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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01 24 2013 Economic Development Advisory minutes 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 CITY OF PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES – January 24, 2013 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 7:35 a.m. in the Wagon Bridge Conference Room at City Hall. Members present: Bill Henry, Greg Schweich, Sandi Fleck, Kris Pauna and Lloyd Erbaugh. Members absent: Wade Larson, Bernie Carlson, Mark Peterson, Mike Stout, James Ford and Thane Tande. Staff present: Dan Rogness and Casey McCabe. 2. Approval of November 29, 2012 Meeting Minutes. With no quorum present, the committee was not able to approve the November 29, 2012 meeting minutes. 3. Old Business. a. Meet-N-Greet Event McCabe: introduced the agenda item and asked EDAC members for comments and direction related to potential dates, locations, attendants, marketing plan and format for the 2013 meet-n-greet event. Members: commented that the last meet-n-greet event was held on a Thursday afternoon from 5:00- 7:00 and that time worked well and is recommended. Potential dates in April and May will be considered; it was noted the BR & E surveys should be completed prior to the meet-n-greet event so results can be shared during the event. Members: discussed partnering with another organization to reach more businesses; the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Authority were suggested as possible partnership organizations. This will be further discussed during a future EDAC meeting when a quorum is present. Potential locations for the event were discussed including The Wilds, Fong’s Restaurant & Bar, The Pointe (formerly The Basement), Mystic Lake Casino and City Hall/Club Prior. EDAC members asked staff to research these locations and report back to the EDAC. Members commented that round tables should be available as they are more effective for discussion than square or rectangle tables. When discussing meeting attendants, Mr. Erbaugh suggested Greater MSP, First Stop Shop and the Scott County Economic Gardening group are invited in addition to local businesses, EDAC members, City Council and other elected/appointed officials. A more detailed guest list will be developed by staff and presented to the EDAC. Henry: suggested previous comments received at the meet-n-greet event should be sent to new EDAC members. Members: discussed how some comments from previous years are not useful to staff or EDAC members because they are not specific enough to follow up on. Mr. Pauna suggested we share this 1 with attendants at the meet-n-greet event and ask them to be as specific as possible when providing comments or suggestions so the EDAC and staff can take appropriate action. Members: discussed having suggested discussion topics at each table to keep the conversation moving. The discussion would not be limited to the topics provided. Henry: discussed the value of a training session for EDAC members who will be stationed at each table during the event. This will be further discussed during a future EDAC meeting. b. Business Retention and Expansion (BR & E) Surveys EDAC Members: discussed the status of the BR & E surveys. Members would like the surveys completed within the next couple months so the results can be presented at the Meet-N-Greet event in the spring. Henry: commented that one of the purposes of the BR & E visit is to provide businesses with information about available financial resources. Mr. Henry suggested EDAC members provide a sheet of available incentives to the business representatives during the BR & E visit. Erbaugh: suggested members have a brief handout for the business representatives that discuss previous issues raised through EDAC contact with businesses and how those issues were addressed by the EDAC and City of Prior Lake. EDAC Members: suggested City staff review the survey and eliminate the unnecessary statistical information because this information is not being used by the City of Prior Lake or the EDAC. McCabe: shared BR & E survey comments received from member Stout with the committee and agreed to draft a revised (simplified) survey which incorporates Mr. Stout’s comments and send to all EDAC members for review and comment. EDAC Members: discussed whether or not to appoint a subcommittee to complete the remaining surveys or ask all members to participate. It was noted there are 25/30 remaining businesses to survey in the target area and if every member completed two or three surveys, all businesses will be completed. Once the revised survey is completed, City staff will assign each member two or three businesses to complete a survey. If the member is not able to complete the survey, other committee members will work to complete the survey on their behalf. EDAC Members: felt the surveys should be completed by individual members of the committee without the assistance of City staff. It was noted that new EDAC members may not feel comfortable completing a one-on-one survey so experienced committee members may be asked to attend BR & E visits with new members. 4. New Business. a. Bylaws McCabe: informed the committee that the City Attorney is reviewing all City committee bylaws and recommended amendments will be presented at a future meeting of the EDAC. McCabe: also asked the committee to comment on specific recommendations for bylaw amendments including recommended number of members and dates when new members are eligible for appointment. The EDAC Bylaws currently state, “The Committee shall consist of a number of members as may be determined and appointed by the Prior Lake Economic Development Authority for a term of three (3) years from November 1 to October 31.” Because the current bylaws do not establish a minimum or maximum number of committee members, EDAC members recommended the bylaws include a minimum and maximum number of committee members; possibly minimum of five (5) and maximum of twelve (12). EDAC members are appointed by the City Council following the end of the EDAC term on October 31. It was noted by staff that the current bylaws permit the replacement of EDAC members at other times during the year as a result of a member’s resignation or termination; however, the EDAC bylaws do not permit the appointment of new EDAC members at other times during the year if no vacancy was created on the committee. Members were asked to share an opinion on whether or not to amend the bylaws to allow the appointment of a committee member at other times during the year; rather than only November. Fleck: commented, and members agreed, to keep the appointment date as-is to avoid training new committee members at multiple points throughout the year. Erbaugh: commented that all EDAC meetings are open to the public so if someone is interested in becoming a member they can attend monthly meetings until the appointment term each fall. 5. Other Business. a. EDA Updates EDA Bylaws Amendment The EDA reviewed a proposed amendment to the EDA Bylaws which would increase the EDA membership from five to seven members. The EDA requested the City Attorney draft EDA Bylaw amendments addressing the expansion from five to seven members. If the EDA recommends approval, their recommendation will be forwarded for City Council consideration in February. Downtown Property Acquisition Opportunities During previous meetings of the EDA, members asked City staff to evaluate acquisition opportunities in the downtown area; specifically the acquisition of the Professional Building on Main Avenue. Staff contacted the property owner and his response was that he would allow an appraisal, but only after the property is under a signed purchase agreement. Therefore, the EDA would need to execute a purchase agreement for the asking price, and then include a contingency that states the purchase price is conditioned on an independent appraisal supporting the purchase price. If the appraisal supports that price, or something close to it, the EDA would be obligated to proceed with a closing (assuming other contingencies have been satisfied, such as a property inspection). This value appears to be far above the fair market value, at least in relationship to the county’s estimated value. In addition, the EDA does not currently have access to the amount of funds necessary to fully acquire the property. Staff recommends terminating any further discussions on the purchase of this property due to the high asking price. Fiber Optic Report Andrew Cohill of Design Nine, Inc. attended the EDA meeting to present his preliminary conclusions of a second-party review of the June 2012 Fiber Optic Report completed by Lookout Point Communications. Mr. Cohill presented a PowerPoint presentation that reviewed the fiber report with recommendations to reconsider various parts of the report. For example, Cohill felt that the report did not give enough attention to the challenges associated with a local 65% referendum vote, nor to the fact that incumbent providers would likely file one or more lawsuits if the city proceeded with Triple Play broadband services. A final written report for EDA review has since been submitted by Design Nine. b. Future Agenda Packets via Dropbox McCabe: informed the committee that all future agenda packets and materials will be sent to members electronically through the Dropbox system. Instructions to install and create a Dropbox account were included in the January 24, 2013 EDAC agenda packet. c. EDAC Liaison to the EDA During 2012, the EDAC had a representative attend all EDA meetings to provide the EDA with an update of EDAC activity. During its last meeting, the EDA decided it would like an EDAC report on a quarterly basis, not every month. Henry: suggested the EDAC discuss this item during the next EDAC meeting. d. Member Ideas/Recommendations McCabe: informed the committee that a new agenda item, Member Ideas/Recommendations, will be included on future EDAC agendas. The purpose of this item is to allow EDAC members to share any ideas or comments they may have which are unrelated to the listed agenda items. 6. Next Meeting Date. The next EDAC meeting will be Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 7:30 a.m. 7. Adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 a.m. Submitted by: Casey McCabe