10-13-98291
Board of Directors Room
City Hall - 500 W. Markham
Little Rock, Arkansas
October 13, 1998 - 4:05 P.M.
The Board of Directors of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas, reconvened from the
October 6, 1998 regular meeting with Mayor Jim Dailey presiding. City Clerk Robbie
Hancock called the roll with the following Directors present: Directors Hinton, Cazort,
Keck, Joyce, Wyrick, Kelly, and Adcock - total 7; Absent - Directors Wilson, Hodges,
and Kumpuris - total 3.
Mayor Dailey noted that Cub Scout Den Pack 604 fourth graders were present to
fulfill their citizenship requirement.
With a quorum present, Mayor Dailey declared the Board of Directors in session
and stated the purpose of the reconvened meeting was to consider the Ordinance
relative to the commitment of the City to save the historic Mosaic Templars building at
9th and Broadway in the City of Little Rock. (See Minutes of December 30, 1992.)
(Director Kumpuris enrolled at 4:10 o'clock P.M.)
Consideration was then given to Ordinance No. 17,841, entitled:
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING LITTLE ROCK RESOLUTION NO. 8,842
(DECEMBER 30, 1992); AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO EXERCISE AN
OPTION TO PURCHASE LOT 11, BLOCK 112, ORIGINAL CITY;
APPROPRIATING $185,000 PLUS CLOSING COSTS NOT TO EXCEED $5,000;
APPROPRIATING $20,000 TO COMMENCE CONSTRUCTION AND
DEVELOPMENT WORK ON THE MOSAIC TEMPLARS BUILDING;
PROVIDING FOR REPEALER, SEVERABILITY; DECLARING AN
EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
City Manager Cy Carney explained the process, stating the City must exercise its option
with Doyle Rogers before the end of October, 1998, for $185,000 to secure title to and
purchase the parking lot adjacent to the building, as in the original contract when we
bought the Mosaic Templars Building six years ago. (See Resolution No. 8,842 and
Minutes of December 30, 1992.) In addition the City must commit funds to begin work
on the restoration project which will probably include some facade work and foundation
repair work, also before the end of this month, in order for the City to retain title to the
property. He stated he had just received a check in the amount of $44,000 which is a part
of the funding the City originally received from the $150,000 State Department of
Heritage Grant and there may be additional money to come back. His intent is to begin
the work and then propose to the developer community the opportunity to submit
proposals for redevelopment of the building. He intends to limit additional City funds,
and feels it is the obligation of the private sector to step forward with redevelopers and
lenders to help move this project forward. There are two parts to the funding before the
Board. The City has from its original FUTURE Little Rock funding account $110,000
originally set up to pay the quarterly rental on the parking lot. He also suggested taking
money from the Landbank Program, which is not staffed at this time, so those funds will
not be needed this year. Mayor Dailey said there needs to be a public /private partnership
for restoration of the Mosaic Templars Building. Director Adcock said she was very
shocked at the suggestion of using funds in the Landbank Fund, and asked why Mr.
Carney chose that account, when there is another account with close to $1 million. She
also questioned whether legally the Landbank Fund can be used for the Mosaic Templars
Building. She also felt that Mr. Carney should have gone to the newly formed Landbank
Board to discuss using those funds. This money was set aside for housing, for bringing in
properties that can be turned into housing, but the Mosaic Templars building has nothing
to do with housing. Salaries for three employees were paid for several months from the
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October 13, 1998
Landbank Fund, but now all three employees have left. We have computers and desks,
but no employees. Mayor Dailey suggested taking funds from the Landmark Building
Fund; however, Mr. Carney said there is not enough money to cover proposals on the
table at this time. After further discussion, Director Kumpuris said he felt the City had to
save this building, but taking money from housing may not be the way to do it. He asked
if the Board could take action tonight to save the building and give Mr. Carney a week to
find the money from some source besides housing. Mr. Carney said not only must we
exercise the option by the end of the month, but we must commence serious work by the
last of the month. City Attorney Tom Carpenter recommended passing the Ordinance as
presented, and directing Mr. Carney to come up with additional funds, which would then
be transferred back into the housing account at the regular meeting on Tuesday, October
20, 1998. Speaking in support of the Ordinance were Mr. Lee Hill, Ms. Diane Davis,
Mrs. Ellen Turner Carpenter, and Mr. Jerome Green. Mr. Hill said this historical
building should be preserved and he pledged to work with public and private interests to
form a partnership to restore and renovate this building as well as the Ninth Street area.
He said he would like to see the building incorporated into a Ninth Street Entertainment
District, such as we have with the River Market District on East Markham Street. Ms.
Davis, First Vice President of the Little Rock NAACP, said the building is an extremely
historic building and NAACP would like to partner with any group that would assist them
to raise those private dollars to restore this building. She urged the Board not to let the
building go back and to work with those that want to save the Mosaic Templars Building.
Mrs. Carpenter, who is 82 years old, said she was born on Ninth Street and the Mosaic
Templars Building was a fun place for the black community. She said we need to make
that building viable. Mr. Green, an attorney, said the building should be saved. He
represents the AME Mosaic Templars CDC, which received the deed to try to develop
the building two years ago. Pursuant to agreements that were made, the property has
been re- deeded to the City of Little Rock, and the balance of grant money returned. First
it was our intention to primarily use private funds for this building. Those agreements
that were made to put together the coalition for the CDC created some fatal flaws that
caused problems with developing of private financing. There were two flaws. The first
flaw was the amount of space given by lease in perpetuity for a museum which is a non-
revenue generating aspect of the building. The second flaw had to do with the
auditorium. The banking community could not determine the cash flow and could not
sign long -term leases to guarantee revenue for repayment of the funds. The advice we
received from the banking community is that they would consider the project to be far
more bankable if less attention were paid to a complete restoration of the auditorium,
while giving it the appearance and preserving the historic memory, but to consider using
that space for housing purposes. The return of the grant funds may also make it possible
for the City to do some outside construction facade work that might have an impact on
the October 31 commencement of construction term in the Doyle Rogers contract, which
would relieve some pressure on the City. He provided Mayor Dailey with a letter from
State Senator Bill Lewellen regarding renovation of the Mosaic Templars Building, in
which he stated the Legislature will begin budget hearings on October 13 and the regular
session in January, 1999, and he was confident the issue of funding for the Mosaic
Templars Building would be revisited with success. However, he felt it was imperative
that the City obtain additional time to complete private or public funding applications.
Mr. Green felt the City could expect the same kind of letter from the Secretary of the
HUD Office in Washington, DC. Mr. Green urged the Board to do all that is possible to
allow this project to continue. The Ordinance was then read the first time. The rules
were suspended to provide for the second and third readings of the Ordinance. A roll call
vote was taken on the question, Shall the Ordinance Pass, with the vote recorded as
follows: Directors Hinton, Cazort, Keck, Joyce, Wyrick, Kumpuris, Kelly, Adcock and
Mayor Dailey - total 9; Noes - None; Absent - Directors Wilson and Hodges - total 2.
The Emergency Clause contained in Section 7 of the foregoing Ordinance was
read and adopted by the following roll call vote: Ayes - Directors Hinton, Cazort, Keck,
Joyce, Wyrick, Kumpuris, Kelly, Adcock and Mayor Dailey - total 9; Noes - None;
Absent - Directors Wilson and Hodges - total 2. Whereupon, the Ordinance, together
with the Emergency Clause, was declared PASSED.
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Referring to the preservation of the Mosaic Templars Building, Director
Kumpuris explained that when this issue came through FUTURE Little Rock, the purpose
was to bring back some demonstration of what it used to be and to show the heritage and
history in the Mosaic Templars Building. As we put out an RFP, we need to be very
careful and sensitive as to what we are really saying, that we are going back to the
original basis as best we can. He reminded the Board that the money from the FUTURE
Little Rock one half cent sales tax was specifically for the restoration of that building that
helps preserve the African American culture and history of that era in that part of town.
He then moved that within a week the money from the Housing
Partnership /Landbank Authority Fund be replenished from another source. The
motion was seconded by Director Keck and unanimously adopted.
There being no further business to be presented, the reconvened meeting was
adjourned at 4:47 o'clock P.M.
ATTEST:
City Clerk Robbie Hancock
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APPROVED: W ayor Jim Dailey
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