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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDAC Agenda Packet 04-29-11Economic Development Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda Friday, April 29, 2011 7:30 a.m. City Hall, Parkview Conference Room 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of March 3, 2011 Meeting Minutes 3. Old Business a. Revisit Meet and Greet Objectives i. Short Term ii. Long Term b. Revisit Downtown Interview Objectives i. Short Term ii. Long Term c. Revisit Business Newsletter 4. Other Business a. EDA Strategy Session b. County Road 21 Update 5. New Business 6. Adjourn 1 0 YRNp IPC h c7 Meet & Greet and Downtown Retention Objectives Meet & Greet: • Short Term o Farmer's Market Location. o Business Newsletter. o Provide Quality Food Outlets. ® Long Term o Industrial Park Concerns. o City Should Be Business Friendly. o Business Incentive Grant Program. Downtown Retention: • Short Term o Communication/Education. o Signs. o Perception of the City. • Long Term • Code Enforcement. • Perception of the City. • Police Enforcement. • Downtown Parking. • Downtown Development. I Economic Development Advisory Committee Meet and Greet Feedback (A) actionable, (I) informational, and (S) same as a previous item. The six most frequent items were identified and these notes were organized tinder one of those headings or miscellaneous. Each of the Committee's determinations is shown below: Short Term Move Farmers Market A Move Farmers Market to Lakefront Park. _ S Move to Lakefront Park, Dakota Street or other possible locations. Email a newsletter to businesses A Email news letter to business about issues affecting them. Often and condensed ( ?) Events are almost law before business knows about it. A County Rd 21 possible re- routing. Tonight was first I heard about it. Having my business on 21 makes this a major issue for me. (Mark at Triple Play) I Email `business' newsletter with upcoming changes /details I CR 21 possible re- routing. Tonight was first I heard about it. Could be a major issue for me (Triple Play) Provide quality foo& outlets I We need boutique businesses that cater to our population and offer goods or services that are not found in the big buy stores. A Improve quality of food locations — probably not a city issue but seems to be a repetitive issue. S Quality of Food locations • Address Industrial Park • Industrial park —loosen some of the `visual' rules to allow industry to take place —don't require garbage bins to be hidden, walks to be erected, etc. let industry happen. • Multiple access points to business in industrial park. S Ind. Park Deer field — For new bus. Make semi traffic easier to access building. Change z onings to accommodate if pons. S Loosen some visual rules to allow industry to take place. Don't require garbage bins to be hidden, walks to be erected, etc. S Multiple access points to business in industrial park. S Better parking regulations -semi truck friendly access (2 nn) S Update zoning to acco mmodate semi traffic if necessary Monument City Should be Business Friendly • Better parking regulations. • The City needs to be a little more business friendly. I've had other business owner's talk tome about how hard it is to work/partner with the city. I recently experienced your new banner ordinance. That's going to hurt me. I'm trying to build business to pay my taxes and support L911 FILFS91 EDAON[eetN Greet Subcomntittee Summary 01 -1 Ldoc the community. (Mark at Triple Play) I City council needs to direct city staff more than city staff directs city council. S Busi S Fear of backlash from City if business speaks up on issues. S Building inspector degrading and inaDDromiate comments. S Fear of city personnel S Fear of receiving mail from City because fear of a wrongdoing. S Codes in place- above and beyond other cities- talk to Jay Scherer S Treat everyone fairly. S Businesses should have more clout than residents. S Same good ole'boys running the town. S City Manager should hire only good people around him. S No need for hiring Economic Developer or consultants when nothing comes out of it. S Going into City Hall and physically had to bring my block to get approval by Jane. Waited for 45 minutes for approval. I Double standards on fencing between businesses and maintenance center. Boat & trailer was larked at maintenance center and not hidden I City council needs to direct city staff more than city staff directs city council. A Enforcement of ordinances -be fair and consistent. Do better for the community. I Equal business voice as a residential voice. Offer Business Incentive Grant Programs A Create a grant program for new businesses. It's so much to start a new business in old days, Plus it's hard to borrow money. Arrange a $5 - $ l OK grant with no interest and forgive after 5 —10 Years. I Empty lots- find some dollars (TIF /grants) to get businesses to move in. A Create a grant/tiff program for new businesses. Too hard to start a business, get money, arrange $5 -10K without interest and forgive after 5 -10 years. I Would have liked all City Council present. I Former Economic person did a wonderful job of finding TIF dollars. I Frank and City Council should welcome all. I It would have been nice to have Dr. SueAnn Gruver there — strong schools - strong businesses- work as a team. Great turnout. I If they had known before bought land how tough it was with codes -never would have bought in Prior Lake and lives here. I Would have been nice to be introduced so everyone knows everyone — go around tables, a fence. LAI1 FILFSN11 EDAC\MeetNGreet Subcommittee Summaryof -ll.dw Economic Development Advisory Committee Downtown Subcommittee Minutes January 20, 2011 DRAFT Present: Telly Gutowski, Maly Viereck, Sandi Fleck, Adam Blahnik, Deno Howard, Frank Boyles, The Committee agreed to devote this meeting to reviewing each objective and prioritizing as (A) actionable, (1) non - actionable, (1) informational and (NA) not applicable. CODE ENFORCEMENT: 5 of the 44 businesses interviewed stated that code enforcement was an issue and offered the following comments: N "None of my business expressed concerns regarding this issue." A "Get rid of eye sore houses downtown 2 people)" A "Farmer's Market- need to enforce clean up (dog and garbage on downtown streets)." A "Develop south side of Main." • "Be helpful to business owners; open for the business to call on them when concerns." N 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you. " I "Reactive rather than prioactive enforcement —1 out of 8." • "Equal enforcement of regulations —different businesses treated differently." • "Be consistent/fair in ordinances 3 people)" I "Trying to attract new businesses- setbacks and sewer costs driving new businesses away." POLICE ENFORCEMENT: 8 of the 44 interviewed businesses had police enforcement concerns and offered the following comments: • "l of my businesses interviewed is a bar, and expressed concerns regarding the 2:00 a.m. parking ban. Since the bars are open until 2:00 a.m., the ban should be pushed back an hour or SO." • `Bars next door, bottles/bodily functions on doorstep of business." • `Be helpful to business owners; open for the business to call on them when concerns." • "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." • "There is a bar across the street from her business and people stand outside and smoke and use bad language- tends to scale away some of her customers." I "Need to enforce ordinances equally!" N "Police enforcement was not an issue with these businesses." A "Parking restrictions not applied equally." UNII FILEMII EDAC\MumtesWinutes- Downtown Subcommittee -O] 2011.doc COMMUNICATION / EDUCATION: 19 of the 44 businesses interviewed stated that taxes were too high and offered the following comments: I "Only 1 business owner expressed that the taxes have increased substantially during the 12 years that he had been in business in Prior Lake." I "6 were renters, 4 owners -0 of 10 didn't say anything about property taxes" A "Communicating and educating on how and why certain commercial properties (businesses) have different taxes when they exist in the same zone (Deerfield) and have essentially the same square footage." A "2 own, 4 lease.. All said taxes were high! 3 out of 4 who lease would buy property here, but said taxes are too high. One said if they expand, it would be more affordable elsewhere. `Outrageous' was one comment" A "Lease - Reduce taxes to help bottom line." I "Lease - Lower taxes during economic downturn." I "Own — Lower taxes to help bottom line." I "3/3 interviewed who owned building. 0/3 interviewed who leased space!" I "All 3 owners said high taxes. All 3 renters — didn't know of taxes and didn't care!" I "Taxes were the predominant issue with one businesses stating that a business could just go `Down the Hill To Shakopee' and pay f ar less taxes." PERCEPTION OF CITY 19 of the 44 businesses expressed concerns regarding "the city trying to say no" and offered the following comments: A "2 of the businesses that I interviewed expressed concerns regarding thus. 1 business owner stated that the planning committee may be overly protective of the lake, city inspectors are too strict, which can act as a roadblock. Another business owner stated that Prior Lake was very fiiendly to businesses when he fast started business over 30 years ago, but that changed to almost `anti- business'." A "The City needs to promote more diverse businesses in town and look at a broader perspective: promote Arts Department, Theater and other businesses." A "Market City of Prior Lake & businesses." N "Provide more community support." I "City makes it hard to expand because of restrictions." NA "No Information Available." NA "No Contacts." A "Want to have more outside activities per year —now there is a limit on the number of outside events that a place can have. Outside events are popular, especially in the summer, because people can smoke outside." I "Neither business felt the City was business friendly and both felt it went out of it's way to say no to business requests." A "Partnership with business. PROMOTE. If services are dropped, people will leave." I "A lot of committees and NO action." A "All, with the exception of one downtown business, had a negative impression of how the city was handling business priorities and future development issues. They also felt that they were often an afterthought in the list of things to do or people to look out after, improving city interests first and business interests second. Kind of a double standard so to speak (paraphrasing)." LAI1 FILM I EDACtiMinuteAmundes - Dcentmw Subcommittee- 0120 1 Ldoc SIGNS 23 of the 44 businesses stated that signage is an issue and offered the following comments: I "2 of the business owners interviewed expressed concerns about poor signage. However, both of these business owners rented, and some of their angst was directed at the owner of the building for not providing for adequate signage." • `Be fair across the board- be consistent for all businesses." • "Need larger signs to attract business downtown." I "Let businesses be able to promote themselves in a realistic manner with signage." • "Signs and sandwich boards are needed downtown." • "Why some signs are ok and others aren't and how specific locations of signs for buildings with multiple businesses located within them can be addressed." • "Unanimous - need BIG sign to designate "Downtown'- where is it ? ? ? ?" • "Allow options. Needs to be fiiendly to businesses - or businesses will go elsewhere. I "Consumers will go elsewhere if signage poor." A "Concerned with the size of sign (what was being used was smaller than preferred) and the location that it could be put. This particular business resided in a multi -use building with other businesses and wasn't visible fiom the Co Rd. Wanted a bigger sign in a better location." DOWNTOWN PARKING: 19 of the 44 businesses interviewed stated that downtown parking was an issue and offered the following comments: • "Of the 5 business interviewed, l business was south of County Rd 21 and the other 4 north of 21.3 of the businesses interviewed are located in the Edelweiss Bakery building and all 3 of these business expressed that parking was a major issue, and the biggest problem for their business in downtown Prior Lake. The other business is located on the north end of downtown, and no concerns were expressed regarding parking." • 'Tarkiqg lotlmLup would be nice." • "Downtown activities take up customer parking (Farmer's market, Downtown Dazzle, Car Shows)." I "5 out of 6 said horrendous." A "Must have parking to attract new business. All day parking (office) in prime downtown areas make it difficult for people to stop and sho . " I "City requires too many parking spaces to allow expansion." • "Downtown needs more parking area." • "Install parking meters to limit parking time." • "Need to have handicapped parking sign by VFW." • "Downtown parking is terrible and we need to address it with a big parking lot!" • "Parking was noted but not at the top of the list for my businesses though one complained about the famers market and how it took away from their arking." I "Shared parking with the multi - business tenant but really didn't have any issues with parking." LAI I FILESU 1 EDAC\MinutehnLmte - Downtown Subconunittee - 012011.doc DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT: A "Some businesses not appropriate for downtown; more retail needed." I "City should support the Chamber of Commerce." A "Not thrilled about bridge or round -a -bout -- -keep the downtown as one." NA "What has changed in the last decade as far as working with the businesses ?" • "Keeping south and north main street together- don't cut it a art " • "Getting more businesses in downtown area." A "Need to focus on the south end of downtown!" A "Grants to downtown businesses for expansion or growth." The Committee agreed to have the Scott County Assessor, Mike Thompson, attend an upcoming meeting with the EDAC and businesses for educational purposes. The Committee agreed to work on the following items: Short term: 1. Taxes —educational efforts in newsletter, Cable TV, Website, meeting(s) with Scott County Assessor. 2. Signs — provide information about new options under the ordinance. Long term: 1. Code Enforcement — consistency. 2. Police enforcement. 3. Parking in downtown. Ongoing: 1. Perception of City. The meeting adjourned at 8:38 a.m. LAI 1 FILM I EDADMMinut0minutes - Dmmtomi Snbeoimnittee - 01201 Ldw The below list was created by Joe Passofaro and relates to recommendations of marketing possibilities for downtown businesses: 1. Farmers Market hours only coupons 2. Sidewalk table displays selling impulse buying items - should be free to store owner 3. Weekly special coupons given out only during Farmers Market to be used the following week 4. Partnering with street vendors using traceable discount /promotional sale item flyers and sharing profits with corresponding vendor S. Discounted or free Farmers Market booth in front of corresponding store front 6. Revolving "Featured Retailer" day for all main street store fronts where all Farmers Market vendors promote featured store front at booths 7. Provide directional signs for store access and parking for disaffected retailers paid for by Farmers Market 8. Live announcements by Musician Guests of in -store specials periodically throughout open hours - limit time of special to create urgency 9. Co -op all main street retailers into one large local ad featuring Farmers Market specials 10. Use same co -op as in #9 on flyer and post prominently at various locations during open hours ..•� pRlp v ° COUNTY ROAD 21 INFORMATIONAL AND PUBLIC INPUT MEETING U INN E50i *..'' MAY 31 st, 2011 Please join us on Tuesday, May 31st at 7:O0pm at Prior Lake City Hall County Road 21 plays a vital role in bringing people to and through Prior Lake. For that reason, the City is proactively looking at ways we can unify our north and south Downtown, while still maintaining a safe flow of cars and pedestrians. Three studies have been com- pleted that consider the short and long teriu impacts of three possible scenarios for CR 21 in the future. We'd like to share the findings with you at a public meeting oil May 31st. OPTION 2 - MAIN AVE BRIDGE: The expected order of events for May 31st: • Overview presentation of the three roadway options by Bolton & Menk • Overview presentation of Cost /Benefit Analysis by Maxfield Research • Presentation of Financial Feasibility Study for CR -21 by Ehlers . Opportunity for public to provide input 1 OPTION 3 - CR -21 REROUTE: I We encourage you to be a part of this legacy decision related to CR 21. The May 31st meeting is for the purpose of sharing infor- mation related to the recently concluded studies and to receive public input.. To find up -to -date information un meetings and the process as we go forward, and to view the CR 21 studies in full, log nu tw www,cityc fpriorlake.cont OPTION 1 - BASELINE / PEDESTRIAN GROSSING County Road 21 Process April 27, 2011 January 18 Release Maxfield Research, Inc. report electronically and in paper. January 18 Open CR 21 Website. January 18 Post February.7 work session and February 17 open house on Website. January 22 Newspaper notification of February 7 City Council work session and February 17 business and resident session. February 7 City Council work session (includes PC, EDA and EDAC). February Send Council questions to Maxfield / Bolton and Menk. February 12 Prior take American article, City Column, Newswire on topic of February 17 meeting. February 12 Contract with Ehlers or Springsted for revenue analysis. February.16 CR 21 alternatives overview at noon Chamber meeting. February 17 Business and citizen open house meeting including comment cards. (Notice meeting.) February 18 Send public meeting questions to Maxfield and Bolton and Menk. April 4 City Council approves remainder of process and timeline. April 29 Receive responses from Ehlers, Maxfield and Bolton and Menk. May 23 City Council hears Ehlers, Maxfield and Bolton and Menk information on the three CR 21 options (Council meeting- 7p.m. -No public comment, presentation by consultants). May 31 (Tuesday) Town Hall meeting at 7 p.m. (public input will be received). June 20 City Council decision at City Council meeting.