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IDC Minutes 05-06-2008MINUTES MONTICELLO INDUSTRIAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - '7:00 a.m. Bridge Room, 505 Walnut Street, Monticello, MN MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Mike Benedetto, Vice Chair Bill Tapper, Dick Van Allen, Dan Olson, Don Roberts, Lynne Dahl-Fleming, Jim Johnson, Zona Gutzwiller, Barb Schwientek, Patrick Thompson, Rich Harris, Marshall Smith and Wayne Elam. MEMBERS ABSENT: Jim Johnson and Don Tomann. COUNCIL & CHAMBER Mayor Clint Herbst, Council Member Wayne Mayer and LIAISONS PRESENT: Chamber Director Sandy Suchy. STAFF PRESENT: Ollie Koropchak, Jeff O'Neill and Angela Schumann. IEDC MISSION To increase the industrial tax base, to create jobs at liveable STATEMENT: wage-levels, and to maintain a favorable and desirable industrial environment in the City of Monticello. Call to Order. IDC Chair Mike Benedetto called the IDC meeting to order at 7:05 a.m. declaring a quorum. It was also noted that this would be the last meeting for Ollie Koropchak, Economic Development Director as she was retiring as of May 30, 2008. AN Open House will be held today for Ollie from 3-5 p.m. at the Community Center. Ollie was presented with a vase of flowers and a corsage from the IDC members to express their appreciation for her 22+ years of service to the City and IDC and they wished her well. 2. Welcome new IDC member and introductions. Welcome to new member Rich Harris, this is his second meeting. Vote to approve the April 1, 2008 IDC minutes. BILL TAPPER MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE APRIL 1, 2008 IDC MINUTES. SECONDED BY WAYNE ELAM AND WITH NO CORRECTIONS OR ADDITIONS, THE MINUTES WERE APPROVED AS WRITTEN. IDC Minutes - 04/01/08 4. Old Business: A. CoRy of updated IDC membership list for committee use only and copy of dated Monticello Manufacturer's listing, Updates made included corrections to phone or email addresses from previous meeting. B. Cop, of recommended updates to IDC 2008 Action Statement. Updates were being recommended to the group per a previous meeting of the IDC subcommittee of Ollie Koropchack, Mike Benedetto, Dick VanAllen, Bill Tapper, Lynne Dahl-Fleming and Wayne Elam. Angela Schumann was absent for the meeting. The group has requested the subcommittee to discuss the Mission Statement and Purpose of the IDC and return with a recommendation to define more precisely places to work (industrial) versus places to shop (commercial) and begin drafting an Action Plan which supports the economic development objectives of the proposed Monticello City Comprehensive Plan. Subcommittee members presented the revised document indicating the addition of the word "economic development" to the group name to be: "Industrial and Economic Development Committee" (IDEC) instead of IDC. For consistency, the word "economic development" was also added within the document where the word "industrial" appeared. A copy of Action Statement was presented to the group showing the changes that were recommended. Mayor Herbst questioned if it would be more beneficial to have only the industrial focus rather than adding the economic development component as this group's focus has historically only been for industry but also agreed that the addition of economic development was okay. Jeff O'Neill suggested that a line be added in the document to reflect that the City's Comprehensive Plan was included in the goals and objectives. Bill Tapper added that the document should also reflect an emphasis on industrial development. DON ROBERTS MADE A MOTION FOR ALTERNATIVE ACTION NO. I : TO APPROVE THE 2008 MONTICELLO INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE ACTION STATEMENT WITH THE ADDITIONS OF INCLUDING THE CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND ADDING AN EMPHASIS ON INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. SECONDED BY LYNNE DAHL-FLEMING AND WITH NO FURTHER DISCUSSION, THE MOTION CARRIED. 2 IDC Minutes - 04/01/08 C. Recommendation to modify City Resolution No. 2008-16 for City Council Approval. Due to the fact that the recommended 2008 Action Statement was approved by the group, which included a name change to "Industrial and Economic Development Committee" and the addition of the word economic development in the document specific to paragraphs two and three for consistency with the Action Statement. This would require certain changes in order to modify the previous resolution and create a new resolution for City Council approval. Ollie Koropchack questioned whether or not the document would need to be updated by the City Attorney. It was agreed by the group that the changes were minimal and did not change the document's meaning. If approved, the changes could be drafted by the Economic Development Director and the document presented directly to Council for approval. Ollie Koropchack will have the changes made to the document which will be presented at the next IDEC meeting. BILL TAPPER MADE A MOTION TO AMEND CITY RESOLUTION NO. 2008-16 FOR CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL AND TO CHANGE THE NAME TO: "INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE" AND TO ADD THE WORD "ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT" TO PARAGRAPHS TWO AND THREE. SECONDED BY DICK VANALLEN AND WITH NO FURTHER DISCUSSION THE MOTION PASSED. D. Vote to elect 2008 IDEC officer for Secretary. Due to the fact that Ollie would be retiring, she cold no longer serve as the group's secretary and this position would need to be replaced. Chair Mike Benedetto told the group that Lynne Dahl-Fleming has expressed a willingness to serve and asked if anyone else had an interest as well. No other members voiced an interest. BILL TAPPER MADE A MOTION TO NOMINATE LYNNE-DAHL FLEMING FOR IDEC OFFICER OF SECRETARY. SECONDED BY DAN OLSON AND WITH NO FURTHER DISCUSSION THE MOTION PASSED. 5. New Business: B. Update on Citesplans for replacement of the Economic Development Director. Jeff O'Neill reported that the hiring of a replacement for the City's Economic development Director was currently in place. A full time position and job description will be advertised through May 30 with interviews taking place in June. The person hired IDC Minutes - 04/01/08 for the position may not be onboard until mid-July. This means there will be a bridging of activities between now and then without anyone serving in that position. Jeff O'Neill said he would bring forward a list of activities required to be filled until a new person is onboard. In the short time period prior to that some things will have to be placed on pause or hold for action tasks involving staff support. He also asked if the IDEC had considered whether or not they wish to continue to meet in the interim or to place future meetings on hold. Ollie Koropchack commented on the importance of the grassroots work currently being done by the subcommittees of IDEC and that she recommends that work continue its momentum. She encouraged the IDEC to continue monthly meetings of some sort. Lynne Dahl-Fleming noted that since she was willing to serve as Secretary there would be minimal staff support required to continue meeting in the interim. Ollie Koropchak also suggested to City Staff and Council that they consider bringing in someone from the EDA and IDEC for interviews with the prospective candidates for the Economic Development position since both the EDA and IDEC groups will be working closely with the person hired for this position. She also noted that when she was hired both EDA and IDC were involved with the interview process. Jeff O'Neill supported Ollie's comments on the overall grassroots efforts of the subcommittees and commented that the group's support of the fiber optics project has been valuable. 6. Reports: A. City Update. Angela Shumann provided an update on the City's Comprehensive Plan. The Planning Commission had recently approved the Comprehensive Plan noting that they had a concern on the transportation portion of the study and that it needed more work. The Comprehensive Plan would come before the Council on May 12 for adoption. She also provided an update on commercial development in the City. Three projects were underway including construction of Riverwood Bank located next to Target, a second McDonald's location also near Target and a Wild Wings located on Highway 24 south near A.E. Michaels. Mayor Herbst commented that the YMCA park was not approved for funding by the State of Minesota for this year, however the City will pursue the issue for 2009. He noted that a $1 Million grant has already been allocated from the state level. It cold turn out that a portion of the YMCA park be purchased between the County and the City and that over time in phases additional land could be added. Wright County is still interested in working with the City to purchase the YNCA property. The most current need for the City is the addition of more ball field. 4 IDC Minutes - 04/01/08 The City is currently developing a Transportation Plan. The study is being conducted by City Engineer, Bruce Westby and the engineering firm of WSB with a focus on the Highway 25 corridor. A Council Special Workshop will be held June 9 to present problems and possible solutions. On June 11 a coalition meeting will be held with Big Lake as transportation issues are also being looked at just across the river from Monticello. It was noted that the City is looking at three possible locations for another roundabout and will study the pros and cons. Locations include 7th Street, 4th Street and Hwys. 25 & 75 in downtown Monticello. Angela noted that MnDot actually requires that cities consider roundabouts in their transportation study. The City's location of a next interchange is also being looked at for Orchard Road or County Road 39 west. B. Fiber Optic and Marketing Committee. Lynne Dahl-Fleming stated relative to the fiber optics project, the City's fiber committe is researching space to lease for the FiberNet Monticello business office and general management. The bonding process is on schedule with the bond sale to occur sometime in May and fiber network construction to begin in June. Secondly, Dahl-Fleming reported the Marketing Committee has selected a billboard location that is closer to the Monticello on I-94 near the City's exit ramps and costs less than the previous location near Rogers. The first billboard will begin in May 2008 and run for four months stating: Business Opportunities -Land for $1.00 and listing the website www.MonticelloLand.com for promotion of the City's industrial and business park. The second four month run of the billboard will promote the city-wide fiber optics as a business opportunity in Monticello. Additionally, the Marketing committee is researching the possibility of bringing in brokers to see what they have to offer to promoting the industrial and business park land. This would be in the form of presentations from the brokers along with a tour of the City to show them what we have to offer. Larger companies like CB Richard Ellis, Welsh and United Properties would be contacted to see if they are interested. MNCAR is another source of commercial exposure to the land development opportunities via their website listings however, the committee discovered you have to be a member to participate. Ollie Koropchak commented that the City should keep in mind that there is only 40 acres of industrial property available in the current city-owned park. She encouraged the IDEC to keep aware that more industrial land will need to be made available by the City. The Higher Education subcommittee reported that Ollie Koropchak and Susie Wojouschski (Chamber) made a visit to Dakotah County Technical College to listen to speaker Dr., Benson. This committee is seeking to partnership with other colleges to bring an education center to the City of Monticello. IDC Minutes - 04/01/08 C. Economic Development (Written report submitted) Ollie Koropchack reported that the Housing subcommittee from EDA has made some contacts in St. Cloud through EDA member Bob Veiring. This effort is to research how the City might assist in the current economic downturn for housing and foreclosures. Walker-In Store is a possible tour site for the IDEC, Chamber Board and City Staff. The owner of this business suggested the City attract more hospitality businesses including upscale hotels. WSI went from the 19th position in the State of Minnesota for a publicly owned small business company with the most growth to number 12th. The IDC's resolution in support of the fiber optic bond sale was presented to Council D. Chamber. Director Suchy reported that the Chamber's website: www.MonticelloCCI.com now has a web page linked on the Main Page for educational classes held in Monticello. These are listed for community awareness and are classes open to the public from colleges who are Chamber members. The Chamber will be providing a tour of industries and manufacturers to the Monticello Royalty. 7. Review the draft copy of the May 6, 2008 Planning Commission Agenda for industrial related items. Discuss and vote on an IDC position or action if necessary. With no industrial planning items, no action was required of the IDC. 8. Other Business. A. Next IDC meeting -Tuesday, June 3, 2008. It was agreed by the group to continue meeting during the interim of the City hiring another Economic Development Director. Subcommittee work could continue during this time. The general discussion was to seek priorities for following up on the City's Comprehensive Plan goals and objectives for industrial development. Chair Mike Benedetto and Secretary Lynne Dahl-Fleming will develop an agenda for the next meeting and provide it to Angela for distribution to IEDC members. Zona Gutzweiler asked if the agenda could also be emailed to the group prior to the meeting. 6 IDC Minutes - 04/01/08 The secretary agreed to carry out this task as well. Angela Shumann also noted that the IDEC is now listed on the City's newly designed website at; www.Monticello.ci.mn.us And that the Agenda's would also be posted on the web page along with Meeting Minutes. The Secretary should also provide the Minutes in an electronic format to Angela for posting on the website. B. Other. Sandy Suchy suggested that Ollie provide a list of goals and objectives that have been accomplished over her 22 year position at the City and said it would be helpful to look at all the various projects and efforts completed over the years. 9. Adjournment. BILL TAPPER MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN THE IEDC MEETING. SECONDED BY WAYNE ELAM, THE IDC MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:30 A.M. Lynne Dahl-Fleming, IEDC Secretary 7