Forest Park/Fort Gillem Local Redevelopment Authority
Board of Directors Meeting
February 25, 2009
Minutes
A regular meeting of the Forest Park/Fort Gillem Local
Redevelopment Authority was held on Wednesday, February 25, 2009, at the
Board Members: Sparkle Adams; Corine
Deyton; Donald Judson; Linda Lord; Maudie McCord; John Parker; and John
Westervelt.
Staff, Legal Counsel and
Others: Fred
Bryant, Executive Director; Frank Barton, OEA; Lisa Keeling, Army BRAC; COL
Deborah Grays, Garrison Commander; Herb Wolverton, Fort Gillem BRAC Transition Coordinator;
Phil Browning, GMACC; Forrest Robinson, Forest Park Development Partners LLC.
John
Westervelt called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. It was determined that a
quorum was present. The following matters were addressed:
Approval of Minutes: Linda
Lord made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 17th meeting, seconded by John
Parker. The Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes.
Chairman’s Announcements and
Comments:
John
Westervelt welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Executive Director’s Update:
The
LRA Executive Director, Forest Park Development Partners, LLC, and the Matrix
Team met in late December to conduct an initial Business Plan workshop. Weekly
conference calls are held, and the group will meet again on March 5th
to review the Team’s progress to date. The Team will brief the LRA Board at its
next regular meeting in March, and is on schedule to complete the Business Plan
by mid-April.
OEA
has approved extending the current grant to April 30, 2009, and to increasing
that grant to fully-fund the business plan project and one month of staff
salary and benefits. The next grant request, covering the period May 1, 2009
through April 30, 2010, will be submitted in April 2009.
Fred
participated on a panel at the ADC Winter Forum on February 10th.
The panel discussed approached to redevelopment in a down economy. It was
well-attended and well-received.
John
Parker, Joe Harris, Forrest Robinson and David Welch met with Mike Comodeca,
Spencer, Fane, Britt and Browne, LLP on February 17th to discuss the
legal issues associated with BRAC closure implementation. Mike is an
environmental and BRAC attorney who currently works with communities that are
negotiating property transfer and environmental remediation actions with the
Army. As a result of that meeting, the LRA has signed an engagement letter to
seek Mike’s assistance in matters pertaining to the LRA and Army. The City
Attorney will continue to advise the LRA on local matters, including the DDA
with the Forest Park Development Partners, LLC.
Old Business:
None.
New Business:
The
GA Department of Education, working with DOD, has forwarded a letter to the LRA
Board expressing interest in establishing a
The
LRA Board reviewed a copy of the Programmatic Agreement covering historic
properties and the adaptive reuse buildings in the proposed
Sparkle
The
next regular meeting will be March 25, 2009, at 6:00 PM.
Open Discussion:
None.
Adjournment:
A motion was made by Corine Deyton to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Linda Lord. The meeting was adjourned at 6:21 p.m.
Recorded By:
Executive
Director
Approved:
March
25, 2009
Fred
E. Bryant
Executive
Director