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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft 11 29 2012 Economic Development Advisory minutes4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 CITY OF PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES — November 29, 2012 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, Thane Tande, Bernie Carlson, Sandi Fleck, Greg Schweich, Mark Peterson, Lloyd Erbaugh, James Ford, Mike Stout and Mike Myser. Members absent: Wade Larson and Kris Pauna. Staff present: Dan Rogness and Casey McCabe. Guest present: Robert Hoffman representing CarQuest. a. Welcome New and Returning EDAC Members The EDAC welcomed newly appointed members; Peterson, Erbaugh, Ford, Stout and Pauna to the committee. With new EDAC members in attendance, new and returning EDAC members introduced themselves to the committee. b. Review of EDAC Bylaws; Election of Chair and Vice -Chair McCabe: introduced the agenda item and reviewed the City of Prior Lake EDAC Bylaws as they relate to the election of the Officer positions of Chair and Vice - Chair. McCabe stated the position of EDAC Chair shall be appointed from among the committee's membership for a two -year term in November by majority vote of the EDAC. The duties of the Chair include: (1) review and approve meeting agendas; (2) preside at meetings; (3) participate with the Economic Development Authority in the selection of committee members; and (4) represent the committee as appropriate. The Vice -Chair shall be selected annually by the committee and shall perform the duties of the Chair in his/her absence. The Vice -Chair shall assume such other duties as assigned by the Chair. The City Manager or his /her designee (Dan Rogness) shall act as the Secretary and shall be responsible for recording and compiling a written summary of all official activities of the committee. After a brief discussion, member Carlson nominated Bill Henry to serve as the Chair of the committee. MOTION BY CARLSON and SECOND BY FLECK to elect Bill Henry as the Chair of the EDAC. Motion adopted unanimously. After a brief discussion, member Fleck nominated Thane Tande to serve as the Vice -Chair of the committee. MOTION BY FLECK and SECOND BY ERBAUGH to elect Thane Tande as the Vice -Chair of the EDAC. Motion adopted unanimously. 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes a. September 27, 2012 The EDAC was not able to approve the September 27, 2012 meeting minutes during the October 25, 2012 meeting because no quorum was present. MOTION BY CARLSON and SECOND BY HENRY to approve the September 27, 2012 meeting minutes as submitted. Motion adopted by Henry, Fleck and Carlson (Members in attendance during the September 27, 2012 meeting). b. October 25, 2012 MOTION BY HENRY and SECOND BY TANDE, to approve the October 25, 2012 meeting minutes as submitted. Motion adopted by Schweich, Tande and Henry (Members in attendance during the October 25, 2012 meeting). 3. Old Business a. Prior Lake Farmer's Market location McCabe: introduced the agenda item and provided new members with a history of EDAC discussion of the Farmers Market location including previous alternate sites explored and the support and opposition for the market at its current location on Main Avenue SE. Mr. McCabe also reviewed the benefits and challenges of recommending the market be relocated to Erie Avenue SE (between the Municipal Library and Main Avenue SE). Hoffman: informed the committee that he is the Manager of CarQuest and his business has been negatively impacted by the Farmers Market. Mr. Hoffman cited specific examples, including: carrying batteries a long distance to customer vehicles because they are unable to park close to the store, public use of the store restrooms, loss of revenue from customers not being able to access the store, the vendor tents block customer visibility to the store and delivery vehicles are unable to park close to the store on Saturday mornings. Tande: asked if downtown businesses can do anything to benefit from the Farmers Market, such as a "Farmers Market Sale" or other specials to capitalize on the pedestrian traffic. Hoffman: stated that his corporate office determines sales and pricing and that is out of his control. Myser: speaking on behalf of the City Council stated the Council supports the market in its current location. Mr. Myser added that as far as he knows only one downtown business is opposed to the Main Avenue location and the City will work to alleviate their concerns but overall the market on Main Avenue is a benefit to the downtown. Unless a majority of downtown businesses asked for the market to be relocated the Council will support the market in its current location. Mr. Myser noted that the EDAC and City staff has spent a great deal of time and effort discussing Farmer's Market locations and recommended the EDAC stop debating the issue. Stout: provided a handout and survey he completed for EDAC review. The purpose of the handout and survey are to gather information to identify the strengths of the Farmer's Market and the challenges downtown businesses face due to the market as well as identify opportunities for downtown businesses to capitalize on the pedestrian traffic and increase business. EDAC Members: in response to concerns of CarQuest, members identified a few areas to review with the Farmer's Market operator, including: maintaining the CarQuest and Downtown Business Only parking signs along Dakota St, SE, instruct vendors to park in the Police Station lot, discuss providing portable restrooms during the event and review no parking signs along Hastings Avenue by the Rock Creek building. Carlson: noted the time and effort by EDAC members and City staff related to the market location and suggested the EDAC vote on whether to consider alternate locations for the Farmer's Market or discontinue discussion. MOTION BY HENRY and SECOND BY STOUT, to recommend keeping the Farmers Market in its current location on Main Avenue SE, The motion was adopted by a vote of 8 to 1 with members Henry, Stout, Tande, Schweich, Fleck, Peterson, Erbaugh and Ford in favor and member Carlson opposed. b. Meet -N -Greet Event Henry: introduced the agenda item and provided a brief history of the Meet -N -Greet event to new members. Mr. Henry stated the event is designed to bring businesses, City staff and elected officials and EDAC members together to meet as well as provide an opportunity for businesses to share their likes and dislikes about the community. The EDAC has previously hosted two Meet -N -Greet events; the first in the fall of 2010 and the second in the fall of 2099. Mr. Henry added that previous issues identified during the event were placed into categories of short- and long -term EDAC goals to be addressed by the committee. The EDAC discussed the Meet -N -Greet event during their August 2012 meeting and decided not to host a fall 2012 event because members felt the event was not as successful in 2011 and more planning was needed. Instead, the EDAC tabled the item for additional discussion at a later meeting. Fleck: added that the 2010 event was very productive but the 2011 event was more of a social gathering. Henry: suggested the EDAC host the event in the spring of 2013 and an EDAC member should be stationed at each table to facilitate the conversation. The businesses should provide input to the City and the City should use that information to determine what actions to take. Carlson: commented that many of the business owner's concerns from previous meetings have been addressed. Stout commented that communication between the City and business leaders is important and supported a spring 2013 Meet -N -Greet event. Schweich: stated the event has been successful in addressing business owners` concerns; citing the fire suppression concerns of the River Valley Vet Clinic. However, other issues, such as the CR 21 traffic patterns and Downtown South traffic options are not close to being resolved. Stout: commented that the EDAC members should receive training prior to the event to property facilitate the conversation. Schweich: added the EDAC should begin to get the word out about the spring 2013 Meet -N -Greet event, including a notice in the EDAC e- newsletter. Mr. Tande added that new members' email contacts should be included in the e- newsletter. MOTION BY STOUT and SECOND BY SCHWEICH, to direct staff to identify a target date(s), location(s) and marketing plan for the 2013 Meet -N -Greet event to be held in the spring of 2013 and report back to the EDAC during the next meeting. Motion adopted unanimously. c. Business Retention and Expansion Surveys McCabe: shared the results of the completed Business Retention & Expansion (BR & E) surveys with the members and provided a brief description and purpose of the Business Retention and Expansion (BR & E) surveys to new members. During 2012, the EDAC did not complete as many BR & E surveys as anticipated and Mr. McCabe suggested the EDAC identify a group of members interested in completing the surveys. Mr. McCabe added that City staff would be willing to attend the BR & E meetings if the EDAC members felt it was appropriate. Henry: stated the BR & E meetings are a pleasant experience where members learn a lot about the businesses in the community. Tande: asked if staff could email out the most recent BR & E survey to all members. Henry: asked which members would be interested in serving on the interview committee. Rogness: added that the EDAC had previously identified a short timeline of 2 to 3 months to complete the remaining surveys in the Deerfield, Waterfront Passage Welcome Avenue industrial parks. Erbaugh: volunteered to serve on the interview committee and added there is a lot going on in Prior Lake and the EDAC should share these exciting achievements with the business owners. Carlson: stated the survey questions should be evaluated to determine what is necessary and the order of the questions; adding, the interview should be more of a conversation than a questionnaire. Stout: added the EDAC should complete the surveys prior to the spring 2013 Meet -N -Greet event so the results can be shared and discussed, Henry: suggested each committee member review the survey questions and the EDAC will discuss the survey and identify members interested in volunteering to serve on the interview committee during the next meeting. 4. New Business a. EDA Discussion with Gene Goddard, GREATER MSP Rogness: provided a summary of the EDA discussion with Gene Goddard from GREATER MSP on November 19 and informed members about GREATER MSP as an organization that is marketing the entire Twin Cities metro area. Highlights of the discussion were Mr. Goddard's recommendation the City develop more pad ready property, discussion of development potential for vacant property along the CR 42 corridor, establish an economic development "war chest" of $1,000,000 to assist with new business development and encouraging the City to develop larger tracts of developable commercial and industrial property. Rogness: suggested EDAC members look at the GREATER MSP website to learn more about the organization: www.greatermsp.org Tande: suggested the EDA look at opportunities to develop pad ready property on existing City land, specifically the area currently used for growing boulevard trees next to the City maintenance facility along CR 21. 5. Other Business a. EDA Updates Rogness provided an update of EDA activity from the November 19 meeting, including: Fiber Optic Network Update Rogness: informed the new member the EDA is researching a fiber to the premises broadband network throughout the community and EDA members are currently meeting with incumbent broadband service providers to explore partnership opportunities. Technology Village Update Staff provided the EDA with an update of activities related to the Technology Village Business Accelerator program. City staff has received program applications from three tenants interested in participating in the Technology Village program. Now that two tenants have been identified for the program, staff will begin expending funds allocated to the Technology Village program. The EDA also reviewed a list of recommended appointments to the Technology Village Board of Directors and recommended the Council appoint six members to the Technology Village Board of Director; including Lori Frank, Gerry Hughes, Bob Jader, Bob Morris, Kris Pauna and David Rech. Downtown Properly Acquisition Opportunities City staff was asked by the EDA to evaluate the potential acquisition of the downtown Professional Building on Main Avenue, which is currently being marketed for sale. The primary reason for this consideration relates to the °squaring off' of city -owned property to help facilitate a potential future redevelopment project. The EDA has previously looked at other downtown properties for possible acquisition when approached by the seller, such as the single family property located along Main Avenue behind Fong's Restaurant. Business Venture Fair Discussion The Prior Lake Business Venture Fair event, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, May 23 at the Wilds Golf Club, was postponed by the EDA during their May meeting due to lack of registered attendants. The EDA is considering hosting the event in 2013, possibly in connection with another community event. Adopt final 2013 Budget and Tax Levy Rogness informed the EDAC that the EDA approved a resolution adopting the final 2013 EDA Budget and Tax Levy as recommended by the city council. The EDA is proposing a tax levy of $150,000 and a small adjustment to the expenditures, " Business Friendly" Zoning Amendments (Industrial) City staff presented the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments to the EDA, as previously reviewed by the EDAC and Planning Commission. The EDA recommended approval of the business friendly zoning ordinance amendments which will be reviewed by the City Council on December 10, 2012. b. EDA Liaison to the EDAC Term Ending December 31 2012 On November 29, 2012, Mike Myser attended his final meeting as the EDA liaison to the EDAC, Members and staff thanked Mike for his commitment and participation with the EDAC. Mr. Myser commented that the City has taken many positive steps in recent years to increase the tax base through commercial and industrial development and provide more employment opportunities and amenities for its residents and the work being done by the EDAC is central to those long term goals. c. EDAC Liaison to the EDA— December 17 2012 Meetin Erbaugh: offered to serve as the EDAC Liaison to the EDA during the December 17, 2012 EDA meeting. 6. Text Meeting Date. The EDAC will not meet in December 2012. The next EDAC meeting will be Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 7:30 a.m. 7. Adjourn. With a MOTION BY FLECK and SECOND BY TANDE, the meeting adjourned at 9:05 a.m. Submitted by: Casey McCabe