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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 22 2014 EDAC rept 3b 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT MEETING DATE: May 22, 2014 AGENDA #: 3.b. PREPARED BY: Casey McCabe, Community Development Specialist AGENDA ITEM: BUSINESS & INDUSTRY FORUM ACTION ITEM DISCUSSION DISCUSSION: Introduction The purpose of this agenda item is to review proposed amendments to the Business & Industry Forum (B&I) action items update the committee on the status of the action items. History On April 25, 2013, the Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) hosted the 2013 Prior Lake Business & Industry Forum. The primary purpose of the event was to provide an open forum for business leaders, property owners, developers and local elected and appointed officials to gather and discuss concerns or issues facing Prior Lake businesses as well as promote the posi- tive steps taken by the EDAC and the City of Prior Lake to address concerns and issues identified by the public during previous events. Following the event, the EDAC developed a list of ten EDAC action items to address many of the business owner and resident comments and suggestions. The initial EDAC response and action items have been added to the EDAC page of the City website and a link has been provided to all meeting attendants. During the February 27, 2014 meeting, committee members recommended city staff revise a few of the Business & Industry Forum action items. The purpose of the revisions were to clearly define the action that will be taken by the EDAC. The EDAC reviewed revised goals during the March meeting. The committee provided additional comments and direction and recommended the item be placed on a future agenda for consideration. Current Circumstances Below is a list of the EDAC action items and the current status. Proposed goal revisions, which were discussed by the EDAC during their March meeting, are shown below. Continue to support Community & Economic Development staff, City Council and Eco- nomic Development Authority (EDA) with development of program guidelines and pol- icy updates and development related to financing or incentive programs. Over the past year, Community & Economic Development staff, along with the City Council, Economic Development Authority (EDA) and Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC), have been working to update/develop guidelines and policies related to financing or incentive programs. Examples include: Development of the Technology Village Business Plans (Phase I & II) Creating an Economic Development Plan for Deerfield & Welcome Industrial Parks Establishment of the EDA Business Plan Updates to the City of Prior Lake Sewer and Water Fee Deferral Program Business Friendly updates to the City of Prior Lake Business Subsidies Policy Updates to the Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund Guidelines Participation with the Scott County Open to Business Program Adoption of a Local Business Incentives Policy Visit with downtown business owners south of CR21, to gauge interest in a potential If there is interest in a façade restoration program south of CR21, the EDAC will work with City staff and the EDA to evaluate funding options. EDAC members met with Main Avenue property owners south of CR21 and found that two properties had interest in a potential downtown façade restoration program. The EDAC re- quested the EDA consider establishing a downtown façade restoration program; which the EDA discussed during their November 18 meeting. The EDA indicated support for a façade th grant program; however, they felt a downtown façade improvement program would be prem- ature until the downtown road network issues were resolved. The EDA felt a façade improve- ment program would be most beneficial if it coincided with additional public improvements, such as streetscaping. The EDAC will continue to pursue a downtown façade improvement program in future years when public improvements are made along Main Avenue, south of CR21. Continue to work with SCALE toward its 50 percent employment goal in Scott County. W goals, which is the development of a unified plan to create enough jobs in Scott County by 2030 to accommodate 50 percent of the Scott County Labor Force. This will be accomplished by: Work with existing businesses to assist with growth and expansion plans. Maintain quality infrastructure and transportation systems. Ensure adequate land opportunities to serve new and expanding businesses. As part of its mission to retain existing Prior Lake businesses, the City of Prior Lake Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) has and will continue to conduct Business Reten- tion & Expansion (BR&E) visits with local company officials. Through these visits, and addi- tional conversations with business leaders at events like the Business and Industry Forum, the EDAC is able to identify challenges and opportunities for businesses in our community. The results of the BR&E surveys not only collect important information but provide opportuni- ties for EDAC and city staff members to follow-up with expansion and development assis- tance. These surveys are also designed to gather information which is used by the EDAC to provide information and policy recommendations to the EDA and City Council. Continue to work to eliminate the perception the City is difficult to work with. This will be accomplished by working with staff and City Administration to ensure business owners, developers and residents receive: Ccourteous and respectful assistance; and Pprompt up-front information related to their project; and as well as Ccontinued communication throughout the project. Based in part on comments provided by the EDAC, the Prior Lake City Manager has met with multiple developers and business owners who have recently completed a project in the City of Prior Lake. The purpose of the meetings was to evaluate the level of customer service provided by city staff before, during and after development projects. 2 City Administration has volunteers visited city departments with questions or made up scenarios to observe staff responses to face-to-face inquiries about city services. The volunteers then filled out a form to rate their experience with categories on how soon they were acknowledged, how long they waited for service, how neat was the service counter, were good quality materials provided, was the information pertinent, did they receive good information and did the employee present a can- do attitude. The city staff scored very well and the results of the secret shopper surveys were very positive. The 2014 EDA Business Plan identifies Building a Customer Centric City/EDA Culture as an initiative in its 2014 Implementation Plan. The Carlson School of Business conducted a study of all seven communities in Scott County to determine the degree to which the processes, regulations, attitudes embraced by the cities were in line with economic development. The Scott County First Stop Shop has contracted with the Carlson School of Business to conduct three workshops. The City of Prior Lake will be participating in these workshops with an objective to simplify and improve consistency across all cities for high-quality customer ser- vice. Update outdated community marketing and promotional materials. The EDAC is currently working to update marketing materials to promote the City of Prior Lake and anticipates the materials will be revised and completed in June/July 2014. Develop a plan to promote local spending in the community by leveraging existing businesses and the efforts of City staff, Prior Lake Chamber and the recently formed Prior Lake Downtown Business Association. Work with the recently formed Prior Lake Downtown Business Association to increase customer traffic and promotion of downtown businesses. Work with the Prior Lake Downtown Business Association and Prior Lake Chamber to increase customer traffic, promote local business spending, and provide adequate customer and employee parking. The EDAC is working with City staff and members of the Prior Lake Downtown Business Association (PLDBA) to evaluate downtown parking. The EDAC and PLDBA will be working to: 1) secure parking signs at public parking lots; 2) explore downtown parking time limits; and 3) evaluate downtown employee parking options. In addition, the City of Prior Lake has submitted a Scott County CDA 2014 Economic Devel- opment Incentive Grant application. If approved, this technical assistance grant will be used to hire a consultant to complete a Prior Lake downtown parking analysis. The analysis will include, but is not limited to: 1) evaluate existing/recent downtown studies; 2) develop site options for public parking lots/ramps; 3) evaluate and prioritize site options based on a list of criteria; and 4) provide conclusions, including project funding options. The EDAC and the City of Prior Lake support the Prior Lake Area Chamber of Commerce promotion of the Shop Local Shop Often message. The City continues to encourage all city departments to purchase locally whenever possible. In addition, the EDAC suggested, and the city has added, the Shop Local Shop Often message to its downtown entrance monument signs. 3 Work with the Prior Lake Traffic & Safety Committee to evaluate a crosswalk sign and/or other interim safety improvements at the Main Avenue/CR21 intersection. At the request of the EDAC, the City of Prior Lake Traffic & Safety Committee evaluated pe- destrian safety improvements at the Main Avenue / CR21 intersection. The Traffic & Safety Committee noted that Scott County is committed to the programmed 2015 improvement pro- ject to install a median at Main Avenue and traffic signal at Arcadia Avenue. The CR21 me- dians will likely eliminate the pedestrian crossing at Main Avenue. Work with the Prior Lake Traffic & Safety Committee and the Prior Lake Downtown Business Association to evaluate the possibility of restricting parking in the public parking lot near the Rock Creek building to 2/4 hours. Potential impacts of bus riders and employees filling up parking spaces along Main Avenue and other locations in lieu of the Rock Creek parking lot will also be evaluated. The EDAC is working with City staff and members of the Prior Lake Downtown Business Association (PLDBA) to evaluate downtown parking. This subcommittee will be evaluating downtown hourly parking restrictions. The Traffic & Safety Committee has reviewed a request to restrict parking time limits in the past and chose not to take any action. The committee felt that hour parking restrictions in the Rock Creek parking lot would create additional demand on the Police Department through enforcement and may only shift those employees/customers vehicles onto Main Avenue. Evaluate possible enhancements to the Prior Lake monument sign at the intersection of CR42 and Hwy 13. intersection. The EDAC agrees that this sign may not be very noticeable due to the high volume of traffic and many commercial buildings in the area. Because the sign is lighted and changes at this time. Conclusion The EDAC should discuss these action items and provide additional direction to staff related to revisions. ISSUES: The committee should continue to provide updates of the Business & Industry Forum action items on the EDAC page of the City website. The initial EDAC response and action items have been added to the EDAC page of the City website and a link has been provided to all meeting attend- ants. FINANCIAL Some issues may need to have financial resources included as part of the solution or as part of IMPACT: further analysis. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Motion and second approving the revised Business & Industry Forum action items, subject to additional revisions approved by the majority of the EDAC. 2. Provide direction to staff and continue discussion during a future meeting. RECOMMENDED Alternative No. 1. MOTION: 4