A resolution By the Council of the City and County of Denver, sitting ex officio as the Board of Directors of the RiNo Denver General Improvement District, approving a Work Plan, adopting a Budget and making appropriations for the 2022 Budget Year. Approves the 2022 Work Plan and Budget for the RiNo Denver General Improvement District in Council District 9. The Committee approved filing this item at its meeting on 11-3-21.
12 Eyes Council Resolution 21, dash 1270 has passed. The Council is now convened as the board of directors of the Reno Denver General Improvement District. Councilmember Flynn. Will you please put Resolution 20 1-1271 on the floor for adoption? Yes, Madam President, thank you. I move that Resolution 21, dash 1271, be adopted. Thank you. We have it moved by you. We need a second, please. All right, great. We've got it moved by Council Member Flynn and seconded by Councilmember Hines. The public hearing for Resolution 20 1-1271 is open. May we have the staff report and we have Michael Kerrigan here from the Department of Finance. Good evening, board members. Once again, Michael Kerrigan from the Department of Finance. I am before you tonight to give the staff report and request approval for the Rhino Denver General Improvement District 2022 Annual Work Plan and Budget. The district is located northwest of downtown and includes residentially and commercially assessed properties around the Brighton Boulevard corridor. Generally, the JDI is centered on Brighton Boulevard, stretching from I-70 on the north to 29th Street on the south and bounded east by the Union Pacific Railroad line and to the west by the Burlington Northern Railroad Line. The JD Sports infrastructure enhancements and maintenance in the Reno area, including streetscape maintenance to Brighton Boulevard. City Council approved the formation of the Rhino Denver Guide by Ordinance Number 309 Series 2015 and established City Council as the ex-officio board of Directors of District. The ordinance also creates a district advisory board comprised of property owners within the district. The ordinance specified that the advisory board should, subject to approval of the Board of directors, conduct and manage all affairs of the district as of as the authorized agent took the board of directors. The District Advisory Board has created the 2022 budget before you tonight. The Budget proposes overall expenditures and fund transfers of $1,562,086 and overall revenues of $1,000,609, 609 and $281 of these revenues. The district will generate approximately 1,433,681 through the levy of four mills on real property for general operating purposes. And it will generate approximately $175,000 from the imposition of a capital charge assessed on a lineal foot based basis on properties adjacent to Brighton Boulevard for repayment of debt used to fund the capital enhancements along Brighton Boulevard. City staff has reviewed the 2022 budget and work plan and recommends it for approval. Thank you. Thank you. We have three individuals signed up to speak this evening. Our first speaker is in person and the other two are online. And so we're going to start out with Tracy. Well, here in chambers. Good evening, counsel. My name's Tracy Whale, and I'm the executive director for the Rhino Art District, and I'm here to answer any questions you may have. So thank you. All right. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and move online. Our first speaker online is Tess Dougherty. Council. I. Can you hear me? Okay? Go ahead. Okay. So thank you. So, hi, my name's Chester from District nine. And I just I'm curious about the, the budget in the board of directors and how the process for, for the so called Reno art district, how it works because in the 23 River North Neighborhood Plan, it mentions, you know, a name change to the area to improve its attract ability for investors. It mentions you know there's a huge emphasis on on the art and not as much of a preservation on the local culture of the area. And I'm just curious about, you know, why an area that was historically black and Latino and historically, you know, neglected and not invested, you know, magically becomes becomes rhino and and has a name change. And I mean, the 23 River North Plan is pretty much a guide to gentrification in the city. And so I would just I'm just curious if there are indigenous people at the table and who's at the table and what their board of directors looks like? Because. Because. You know, there, it just feels like a lot of a little bit of an erasure. You know, the whole process of of Reno art district feels very much like an erasure of culture and of history and and of people because, you know, there's been a lot of displacement that's happened in that area. And it doesn't feel like everyone's been at the table or had an opportunity to remain in that area. It feels like the city of Denver is very much made it comfortable for wealthy white people to move in at the expense of black, brown and indigenous people. And that's a real shame. It's a real shame. And and I just wonder how the River North, how the rhino art district feels about that and what they're doing to to correct that harm a in a restorative and transformative way for the community. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker online is David Hagan. Hi. Good evening, counsel. I'm also a District nine, and I'd just like to, uh, to kind of just stick with the same stuff that tested said. Um, it seems to me that I'm curious to how much of that budget is. Going to go towards preservation of the people that have lived in that area, the preservation of the people. Five points in G as in what are we doing to keep them there and not just move them on and bring more, more gentrification in that area? What are we doing for affordable housing in that area? Is any of that money set up for affordable housing or. Who? Who does the market work for? What are we doing? For the people. What are we doing to keep the people there? I mean, it wasn't that long ago that Joes was was tried. They tried to push him out because of the unhoused folks buying forties at his liquor store or whatever. And he recently sold, I believe, but what's left of the original people. Do we care about them or are we going to move them over to another neighborhood until we decide to gentrify that neighborhood and build it arena or some other obstruction? It's just I just want to I just want to really highlight on the gentrification and make sure that we're not we're not forgetting about that. We've got to be doing something about that. Gentrification is colonization, and we should be better than that by this point in time. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our speakers questions from members of Council. On Council Resolution 21, dash 1271. We've got a couple members in the queue. Councilmember Ortega, please go ahead. Thank you, Madam President. Let me put my hand down. So my question is for Michael Kerrigan. Michael. Can you tell me. How far off of Brighton the boundaries extend? I'm just curious if this includes the Salvation Army site, which is now owned by the city of Denver. Yes. Essentially, it it goes from a railroad track to railroad tracks. I'm not sure where the Salvation Army building is. If it's if it's immediate, the river at. 29th Avenue. That would be included within the district boundaries. It abuts the river. I believe 29th is the cross street. So it's. It's on the east side of the river, not the west side. Even the railroad tracks are on the west side of the river. So that would be that would be included in the district. Okay. So what how does that then apply when the city owns property? So I know we used to have the. But we'll have the park down there now. Where the police. What was the the place where they would auction bikes and vehicles off that were picked up and never claimed. But in this case, we we own that building now. So how is that handled differently from any of the other properties? So the the city truly owns it. The assessed value of that property would be zero. So that property would not be paying any of the four mills or the or the lineal foot charge into the district. Okay. Thank you for that. That's that's all I had for questions. Thank you, Madam President. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Ortega. Councilmember Hines. Thank you, Council President. I guess this is either either of you could answer this. I'm sure this isn't in my district. And so I'm not as familiar with the demographics of the people who live in this area. But historically, was this. It's my understanding that it was a railyard and a bunch of warehouses. Did people live here historically or was this main mainly just a storage area until it became, um, you know, until into housing started to get built in this area. Do you want to introduce yourself for us? Well, the executive director for the Rhino Art District in the sixties, it was really mostly gentrified and turned into more of an. Industrial hub. Back then. There are still a few houses left, including mine, where I live. So that's kind of the makeup of the district. Does that answer your question? So you you mention in the sixties it was gentrified, so people used to live there and then they got they left for warehouses. Yeah, well, it's kind of always this workaday neighborhood, I think generally. But then it was, you know, they started building more warehouses for for industry. And, you know, there's always been an industrial corridor, primarily. But some of that happened in the sixties, too. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Councilperson. Thank you, Councilmember Hines. And not seen any other questions from members of council. The public hearing is closed. Comments by members of Council on Council Resolution 20 1-1271. CNN. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Resolution 21. Dash 1 to 7 one. Ortega. I know. Black Eye. CdeBaca, I. Clark. All right. When I heard in hindsight, Cashman can reach Brian Sandoval, I swear. I. Torres, I. Madam President, I. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce results. There are 13 I's. 13 I's Council Resolution 21, dash 1271 has passed. We want to thank Michael Carrigan and the other representatives from the organizations that were here and the members of the public. Council is now convened as Denver City Council. Councilmember Flynn, will you please put council bill 20 1-1219 on the floor to be ordered published.