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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12 16 2013 EDA Minutes 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes December 16, 2013 1. CALL TO ORDER President Hedberg called the meeting to order at 4:06 p.m. Present were Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. Also present was Community & Economic Development Director Rogness, Community Develop- ment Specialist McCabe, and Assistant City Manager Kelly Meyer. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION BY CHOUDEK, SECONDED BY KEENEY TO APPROVE THE AGENDA SUBJECT TO ADDING THREE ITEMS: (8B) STATUS OF CHROMY’S TERM; (8C) ELDERLY SERVICE FACILITIES; AND (9B) UP- DATE ON DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. 3. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY CHOUDEK TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 18, 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. Annual Report to the City Council. Rogness: reviewed the bylaws of the EDA, which requires an annual written report to the City Council; he provided the EDA with two examples, the first that includes pages with pictures, charts and brief summaries (Lakeville) to one that is focused more on text summaries (Newport). Hedberg: supported a budget that more closely matches what staff is doing to support economic development. Choudek: asked the two council members what would be most useful to the City Council? Hedberg: said it should be more at a high level, including jobs and businesses added in 2013. Keeney: supported showing EDA measurements against goals it has established. Hedberg:asked staff whether jobs could be counted? Rogness:stated that staff could probably count added jobs, but it would be more difficult to show jobs lost from businesses that have left Prior Lake or reduced their workforce. Bump: said the EDA should demonstrate how it has helped create a positive economic environment; asked if there is a way to get a list of all businesses as a base to work from to 2014? Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com McCabe: identified previous lists that city has obtained from the Secretary of State with many names. Bump: supported the identification of three or four business sectors to count. Keeney: said that home-based businesses are worth knowing about for the EDA. He further said that re- tail has a high perceived public value in Prior Lake. Keeney wondered whether the square feet of buildings could be used as a method to determine businessgrowth? Rogness: expressed interest in testing this method out in order to determine business growth and change in Prior Lake. Hedberg: supported more of a brief executive summary format for the annual report that would include measurements against goals. Keeney: thought that this report should highlight notable wins and losses during the past year. Hedberg: concluded by saying that the Local Business Incentives annual report should be separate from the EDA annual report. B. EDA Business Plan Review and Update. Rogness: provided an overview of the EDA’s Business Plan, which was adopted in late 2012; it included five activities to focus on during 2013, including: (1) broadband, or high-speed fiber network throughout Prior Lake; (2) Technology Village and Venture Fair; (3) property supply and demand analysis; (4) targeted geographic areas for development assistance; and (5) city codes and fees. Keeney: felt that a deeper business partnership may be warranted with Integra for expansion of fiber. Bump: supported a commerce-based system for fiber expansion. Hedberg: supported keeping Technology Village as a focus for economic development. Keeney: asked that home-based businesses be target as feeders into Technology Village; he supported the concept of visiting the city’s zoning ordinance to expand support for home-based businesses. Meyer: wondered if there is a need for a retail-type incubator? Hedberg: thought that the property supply/demand and targeted business assistance may best be com- bined as one category. He also wondered if the EDAC should put more effort into connecting with home- based businesses to help identify them. Bump: questioned whether professional services need to be identified with a focus area since it fits the overall needs of the community in key market locations. Rogness: asked whether the EDA might want to amend the business plan to include more information about what a job is worth, and to show the targeted “triangle” of business support and investment. Keeney: said it is time for the EDA to put plans together to support targeted areas. 8. NEW BUSINESS A. Technology Village Report. McCabe: provided a brief update on progress made in Technology Village during 2013. It is now fully oc- cupied with six businesses. The Board of Directors held its first breakfast meeting with business tenants in November, which will be an ongoing event. Each board member is now directly connected to one business as a contact for assistance and support. The Phase II process will begin in early 2014 to explore lease op- portunities in Prior Lake’s private building locations. Chromy: supported this as an important project for the EDA to support in the future. B. Status of Dave Chromy’s Term Chromy: provided information on his current status of his business which is being sold to Lunds. He will have business interest until a full transition in October of 2014. Chromy would like to stay on the EDA, even though he lives outside of Prior Lake and he will no longer have ownership interest in the grocery store business; Lunds also supports his continuation on the EDA. Hedberg: said that the city’s Bylaws Committee recently discussed this situation, and they don’t want a bylaws change just related to the status of one committee/commission member. 2 Keeney: would like to see the background of the bylaws criteria for EDA member selection; he has a fear of outside businesses impacting local economic development decisions. Hedberg: said there is time to deal with this between now and October of 2014. MOTION BY BUMP, SECONDED BY KEENEY TO REQUEST CITY STAFF TO DRAFT AN AMENDMENT TO THE EDA BYLAWS THAT WOULD ADDRESS NON-COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA DIFFER- ENTLY FOR PERSONS DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN A LOCAL BUSINESS WITHOUT DIRECT OWNER- SHIP IN A BUSINESS. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. C. Senior Care Facilities Hedberg: introduced this item as one that potentially assists future businesses that provide senior care in Prior Lake, such as assisted living and memory care facilities. A local property broker recently discovered that this type of use is no longer allowed in commercial zoning districts, even though it had been prior to 2009 as an overlay district. Choudek: is generally supportive, but wants to make sure that scarce commercially zoned land is not compromised to residential uses. Hedberg: supports this change due to the business nature of care versus market housing for seniors. Staff may want to consider that at least 50 percent of a senior housing development include certain care services in order to meet the standard for commercial land use. Keeney: cautioned the city to look carefully at this issue. MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY CHOUDEK TO REQUEST THE CITY COUNCIL TO DIRECT THE PLANNING COMMISSION TO CONSIDER A ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT TO ALLOW SENIOR SERVICE FACILITIES IN COMMERCIAL ZONING DISTRICTS. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Choudek, Keeney, Bump and Chromy. The motion carried. 9. OTHER BUSINESS A. Draft January 21, 2014 Agenda. Rogness reviewed the draft agenda for January 21 to include election of officers and a review of the draft updated EDA Business Plan and the EDA’s annual report for 2013. B. Development Update. Rogness said this information would be provided at the January meeting due to limitations on time at this meeting. 10. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY CHROMY, SECONDED BY KEENEY TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. With all in favor, the meet- ing adjourned at 6:05 p.m. ___________________________ Frank Boyles, Executive Director 3