch Leslie, Bob Crim, developer of the Market Place on Spring Road, John L. Hunter and Mike Savage. Mayor Bacon said that he would contact several of these people to see if they are interested and arrange for them to come to a DDA meeting in the very near future to present their proposal. Another meeting will be scheduled in March and we'll probably make that a dinner meeting. Mayor Bacon said that we have signed a contract on the Fuller property on Atlanta Road next to the VFW property and are scheduled to close this Friday. Mr. Fuller originally was asking $174,000 but he accepted our offer of $118,000 which is the same amount of the appraisal. Doug Stoner made a motion the minutes of September 28, 1993 be approved as submitted. Willouise Spivey seconded the motion which carried 6-0. Mayor Bacon said he recently a letter from Larry Freeman, Trustee at the First Baptist Church. They are still interested in purchasing the old Smyrna Library building and property and are having their own appraisal. Mayor Bacon reported on rental properties and stated we are averaging $3,540 a month in collections. The Community Development department has relocated to Public Works and we are advertising the Atlanta Road building space for lease. Steve Shupert asked what the City is doing to clean up some of the apartment communities that are rundown, particularly Stephens Woods. Mayor Bacon said we have an on -going policy where our inspections department makes regular inspections and many cases have already been cited into court. Some of the more severe cases are being approached from a public nuisance standpoint and we are going through the District Attorney's office to try and condemn the property. Steve said that part of the problem also is caused from the number of people who occupy one unit. Mayor Bacon reported that he is meeting next week with representatives from HUD and hopefully that property will be sold soon. The City has first right of refusal and there are three developers who are interested in the property. A simultaneous closing would be arranged where the City could purchase the property and at the same time, sell to a private developer. Mayor Bacon presented photographs submitted by Thomas Ravenel Development for Advance Auto Store at the corner of Spring and Atlanta Road (old Smyrna Cable TV). The building is pre-engineered and he did not think the owners would not want to change the style or construction. The Building Inspector has advised that the metal roof overhang will not comply with the Architectural Design Guideline and the Board agreed unanimously that a variance would not be considered. Steve Shupert asked if anything could be done to encourage redevelopment in some of the older areas. Pete Wood said that Tom Cauthorn has introduced legislation this year which will create special tax districts for redevelopment and if approved, that would certainly provide the incentive. C. J. Fouts suggested that the Atlanta Road corridor be dressed up with plantings along the right of way which would improve the appearance of the downtown area. February 9. 1994 meeting - continued Mayor Bacon said there are rumors that continue to circulate about the new apartments on South Cobb Drive being rented as Section 8 housing, and specifically to people who are being relocated from Techwood Homes in Atlanta. We have received a letter from the Atlanta Housing Authority stating there is no truth to the rumor; in fact it is illegal to transfer someone from the Atlanta Housing Authority program to another city or county. We are trying to determine the source of the rumors and it appears as if most if them can be traced back to realtors. With no further business, meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.