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Session 170 I, Minutes July 7, 1997 Ms, Cindi Tompkins, 7301 Maryland, is an independent market research consultant. When she heard what happened with the resolution on the 23rd, she became very concerned. Even though the measure is to be modified, she still has an important message to share with Council and the audience. She was contracted by the City of St. Louis about a year ago. The City of St. Louis is very concerned with the number of residents moving out to the County. This research project involved talking with homeowners in the City of St. Louis, that were in the process of moving, renters that were in the prospect of buying homes, as well as County residents that were in the process of looking at real estate. The major question was, 'M/hy not consider the City of St. Louis to live?". It was not surprising to learn that education was the number one issue, but one of the other things that came up while talking with these residents was the fear that within the City of St. Louis, there wasn't any support for the local residents. When a car was broken into, the response was more or less/M/hat do you expect, you live in the City of St. Louis." What this did was communicate a very deep fear within the residents that their city was not there to support them. That is the fear that jumped into my heart when she heard what had happened on the 23rd. That was the first part of the study. The second part of the study became even more frightening to her. That was when they went out to talk to relocation managers of major corporations. The May Company, Anheuser-Busch, McDonnell-Douglass, people that move residents from outside of the community into St. Louis said, very specitically, they look at housing values. When a company moves someone into this city, they take the responsibility for paying some of the costs to help the person get settled. At the same time, a couple of years later, if they decide that person needs to be moved to another part of the country to serve the company, the company picks up the relocation costs. Part of that, is often assuming responsibility for the house that they originally placed this employee. This is run like a profit and loss statement. I was told by major employers that there is a major fear putting people into communities where there is a housing value that may decrease, because it actually shows up as a deficit on their budget. The last part of the research, was talking to major real estate brokers within the community and how they get people into and stay in the communities. Again, ability to maintain and grow housing values was important. Ms. Joan Bray, 7120 Washington Ave., represents the 84th district in the Missouri House of Representatives. She wanted to express concern about being very careful about this resolution. She thinks it is very important that University City be in its best bargaining position, to be able to stick and stay with the process of Metrolink extension. The success of MetroLink has caused all parts of the Metropolitan area to desire an extension into their area. There is considerable competition for MetroLink expansion. The success of the tax in 1994 made those extensions a possible reality and so the competition has heated up. She believes that the extension through University City would certainly enhance the quality of life here, not only giving mobility to the residents, but also making it easier in bringing other people into University City. Property values would certainly be enhanced by the extension of MetroLink in our area. She has worked on transportation issues throughout the state and they have studied extensively the effects of public transportation extensions and systems and they enhance property values the closer you are to the line. Three months after Proposition M passed in 1994, the funding picture of public transportation, in our country, changed dramatically. The federal money for capital improvements for extending and building lines is dropping. The match is dropping and we will be lucky to get a federal match of 50 percent. Operating money from the federal government is dropping - it is going out of existence. The state has pitched in a little money to make up for that operating loss, which may not happen very much longer, because the state does not have a source of funding. Any extensions done in Missouri, will have to be done on our own. We will have to be very careful how we spend our money. She said that she worries that too many restrictions might make University City a non- viable place to extend. She thinks that we have to make sure that we are in the best negotiating position and not overly tie our hands. Looking to our neighbors to the east in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood and the Central West End, we see what happens with neighborhoods that get access to MetroLink and the success that it brings to those neighborhoods and the demand that it brings for property and their values. The city line is phenomenally successful and has an unparalleled safety record. No one has any interest in building a line that is less successful or less safe. She suggests that Council be very careful about the wording. Leave as much negotiating room as possible. Let the planners and engineers do their job and leave University City, where it should be, close at hand - getting the best all around deal for the City and for the Metro area. (Applause) Mr. David Smith, 7323 Maryland Avenue, said that in light of the proposals made by Mr. Wagner and Mr. Schoomer, he would defer his time to others.