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02-19-2008 City Council Study Session PacketCity of Grand Island Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Study Session Packet City Council:Mayor: Margaret Hornady City Administrator: Jeff Pederson City Clerk: RaNae Edwards T u 7:00:00 PM Council Chambers - City Hall 100 East First Street Tom Brown Larry Carney John Gericke Peg Gilbert Joyce Haase Robert Meyer Mitchell Nickerson Bob Niemann Kirk Ramsey Jose Zapata Call to Order City of Grand Island City Council A - SUBMITTAL OF REQUESTS FOR FUTURE ITEMS Individuals who have appropriate items for City Council consideration should complete the Request for Future Agenda Items form located at the Information Booth. If the issue can be handled administratively without Council action, notification will be provided. If the item is scheduled for a meeting or study session, notification of the date will be given. B - RESERVE TIME TO SPEAK ON AGENDA ITEMS This is an opportunity for individuals wishing to provide input on any of tonight's agenda items to reserve time to speak. Please come forward, state your name and address, and the Agenda topic on which you will be speaking. MAYOR COMMUNICATION This is an opportunity for the Mayor to comment on current events, activities, and issues of interest to the community. Call to Order Pledge of Allegiance Roll Call Invocation - Pastor Nick Schonlau, Third City Christian Church, 4100 West 13th Street This is an open meeting of the Grand Island City Council. The City of Grand Island abides by the Open Meetings Act in conducting business. A copy of the Open Meetings Act is displayed in the back of this room as required by state law. The City Council may vote to go into Closed Session on any agenda item as allowed by state law. City of Grand Island City Council Item -1 Presentation by BKD, LLP for Fiscal Year 2007 Electric and Water Audit Reports Roger Watton, representing BKD, LLP, will present the Independent Auditors' Report of the Financial Statements relative to the City of Grand Island's Electric Department and Water Department for the year ended September 30, 2007. Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Study Session City of Grand Island Staff Contact: David Springer City of Grand Island City Council Item -2 Update on Downtown "Vision" and Previous Plans Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Study Session City of Grand Island Staff Contact: Downtown Business Improvement District City of Grand Island City Council Council Agenda Memo From: Downtown Grand Island/Main Street Program Meeting: February 19, 2008 Subject: Downtown Grand Island Updates Item #’s: 2 Presenter(s): Representatives of the Business Improvement District for Downtown Background In April 2005 the Business Improvement District #5 (Downtown Grand Island) presented a plan to the City Council. Since that time, the Downtown has become associated with the Nebraska Lied Main Street, a four part national approach to development of downtowns. In addition, because of the change in Councilmembers, it is appropriate to update the Council on the status of downtown and the priorities for re-development. Discussion The Nebraska Lied Main Street Program involves four components: 1) economic restructuring; 2) design; 3) promotions; and 4) organization. Each of the four components is equally as important as the others in maintaining the health of a downtown. Through a series of stakeholder meetings in 2005, the Business Improvement Board for the downtown developed a series of priorities. Those priorities are: renovation of historic buildings and upper level development, parking solutions, arts and humanities center, and physical environment/street scape. These priorities fit nicely with the Main Street areas of focus and the Board has been diligently working towards meeting their goals. The Board has also worked with the Community Redevelopment Authority to implement a grant program to assist with fire sprinkler systems and for development of quiet zones in the downtown area. This summer, the BID will be recreating a new Business Improvement District to continue the work at ensuring downtown remains viable. Discussions have taken place with city officials relative to the creation of this new District. Initial conversations have centered around the plans for the next five years and the projects the downtown can reasonably expect to complete within that time frame. Conclusion This item is presented to the City Council in a Study Session to allow for any questions to be answered and to create a greater understanding of the issue at hand. Item -3 Presentation by Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway & Luth for Fiscal Year 2007 City Single Audit and General Purpose Financial Statements Terry Galloway of Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway & Luth will present the City Single Audit and General Purpose Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 2007. Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Study Session City of Grand Island Staff Contact: David Springer City of Grand Island City Council