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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03 04 2015 Technology Village Minutes CITY OF PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA TECHNOLOGY VILLAGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES – March 4, 2015 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. in the Little Prior Conference Room at City Hall. Members present: Lori Frank, Adam Proehl, David Rech and Dan Stratton. Members absent: Gerry Hughes and Ken Hedberg. Staff present: Dan Rogness and Casey McCabe. 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes a. February 4, 2015 MOTION BY STRATTON and SECOND BY FRANK to approve the February 4, 2015 meeting minutes. With Rech abstaining the motion was approved 3-0. 3. Old Business a. design a tivity Office Space Needs McCabe: summarized a conversation with James Vande Castle from design a tivity regarding their office space needs. Mr. Vande Castle is aware the Technology Village lease term expires on 12/31/2015 and is also aware that the lease agreement requires repayment of the deferred equity investment in the event design a tivity relocates outside of Prior Lake. Mr. Vande Castle commented that he cannot find an office of a similar size and similar lease rate to the Technology Village office. Mr. McCabe stated James asked about options in the event an adequate office cannot be located. Rech: added that he also spoke with James and James expressed a desire to remain in Prior Lake because his business is growing here. Board Members: discussed options, including a month to month lease after the expiration of the lease term. Board members directed staff to continue working with James to identify an adequate office in Prior Lake and report back at a future meeting. Stratton: requested a copy of the lease agreement be sent to him for review. Mr. Stratton also suggested the board may want to discuss options and consider modifying the equity investment repayment criteria in the lease agreement. Frank: mentioned an ad for office space in last week’s PL American. Ms. Frank will forward a copy of the ad to staff. 4. New Business a. Breakfast Meeting Follow-Up Discussion Board Members: discussed the February 24 Technology Village participant breakfast meeting and felt it th went very well. Board members thanked Mr. Proehl for his presentation on Digital Marketing and said everyone in attendance was well engaged. Proehl: added that a couple of the participants contacted him after the meeting to set up a time for further discussion on the digital marketing topic. Phone: 952.447.9813 / Email: drogness@cityofpriorlake.com / www.cityofpriorlake.com b. Election of Vice-Chair McCabe: reminded the board that Rick Bump had been the Vice-Chair of the Technology Village Board of Directors and this position is now vacant after his resignation. Mr. McCabe summarized the duties of the Vice-Chair and informed the board this position would be for the remainder of the one-year term which expires on October 31, 2015. Mr. McCabe requested board members volunteer or nominate a Vice-Chair candidate. MOTION BY FRANK and SECOND BY RECH nominating Adam Proehl to serve as the Vice-Chair of the Technology Village Board of Directors. The motion was approved 4-0. c. Technology Village Program Application – iWMS Americas LLC Board Members: reviewed and discussed the Technology Village program application submitted by iWMS Americas LLC. Rogness: informed the board that iWMS is requesting two cubicles and one hard walled office and a lease term beginning on April 1, 2015. Mr. Rogness reminded the board that Credit River Township is currently occupying the cubicle area with a lease term expiring on April 30, 2015. Mr. Rogness said he and Mr. McCabe met with the applicants and were impressed by their experience and felt they were a good candidate for Technology Village. Mr. Rogness added that staff discussed alternate space through the Phase II program, however, the applicant was primarily interested in occupying space in City Hall. Board Members: were comfortable with the application materials submitted and recommended approval of the application, contingent upon a meeting between Mr. Hughes and the applicant. If Mr. Hughes is unavailable to meet with the applicant Mr. Proehl offered to meet with them. Frank: stated the applicant is requesting a two-year lease term which is different than the standard three- year lease approved in the past. Ms. Frank suggested this should be discussed during the meeting with Mr. Hughes and the applicant. Board Members: discussed alternate hard walled office locations in City Hall because the Technology Village offices are all currently occupied. Options included the current storage room next to the Tech Village Space, the office that is currently leased to Yellow Ribbon and removing the conference table and adding an additional high walled cubicle/office to the open workspace area. Board members directed staff to look into these options. MOTION BY RECH and SECOND BY FRANK approving the Technology Village program application contingent on a meeting between Mr. Hughes and the iWMS Americas LLC and a positive recommendation from Mr. Hughes. The motion was approved 4-0. d. Assign Advisory Committee Members  Valde Group Stratton: stated he would be willing to meet with John Bryant from Valde Group to see if he would be a good fit for the advisory role. McCabe: will provide introductions between Mr. Bryant and Mr. Stratton and if it appears they will be a good fit the board will take official action appointing Mr. Stratton as the advisor to Valde Group at the next regular meeting.  etaKnowledge LLC McCabe: informed the board that etaKnowledge requested Mr. Hughes be assigned as their advisory member. Mr. McCabe informed Mr. Hughes of this request and Mr. Hughes agreed to be the advisor if the board chose to appoint him. MOTION BY RECH and SECOND BY FRANK approving Gerry Hughes as the Advisor to program participant etaKnowledge LLC. The motion was approved 4-0. Rech: commented that based on his background in distribution he may be interested in becoming the advisor for iWMS Americas LLC, provided they become program participants. 5. Staff Update a. Black Dog Computer Services Lease Termination Rogness: informed the board that Black Dog Computer Services has submitted their signed lease termination form, returned their keys and vacated their Technology Village office. b. etaKnowledge LLC Lease Agreement McCabe: informed the board that the lease agreement with etaKnowledge has been fully executed and keys have been issued to the participant. The lease term began on March 1, 2015. c. Rental Payment Late Fee Status McCabe: informed that board that all participants, with the exception of Local Vibe, are now current on their lease payments. Mr. McCabe added that he emailed Local Vibe and apparently there was some confusion about an electronic payment that had been set up. Local Vibe said they will pay their February and March rents immediately. Rech: recommended the participant’s rental payment status could be included on the monthly metric report to keep the board informed. d. Technology Village Metric Report – February 2015 Board Members: reviewed the February 2015 Technology Village Metric Report and provided updates to quarterly meetings that have occurred but were not listed on the metric report. Staff will update the metric report to reflect these meetings. e. Action Item Update Board Members: reviewed and commented on the pending action items. f. Board Member Ideas/Recommendations Proehl: commented that the March 18 Work Session will focus on “How to Increase the Technology Village th Brand.” Some of this discussion will focus on the Tech Village website. Board members were encouraged to review the website prior to the work session and bring updates, suggestions or comments to the work session. Board Members: discussed a recent article in the Prior Lake American regarding the arrest of a possible program participant. Board members directed staff to discuss legal options with the City Attorney and report back to the board prior to taking any action. 6. Adjourn MOTION BY RECH and SECOND BY STRATTON to adjourn the meeting. With all members in favor, the motion was approved. The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Submitted by: Casey McCabe