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CRA board delays several items, approves Tampa Museum of Art walk-on and votes to move item 8 to staff reports
Summary
The CRA board continued agenda items, approved a walk-on for the Tampa Museum of Art and moved a large development item to staff reports while members debated whether to pause new applications pending a new objective evaluation matrix.
At the start of the meeting the board approved a motion to continue several agenda items and debated whether to pause new project applications while staff completes an objective scoring matrix for evaluating CRA funding requests.
Board member Hertek moved to continue items 4, 5 and 6 to the September 11 meeting; the motion was seconded by board member Carlson and approved. During agenda approval the board also accepted a late walk-on request from the Tampa Museum of Art; the board later approved the walk-on as an administrative item after clarifying recusal rules with the agency attorney.
The board spent substantial time at the beginning of the meeting discussing whether the CRA should delay new funding decisions while staff finalizes a proposed objective matrix for comparing projects. One speaker argued that delaying new applications until the matrix is adopted would allow the agency to ensure apples-to-apples comparisons and increase community buy-in; other members, including Hertek, opposed delaying applicants who filed under the existing rules. Several board members urged a special session or workshop this summer to finalize the matrix rather than a one-off pause.
Part-way through the meeting staff and the applicant for item 1 (Urban ReWorks) asked to reorder the agenda so the project would be heard first; the board agreed and later moved item 8 to the staff reports section per a motion by board member Maniscalco and seconded by board member Miranda.
The board also approved minutes from the July meeting, and approved a number of administrative items (items 7 and 9–16) by a consolidated motion. During one administrative vote a board member recused themselves from the Tampa Museum of Art vote; the city attorney advised that a recusal was not required for keeping the walk-on on the agenda but might be required for a later substantive vote.
Ending: The board asked staff to present the proposed objective scoring criteria and a workshop schedule for the CRA’s housing and special projects pipeline. Staff said it will return with budget breakdowns, the 30% housing allocation for East Tampa and a timeline for the matrix and recommended criteria.
