Downtown Development Authority Meeting - 2023-05-10

Detailed briefing

Downtown Development Authority Meeting — May 10, 2023 ATTENDEES: Jody Eubank, Matt Bagheera, Amy Gillard, Nikki Law, Cora Smith, Rachel Morford, Sarah Aschenbrenner, Gail Brown, and Ella Redding were recorded as present. Rocky Bacon’s attendance is unclear from the transcript. • The meeting was called to order following roll call. The transcript does not include later agenda discussion, adjournment, or a return from closed session. • Members reviewed the prior meeting minutes and identified corrections. One member said Rachel had been present but was not listed. Members also said Nikki should not have been identified as making the adjournment motion because she had not been at that meeting. • A motion was made to approve the minutes with those corrections, and a second was recorded. The chair asked whether anyone opposed, but the transcript does not record a vote result or formally state that the corrected minutes were approved. • Before closed session, a member suggested moving the closed session to the end of the meeting because of a subsequent meeting involving Victor. The discussion indicated that timing was constrained, and the board proceeded toward a quick closed session. • A motion was made to enter closed session under Section 8 of the Michigan Open Meetings Act. The stated purpose was to consider the city’s special legal counsel’s written opinion on the DDA tax increment financing plan; the opinion was described as exempt from disclosure under Section 13 of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. A second was recorded, but the transcript does not provide the final vote outcome. • The chair stated that Zoom participants would be brought back after the closed session. No post-closed-session discussion or action appears in the supplied record. Worth watching: • Confirmation in the formal record of whether the corrected minutes motion passed. • Any public action or discussion after the closed session concerning the tax increment financing plan. • Whether Zoom participants were returned to the meeting as stated. Upcoming: No future meeting date or other upcoming event was stated in the transcript. Why it matters: The board addressed record corrections and sought confidential legal guidance on its tax increment financing plan, but the supplied transcript does not show the resulting public decisions.

No open public follow-ups are linked to this meeting yet.