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DDA refers property-owner assessment request to city council; says it lacks budget to reimburse private holiday lighting
Summary
Rochester DDA members reviewed a property-owner letter on special assessments and holiday-lighting reimbursements, agreed the PSD/city council handles assessments, and voted to forward the letter to council. Board members said the DDA lacks funds to reimburse private decorations and discussed the history of a donor-funded 'snowflake' display.
The Rochester Downtown Development Authority voted Wednesday to refer a property-owner letter about special assessments and holiday lighting to city council, while signaling limited capacity to reimburse private building decorations.
Board members reviewed a letter from property owner Frank Rewald challenging aspects of special assessments and requesting reimbursement for holiday lighting. The DDA discussed jurisdictional limits — assessments are set by the Public Special District (PSD) process and city council — and agreed the DDA should forward the correspondence to council for any formal action.
Motion to refer: Paul Hey moved to forward the letter to city council; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The board recorded that the letter arrived outside the council’s window to take assessment action and that council is the appropriate body to receive the request.
Holiday-lighting expectations and history: board members reviewed how lighting on some downtown buildings has been funded historically. A donor-funded animated "snowflake" show on the knitting mill—initially purchased and installed by donor Roy Rewald—cost roughly $15,000 up front, with annual installation and maintenance costs previously in the neighborhood of $6,500. After the donor’s death the DDA stopped subsidizing the feature; property owners now generally pay for decorations on their own buildings.
"We just don't have a dumpster full of $100 bills," one board member said, explaining that the DDA's budget will not cover broad reimbursement requests. The board agreed to include lighting-reimbursement policy as a topic for its goals-and-objectives review.
Next steps: staff will forward the property-owner letter to city council and note the DDA's budget limitations. Board members asked city council to consider the assessment-window timing and any substantive response to the reimbursement request. The DDA will place lighting-reimbursement policy discussion on a future goals-and-objectives agenda.
