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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10 23 2017 EDA Minutes Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes October 23, 2017 1. CALL TO ORDER President Chromy called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Present were Chromy, Briggs, Braid, Sheehan-Kerber and Boucher-Hoese. Also present were Executive Director Boyles, Community Development Director McCabe and Planner Schwabe. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION BY BRIGGS, SECONDED BY BRAID TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PROPOSED. Ayes by Chromy, Briggs, Braid, Sheehan-Kerber and Boucher-Hoese. The motion carried 5-0. 3. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY BRIGGS, SECONDED BY SHEEHAN-KERBER, TO APPROVE THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 MEETING MINUTES. Ayes by Chromy, Briggs, Sheehan-Kerber and Boucher-Hoese. The motion carried 5-0. 4. CONSENT AGENDA A. EDA 2017 Revenue & Expenditure Report (9/30/17) B. Development Update (9/30/2017) C. Advisory Committee Appointment – Business Engagement Committee D. Advisory Committee Appointment – Technology Village Board of Directors MOTION BY BRIGGS, SECONDED BY BOUCHER-HOESE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS SUB- MITTED. Ayes by Chromy, Briggs, Braid, Sheehan-Kerber and Boucher-Hoese. The motion carried 5-0. BRIGGS stated that the candidates who came forward for the advisory committee position were of very high quality which made the appointment decisions difficult. 5. REMOVED CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS No items were removed from the Consent Agenda 6. PUBLIC HEARING No Public Hearings 7. OLD BUSINESS None 8. NEW BUSINESS A. Downtown Redevelopment Discussion Community Development Director McCabe introduced Bill, Lori and Andrew Peterson. The Petersons re- cently purchased the property at 16323 Main Ave. SE and are proposing to redevelop the property with an approximate 3,500 sq. ft. restaurant named “PLate on Main” d.b.a. “PLate”. Bill Peterson complimented Di- rector McCabe on his responsiveness as their first contact at the City and provided background information on themselves and the project. The proposed restaurant is described as an upscale, American eatery with a variety of dishes in an inviting, fine dining atmosphere. BRIGGS commented that attracting residents from other communities to downtown Prior Lake is important and he is appreciative that that is part of the proposals key objectives. 2 Bill Peterson stated that they would like the asset of the restaurant to improve the other assets of downtown. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson indicated they would be 100% owners of the real estate and would own 35% of the restaurant. SHEEHAN-KERBER asked a question about the ownership of the remaining 65% of the restaurant. Bill Peterson explained the breakdown of the proposed ownership. Bill Peterson reviewed the proposed restaurant exterior elevations and interior layout renderings. Mr. Peter- son discussed the need for a variance to the building height as the proposed building is approximately 18- feet which does not meet the required minimum building height of 25 feet or 2-stories in downtown Prior Lake. BRIGGS questioned the height of the building at the entrance. Andrew Peterson responded to Mr. Briggs’ question and confirmed that the height of the proposed building is 18 feet. Bill Peterson reviewed the anticipated project costs including, but not limited to: site demolition, initial soil corrections, Phase II soil correction work, building construction, sidewalk reconstruction, and exterior facade requirements. Mr. Peterson shared photos of the conditions of the existing sidewalk and utilities and stated that he is not looking for a finance plan, rather he would like the City to consider relief or assistance related to the items discussed. CHAIR CHROMY asked a question about the proposed timeline. Bill Peterson stated that if everything moved along as planned, the final design, soliciting of bids and obtaining permits would occur over the winter so that they could break ground on 4/1/2018 with an anticipated opening date of 10/1/2018. BOUCHER-HOESE requested information related to the proposed exterior building materials. Bill and Andrew Peterson reviewed the different exterior options. CHAIR CHROMY requested staff provide information at the next meeting regarding the types of assistance the City has previously provided to similar development projects. SHEEHAN-KERBER questioned if the proposed exterior materials meet the City’s requirements. DIRECTOR MCCABE indicated that staff has not completed a review of all the proposed materials at this time. SHEEHAN-KERBER stated that another restaurant in town had difficulties with sound barrier and recom- mended they consider that as they finalize their plans. BRAID questioned how the costs to bury utilities were previously covered. CITY MANAGER BOYLES stated that previous utility burial costs may have been covered with a combination of assessments and TIF funds. BRIGGS questioned staff about previous façade improvement programs. 3 CITY MANAGER BOYLES stated that historically, storefront façade improvement program costs were split 50/50 between the property owner and the City of Prior Lake, with the city providing a matching grant up to $25,000 per property. BRIGGS stated that he would love to see a building go in on the south side of CH 21 and that it could be a catalyst for (re)development of other downtown properties. He indicated that the design of the building should be consistent with the downtown area. He commented that he would be open to considering assisting with the costs for soil corrections; however, he stated that he is concerned that some types of city assistance may set a precedence. Bill Peterson stated that they are taking a leap of faith to construct a restaurant along south Main Avenue and he understands the City’s concern with precedence. SHEEHAN-KERBER questioned whether the potential areas of improvements and work to redevelop the site had a priority. Bill Peterson responded that there is not a specific order to the areas in need of improvement. BRAID thanked the Petersons for investing in our downtown and stated that he is in support of the sidewalk, lighting, and façade assistance request. CHAIR CHROMY thanked the Petersons for their investment. EDA MEMBERS directed staff to provide a report to the EDA with additional information about potential areas of assistance and possible funding sources at the November EDA meeting. B. BEC ‘Talk of the Town’ Follow-Up DIRECTOR MCCABE reviewed the Talk of the Town event. He stated the BEC will be reviewing the com- ments at their next meeting and will be attempting to identify action items for the committee to work on in 2018. BRIGGS stated that it was a successful event with a strong downtown business presence. Consensus from all in attendance that the event was a success and was a great opportunity to obtain feed- back on the issues facing businesses today. C. CH21 Alternative Discussion DIRECTOR MCCABE distributed the Local Transportation Assessment presentation, prepared by SRF. CHAIR CHROMY stated that feedback he has received indicates the downtown business owners appear to prefer alternative B-1. BOUCHER-HOESE commented that the dialogue she had at the Talk of the Town event was heavily weighted on alternative B-1 with the justification of pedestrian safety. CHAIR CHROMY stated that the EDA should consider the economic impacts of the alternatives. BRIGGS stated that the signal alternative at Main Avenue is viewed by many as a similar alternative to the current four-way stop; however, a signal performs much differently than a four-way stop. 4 SHEEHAN-KERBER recommended a public relations campaign should be initiated if the city and county ultimately select an alternative which does not include a signal. CHAIR CHROMY stated he views roundabouts as an opportunity to control the speed of vehicles through downtown. BRIGGS shared that experts have studied the vehicle flow, turning opportunities, etc. but no one has done a study on the near-term or long-term economic impacts of the alternatives, including build-out time. The pro- ject management team is currently working on this information and will be presenting to the City Council. SHEEHAN-KERBER commented that New Prague has roundabouts in their downtown area and is question- ing whether that could be used as a benchmark to determine potential impacts. BRAID commented that the fact that we are having this conversation is a feat in itself. He stated that the traffic counts in Lakeville at 50/60 with their two-lane roundabout may be comparable. DIRECTOR MCCABE stated that the roundabouts in Mankato along CH22 near the mall may be comparable regarding traffic counts. BRAID stated that he feels the EDA should make a recommendation to the City Council on the EDA’s pre- ferred alternative. SHEEHAN-KERBER also felt the EDA should make a recommendation to the City Council. BOUCHER-HOESE questioned what impacts the alternatives would have on the Pleasant Street area. BRIGGS responded that the alternatives should accommodate the ¾ access from TH13 to Pleasant St. and reviewed the proposed alternatives. BRAID stated that from an economic standpoint, the preferred alternative should consider whether Arcadia and Duluth should serve as a primary intersection and where the future growth is anticipated. BRIGGS discussed the full access points to the downtown area. CHROMY posed the question of which alternatives may result in more businesses in downtown. CITY MANAGER BOYLES stated that businesses typically prefer direct access. CHAIR CHROMY stated that the construction impact on downtown businesses will be significant. BRIGGS stated that the Project Management Team (PMT) will bring forward what they believe to be the best solution to the City Council for municipal consent on November 6th. SHEEHAN-KERBER stated that perhaps the EDA should develop pros/cons bullet point list for the alterna- tives for the Council in lieu of selecting an alternative. BRIGGS stated that this a minimum of a 25-year solution, but ideally more of a 40-year solution. Economic viability of the downtown should be considered by the EDA. CHAIR CHROMY stated that a bulleted list could be provided to the PMT, rather than the City Council. 5 DIRECTOR MCCABE questioned the economic impacts of the alternatives for other business areas in Prior Lake. BOYLES stated that based on the EDA’s conversation, he is hearing support of alternatives B-1 and A-2. CHAIR CHROMY commented that a primary intersection at Arcadia would provide better access to downtown parking lots. BOUCHER-HOESE: stated that if the A-2 alternative is ultimately chosen, she supports a full ¾ access to the north and south at Main Ave. SHEEHAN-KERBER recommended the planning committee identify routes (detours) during the construction period to ensure businesses can still have a flow of traffic to support their business and whichever alternative is chosen, Ms. Sheehan-Kerber recommended that the City invite Downtown Businesses to a meeting to outline the reasoning for solution chosen. EDA MEMBERS directed staff to provide a copy of the draft EDA meeting notes to the PMT. D. CH21 Corridor Project Business Impacts Due to a lack of time, this item was deferred to the next regular meeting. E. 2018 EDI Grant Opportunity DIRECTOR MCCABE: introduced the agenda item and provided an overview of the Scott County CDA Eco- nomic Development Incentive grant opportunity and summarized the two different grant categories; Corridor Readiness and Technical Assistance. Mr. McCabe provided a few potential options for grants and explained the application process and timing. CHAIR CHROMY: felt and updated market study for the Jeffers Pond area may be a worthy application if the developer is willing to participate in the cost. Mr. Chromy also suggested a study of the CH21/Revere Inter- section in the Deerfield Business Park area, a study of commercial opportunities along the CH21 corridor beyond the downtown through the lake and beyond and a Downtown South beautification project as options. EDA MEMBERS provided direction to staff to pursue a grant application to assist with the costs of a study to stimulate development in the Jeffers Pond area, if the property owners were interested in participating. F. EDA 2017 Accomplishments & 2018 Goals Due to lack of time, this item was deferred to the next regular meeting. 9. OTHER BUSINESS A. Commissioner Comments SHEEHAN-KERBER stated she will not be in attendance at the November 13, 2017 meeting. 10. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY BRAID, SECONDED BY BOUCHER-HOESE TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. With all in favor, the meeting adjourned at 6:09 p.m. ___________________________ Frank Boyles, Executive Director