Rotary Square design on tap

Jun. 22—TRAVERSE CITY — Work on a development vision for Rotary Square will begin this summer after the Downtown Development Authority reviewed proposals for a conceptual design of the public space.

The DDA Board on Friday reviewed responses to a Request for Proposals issued in February to lead a public engagement process leading to conceptual and schematic designs for the Rotary Square property at Union and State streets downtown, along with determining long-term operational expenses for the site. The DDA received four bids in response to its RFP ranging from just under $50,000 to more than $450,000, and city staff recommended going with a $141,656 contract with Progressive AE for the project.

DDA staff will negotiate a final contract proposal with the Grand Rapids-based firm for approval at its next regular meeting July 19.

"This is very much a civic engagement process," DDA interim CEO Harry Burkholder said. Consultants will gather ideas from the public about designs and features that would be incorporated into the space located at 203 S. Union Street, which was purchased by the city two years ago this month for $1.75 million from TCF Bank.

The purchase was funded by a $1 million grant from Rotary Charities and $2 million from the state. The Rotary grant will be used to pay for the design work, Burkholder said.

Limited work has been done on the square so far. The site does have underground irrigation but other improvements await the design effort, although the square has already been utilized for outdoor movie screenings sponsored by the Downtown Traverse City Association, a concert from the Traverse City Philharmonic orchestra and other events.

Burkholder said the DDA is receiving an increasing number of requests for events at Rotary Square.

The board concurred with the staff recommendation to pursue the contract with Progressive AE, but vice-chair Scott Hardy voiced concern over the wide variety of the bids received.

"When you get this kind of swing, somebody misunderstood the process," Hardy said.

Burkholder said the proposals were reviewed by DDA and city staff, including the city planning director, city engineer and the city's Parks and Recreation superintendent.

They were satisfied the preferred proposal will fulfill the DDA's goals for the project's design, and coordinate the work with the new Fish Pass project at the adjacent Union Street Dam that's being replaced, and potentially incorporate parts of the AT&T property immediately east of the square into a long-term plan for the site.

Board Chairman Gabe Schneider noted the cost for the final design and construction work for Rotary Square is included in the current TIF-97 tax increment financing plan and can be funded through the existing plan, which continues through 2027.

In other action Friday, the DDA Board belatedly approved its 2024-25 operating budget for its general fund, along with its TIF-97 and Old Town TIF budgets, for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

Formal approval had been held up after the City Commission in early June failed to get five votes needed to pass the DDA's budget.

The City Commission approved the budget is a 5-2 vote on Monday night after the DDA made a handful of budget changes requested by commission, which included shifting the $110,000 in marketing and communications expenses from the TIF-97 and Old Town TIF budgets into the DDA's general fund.

Other changes added $100,000 to the State/Boardman/Pine Street two-way street conversion project to design and build a mid-block crosswalk in the 200 block of State Street.

The DDA also added $100,000 to the TIF-97 budget to work with the city on a stormwater management infrastructure work, including stormwater control efforts in the Lower Boardman/Ottaway Riverwalk design and engineering process, and/or stormwater management work associated with the future reconstruction of parking Lot B along the river.

The revisions left the DDA with a general fund expenditure budget of slightly more than $2.9 million next year, along with a TIF-97 budget of just under $5.7 million and an Old Town TIF budget of $741,603.