IDC Minutes 09-06-2005MINUTES
MONTICELLO INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - 7:00 a.m.
• Meet at West County Road 39 & Chelsea Road/Dalton Avenue
followed at Academy Room -Monticello Community Center
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Dan Olson, Vice Chair Paul Kleinwachter, Mary Barger, Bill
Tapper, Dick Van Allen, Mike Benedetto, Lynne Dahl, and Tom Feaski.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Tom Lindquist, Don Roberts, Barb Schwientek, Don Tomann, Kelli Huxford, and
Sue Struckness.
STAFF PRESENT: Ollie Koropchak.
COUNCIL LIAISON PRESENT: Council Member Wayne Mayer.
IDC MISSION STATEMENT: To maintain and increase the industrial tax base and to
create jobs in the City of Monticello, Minnesota.
Call to Order. (Please read the minutes and information prior to the meeting)
Chair Dan Olson called the IDC meeting to order at 7:24 a.m. declaring a quorum.
2. Vote to approve the August 2, 2005 IDC minutes.
Mary Barger made a motion to approve the August 2, 2005, IDC minutes. Bill Tapper
seconded the motion and with no corrections or additions, the minutes were approved as
written.
Follow-up and discussion on the development of the Monticello Business Center (Otter Creek
Crossin
A. Feedback of site visit.
Members who visited the site area at Chelsea Road West and County Road 39 felt the
infrastructure improvements under-way were both impressive and serves as a major linkage for
the southwest/westerly corridor of the city. Koropchak indicated in her interview with the Times
she mentioned for the newspaper to contact the Chair of the IDC and HRA. The WSB project
manager informed the group that the infrastructure improvements are about two weeks ahead of
schedule for completion.
4. Mayor's City Update:
A. Proposed 1-94 and County Road 18 Interchange Project.
Construction has commenced at the intersection of County Road 18 and 39 and extension of
Meadow Oak Avenue to County Road 18, this in preparation of removal of the Co~mty Road 18
bridge this fall. Bids for the interchange should be let soon.
1. AVR relocation and construction pro rg ess.
Koropchak noted a meeting between the Mayor, Council member Posusta, City Attorney, AVR
representatives and AVR Attorney is scheduled for this Thursday morning.
2. Sanitary Sewer Trw~k Line installation pro r~ ess.
It appears the installation of the sanitary sewer trunk line on the north side of I-94 is complete but
work continues on the south side.
IDC Minutes - 09/06/2005
B. Jefferson at Monticello and Popular Hills residential developments.
. A few council -nembers and planning commissioners along with the Planning staff went on
a tour organized by the Heritage Developers (Jefferson's of Monticello). They visited
housing developments in Chaska and Maple Grove which highlighted 36 foot lots with
maintenance-free amenities. Council Member Mayer said he was not impressed with the
36 ft lots and felt they were shown the cream-of--the-crop. Additionally, he reported the
Council denied the apartments within the proposed Popular Hills project being sensitive to
what benefits the school district.
C. Status of YMCA property Mayer reported discussion are at astand-still.
D. Fiber Option Task Force. Mayer reported the Council approved development of a request
for proposal to find out the city's role. The current providers appear to be under built and
have no plans to add to existing structure.
E. Engineer and Building Inspector hiring status. The engineer and building inspector have
been hired and the engineer is expected to start September 12. Asked of the Council's
reaction to the IDC recommendation relative to who the engineer is accountable to?
Wayne Mayer reported the engineer will report to the Deputy Administrator for now until
review of the city administrative organizational structure is complete.
F. Merger HRA/EDA/iDC. Koropchak reported a meeting with the HRA attorney and
financial consultant, Wolfsteller, O'Neill, Koropchak and HRA Chair Lahr was held for
the purpose of gathering information at the request of the Council and a consultant. The
consultant recognized the number of commission meetings and suggested for efficiency
perhaps merging some of the commissions. Discussions included the roles and powers of
the HRA and EDA, options for merging, pros and cons of merging, and how appointment
of commissioners might be handled. The 1DC was discussed as to their role as an
independent lobby group and the city providing staff and service. The attorney raised
concerns about the city providing an independent organ-zation with free service. His
concern was the State Auditor. A couple of alternative options for the 1DC: A branch of
the Chamber or as an advisory committee to the HRA or EDA. The professional input of
the attorney and consultant was that legally the HRA and EDA can be merged. Their
personal input was the city of Monticello has a long tradition and is unique because of the
number of willing educated volunteers, so why change it. The meeting ended with O'Neill
to summarize the meeting and forward to the personnel committee.
5. Reports:
A. Economic Development Report.
Accepted as written.
6. Review the draft copy of the September 6. 2005 Planning Commission Agenda for industrial
related items. Discuss and vote on an IDC position or action if necessary
9. Consideration of a request for preliminary plat and conditional use permit for concept stage and
development stage PUD. Applicant, Blue Chip Development.
Mary Barger reported they plan to construct a 25,000 sq ft building to the rear of the lot located
along Dundas Road and behind Vector Tool and B&B Metal Stamping. Currently they have two
proposed tenants.
13. Continued Public Hearing -Amendment of Ordinance for Open and Outdoor Stora~
Applicant: City of Monticello.
• Bill Tapper said he was looking for support and distributed a memo of this thoughts. He felt there
were two principle objectives for the outdoor storage ordinance amendment: 1. Not unsightly. 2.
Businesses need to do business. It needs to be neat and clean, needs space for big equipment and
2
IDC Minutes - 09/06/2005
barrier for recycled by-products, and front yard is for business activity. Tapper questioned: What
is the problem and how do we solve it? Is the purpose for enforcement and subject to
interpretation? Members agreed the ordinance needs to be reasonable (simple) and needs to
provide clarity. Members supported the memo written by Tapper and recommended a cover
letter accompany the memo and be mailed to members of the Planning Commission, City
Council, city staff and the consultant in advance of the upcoming meetings on outdoor
storage. Wayne Mayer noted his frustration as a council member that adequate information is not
always provided for making informed decisions. He suggested a list and phone number of the IDC
members also be attached allowing council and planning commission members to contact IDC
members for more information.
7. Other Business.
A. Chamber Updates - In the absence of the Chamber Chair, Tom Feaski reported the Buzz
Anderson, MN Retailers Association, will be guest speaker at the Chamber luncheon,
September l 5. The Expo is now slated for February. Working with the office of Senator
Coleman, the Industrial Business Luncheon Fund-raiser is planned for the end of October.
The Chamber has requested a three to four week advanced notice.
B. Next IDC meetine -Tuesday October 4 2005
8. Adjournment.
Bill Tapper made a motion to adjoz~rn. Seconded by Dick Van Allen and with no further
business, the meeting adjourned at 8: ~l5 a. m.
• off, A4 ~ ~.~
Ollie Koropchak, Recorder
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