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<br /> <br />Mr. Crow stated that some of the business members have said they wanted the City to form this <br />but did not want the City to have any part of it after it was formed. He asked how it worked with <br />U City paying the fee and many of the business owners not wanting the City to be a part of the <br />deal when it was done. <br /> <br />Ms. Riganti stated that once the petition was turned in, the services of Armstrong Teasdale <br />would be completed. She noted that professional services such as legal fees to create a C.I.D. <br />can be requested to be reimbursed if a C.I.D. is formed. <br /> <br />Mr. Crow stated since Wash U is an unique entity which he assumed would be a beneficiary of <br />this plan, he asked what would be their tax status dealing with this. <br /> <br />Mr. Klahr stated his understanding from the RFP, the notion of a Community Improvement <br />District was based at least in part on an action plan that the University would be a participant <br />and would make contribution to the C.I.D.s. He said that is still a to-be designed mechanism. <br />Mr. Klahr stated that even though Wash U is a not-for-profit organization, they owned property <br />and could voluntarily under the statute, opt into the payment of taxes that may be imposed by <br />the district. <br /> <br />Mr. Crow said in the City’s history with Wash U making voluntary contributions has been a little <br />challenging. Mr. Crow stated that the City was being asked to foot a bill that benefited Wash U <br />a great deal and asked if the City had the same diversity of ownership in the East Loop as in the <br />West Loop. He noted the West Loop was pretty well developed and he knew of several <br />landowners but he was not sure of this in the East Loop, so calling the cities equal partners was <br />not where he would see it. <br /> <br />Mr. Joe Edwards stated that was one of the things that could be determined in this investigative <br />period. He said there were so many questions to which the answers were not known. Mr. <br />Edwards noted that at this point in time, he was not sure if anyone was saying the two cities <br />should be joined together but was something that should be looked at. He said the goal was to <br />look at a C.I.D in order to raise more money so the Special Business District could engage in <br />more projects. Mr. Edwards stated that all the Special Business District was asking the City to <br />do was to allow the $40,000 that the businesses have paid into the fund to be released in order <br />to look into forming a C.I.D. He noted there were so many questions as to where you can get to <br />a balance where enough extra money could be raised and not be an imposition on the property <br />owners or businesses but enough to benefit them and get the Wash U matching contributions. <br />Mr. Edwards said they were not asking for all the pros and cons of various aspects of how it can <br />be formed, as that could be determined once they voted to release the $40,000. He said he <br />was surprised that it was not released automatically, since it was approved a year ago. <br /> <br />Mr. Kraft asked if the C.I.D. would replace the Loop Special Business District. <br /> <br />Mr. Edwards said it could go either way, they could both be in existence or the C.I.D. would <br />replace it, which could be determined from the study that is being proposed. He said it might be <br />in the best interest to keep the LSBD and have the C.I.D. as an overlay. <br /> <br />6 <br /> <br /> <br />