Are the interests of the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority and the Village Council on the same page? Many downtown business owners think not.
Several business owners voiced their frustrations with the current state of the DDA at a Business Neighbors meeting, held on March 9 at the Orion Art Center.
Robert Donohue, Jr., Principal Planner for Downtown Redevelopment and Main Street Oakland County Coordinator, addressed the group, explaining what powers the DDA has in the community, as well as what control the municipal governing body, in this case the Village of Lake Orion, can have over the board.
He said in the next 60 days, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson will be sending all the Main Street communities a letter of agreement, to be signed by both the DDA and the Lake Orion Village Council, that will signify the community’s willingness to continue with the program.
‘That’s an opportunity for you to rally the board and the community to sign it,? Donohue said. ‘It’s an opportunity to push the envelope a bit.?
Business owners were concerned that the DDA was not able to be as effective as they could be, due to involvement by the Village that they felt went above what was allowed by law.
‘We need to be there to tell (the Village) we’re sick and tired of being sick and tired,? said Heritage Spinning and Weaving owner Joan Hoover.
Ron Kalso, owner of Global Soccer and a current DDA board member, said the DDA is not ‘in step? with the Village Council.
‘We are a 180 from where they are,? he said.
Donohue suggested the DDA pursue obtaining legal counsel to help them further separate their operations from the Village Council, which approves the DDA’s annual budget and board appointments.
Donohue said he was well aware of the problems that the DDA in Lake Orion was having.
‘I’ve never seen anyone treated as badly as Becky Goodman was,? he said, referring to the former Downtown Lake Orion Coordinator who relocated to Petoskey a year ago.
‘I was appalled, as a lot of people were,? Donohue said. ‘Brooks will be serious on this letter of agreement, so maybe that will bring it to a head.?
Donohue explained that the DDA is run under Tax Increment Financing (TIF), which says that any increase in taxes is an increase in the DDA’s available finances.
‘The first year, the (DDA’s) budget was zero,? he said. ‘The next year, it is whatever your increase is.?
Kalso said in 2001 the Village created Amendment 3, which lays out how the DDA can spend their money. He said the DDA had no problem with that.
Business owners were concerned that DDA money was being funneled into other things not DDA-related.
‘We have to find a way to say to the Village Council, you approved our budget, now stay out of our way,? Kalso said.
‘Our concerns and (the Village Council’s) concerns do not match at all,? said Downtown Coordinator and DDA director Katie Zimmer, who took over for Goodman, and has resigned her position to accept a job in Chicago.
Kalso said he has volunteered to take over for Zimmer.
Donohue said if it was decided that the DDA should disband, the money currently in their budget would be gone.
The DDA funds a July Gazebo Concert Series, as well as other events in the downtown.
‘It’s funded by the DDA budget, but the village gives final approval,? Zimmer said.
Donohue said an alternative to the DDA would be a Principal Shopping District (PSD), but that would require a special tax assessment from the businesses to be operated.
‘The beauty of the DDA is there’s no extra tax being asked of (the businesses),? he said.