TIF CRAAB Project Prioritization October 25th

I attended the CRAAB TIF Project Prioritization workshop October 25th. Speakers were allowed a whopping 3 minutes to explain why their project(s) should be a high priority use of the TIF money. I spoke as President of the Burns Square Property Owners Association and refreshed their memories on the requests of Burns Square made several months ago. Our priorities in Burns Square remain Municipal Parking (#5), Ringling Avenue Roundabout (#14) and Burns Square Improvements (#7). What was not on their list was Attainable Housing that they already recommend funding with 1/3 of TIF money. The CRAAB board had 18 items to prioritize. There list will be provided to the City Commission (CRA) who will make the final decisions. The following is the CRAAB board list of priorities:

1. Wayfinding System $1.5 M TIED WITH...
Fruitville Rd Improvements $3.9 M
3. Downtown Historic District $10 M TIED WITH...
Public Private Partnerships $10 M
5. Municipal Parking $14 - 20 M TIED WITH...
Cultural District $35 M
7. Burns Square Improvements $5.23 M
8. Bicycle Network Improvements $0.8 M
9. Selby Five Points Park $2.9 M
10. US 41 & Gulfstream Roundabout $4.5 M
11. Storefront Facade Program $10 M
12. Cocoanut Avenue $1.0 M
13. US 41 Pedestrian Sleeves $1.9 M
14. Ringling Ave Roundabouts $1.7 M
15. US 41 & Fruitville Roundabout $12 M
16. US 301 Pedestrian Sleeves $2.2 M
17. Fruitville Rd & East Ave Sleeve $0.6 M
18. Oak St Belvedere $0.1M

Background:
As some of you may remember, several months ago I presented to the CRAAB board the improvements we came up with during our charrette process. Kate Lowman (LPNA President), Susan (Burns Square Association Vice President), and a Director from the Burns Court Cinema attend the meeting with me to show support for the Burns Square requests. I have also presented our requests to the DTP and have their support. I have asked the CCNA Board twice the opportunity to show our plans to the CCNA members but they declined. I have also met with each commissioner to explain the items on our request since they will ultimately make the decisions as the CRA.

The CRA and CRAAB had a joint meeting back in August and put projects into different levels of priority. This is one of many meetings to prioritize projects. During this meeting Parking, Ringling Roundabout and Burns Square Improvements were kept in the high priority category.