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IEDC Minutes 06-05-2012MINUTES MONTICELLO INDUSTRIAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (IEDC) Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - 7:00 a.m., Boom Island Room MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Luke Dahlheimer, Vice Chair Joni Pawelk, Rich Harris, Patrick Thompson, Bill Tapper, Dick Van Allen, Zona Gutzwiller, Wes Olson, Don Roberts MEMBERS ABSENT: Dan Olson, Wayne Elam, Jim Johnson, Tim O'Connor, Chris Kruse LIASIONS PRESENT: Glen Posusta, City Council LIAISONS ABSENT: Sandy Suchy, Chamber Clint Herbst, Mayor STAFF PRESENT: Economic Development Director Megan Barnett - Livgard, City Administrator Jeff O'Neill 1. Call to Order 2. 3. Chair Luke Dahlheimer called the meeting to order at 7:00 a.m. Approve Minutes BILL TAPPER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MAY 1, 2012 IEDC MINUTES. PATRICK THOMPSON SECONDED THE SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 9 -0. Consideration of adding items to the Agenda None 4. Reports a) Economic Development • Downtown Redevelopment - The EDA purchased the two Montgomery Farms buildings located at the corner of Highway 25 and Broadway Street. Staff is working through leaseholder agreements for five businesses and two residences. Relocation specialist Dan Wilson is working to help residential and commercial tenants transition into new locations. Dr. Wong of Lakeland Dental purchased the old Monticello Times Building. Site improvements, remodeling, and moving the business will take approximately 6 months. IEDC Minutes 6/05/12 Spec CC /EDA Joint meeting - There will be a special joint City Council /EDA meeting on Wednesday, June 20th at 4:30 pm. Charlie Pfeffer will discuss EDA Protocol/ Pfeffer Company opportunities. Jim McComb will provide an update on implementing downtown issues such as exploring a parking lot fee structure, and the Ace Hardware project. EDA Agenda - The regular EDA agenda will include an update to the TIF Management Plan. The EDA will be asked to approve the use of TIF 1 -5 funds for a beautification project at TH 25 and 7th Street. $480,000 in TIF funding must be expended or returned to Wright County. Staff recommended utilizing the funds for site improvements involved in adding a right turn lane at that intersection, improving landscaping and adding monument signs. This project that had been part of the 2014 Transportation plan. Planning Commission — The Planning Commission and City Council approved a conditional use permit allowing an indoor athletic facility to occupy a portion of the Monticello Workforce Center building. The Planning Commission is also being asked to approve an interim use permit for school district's Alternative Learning Program. • Fred's Auto — The EDA authorized Braun Intertec to complete a Phase II environmental assessment of the property known as Fred's Auto. The EDA is expected to close on the sale of the property at the beginning of July. Inquiries — Staff responded to two inquiries for data center requests and is working with a broker representing a manufacturing company that is interested in the Monticello area. b) City Council Finance Director Position - Jeff O'Neil reported that Tom Kelly accepted a job with White Bear Township and noted he would be greatly missed. Staff will work to fill the Finance Director position. 5. FiberNet Monticello Transition Jeff O'Neill noted that a number of changes would be required to enable FiberNet to become financially viable. He indicated that City Council had directed staff to identify additional revenue sources due to the financial stress resulting from the lawsuit, the changing telecommunications industry. Gigabit2, funded by a company that develops and designs fiber optic systems, indicated an interest and an ability to generate investment in the system. At this same time, HBC, FiberNet's current management firm, provided a 90 -day notice of termination. Service will not be interrupted. IEDC Minutes 6/05/12 Gigabit2 then presented a proposal to operate and grow the system and share in the potential long -term revenue. The City is still negotiating a potential contract. The goals would be to cash,flow operations by end of the year, create a new growth model, refinance debt and build FiberNet to sustainability. They expect to provide the same customer service with much lower cost. Staff have been working with the Trustee's attorney to refinance and to determine how new management might integrate with bondholder needs. Requirements state that net revenue shall be used to pay off the bond. Because, at this time there is no net revenue, the City is not obligated to make payment on the debt and, as a result, decided not to pay the $33,000 per month on the debt as of June 1St. The City had been paying 7% interest and it was unsustainable. Wells Fargo will appoint an independent review expert to oversee the transition and protect the City and bondholders. There was some discussion about options for offering FiberNet service beyond City limits. The City of Big Lake is interested in obtaining service. State laws limit the ability to sell phone service to folks out of city. A special City Council workshop is scheduled for Monday, June 11th at 5:00 p.m. to discuss FiberNet status. 6. Monticello Business Attraction Strategies As a result of discussions with Economic Development professionals, staff pointed out the importance of. a strong and active BR &E program, a 30 -day planning and building process, access to local manufacturers buyer and seller SIC codes, and a 3 -5 year vision of what the business community might look like in the future. The IEDC was asked to briefly consider several strategies for attracting new industries to Monticello. Staff noted that the City competed fairly well in processing permits but may look to tweak the process in the fall. A review of industries served by businesses in the community may help to broaden the scope when trying to attract new businesses. Greater MSP will help make such contacts. Rich Harris agreed to meet with staff to share SIC codes in an effort to address this issue. Staff suggested that a broad discussion about vision may provide direction for targeting a local economic development presence at relevant events and create marketing which invites attention. Feedback from the IEDC indicated that it might be useful to review the results of the BR &E findings and that the current practice of touring local businesses may provide an opportunity to address some of these issues. Staff had suggested working with SIC codes and then considering sectors, companies, reviewing the Comprehensive Plan direction and land use opportunities at the August meeting. IEDC Minutes 6/05/12 7. Transportation Update by Bruce Westby Beautification Project - City Engineer Bruce Westby responded to specific questions about the proposed beautification project at TH 25 and 7th Street. The proposal is to leave the fence encircling the cemetery in place and build a new retaining wall 3 -4 feet outside of the fence. The retaining wall would be two tiered by 7th Street on the south end of the block by TH 25. Westby indicated that it would make sense to add a right turn lane on 7th Street at the same time to open up the sight lines. Including this component of the street improvements would save overall costs and be less disjointed than addressing it as part of the 2014 Street Reconstruction project. Further work on 7th Street between TH 25 and Cedar would be completed as part of that later project. Fallon Avenue Overpass - Staff continue to talk with property owners and answer questions about the three alignment options recommended by the Transportation Advisory Committee and approved by City Council. The previous agreement related to the property owned by St. Henry's Church must be clearly understood before moving forward. Westby stated that the project could be approved later this year. The City would need to purchase right -of -way once the preferred alignment is identified. Feedback has been fairly positive but involves concerns related to the cost to property owners. There will be property assessments involved in funding the project. Second River Crossing — Staff expect to schedule a meeting with townships, cities, state, and the surrounding two counties by early July to address the issue of a second river crossing. Brett Weiss from WSB participated in a Washington D.C. fly in to share information about Monticello's transportation funding needs with federal coalitions. The project is estimated to cost $20 -30 million. TH 25 1CSAH 75 Intersection — Westby hopes to receive $200- 300,000 in Local Initiative funding through MnDot for the TH 25 /CSAH 75 intersection project. He outlined the components and estimated cost of $1.65 million to complete the project. The project includes improvements to the intersection and one block north and south of CSAH 75 on TH 25 and a block and half of TH 25 along CSAH 75. Dual left turn lanes and extra capacity for turn lane lengths will be added on either side of CSAH 75. A wide median will be constructed at northbound TH 25 onto westbound TH 25. The application for 2016 federal funding was denied this spring. Funding is likely to be approved for 2017. $4.3 million in DEED grant funding has become available for redevelopment projects. Applications are being accepted through June 261h Wright County will postpone grading along the portion of the road they maintain and possibly contribute their regular maintenance cost to the project. 8. Adiournment RICH HARRIS MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:22 AM. PAT THOMPSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 9 -0. IEDC Minutes 6/05/12 Recorder: Kerry T. Burri O"'D Approved: August 7, 201 Attest: VorA- aA egan a ivgard, Econo De e o ment Director