The City Council is being asked to take action on two Memorandums of Understanding with the Urban Renewal District Advisory Boards for two of the three Urban Renewal Districts in Billings. Staff had intended to bring the MOUs for all three Districts to this meeting, However, the BIRD Board informed staff that the Board voted on February 12 not to accept the MOU as drafted and is intending to provide proposed changes to staff and the Council. Staff removed the BIRD MOU from this agenda to ensure time for staff and the Council to review the changes the BIRD may propose before taking action on that MOU. The organizations included in these MOUs are the Downtown Billings Partnership (DBP) and the South Billings Urban Renewal Association (SBURA). The City has MOUs that are expiring with the BIRD and SBURA in February 2019 and has developed a new MOU with the DBP as the previous MOU has been essentially expired for years. The City Council reviewed and proposed edits to the MOUs at its Work Session on February 4. Edits specific to only one MOU are provided in that MOU attached, but changes made across all of them are outlined here:

• Include language in all MOUs that clarifies the need for compliance with the City's TIF Policy.
• Provide specific reference regarding the type of insurance to be carried by the Advisory Boards to be Errors and Omissions Insurance.
• Strike a portion of the Land Use Decision Authority sections to clarify the Advisory Boards will specifically be informed and have the opportunity to provide input on amendments to land use regulations (i.e. Subdivision regulations, zoning regulations, etc.). However, while the City will continue its communication on zone changes or other land use applications, it will not expect formal recommendations from the Advisory Boards on these regular processes.
• Under the Conflict of Interest sections in each MOU, add that conflict of interest requirements apply to both Advisory Board members and any employees of  the Board.
• One City Council Member brought up the concept of having a City Council Member or City staff member serve on each of the Advisory Boards, similar to the Downtown Billing Partnership configuration. Staff has not made any proposed edits in the MOUs in relation to this item as the Council as a whole did not appear to want to make this adjustment. Of course, the Council could make this change or others before it takes action on the MOUs at this meeting.

All three of the District support staff were provided with the updated MOU documents following the City Council Work Session on February 4th. The SBURA voted to approve the MOU at its monthly meeting on February 5th with the changes from the Council Work Session. There had been no further comments from the DBP regarding the draft when this memo was finalized.
 

City Council may:

• Approve of the MOUs as drafted, or;
• Approve of the MOUs after making further edits or changes, or;
• Disapprove of the MOUs. If the Council does not approve the MOUs, the City and the Urban Renewal District Advisory Boards will be operating without any formal agreements in managing activities in the Districts.

There is no direct financial impact from approval of these MOUs for the City. However, management, administration and financial oversight is critical to the success of revitalization efforts in these Districts and coordinated work by the City and the Advisor Boards will lead to sustainable, responsible, and highly impactful financial investments in these areas. 

Staff recommends the City Council approve the two MOUs with the Downtown Billings Partnership (DBP) and the South Billings Urban Renewal Association (SBURA). The action should be taken in two separate motions - one for each MOU.