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will come in, in small increments. Mr. Fredericks stated that in his opinion, it would be in the best <br />interest of the City to continue the negotiations with the Trolley Group and come up with a solution <br />that is amenable to all parties. <br /> <br />Mr. Crow stated he had expressed the same concerns. So now you have two, if not more Council <br />members who have expressly said that they would have concerns about a letter of credit, and yet, <br />this agreement comes back proposing to utilize that exact method. Mr. Crow stated that he is trying <br />to figure out where the confusion occurred that now brings this agreement back to Council with <br />something that they have already stated that they were not interested in. <br /> <br />Ms. Forster stated that she was not made aware of the fact that Council would not be agreeable to a <br />letter of credit. She stated that her understanding was that Council’s main concern was to obtain <br />funds to return the street to its original condition. Mr. Crow stated that his thinking is that Council did <br />have this conversation and that she was in attendance at the time of that conversation. <br /> <br />Dr. Carr stated that she also agreed with her colleagues on this issue. She then asked Mr. Walker if <br />this item could be rescheduled in order to continue the negations as suggested by Mr. Fredericks. <br />Mr. Walker stated that a discussion of the agreement could be continued, dependent upon the action <br />taken on the third extension request for the Conditional Use Permit which is a more pressing concern <br />for the City. <br /> <br />Dr. Carr made a motion to amend the original motion by granting an extension of time for the <br />attorneys to further explore the issues associated with the letter of credit, seconded by Mr. Glickert. <br /> <br />CITIZEN COMMENTS <br />Joe Edwards, 6504 Delmar, University City, MO <br />Mr. Edwards stated that when they first formed the Loop Trolley TDD the projections were that the <br />revenues would be approximately $450,000 per year. He stated that through the years that <br />projection has grown and today it is approaching $800,000 per year and with the new projects that <br />are being attracted to the area as a result of the trolley, which projection would continue to increase. <br />Mr. Edwards stated that he feels very comfortable, and so does the City of St. Louis and the Federal <br />Transit Administration, that they will have the funds needed to operate the trolley forever. He stated <br />that even if the fare box recovery was zero there would be enough money to still operate a certain <br />number of trips per day or week. There will be fare box recovery, advertising, sponsorships and <br />private fund raising to supplement the funds, and so his hope is that Council would keep moving this <br />project forward. <br /> <br />Mayor Welsch asked Mr. Edwards if he would provide Council with an explanation of fare box <br />recovery, how much he anticipates receiving from this source and what the Federal Government has <br />approved. Mr. Edwards explained that the fare box recovery represents the ticket price that people <br />will pay to ride the trolley. The estimates, which have been made by several different consultants, <br />were for roughly $350,000 per year; which is a very, very conservative projection. So the 1.1 million <br />dollars that it would take to operate the trolley is covered. <br /> <br />Mr. Jennings asked Mr. Edwards if there was anything else that the TDD would be willing to offer in <br />lieu of the letter of credit. Mr. Edwards stated that his thought would be the reassurance of knowing <br />that this money will be coming in would be sufficient, because the funds cannot be diverted to any <br />other entity or project. He stated that while he was certainly aware of Council’s request to have the <br />street restored, he does not remember Council discussing concerns about a letter of credit at the <br />previous meetings. Mr. Edwards stated that he, along with the City of St. Louis, believes that the <br />biggest security is the guaranteed income year after year that will continue to increase. Mr. Jennings <br />questioned whether there was any way to place a provision in the agreement which states that a <br />portion of the sales tax receipts would be used for the restoration of Delmar? Mr. Edwards stated <br />that he would have to defer that question to the lawyers, but whatever the parties can put in writing to <br />make this work would be agreeable to him. Mr. Jennings asked Mr. Edwards if there would be any <br />repercussions if an acceptable agreement was not reached. Mr. Edwards stated that the sooner the <br />parties get over this hurdle, the better, because the trolley really needs to go out into the contracting <br /> <br />