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HRA Special Meeting <br />Minutes – Tuesday, June 30, 2015 <br />Page 5 <br />1 <br />2 <br />Member Wall noted the confines of current open meeting law. <br />3 <br />4 <br />Member Etten noted a meeting could be scheduled with three day posted notice; but agreed it was not <br />5 <br />appropriate to discuss issues of import outside a public meeting (e.g. serial e-mail or in a social setting). <br />6 <br />7 <br />In her other life as an HRA staff member with another jurisdiction, Member Lee noted the need for the <br />8 <br />HRA to grant authority for its staff to proceed without the body looking over their shoulder as long as <br />9 <br />working within the parameters granted by the body. Member Lee reiterated her confusion as to why the <br />10 <br />process took place and shift in administration, opining that it shouldn’t have happened. <br />11 <br />12 <br />Given the deadlocked situation on the HRA, Chair Maschka stated the City Council felt the need to step <br />13 <br />in when they did and deal with the various components and issues. <br />14 <br />15 <br />Member Etten noted the conclusion was to determine what was learned from the project and process, <br />16 <br />recognizing it was a very unique deal that didn’t go well. While still aware of frustrations, Member <br />17 <br />Etten sought to address how best to move forward from this lesson and address them with future <br />18 <br />projects. <br />19 <br />20 <br />Member Lee opined that the HRA would not have been so indecisive if all HRA members had the same <br />21 <br />information available that the City Council subsequently had available to it; opining that she was <br />22 <br />confident the vote would have gone differently for the HRA at that point. Member Lee opined that the <br />23 <br />HRA was in the dark, not indecisive. With open meeting law restrictions, Member Lee opined there <br />24 <br />had been no opportunity for individual HRA members or the public to get the information they needed <br />25 <br />to make informed decisions. <br />26 <br />27 <br />Member Etten reiterated the fact that, at the time of the critical meeting(s), no one had that additional <br />28 <br />information available, neither the HRA nor the City Council. <br />29 <br />30 <br />Member Lee expressed the need for and importance of having that information; and south to focus on <br />31 <br />how to resolve that in the future to guarantee it was available to the body. <br />32 <br />33 <br />Member Etten concurred, opining that was something individual HRA members could help flesh out in <br />34 <br />more detail for future consideration. <br />35 <br />36 <br />Ms. Raye concluded that the overall community process was good, but the information and <br />37 <br />communication process for the HRA and with the City Council needed improvement. Among the <br />38 <br />issues, Ms. Raye listed missed deadlines, funding challenges, timing of producing sufficient <br />39 <br />information, equity issues for the developer, lack of use of the HRA Executive Committee, unique <br />40 <br />utility issues, and lost opportunity to bring this unique development to fruition. Some of the learning <br />41 <br />points listed by Ms. Raye included more detailed and frequent information check points, challenges <br />42 <br />with co-ownership of parcels, need to add additional meetings as applicable for the full HRA, and clear <br />43 <br />delineation of negotiation points and timeframes. <br />44 <br />45 <br />Being unaware if staff was privy to all necessary information during negotiations, Chair Maschka noted <br />46 <br />the need to share as much of that information as possible and as applicable in open meeting format. <br />47 <br />48 <br />Ms. Raye suggested the need for documentation and process to hold the developer accountable, perhaps <br />49 <br />by having an HRA member involved in the staff/developer meetings and negotiations. <br />50 <br />51 <br />Chair Maschka and Member Majerus noted that was the original intent of the HRA Executive <br />52 <br />Committee. <br />53 <br />54 <br />Member Wall opined that was the HRA Chair’s role to have his fingers in everything, and then lead <br />55 <br />discussions for the full board. While unaware of the intent for the executive committee, Member Wall <br /> <br />