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EDA Minutes 02-13-2013 (Special Meeting)MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (EDA)
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 — 8:00 p.m.
Commissioners Present: President Bill Demeules, Vice President Bill Tapper, Treasurer Tracy
Hinz, Vice Treasurer Matt Frie, Rod Dragsten
Commissioners Absent: Council Members Tom Perrault and Brian Stumpf
Staff Present: Angela Schumann, Community Development Director, Wayne Oberg, Finance
Director
Others Present: Steve Johnson
1. Call to Order
Bill Demeules called the special meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.
2. Purpose
The purpose of the special meeting is to develop the 2013 EDA Workplan.
3. 2013 EDA Workylan
Angela Schumann asked that the EDA consider the 2012 workplan in planning for the
development of a workplan for the current year. She noted that a number of the previously
identified priorities had been successfully incorporated into the ongoing role of the EDA.
Hosting the broker breakfast and funding the Industry of the Year event were cited as
examples of addressing the priorities of attracting new business and business retention.
These will continue in future years.
Schumann invited the EDA to consider priorities for 2013 that may not have been fully
addressed in the previous year's workplan.
Tracy Hinz underlined the importance of more tangibly defining a Housing and
Redevelopment Authority (HRA) role for the EDA. Schumann pointed to the Podawiltz
development proposal as one multi - family housing effort reviewed and approved by the
EDA. The proposal had not, however, been selected to receive federal tax credit funding
last year. It is expected that the developer would resubmit the project for future funding
consideration.
Schumann summarized that the EDA agreed that housing should remain a priority in that it
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would be necessary to determine a use for excess tax increment in existing housing
districts. There was some discussion and agreement about the potential benefit of
conducting a study to obtain data on housing needs within the community. Staff agreed to
find out if such a study would be considered an acceptable use of excess housing tax
increment and what other uses might also be appropriate.
Bill Demeules pointed to the need to also market EDA property such as the long vacant
garden center site. He suggested that the EDA update its website to include the new map of
all City and EDA owned properties and list incentives and zoning so that brokers and site
selectors can identify local opportunities. He also recommended that another priority
would be to get the West 4th Street lot, which can only be used for housing, back on the tax
rolls.
Schumann suggested that it might also be an option to consider investigating how the
Transformation Home Loan program might relate to the downtown plan.
Bill Tapper presented a proposed strategy for property acquisition that pointed to the
importance of retaining Enhancing Downtown as one of the top workplan priorities for
2013. He said that purchasing decisions should be based on defined criteria and considered
only in prioritized target areas. He suggested that it hadn't been realistic to rely on County
assessed property value as the primary negotiation tool for all properties. He suggested,
however, that it might be reasonable to do so for properties outside of target areas. He
recommended establishing a price range on a property prior to negotiations. He also said
that the EDA must be willing to make deals and could expect to pay a premium for certain
properties. He stressed that, although the City may not need a property, it may need to have
an agreement in place to control the site. He recommended establishing a subcommittee to
define such guidelines and stressed the need to define target areas.
There were some questions about how this approach would align with the Embracing
Downtown plan. Tapper noted that there had been some disagreement with the plan. Steve
Johnson agreed that several target area designations would be useful. He pointed out that
the City had been missing marketing potential because no one has the expertise to package
development concepts that may not be immediately obvious and no one has been
designated to lead developers beyond preliminary criteria to other viable options.
Schumann asked if the EDA would like to convene a workshop to determine target areas.
Matt Frie suggested that it might be too costly to focus on more than one target area. Rod
Dragsten asked that staff recommend ten target areas for EDA consideration.
Dragsten also asked if the City had plans to hire a marketing or a sales person to fill the role
of the Economic Development Director. Staff acknowledged that this had been one of the
fundamental questions to be considered in determining how to move forward. There was
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discussion about whether the vision for the EDA should define the position or if the person
hired should define and drive the vision. Bill Tapper suggested that the City hire an
external person for marketing and utilize internal staff for sales. Wayne Oberg pointed out
hiring someone to market the City would help to capture additional tax base. Angela
Schumann summarized that a top EDA priority for the 2013 workplan seemed to be hiring
an Economic Development Director. There was further discussion about the importance of
providing input in defining the scope of the position, identifying a skill set required for the
job, and assisting with developing performance measures and budget parameters. The City
would also look to other communities for guidance. The hiring process would likely extend
into summer.
Schumann also noted that the EDA could consider including fagade improvements as an
achievable goal within the workplan. Retailers might choose to invest in reorienting a
building to face Highway 25 to increase visibility. The group indicated this would be a low
priority.
Schumann also asked that the EDA revisit the 2012 workplan to consider establishing a
second industrial park. There was brief consideration about the success of the Otter Creek
Business Park. The small group meeting to review the Economic Development Chapter of
the Comprehensive Plan would provide some direction in assessing this issue. Schumann
noted that based on a current and planned inventory, the need to establish a second
industrial park was a lower priority.
Bill Demeules pointed out that the EDA should also, as a workplan priority, determine how
to spend increment from the TIF District 1 -6.
There was some comment about the need to review the Greater Monticello Enterprise Fund
(GMEF) guidelines for the purpose of considering reducing the required interest rate
"floor" for GMEF loans.
4. Adiournment
BILL TAPPER MOVED TO ADJOURN THE SPECIAL MEETING AT 9:33 P.M. ROD
DRAGSTEN SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0.
Recorder: Kerry Burri
Approved: March 13, 2013
Attest:
Development Director