Tonight Monday Dec 10th the residents will learn about a proposed Music Center the city plans on building.  Five minutes later council will spend $100,000 in order to commission a study that will tell them to commence with a project they already know they are going to vote to approve. 

I'm sure I'll be disappointed in that no one from the public will address council asking them why it is appropriate that the residents find out about these items just before the city starts spending money on them.

If you are interested in expressing support or displeasure arrive at city hall (6131 Taylorsville rd) a few minutes before the meeting starts at 7 pm and fill out the form requesting to speak.  If you want to speak before council authorizes the funds that probably won't be possible. This is on the agenda prior to when council recognizes there are people that desire to address council.  But you can attempt to speak on this subject  by filling out the form to speak on agenda item 6B.  Expect though that it is more likely that you will end up speaking during citizens comments.     

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I've been collecting recent news at:  Music Center Update;  Ongoing 
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City releaase a couple more details at 1230 today:

MEDIA ALERT

City Council to Vote on Legislation Regarding Proposed Music Center at The Heights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 10, 2012

Huber Heights City Council will vote tonight on authorizing City Manager James Borland to proceed with due diligence regarding a proposed $18 million music center as part of The Heights development.

The Heights is an 800-acre development that stretches from the northwest corner of State Route 201 and I-70 in Montgomery County up into southern Miami County.  The development includes a residential community, the Kroger Aquatic and recreation Complex at The Heights, and a 140 acre retail and entertainment component.  

Pending City Council approval, media representatives will be presented with additional project details and an architect's rendering of the proposed venue.

Tonight's Huber Heights City Council meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at City Hall, located at 6131 Taylorsville Road in Huber Heights.  

PRESS RELEASE (Released by city 8pm)

City of Huber Heights Approves Due Diligence on
Music Center at The Heights
December 10, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Huber Heights City Council has approved legislation authorizing City Manager James Borland to proceed with the due diligence necessary for the City to move forward with owning, constructing and operating a proposed music center in The Heights development located at State Route 201 and I-70.

The Music Center at The Heights is a proposed 4,500 fixed-seat concert and entertainment venue that incorporates an outdoor feel while protecting patrons from the elements with a permanent roof.  The venue will be unlike any other in the region and will be the anchor of The Heights project.

The Heights is an 800-acre development that stretches from the northwest corner of State Route 201 and I-70 in Montgomery County up into southern Miami County.  Upon completion, The Heights will include more than 2,000 homes in the Carriage Trails at The Heights residential community, the 35-acre Kroger Aquatic and Recreation Complex at The Heights, and the 140-acre retail and entertainment component that will encompass the Music Center at The Heights.  The retail and entertainment component may also include a hotel, office and medical space, upscale and family restaurants, plus shopping options.

"The City will be conducting the due diligence necessary to make sure the Music Center at The Heights is a good fit for our community and the overall region," said City Manager James Borland.    "We want to offer a unique, first class venue for people to enjoy concerts and other events.  When you couple that with the hotel, restaurant and shopping options that will be built within the development, The Heights will become an incomparable entertainment destination in southwest Ohio."

Mayor Ron Fisher said, "The concept of this facility is incredible in that people will get the ambiance of enjoying a show in an outdoor venue while being protected by a roof overhead.  The Music Center at The Heights will be the perfect place for concerts, graduation ceremonies, festivals, and other regional events.  We plan to pay for the music center without new tax dollars or general fund money."    

The City will be consulting with experts in the entertainment industry regarding the design of the building and how it will fit into the total connectivity master plan of The Heights project.  City leaders will also begin negotiation talks with management companies to operate and manage the facility.  

At the conclusion of due diligence, the City hopes to break ground on the Music Center at The Heights in early 2013 with a projected opening of the venue in the spring of 2014.

For more information, contact Tony Rodgers, Clerk of Council, at (937) 237-5832 or arodgers@hhoh.org.



Additional Contact Information

James Borland - City Manager, City of Huber Heights, (937) 233-1423
Ron Fisher - Mayor, City of Huber Heights, (937) 233-1423

Notes from Administration Committee Meeting----------22 Jan 2013
 
First let me commend the council for an informative discussion.  During the initial presentation I had written down questions and points, most of those I was able to cross through because they were brought up by council members
Notes:
The assistant city manager constructed the financial analysis that concludes the city's current TIF districts will support paying the debt the city will incur to build the Music Center.  In 2010, the city asked Steve Stanley of the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District (TID) to audit the current and projected revenues from the TIF district created in order to fund the I-70 interchanges.  This resulted in a finding that the city could responsibly borrow up to $6 million dollars.  The city used more than $6 million of TIF money to build the aquatic / recreational facility.  To date the assistant city manager's computations / report has not been furnished to council in their Weekly Report to Council or in an open committee meeting.  From what I understand of the TID audit made it easier to attract good interest rates for notes and bonds associated with the funding of the recreational facility.  DDN Article:  Huber Heights considering funding options for $18M Music Center
 
Tonight council discussed widening the scope of their due diligence examination of the proposed Music Center.  This involves hiring a consulting firm named Convention Sport and Leisure (CSL) to do a Validation Study.  In this validation study the company is suppose to provide an expert analysis that tells us how much and what kind of business will want to locate into The Heights Development project because of the Music Center.  This analysis is will tell us how much income tax these new businesses should generate for the county.  The city plans on trying to sell the naming rights to the new  Music Center.  With a study produced by independent experts instead of the people that built and funded the project, someone planning on buying the naming rights will have a good idea of how much it is worth - or at least the city should get a good idea on how much they should charge for it.   
 
The reason council decided to consider conducting this study probably had nothing to do with this 8 Jan 2013 comment,

Instead it probably is because city staff is in conversation with county officials and they seem very interested in helping to find other grants and government funds to help pay for the project but they want more assurance that the revenues were correctly measured.    
 
In this conversation about the study Ms Dudley brought up a great question.  She asked if the report that would be produced would meet any certification standard.  City staff was not aware of any Validation or Feasibility study certification agency.  Nor were they aware of any agency or association that certifies a firm as being qualified to prepare a feasibility study.  However, staff will look into and make sure CSL is qualified.  Ms Dudley also suggested they could check into getting a Dunn and Bradstreet report.  It appears from their website that a Dunn and Bradstreet report is kind of like a credit report or maybe even a BBB report.  It would be interesting to know how much one of these costs. 

This brings up one more interesting discussion, does it really make sense to pay for a report to determine if the company you are hiring to do a study that has already been "done" by city staff.  The tone I have presented in this article is yes.  However, the fact is I don't know how good of a study city staff has prepare because that report has not been made available during normal committee meetings.  I'm not sure these reports have even been presented to council members. 

CSL already comes with a high verbal recommendation from the assistant city manager.  He personally saw the quality of their work when he was involved in a successful Orlando project.
 
The projected cost for this validation study is between $30,000 and $40,000.  City staff researched and determined that normally a study like this would cost between $45,000 and $150,000.  Since city staff has already done a lot of the background work their preliminary discussions with the company indicate the price should be no greater than $40,000.  Money for to pay for this study will come out of the Economic Development Fund. 
 
Also noted, the three previously mentioned contracts associated with the "due diligence" have been awarded.  They will use up $90,000 of the $100,000 approved so far for the due diligence portion of the project. 

In the beginning of this article I told you this was an informative and interesting meeting.  But I may have just been a little biased. Biased like a father that just watched his kid take a first step.  I already pointed out council realized they needed to do some real due diligence instead of just starting to build the center.  Even more enjoyable was the discussion council had that will help prevent them from making the same mistakes they made when they did the study suggested by Don Allen Holbrook LLC.  Now there is no evidence they watched the video I made before they authorized the Holbrook study in Dec 2011, or that they are influenced at all by my efforts. But it still makes me happy to see the discussions mature and possibly prevent this new study from having the same result as the Theme park study. DDN article: Huber Heights suing consultant for more than $50,000

The video shows the concerns I had with the Holbrook study before council authorized the study. Council did a good job today addressing the last 2 minutes of this video.

-------17 Jan 2013 ------
There was a presentation at the Public Works committee by Ken Conaway of DEC.  This is some of the information I recorded:
 
The design of this music center is the same as the PNC Pavilion but includes cosmetic differences to reflect its more prominent location within the city.
 
The projected cost of the project is still $18 million.  The city is looking to acquire 28 acres for this portion of the project.  The minimum needed is 20 acres.  The music center will take up about 5 acres with parking, restrooms, green space taking up the rest.
 
There was some attempt to figure out if they could build a fully enclosed music center.  The developer found a recently constructed facility in the south west that cost about $60 million.  The difference in price between a covered venue versus an enclosed venue has a lot to do with the construction necessary in order to make the building safe for that many people (in other words - building codes).  With an enclosed facility you have to include plumbing for fire suppression, you have to design exits and entries, restrooms will need to be inside.  In addition to the safety aspect, it is also more difficult to make sure the sound quality of the concerts are good.  An enclosed facility has to be designed to take into account more of the sound bouncing off the structure.
 
Lawn seating was discussed.  The drawbacks are that they plan on using about the same design as the PNC which (in theory) would reduce design costs.  That design doesn't lend itself to lawn seating.  Also, with lawn seating you have to design the facility so the sound goes out to the lawn which may result in noise complaints.  Presently, city council is sensitive about creating another situation where they have to deal with noise complaints.
 
There was a statement that made it sound like city employees worked up some of the numbers to see if there would be enough TIF money to pay for the project.  This analysis was not presented but it may require the funds from every TIF district in the city.  The committee heard rumors of projected profits.  Ken differed that discuss to council. 
 
--------------------------------------------Jan 8, 2013 -------------------------------------
At the administration committee meeting Tuesday Jan 8th 2013 council members received an update from the DEC representative that included DEC drafting contracts for the city to approve:
 
1.  a company that would design and place the music center and do traffic studies
2.  an Architect for the Music Center
3. a company to do acoustical engineering
 
The specific companies the city will hire were included as part of the contract.  Council was advised these companies could be chosen without a bid process because the city is going to classify these as professional service contracts.
 
Copies of the contracts were not provided in the read ahead for the council or the public.  No details about the terms of the contracts were discussed.  No council member asked for a copy of the contracts to review.  The contracts will not be included as part of the minutes of the committee meeting.  It was stated that once the city signs the contracts they will become public records and residents can ask to review them then.
 
Notice there are no contracts consulting an economic development expert to evaluate the feasibility of music center operations, the compatibility with the rest of "The Heights" development project, or impact on surrounding communities.  When council was asked what company would perform these due diligence requirements the response was there was no plan to consult an outside agency and the city manager would make that call with city council help.
 
Council decided they would not actively invite community comments.  As an alternative the public can attend regularly scheduled committee meetings and get educated about the project by listening to the developer's presentation.  The developer currently plans to address:

• The Jan 15th Planning Commission meeting
• The Jan 17th Parks and Recreation meeting
• The Jan 21st Arts and Beautification meeting

The developer will report to the Administration Committee again on Jan 22nd.


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I've been collecting recent news at: Music Center Update; Ongoing
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