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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNovember 15, 1999PRIOR LAKE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING Monday, November 15, 1999 5:30 p.m. Fire Station City Council Chambers Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance. Those present were Commissioners Jader, Underferth and Schenck, Executive Director Boyles, Planning Director Rye, Consultant Guennette and Recording Secretary Meyer. President Barsness was absent and Commissioner Kedrowski joined the meeting prior to the Business Retention Survey report. Approval of October 18, 1999 Meeting Minutes: MOTION BY SCHENCK, SECOND BY JADER, TO APPROVE THE OCTOBER 18, 1999 MEETING MINUTES. VOTE: Ayes by Jader, Underferth and Schenck, the motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA: NONE. The presentation was deferred until after the Business Retention Survey Report. Commissioner Kedrowski joined the meeting. PRESENTATIONS: Fountain Hills Development, (Kelly Murray, Wensmann Homes) MURRAY: Discussed the current status of Fountain Hills Business park, including that Wensmann is not actively marketing the property at this point, but that the streets have been completed. Utilities are not yet in. Discussed the specific proposed uses of some of the lots, including a gas/convenience station as well as an office and warehouse facility. Noted that public input has been that there is a lack of a restaurant, but that use is probably not realistic for this development. Wensman intends to locate their own office here. City has referred two existing businesses to them, whom they are working with. JADER: Asked when construction will begin, and the status of discussions with Scott-Rice Telephone. MURRAY: Will submit for a CUP this week. There is a need to move people into the site no later than August 1, 2000. Advised that Scott-Rice has acquired temporary space for the next 12 months, and that in the meantime Wensmann would like to begin discussing plans to build their facility. At this point there has been difficulty scheduling such an appointment. Also indicated that other companies Wensmann has spoken with have shown concern about what other businesses will be in the development. For example, Gresser Concrete has talked about locating there. Development will be first come first serve, which eliminates some types of businesses that do not want outside storage. She will attempt to keep staff up to date with their progress. PUBLIC HEARINGS: NONE. 16200 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes November 15, 1999 OLD BUSINESS: Business Retention Survey Results UNDERFERTH: Distributed the Chamber survey results and discussed the responses to the question about the City's role in business promotion. (See page two of survey). Noted that there were no real conclusions to be drawn, but rather an overall perception of the business community. MOTION BY SCHENCK, SECOND BY JADER, TO ACCEPT AS a MATTER OF RECORD THE CHAMBER SURVEY RESULTS. VOTE: Ayes by Underferth, Schenck, and Jader, the motion carried. Further action was deferred until after the presentation. SCHENCK: Gave a report on his compilation of the EDA business retention survey results, noting several overall recommendations regarding the process, and discussing in detail many of the specific questions and responses, as well as the general conclusions to be drawn from the survey. EDA Commissioners commended Commission Schenck for his report and effort. KEDROWSKI: Believes the issues that concern businesses within the City must be addressed collectively by the City Council, the EDA and the City staff. The commitment cannot come just from last one of two bodies on individual members. UNDERFERTH: Noted that it is interesting that businesses do not feel that Prior Lake residents use local business, and that most business owners also feel this is a good place to live, but not as good a place to do business. KEDROWSKI: Noted that it is important for businesses to understand where their business market comes from. Suggested sharing the information in some fashion with the City Council, and making some specific recommendations. BOYLES: Will place the presentation item on the January 3rd City Council agenda, and asked if Commissioner Schenck would make a similar presentation to the City Council prior to the annual workshop. The Commissioners concurred to further discuss the survey results and the EDA's recommendations at its Dec. 20th meeting. NEW BUSINESS: Business Subsidy Incentives Policy Discussion BOYLES: Recent legislative changes require that all governmental entities adopt such a policy. The intent is to get Commissioner input on the specific criteria to include in such a Policy, and bring a draft I :~ADVBODYS\E DA\M I N UTES\99\111599. DOC 2 Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes November 15, 1999 agreement to the Dec. 20th meeting for consideration. Noted that Don Rye will outline the particular policy items. RYE: Stated that new legislation requires cities considering the use of incentives to adopt an incentive policy. Explained the subsidy process and discussed the particular policy issues for consideration. Indicated that there is a lot of flexibility in developing the criteria, and that the only requirement in the statute is that there has to be a wage policy. The general requirement is that subsidies must be a public purpose. Recommended five purposes that could be supported by the policy including enhancing economic diversity, assisting in the development of high-quality job growth, stabilizing the community, increasing and enhancing the tax base, and aiding in job retention where job loss is imminent and demonstrable. Asked for Commissioner input on the proposed public purposes and their criteria. KEDROWSKI: Asked staff if Prior Lake is ahead of the game in adopting such a policy, or behind other communities. RYE: Scott County has adopted a policy, but we are yet to determine if other communities have done the same. Asked if there would be any benefit to having the City policy be more aggressive. (~UENNETTE: Believes other communities have adopted a policy, because any proposed project under consideration for assistance since August would have to have a policy in place prior to any approval. The intent from the County was to have cities adopt comparable policies in order to maintain some uniformity to the process. The County policies meet the intent of the law, but remain as general as possible. Prior Lake has basically been implementing this process all along. Mostly this is an additional paper trail. RYE: Noted the five general criteria established in the Council policy. Clarified that it is in the EDA's best interest to make a policy as general as possible. KEDROWSKI: Would support adopting a policy based upon the County policy. SCHENCK: Asked if the policy can be rejected by any entity and if the purpose of aiding in job retention where job loss is imminent and demonstrable applies to a business that intends to move to another C ty. _G_.U. EBI~r.]~,: There is no entity that needs to approve the policy as long as it complies with the statute. Referred to the last page of the County report. The County was sensitive to not providing economic assistance for businesses relocating from City to City unless based upon a demonstrated compelling economic reason. SCHENCK: Commented that the process may benefit the County, but is it acceptable for the City? RYE: Noted that the City's preference is to keep businesses in the City, but at the very least to keep the business within the County. I :~ADVBODYS\E DA\M I N UTES\99\111599. DOC 3 Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes November 15, 1999 GUENNETTE: It is not in the City's or County's best interest to get into an incentive bidding war between cities to maintain business, and that is why the County has taken this approach, and that is how the City has approached this in the past. SCHENCK: Referred to the draft policy and asked if incentives would be considered a significant addition to future tax base, rather than a current addition. RYE: Not necessarily. There is a broad range of assistance that can be provided, not all of which end up deferring the impact to a later date. For example, reduction of fees. SCHENCK: Under job retention, asked how the recent application of Festival Foods would fit under this policy. RYE: The policy would certainly support the action the City Council took. GUENNETTE: Clarified that the situation with the Festival Foods Group was different in that one business was industrial, and one was a commercial/retail business, which is a whole other situation. Similarly, the Downtown Redevelopment project may provide economic assistance to somebody. The assistance that was being proposed was assistance with redevelopment costs so that there would be a write-down so land could be acquired at a fair market value. The Commissioners concurred that staff should bring a policy similar to the County policy for consideration at the Dec. 20th meeting. OTHER BUSINESS: Review 1999 EDA Goals and Objectives BOYLES: Reviewed the status of the EDA's 1999 goals and objectives. Work Session to Discuss Draft Redevelopment, Phasing Implementation and Financing Plan. BOYLES: Reminded that Monday, November 29th, is the next work session. ANNOUNCEMENTS: NONE. Re co rd i n g'-se cre~'y I:~DVBODYS\EDA\MI N UTES\99\111599.DOC 4