The Fox Cities Transit Commission met 01/24/2022. They discussed and voted on a couple items related to the potential mixed-use transit center project. The first was a request for authorization to pursue a $25 million discretionary grant from the Department of Transportation to fund the construction of a new building and the second was a request for authorization to use Stafford Rosenbaum LLP as legal council for the Transit Center Joint Development project. Both items were approved unanimously.
I’ve prepared a complete transcript of the discussion for download.
Earlier this year, Valley Transit hired LHB corporation to conduct a Transit Center Needs Assessment and Master Plan. That assessment was almost completed, and Valley Transit General Manager Ron McDonald had a couple conceptual draft renderings of what the facility could look like; although he stressed no actual design work had been done and no plans had been approved. The project was intended to have the transit center on the ground level where buses would pull into the building instead of waiting at street curb. The upper floors were going to be private development of some sort—either residential apartments or commercial spaces.
Valley Transit was seeking approval to apply for a Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure Through Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant from the Federal Transit Administration The maximum they could request was $25 million and the deadline for application was February 28 with grant awards being announced in June. General Manager McDonald said they would seek the maximum $25 million.
They had originally thought the cost of the project would be less than $25 million, but they were now trying to increase the multimodal and pedestrian walkway areas so they were inching up to that $25 million; thus, their decision to seek the maximum amount allowable under the grant rules.
He noted that because they wanted to pay for the first floor development with Federal Transit Administration dollars, it was critical that they get a private developer on board before they start the building process, because they need to know what sort of foundation they will need to pour. The needs of a three-story structure, for example would be very different than the needs of a seven-story structure. So, as they applied for the grant, they would simultaneously be seeking to partner with a private developer to share in the expenses and revenue of the joint development. Per General Manager McDonald, “The idea is we want to be able to put up this structure without any significant cost to any of the local municipalities. We want to be able to have enough revenue coming—a revenue stream from the structure—to pay for whatever debt there might be for the transit portion of it. And then the developer can take care of their own things.”
If they were not awarded this RAISE grant, they would have to pursue other grant options. If none of them were approved this year, they would have to regroup and try again next year.
The request to apply for a $25 million RAISE grant was approved unanimously.
The second request was to utilize Stafford Rosenbaum, LLP as legal counsel for the Transit Center Joint Development Project. The partners at the firm would primarily be the ones working on this. Their rate was $310 an hour. When an associated attorney worked on it, their rate would be $265 an hour. Law clerks, paralegals, and legal assistance would be $130 an hour.
General Manager McDonald stressed that, as they pursued a partnership with a private developer, that they have someone who had expertise in the areas of real estate and government, was licensed to practice law in Wisconsin, and would be able to watch out for and protect the interests of the Transit Commission. He and Appleton City Attorney Christopher Behrens had met with the Stafford Rosenbaum team, and both felt that they would be good at representing the interests of everyone on the Transit Commission. Attorney Behrens had worked with them in the past and had a good experience. Additionally, they were the only firm that had responded to Valley Transit’s initial request.
He mentioned that there was another city in Wisconsin who had started a public/private transit center project like this one but did not seek outside counsel. The private developer had been able to walk away from the project and now the city had a one-story transit structure and a grant the had been awarded to support building a housing facility on top of the transit center, and they were begging developers to come on board. The entire situation would end up costing them well more than they would have had to spend on outside council at the beginning.
The Fox Valley Transit Commission members were, however, still concerned about the open-ended nature of the cost. General Manager McDonald did not have an estimate for how much he thought it would cost to use their services, but he did say that he could update the commission on costs as the project moved forward. Additionally, he noted that they could cancel this agreement with Stafford Rosenbaum at any time.
He told the commission, “I want to emphasize the, you know, the magnitude of this project. I mean, if we’re looking at the first floor being $25 million, or there abouts, it’s going to be a significant project. And there is going to be a cost associated with protecting our interests. And one of the biggest interests we’re going to have to maintain through the Federal Transit Administration as well is a fair share of expenditures and revenue from the developers. So somebody with the expertise in getting these agreements in place for the revenue agreement, is going to be critical to make this project happen. So I, you know, I clearly have an expectation that there’s going to be a significant bill attached by the time we’re done. I can’t tell you what that is, but we’ll certainly keep you abreast of what’s going on.”
The commission ended up voting unanimously to allow Valley Transit to utilize the services of Stafford Rosenbaum, LLP.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1063051&GUID=602B8132-671A-4D2C-8CF7-98DE35511D51
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