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IEDC Minutes 05-01-2012MINUTES MONTICELLO INDUSTRIAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (IEDC) Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - 7:00 a.m., Boom Island Room MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Luke Dahlheimer, Vice Chair Joni Pawelk, Patrick Thompson, Bill Tapper, Dick Van Allen, Dan Olson, Wayne Elam, Jim Johnson, Don Roberts MEMBERS ABSENT: Rich Harris, Zona Gutzwiller, Wes Olson, Chris Kruse, Tim O'Connor LIASIONS PRESENT: Sandy Suchy, Chamber Glen Posusta, City Council Clint Herbst, Mayor STAFF PRESENT: Economic Development Director Megan Barnett - Livgard, City Administrator Jeff O'Neill 1. Call to Order 2. 3. 4. Chair Luke Dahlheimer called the meeting to order at 7:00 a.m. Approve Minutes BILL TAPPER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MARCH 6, 2012 MINUTES. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY WAYNE ELAM. MOTION CARRIED 9 -0. Consideration of addin14 items to the A14enda • New River Medical Center Reports a) Economic Development • Broker Tour - City staff organized a bus tour to showcase the many amenities in the city. Embracing Downtown Monticello consultants joined City officials to provide numerous area brokers, bankers, and Greater MSP representatives with information about local economic development opportunities. • Logo - Monticello's new logo was recently approved by City Council. The initial transition to the new logo involves changing letterhead, business cards, and apparel. Staff will devise an economic development strategy for marketing the new brand to IEDC Minutes 5/01/12 brokers and developers. • Student Government Group - School Superintendent Jim Johnson will assist City staff in exploring opportunities for students to obtain classroom credit for attending local government meetings. Additionally, the IEDC plans to tour the STEM classes at the high school in the fall. Request by John Chadwick to Purchase Property — Property Owner John Chadwick approached the City Council to determine the City's interest in purchasing the 19 -acre parcel he owns on Chelsea Road off of I -94. The City Council asked that the EDA consider this option. The EDA decided it was not interested in purchasing the property for a second industrial park. • Fred's Auto Purchase — The EDA plans to close on the purchase of property at Fred's Auto on Broadway at the end of June. Environmental testing must be completed to determine if the level of contamination meets grants eligibility requirements. • Proposed Workforce Housing: Podawiltz Development — The EDA and City Council approved exploring the opportunity to provide workforce housing. Podawiltz Development has proposed the construction of 36 affordable townhomes for rent at Autumn Ridge. City Council agreed to consider a 10 -year TIF District should this project receive key financing in the form of tax credits. b) City Council • Second Hi -Way Liquor Store —The City Council considered establishing a second liquor store as a way to bring in additional local revenue. Past studies had shown that there would be a market for a second store in the City. The current store is in line with pricing at surrounding municipal liquor stores. Biosolids - City Council authorized a study of a method for drying biosolids material in an effort to eventually vacate the current biosolids site. There has been some interest in development in that location. FiberNet Monticello — FiberNet sales continue to grow despite aggressive pricing and solicitation competition from Charter. City officials have put a plan in place to increase revenues by using capacity to sell services beyond Monticello. There was some discussion of renegotiating the interest rate on the existing debt service on FiberNet bonds. Harvard will include Monticello in their study of municipal broadband projects. Fallon Avenue Overpass — City Engineer Bruce Westby has been meeting with stakeholders affected by the planned Fallon Avenue Overpass design and will IEDC Minutes 5/01/12 provide an update as information is available. 5. Chamber of Commerce and Industry a) Grow MN Visits — Sandy Suchy reported on four Grow MN site visits and survey responses. She visited Suburban Manufacturing, Bondhus, Aroplax and Standard Iron to learn more about their businesses and to get specific input about doing business in Monticello. Many suggested that state taxes, health care, workman's compensation, unemployment, sales tax, and taxation in general on small businesses are issues of concern to their business. Suchy was selected by the MN Chamber to travel to Washington D.C. for an upcoming small business summit. b) Regional Workforce Initiatives — The MN Workforce Center has focused on aligning more directly with the Chamber and economic development staff. They are providing support for a program called Preparing Youth for Tomorrow. Staff indicated that much of the manufacturing community has not utilized the Workforce Center for their hiring needs. Bill Tapper noted that his business has had great success utilizing the Workforce Center. The trend in industry is to hire on a temporary basis and evaluate prior to hiring. It may be useful for the Workforce Center to attend an IEDC meeting to share more about their resources. c) Government Affairs — Transportation Update (Fallon Avenue) - The Chamber is looking for business community input related to the Fallon Avenue project prior to the upcoming public meeting. d) City Banners - The Chamber will be applying for grants through the Swan City Heritage Foundation to fund new street banners with the City logo. Staff recommended using two different banners. Suchy will review design ideas. 6. Embracing Downtown Implementation Update The closing date for the Montgomery Farms building purchase has been delayed a week due to lease termination agreements. Ace Hardware has outlined their interests in working with city for the redevelopment of Block 34. Jim McComb plans to provide a project update at the May EDA meeting. A Downtown Ambassadors group has been formed to ensure that project information is correct and that momentum is underway. Another group has been established to encourage the downtown businesses to contribute to the funding of the downtown project. 7. Items Added to the Agenda • New River Medical Center - Glen Posusta asked Joni Pawelk to provide some information as to the ongoing issues at the hospital. She shared that there has been significant contention between the hospital and the Monticello Clinic. Issues primarily IEDC Minutes 5/01/12 involve business decisions related to the conversion to electronic medical records as well as the opening the New River Physicians Clinic. She provided some background related to these issues and outlined some of the research and reasoning behind the hospital's decisions. There was also some discussion about the downsizing of some hospital services and the significant loss of hospital revenues. Staff and City officials expressed their commitment to helping the hospital thrive in the community. 8. Adiournment BILL TAPPER MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:34 A.M. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY DON ROBERTS. MOTION CARRIED 9 -0. Recorder: Approved: Attest: