No preview available
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 Special Economic Development Authority Minutes - 2/13/13 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 Special Economic Development Authority Minutes - 2/13/13 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