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EDA Minutes 02-09-2011Economic Development Authority Minutes 02/09/11 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA) MEETING MINUTES February 9, 2011 - 6:00 p.m. Commissioners Present: President Bill Demeules, Treasurer Bill Tapper, Bill Fair, Tracy Hinz, and Council Members Tom Perrault and Brian Stumpf Staff: Executive Director Megan Barnett - Livgard, Finance Director Tom Kelly 1. Call to Order President Bill Demeules called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. 2. Approve Meeting Minutes a) January 12, 2011 TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 12, 2011 EDA MINUTES AS AMENDED. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BILL TAPPER. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. BRIAN STUMPF ABSTAINED. 3. Consideration of additional agenda items a) Recommend that city council appoint an EDA member to fill the open seat b) Reconsider joining the Wright County Economic Development Partnership for a six month trial period c) Ice Fishing Tournament 4. Approval of EDA Invoices Staff presented additional McComb Group invoices and asked that the EDA approve an invoice for $25,276.18 and an invoice for $26,251.72. The Finance Department will transfer the $80,000 budgeted to the EDA to fund the Embracing Downtown Monticello study. The EDA has spent a total of $100,665 for the study including the $59,000 retainer. The project is still within budget and on target. Staff will review consultant design alternatives next week. Staff also presented an invoice for Bullfrog Sweatshop. This is the fee for updating and reformatting the resources page for the new economic development website. There were a few questions about the invoicing process for web development. Economic Development Authority Minutes 02/09/11 BILL FAIR MOVED TO APPROVE THE EDA INVOICES. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BILL TAPPER. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. 5. Annual Meetin¢ a. Elected officers The Bylaws for the EDA state that officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting. Staff noted that there is no term limit for serving as officers of the EDA. Currently Bill Demeules is serving as President, Dan Frie had been serving as Vice President, and Bill Tapper is serving as Treasurer. Dan Frie's term expired on December 31, 2010 and he resigned from the EDA. BILL FAIR MOVED TO NOMINATE BILL DEMEULES TO SERVE AS THE 2011 EDA PRESIDENT. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY TOM PERRAULT. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. BILL FAIR MOVED TO NOMINATE BILL TAPPER TO SERVE AS THE 2011 EDA VICE PRESIDENT. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BRIAN STUMPF. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. BILL DEMEULES MOVED TO NOMINATE BILL FAIR TO SERVE AS THE 2011 EDA TREASURER. BILL FAIR DECLINED THE NOMINATION. BILL DEMEULES MOVED TO NOMINATE TRACY HINZ TO SERVE AS THE 2011 EDA TREASURER. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BRIAN STUMPF. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. b. Review fiend balances Finance Director Tom Kelly presented the annual estimated fund balance report of the tax increment districts within the City and the balance of the general EDA fund. Staff is still in the process of closing out Fiscal Year 2010. The district increments have been collected and the pay as you go payments have been made. TIF District 2 was decertified at end of December as required by state statute. The funds were used to pay for the downtown study. District 5 is due to be decertified at the end of 2012 and District 6 in 2013. All the TIF Districts were set up as pay -as- you -go obligations. If the district does not generate enough increment to pay off the pay -as- you -go obligation the loss is to the developer /property owner and not the EDA or City. The exceptions are 2 Economic Development Authority Minutes 02/09/11 Districts 1 -36 (Dahlheimer), 1 -37 (Karlburger Foods), and 1 -38 (Walker -In- Store) which were provided upfront assistance in the form of reduced land acquisition costs in the EDA's Otter Creek Business Park. There are no reports on revolving loan funds. Payments are being made on time. WSI's balloon payment is due in May of 2011. There were a number of questions and some discussion. Staff will eliminate the already decertified districts from the next report for easier viewing. A more formal report will be provided to the EDA after audit is completed in August. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ACCEPT THE EDA FUND BALANCE REPORT. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BILL TAPPER. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. c. Discuss 2011 priorities Staff provided a written summary of past EDA priorities for review. The EDA will be asked to establish 2011 priorities at the next meeting. 6. Presentation by the I -94 Corridor Coalition Kathleen Coate, representing the I -94 West Chamber and I -94 Corridor Coalition, presented a status report of transportation initiatives along the I -94 corridor. She noted that the mission of the Coalition is to provide additional lanes from the Fish Lake interchange in Maple Grove through Monticello and indicated that MNDOT would like to extend that project through Clearwater. MNDOT recognizes that improvements to I -94 are a priority as it is the fastest growing corridor in the state. Both political parties remain in favor of transportation funding but, as there is now a moratorium on all earmarks, funds will have to be obtained in new ways. The Coalition continues to meet with legislators and senators to keep the focus on these issues. The House has scheduled hearings across the country about how to address transportation funding. The Coalition encourages local public and private participation at the upcoming Chicago meeting. The Coalition is now also in partnership with the Central MN Transportation Alliance. They would like to focus, as a priority, on getting the tonding formula for gas tax changed for District 3 in order to obtain the same percentage of revenue as other districts. There were numerous questions and much discussion. Tom Perrault expressed his concern that it is essential to address the congestion on I -494 first as it creates problems along the Economic Development Authority Minutes 02/09/11 I -94 West Corridor. The Twin West Coalition is focusing on I -494. BILL FAIR MOVED THAT THE EDA APPROVE A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE EFFORTS AND PAYMENT OF THE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE FOR THE I -94 WEST CORRIDOR COALITION. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BILL TAPPER. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. Tom Perrault indicated that he would like a financial statement as to how dollars are being spent. Kathleen Coate agreed to provide that information to the EDA. 7. Request by J. Edwin Chadwick asking the EDA to purchase 13.6 acres of residentially zoned property located adjacent to the Monticello Business Center The EDA had directed City staff to gather additional information regarding buildable acreage and potential lot configuration without spending consultant dollars for the 13.6 acres of property located adjacent to the Monticello Industrial Park owned by John Chadwick It would appear that purchasing the subject property would likely allow for an additional 11 acres of industrial land to be developed. Staff had recommended obtaining broker opinions to have documentation about the base value of the property. According to County Assessor, the tax value of the property for 2012 would be $143,500 - more than $100,000 lower than the requested purchase price. Additionally, according to state statute, if the EDA has not sold land it owns within eight years it would not be available for tax exemption. John Chadwick spoke briefly and there were many questions about the value of this property for the EDA and discussion about how to proceed. BILL FAIR MOVED TO FURTHER DISCUSS THIS MATTER IN CLOSED SESSION BASED ON THE PROBABILITY THAT PURCHASE MAY BE AN OPTION. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BILL TAPPER. MOTION FAILED 3 -3. BRIAN STUMPF, TOM PERRAULT AND BILL DEMEULES OPPOSED. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO DENY ENTERING INTO A PURCHASE AGREEMENT AT THIS TIME. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY TOM PERRAULT. MOTION FAILED 2 -4. BILL FAIR, BILL TAPPER, BILL DEMEULES, TRACY HINZ OPPOSED. BILL FAIR MOVED TO TABLE THIS ISSUE UNTIL A NEW EDA MEMBER IS APPOINTED. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BILL TAPPER. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. 7. Consideration of items added to the agenda a) Recommend that city council appoint an EDA member to fill the open seat 4 Economic Development Authority Minutes 02109/11 EDA and staff interviewed Matthew Frie and found him to be a good candidate for the EDA position. BILL FAIR MOVED TO RECOMMEND THE CITY COUNCIL APPOINT MATTHEW FRIE TO THE EDA. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY TRACY HINZ. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. b) Reconsider joining the Wright County Economic Development Partnership for a six month trial period The EDA had decided to withdraw from the Wright County Economic Development Partnership for 2011 due to the lack of leadership and vision within the organization. Megan Barnett - Livgard had recently been contacted by the new director of the Wright County Economic Development Partnership asking for Monticello's participation in a six month trial membership period. After some discussion about a new direction for the Partnership, staff recommended participation in this negotiated trial period. Brian Stumpf indicated that the Partnership should make proven, positive change first before the EDA were to again participate in membership. BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO DENY THE APPROVAL OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE WRIGHT COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP FOR A SIX MONTH TRIAL PERIOD AT A COST OF $1,087. MOTION WAS NOT SECONDED. AFTER FURTHER DISCUSSION BRIAN STUMPF RESCINDED THE MOTION. Staff noted that Monticello is a key component to a successful County Partnership and indicated a commitment to bringing value to this six month trial period through participation on the Partnership Board. BILL TAPPER MOVED TO SUPPORT THE APPROVAL OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE WRIGHT COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP FOR A SIX MONTH TRIAL PERIOD AT A COST OF $1,087. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY TRACY HINZ. MOTION CARRIED 5 -1. TOM PERRAULT OPPOSED. c) Ice Fishing Tournament Bill Fair noted that the Ice Fishing Tournament was a great success. There were a lot of citizens from out of town and out of state. The turnout for the kid's tournament far exceeded expectations. He indicated that the venues may need to be larger next year as he expected a lot more local "non - professional" fishing participation. Bill Tapper stated that the EDA's decision to sponsor the tournament was money well spent to promote the City. Economic Development Authority Minutes 02/09/11 8. Marketing Update a. Conferences: Staff will develop a list of recommended conference /tradeshow options for the EDA to consider for 2011. The EDA will partner with Positively MN to obtain less expensive conference attendance rates. b. Website: No report C. Concierge Team: The team made a site visit to WSI and found the facility to be impressive. 9. Director Report The Director Report was included as part of the agenda packet submitted to the EDA. 10. Adiournment BILL TAPPER MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:39 PM. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BILL FAIR. MOTION CARRIED 6 -0. Recorder: Kent' T. Burri: Approved: March 9, 2011 Attest: / Mega . atne t- Livgard, Execu t e Director 6