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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11 18 2013 EDA Minutes 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes November 18, 2013 1. CALL TO ORDER President Hedberg called the meeting to order at 4:07 p.m. Present were Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. Also present was Executive Director Boyles, Treasurer Erickson, Community & Economic Develop- ment Director Rogness, Community Development Specialist McCabe, and EDAC member Lloyd Erbaugh. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY CHOUDEK TO APPROVE THE AGENDA. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. 3. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY KEENEY TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 21, 2013. Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. 4. CONSENT AGENDA No Consent Items 5. REMOVED CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS No Consent Items Removed 6. PUBLIC HEARING No Public Hearings 7. OLD BUSINESS A. Adopt Resolution to Approve Final 2014 EDA Budget and Tax Levy. Erickson: reviewed changes in the budget since the EDA’s last discussion on this subject, including: (1) an increase for Technology Village to begin implementing Phase II; and (2) an increase in salary and bene- fits to cover 25 percent of the cost supporting the Community Development Specialist, Casey McCabe. Both of these additional costs would need to come from a General Fund transfer since the EDA tax levy of $150,000 has already been set by the City Council. Hedberg: supported a budget that more closely matches what staff is doing to support economic develop- ment. Boyles: said that this alignment is being done in other areas of the city for budgeting. MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY CHOUDEK ADOPTING A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE 2014 EDA BUDGET AND TAX LEVY. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. 8. NEW BUSINESS Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com A. Marketing Material for Prior Lake. McCabe: reviewed the EDAC’s recommended changes on new economic marketing materials for Prior Lake, replacing the existing outdated piece. The printing costs is estimated between $1,500-$2,000 with the layout being done in-house. Staff is requesting direction on a theme and support for this expenditure from the EDA budget. Choudek: supported this as being a business piece. Hedberg: requested that it include updated market demand information from Maxfield Research. Keeney: this piece should make Prior Lake stand out, so its top three qualities should be identified to high- light. Chromy: retail is different from industrial, for example related to transportation needs, so the marketing focus must be identified for this material. Choudek: is pleased with how the EDAC has done a good job handling this task. Bump: asked about who the audience will be for marketing, since then the right message must be used. Is it retail, high technology, or all of it? Hedberg: feels that there are two audiences, including retail and office, so the EDA must look at what the city can realistically get. That will not be Shutterfly, for example. Keeney: thinks that the County Highway 42 corridor is the city’s best bet for business growth. Hedberg: would like a re-examination of high technology, which has been a recent focus, with more em- phasis likely to be on commercial. Keeney: feels that there is still a CEO factor in Prior Lake. Boyles: thought that the EDAC should go get broker input as part of this process. Rogness: has seen in other city marketing materials a positive impact of positive quotes from certain local businesses owners. MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY BUMP TO AUTHORIZED STAFF TO CONTINUE WORKING WITH THE EDAC ON MARKETING MATERIALS WITH FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE EDA. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. B. Downtown Building Façade Program McCabe: provided background of the EDAC’s discussion on resurrecting the city’s previous façade grant program. The EDAC sees how successful it had been ten years ago, and it would like to see eligibility opened up wider to more commercial uses and areas. Keeney: asked whether this means all commercial areas or just on the south downtown area? Boyles: said that auto-oriented businesses were deemed to be non-conforming with no support in the past. However, maybe the EDA should look much wider, such as Southlake Village and the Gateway ar- eas in order to support more business improvement projects. Keeney: feels that the impact of a concentrated area is better. Hedberg: would like to see this program implemented in areas that are seeing public improvements. Keeney: sees how targeted projects, such as Lakefront Plaza and the Rock Creek buildings, make a sig- nificant positive impact to commercial areas. Chromy: wonders if the economy has improved to the point of supporting more redevelopment, such as these two projects that received past city support? Hedberg: wants to see the city first deal with the downtown road network, making decisions on what/where, and then followed by public streetscape improvements. Until that happens, a downtown build- ing façade program is premature. Bump: believes there are downtown parking issues to resolve as well with future discussions needed on a possible parking ramp. He believes a façade grant program is not a number one choice to spend city dol- lars at this time. MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY KEENEY TO TAKE NO ACTION AT THIS TIME IN SUPPORT OF A DOWNTOWN BUILDING FAÇADE GRANT PROGRAM. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. 2 Hedberg: said that once a framework is approved for targeted assistance in January of 2014, an EDA workshop should be scheduled to develop more detailed strategies and actions for 2014. Boyles: asked if the Maxfield Research commercial/industrial demand analysis should be updated? Hedberg: supported a possible extension of forecasts from 2030 to 2040. Bump: asked when the city will make a decision on the certainty of the downtown road network? Boyles: cautioned the EDA on how much the city can leverage to assist development. Rogness: provided an example whereby the downtown TIF Fund was targeted to a number of redevelop- ment sites, including the Digger’s property; if city funding is needed, for example, to support a new ¾ inter- section, these TIF funds could be used for that project. C. EDAC, Technology Village and EDA 2013 Accomplishments & 2014 Goals Rogness: summarized draft lists for EDA review, including those for the EDAC, Technology Village and the EDA. These will be presented at a City Council Work Session the following Monday, November 25. Hedberg: asked how to best determine what a new job is worth? Keeney: said that for EDA goals, the commissioners should target areas for commercial development if that is the city’s priority based on market demand. Hedberg: recommended that the third bullet should be broadened to say who the city is trying to attract, retail/office versus industrial/technology. Chromy: asked whether the EDA can help steer development based on significant changes in the market? He agreed to be a presenter at the Work Session. 9. OTHER BUSINESS A. Draft December 9, 2013 Agenda. Rogness reviewed the draft agenda for December 9 to include election of officers and a review of the EDA Business Plan. 10. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY KEENEY TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. With all in favor, the meet- ing adjourned at 6:00 p.m. ___________________________ Frank Boyles, Executive Director 3