Brownfield Plan - Will Bl. Township Lose Revenue?

Hi All,

At the 9/12/16 Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting,  REDICO presented a "cursory" review of their preliminary Master site plan for the Village at Bloomfield project on Telegraph Road (former Bloomfield Park site).  Township planning director Patti Voelker and Redico representative Tim McCafferty gave their presentations to the Board and public.

However, it was once again only Treasurer Dan Devine that brought up the issue of the shared tax revenue that Act 425... the agreement that this property operates under via the Joint Development Council.  Why isn't the Supervisor, Redico, or our attorney discussing the agreements ? 

Devine asked: "I received a notice of a Brownfield meeting, which would get rid of Pontiac's mills for 32 years. Do you know if there would be any changes to Bloomfield Township's three mills?"

Redico representative said he didn't know of any.  Interestingly,  the Township Attorney Bill Hampton was not even aware of any scheduled Brownfield meeting 9/15.  However, Supervisor Savoie did know about the Brownfield scheduled meeting.  

In response to Devine's question, attorney Hampton said:  "We believe if there would be a Brownfield, it would only apply to Pontiac and our mills would be preserved and we would fight to preserve those three mills."  Hampton went on to say that they hired an attorney from Miller Canfield that specializes in this area of law and he would notify them to attend the scheduled Oakland County Brownfield Authority meeting.

BROWNFIELD issue link:   
https://www.oakgov.com/advantageoakland/residents/Pages/CPHAWasteBrownfield.aspx

REDICO did meet with the Oakland County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on 9/15/16 to discuss their Brownfield plan for their Village at Bloomfield project (formerly known as Bloomfield Park).

Bradley Hansen,  Business Development Rep. ( hansenb@oakgov.com ) indicated in a memo that "...the plan only includes the City of Pontiac parcels and that the Bloomfield Township parcel was kept out of the Brownfield plan."

Twp. Treasurer Dan Devine attended this OC meeting and during public comment advised the Brownfield committee that there is a contractual agreement for shared tax revenues (Act 425) between the City of Pontiac and Bloomfield Township.  Both the Brownfield Authority and Redico acknowledged the agreement, but basically said... not their problem in this forum/ for this plan.  Really? 

A Miller Canfield representative did attend the meeting, presumably representing the township, but did not speak/ just took notes.

This Brownfield plan now goes before the full  Oakland County Board of Commissioners which will meet in October.  How will they vote on this REDICO  Brownfield Plan?  Perhaps we all should contact our representative, Shelley  Goodman Taub (and others).

Meanwhile:

The Joint Development Council (3 members: Mayor Waterman of Pontiac, Supervisor Savoie of Bl. Twp. and Dennis Cowen, chairman/neutral member) meet again on Sept. 21, 2016 and they have also said repeatedly, that they do not have authority over the Brownfield issue.  WHY?  Who does?

Treasurer Dan Devine has (since the start of this Act 425 agreement of 2002) defended the Twp. right to the collection of the tax revenues due to the Township from the City of Pontiac.   However, Supervisor Savoie replaced Devine as the  JDC representative for the township citizens and  Savoie is now our vote at the JDC table.  Changes to the 425 agreement can only happen by unanimous approval by the Joint Development Committee...... 3 people.   See my previous blog: Supervisor Savoie-Developer's Friend?

That said, it appears the City of Pontiac may be meeting on Sept. 22, a day after the next  JDC meeting to presumably approve the Brownfield Plan for the City of Pontiac.   So I wonder,  if Mayor Waterman is willing to give up 32 years of tax revenue for the Brownfield plan for the REDICO project (money that the City of Pontiac certainly could use)  how will the Bloomfield Township citizens be able to collect the shared percentage of taxes from the City of Pontiac due to them? 
Why is Pontiac willing to give up 32 years of tax revenue from this project? 

Supervisor Savoie,  the Miller Canfield firm and/or Township attorney Hampton must take some action soon to make this issue more transparent so the Bloomfield Township taxpayers can understand the issues and the consequences.  If not for Treasurer Dan Devine, much of this issue would still be behind closed doors...or perhaps even ignored.  Unfortunately, Devine lost the Treasurer position in the August 2 primary and beginning Nov. 21, Brian Kepes will assume the Treasurer's office for the next 4 years.  Will Kepes .... as the future collector of the taxes...fight for our contractual three mills tax revenue due from Pontiac on the property now owned by Redico and their proposed development Village at Bloomfield? How would a Brownfield plan change the dollar figures due to the township?

Question:   How will the Oakland County Board of Commissioners vote on the Brownfield Plan for this site at their October meeting?   Will the decision affect the Act 425 Agreement  as to tax revenue to Bloomfield Township?

Marcia