Recommendation to declare ordinance amending Ordinance No. ORD-06-0037, modifying the assessments to be levied with the Bixby Knolls Parking and Business Improvement Area, read and adopted as read.  (Districts 7,8)
Thank you, Mayor. First item involves the Bixby Knolls Parking and business improvement area, and it's a recommendation to authorize to receive supporting documentation to the record. Conclude the hearing and authorize the city manager to extend an agreement with the association for one year. And declared an ordinance approving the Bixby Knolls Parking and Business Improvement Area Program. Continued assessment for a period of October 1st, 2014 to September 30th, 2015. Thank you, Mr. West. My comment is going to make this presentation. Mayor Garcia, members of the City Council, this item relates to the continuation of the Bixby Knolls Parking and Business Improvement Area Program and assessment for an additional year. The assessment was raised this year to cover the loss of funding from the former RDA and to reinstitute CPI increases which have not been implemented since 1995. These increases are necessary in order to continue the level of service that the business community has come to expect. As a result, staff request that City Council received the supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the hearing. Authorize a one year continuation of the Bixby Knolls parking improvement area and I'm available to answer questions. Thank you. We're going to now first do public comment on the hearing. If there's any public comment on the hearing, please come forward. See none that I will take this public comment. We missed you there. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Council members, city management. We're happy to be here tonight to represent. Please introduce yourself. Oh, pardon me. Blair Cohn, director of the Big Four, Niles Business Improvement Association 4313 Atlantic Avenue. Happy to be here again to continue the momentum and the energy we have in Bixby and also to improve the business corridors and connect the community with our businesses. We've worked really hard. There's two of us, two and a half of us, really, that are dedicated to doing everything we can to make it a thriving business district and be a model for other, other neighborhoods, frankly. This year is a little different, of course, because we started to look ahead for the future, how we're going to continue to grow the association. We're in year four of our ten year contract and we said if we don't do something now to to save the association with the funds that we're receiving, the dominoes would fall, which means staff would start to leave and literally there'd be somebody just sitting by the phone in the office. So we did about a four month study comparing other bids in the city, their size, their assessment fees. And we found kind of a middle ground. And we found also we were the cheapest of all the the associations. And we think we provide a high level of service to our to our membership. So we found a level of of revenue we think we can hit by increasing up to $250 a year, which is still lower than some of the newer bids in the city and doing the CPI continually. So when the contract ends, the revenue remains where we are. We continue to do our clean team or our events and all of the energy we do. And and I thank all the Council for your support in the past. And currently, of course, seventh and eighth was we worked tightly together. So I have I'm here any questions. But thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. Any other. I think we've another public comment. Laurie Angel, a former PAC chair for North PAC, and Blair was the our vice chair and we were a great team and redevelopment really supported the B.K. BIA and I greatly appreciate that Blair is so forward thinking in addressing the issue with funding because there is a big dearth with redevelopment gone. But he does an excellent job. He's a leader in all the bids throughout the city and he has a lot of great ideas. And I know he served on your transition team and I think he probably did a great job. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other public comment. We're going to go ahead and take this back back to the council and just start off with council member Austin. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think the work of the Bixby North Business Improvement Association is pretty well known throughout the city of Long Beach. And if not that, the region, this is the first adjustment to their assessment rates since it was established in 1995. The new assessment rate provides a flat fee for all businesses and a discounted rate for nonprofit organizations. The rate is very competitive with all the other business improvement districts in the city. This assessment also provides a much simpler visa structure doing away with variable rates depending on the type of business as well as the per employee surcharge . I understand that there are some concerns from some of the small business owners, but by and large, I think it's very clear for almost all the businesses in the Bixby knows area that this investment is well worth their own commercial quarter's investment. Not only does the KBIA put on great community events such as First Fridays, which I'm pleased to say that many of my colleagues, if not all of you guys, have actually participated in first hand. But the Baker bill also provides many other benefits for the businesses. Along Atlantic and Long Beach Boulevard. That are not always so evident. And I don't know anyone who is able to get more for a dollar or be creative with maximizing resources than my good friend Blair Cohn and his staff. Chris The leaders in Tacoma, Ashcraft, the staff of the Bixby BIA, they provide security services throughout the business district. They have have they have a clean team that stays on top of litter, graffiti and other issues. And they have undertaken numerous facade improvements, landscaping projects and other beautification areas, efforts in the district. They also manage the Expo Art Center, which has become a hub of cultural and performing arts in the center in the city. And the Bixby staff and board have also done a great job in connecting the businesses with the community and raising the profile and prestige of the Bixby Knolls community. The Uptown Renaissance actually started right there in Bixby knows this assessment is critical for the BIA to continue. The level of outstanding services. That they provide to the businesses and the entire community. And with that, I would move that we accept the the recommendation. There's been a motion and a second seen no other council comment. There's been a motion on the floor. We've closed public comment. Members, please go and cast your votes on the hearing. Motion carries nine votes. Thank you. We will now be moving on to the next items, beginning the items that we moved up. So we're going to begin by going through items 16 and 17 and we will actually be taking three separate votes on six, taking two votes for 16, which I'll explain in a minute.