01-08-2007 EDA MINMEETING OF THE ELK RIVER
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL
MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2007
Members Present: President Gongoll, Commissioners Dwyer, Farber, Klinzing, Motin, Tveite,
and Zenvas
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Director of Economic Development Catherine Mehelich, Assistant
Director of Economic Development Heidi Steinmetz, Community
Development Director Scott Clark, and Recording Secretary Jessica Miller
1. Call Meeting To Order
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Economic Development
Authority was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by President Gongoll.
2. Consider Agenda
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER TVEITE AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER FARBER TO APPROVE'I'HE JANUARY 8, 2007 EDA
AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED 7-0.
3. onsid r .on nt Age^~,
Commissioner Tveite disclosed that he is an officer of Wells Fargo Bank. Commissioner
Dwyer disclosed that he is an officer, director, and share holder of the Bank of Elk River.
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER KLINZING AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER MOTIN TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS
FOLLOWS:
3.1. DECEMBER 11, 2006 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
3.2. CHECK REGISTERS
3.3. BALANCE SHEET (NOT AVAILABLE i;JN'I'IL MARCH 1 AUDIT
COMPLETE)
3.4. REVENUE/EXPENDITURE REPORT (NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL
MARCH 1 AUDIT COMPLETE)
3.5. APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
3.6. DESIGNATION OF OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
3.7. DESIGNATION OF OFFICIAL DEPOSITORIES
3.8. COMMISSIONSERAPPOINTMENTS/ASSIGNMENTS
MOTION CARRIED 7-0.
4. n Mik
No one appeared for open mike.
Economic Development Authority Minutes
January 8, 2007
Page 2
5. Election of Officers For 2007
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER KLINZING AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER DWYER TO NOMINATE JEFF GONGOLL AS PRESIDENT
OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR 2007. MOTION
CARRIED 7-0.
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER KLINZING AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER MOTIN TO NOMINATE PAT DWYER AS VICE
PRESIDENT OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR 2007.
MOTION CARRIED 7-0.
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER DWYER TO NOMINATE DAN TVEITE AS TREASURER
OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR 2007. MOTION
CARRIED 5-0.
MOVED BY PRESIDENT GONGOLL AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
TVEITE TO NOMINATE LARRY FARBER AS ASSISTANT TREASURER FOR
THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR 2007. MOTION
CARRIED 7-0.
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER TVEITE TO NOMINATE NICK ZERWAS AS SECRETARY
FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR 2007. MOTION
CARRIED 7-0.
President Gongoll welcomed Nick Zerwas to the Economic Development Authority.
6. Discuss 2007 Goal and Projecte
Ms. Mehelich reviewed 2006 accomplishments. She also reviewed 2007 goals and initiatives
and briefly outlined each one.
Commissioner Klinzing indicated that the City Council gave planning staff direction to begin
discussions on planning for the gravel areas and she would like economic development staff
to be included in those discussions.
Commissioner Farber stated that he would like to see an emphasis placed on pursuing nice
restaurants to locate in Elk River. President Gongoll concurred.
Commissioner Motin questioned if there is a map or list of all available commercial sites
accessible via the website or our marketing materials. Ms. Mehelich indicated that currently
there is not.
President Gongoll stated that the city and the Chamber of Commerce work together on
maintaining details of available sites. He explained that the city tracks the light industrial and
the Chamber tracks the commercial and retail. He noted that it is very difficult to track all
available sites and that it is a concerted effort between the city and the Chamber. Discussion
took place on including this information on the city and chamber websites.
Economic Development Authority Minutes
January S, 2007
Page 3
President Gongoll noted that he would like staff to continue the Business Retention and
Expansion (BRE) visits. ~
President Gongoll questioned if there is a program through the state that designates a city as
"wireless ready"? He stated that if there is a program he would like to see staff work towards
that designation to help attract businesses to Elk River. Ms. Mehelich indicated that there is a
program that designates cities as "E-Commerce Ready" through DEED.
Mr. Clark explained that the emphasis for this year's developer foram is NPDES.
Update on Downtown Redev lopment Plan Taskforce
Commissioner Tveite provided an update on the January 2, 2007 Downtown
Redevelopment Planning Taskforce meeting. He reviewed a presentation by Michael
Schroeder of LHB Architects about what downtown could be. Commissioner Tveite stated
that Mr. Schroeder stressed planning consideration for how to smoothly transition from one
type of downtown use to another.
Ms. Mehelich indicated that developers have been invited to the next taskforce meeting to
update the taskforce on the current market conditions in the northwest metro area.
President Gongoll questioned what type of developers that have been invited. Mr. Clark
explained that no con£rrnations from any of the developers have been received yet. He
further explained that in order to get a full spectmm of the development options, staff
invited one developer from each of the following specialties: retail, mixed use, traditional
redevelopments, and commercial to attend the taskforce meeting.
8. Other Business -None
9. A~joumment
There being no other business, PRESIDENT GONGOLL ADJOURNED THE
MEETING.
The meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority adjourned at 6:01 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller.
Tina Allard
City Clerk