COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR RESOLUTION NO. 120692
Directing the City Manager to
cause the incorporation of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, Inc.; approving
certain appointments to the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, Inc.; and
authorizing the City Manager to execute a cooperative agreement with the Port
Authority of Kansas City, Missouri for the purpose of establishing a binding
procedure for the appointment of board members to the Kansas City Downtown
Streetcar Transportation Development District.
WHEREAS,
the City is firmly committed to the establishment of a successful streetcar
system and has demonstrated the same through its actions in petitioning to
establish a transportation development district, aggressively pursuing a
variety of federal and state funding sources, committing public funds in
support of project development and ongoing operations, implementing transit
oriented development and regulatory process improvements, and engaging the
public; and
WHEREAS,
the streetcar system is a public amenity that will improve corridor
accessibility through transit, better connect the City’s major activity and
employment centers, elevate the quality and functioning of the region’s transit
system, encourage pedestrian traffic, promote economic growth and the
development of new commercial and residential improvements, foster the highest
and best usage of available real estate, enhance the City’s tax base, and
alleviate vehicular congestion; and
WHEREAS, the
City is exercising a governmental function in pursuing the implementation of a
sustainable, expandable mass transit system, and such system advances a myriad
of governmental purposes including, but not limited to, those set forth herein;
and
WHEREAS, the
City acknowledged from the inception of the project that those having a direct financial
stake in the project should have input in decision regarding the design,
construction, management and operation of the streetcar; and
WHEREAS, the
formation of a nonprofit corporation – Kansas City Streetcar Authority, Inc.
(“Streetcar Authority”) – provides a mechanism for ensuring commercial and
residential stakeholder input and garnering professional assistance in the
day-to-day management and operation of the City’s mass transit system; and
WHEREAS, the
Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Act, Chapter 355, RSMo, requires that the
incorporator be a natural person, and but for this requirement, the City would
act in such capacity; and
WHEREAS,
Streetcar Authority’s articles of incorporation will name both private and
public-oriented members on the initial board of directors and will provide a
mechanism for continuing that representation going forward; and
WHEREAS, four of
the members to be named to Streetcar Authority’s board are public members to be
nominated by the Mayor and approved by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Transportation Development District
(“TDD”) will serve as a funding mechanism for the streetcar and is governed by
a board of four directors including one to be appointed by the City Council and
one to be appointed by the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of
Kansas City, Missouri (“Port Authority”); and
WHEREAS, the City and Port Authority will collaborate with Streetcar Authority
in those appointments, and expect to contractually commit themselves to make
their respective selections from slates presented to them in a manner that also
ensures both residential and commercial representation on the TDD’s board; and
WHEREAS, the
Mayor formed the Mayoral Streetcar Governance Committee as a formal mechanism
for public input and collaboration in ensuring that that the streetcar is a
sustainable success for the City, affected property owners, the region, and
future generations; and
WHEREAS, the
Mayoral Streetcar Governance Committee participated in the development of this
resolution and the agreement authorized herein; NOW, THEREFORE;
BE IT RESOLVED
BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That
the City Manager shall act, or direct another under his management control to
act, to cause the incorporation of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, Inc. as
a Missouri nonprofit corporation.
Section 2.
That the appointments of Susan Ford Robertson, Liz Serpa-Flook, Councilman Russ
Johnson and Michael M. Collins as public directors of the Kansas City Streetcar
Authority, Inc. are hereby approved.
Section 3.
That the City Manager is authorized to execute an agreement with the Port
Authority of Kansas City, Missouri regarding board appointments to the Kansas
City Downtown Streetcar Transportation Development District. Such
agreement is approved by the City Council in substantial form to that on file
in the office of the Director of Public Works.
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