Loading...
02-11-2013 EDA MIN • MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY, FEBRUARY I I, 2013 Members Present: President Tveite, Commissioners Burandt,Dwyer,Motin,Provo,and Westgaard Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Cal Portner, Community Operations and Development Director Suzanne Fischer,Assistant Director of Economic Development Clay Wilfahrt, and Executive Secretary/Deputy City Clerk 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 Tveite. 2. Consider Agenda MOVED BY COMMISSIONER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WESTGAARD TO APPROVE THE FEBRUARY 11,2013, EDA AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 11111 3. Consider Consent Agenda Commissioner Provo abstained due to the conflict of interest item below. MOVED BY COMMISSIONER DWYER AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WESTGAARD TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS FOLLOWS: 3.1. JANUARY 14,2013, REGULAR MEETING MINUTES. 3.2. CHECK REGISTER AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. 3.3. BALANCE SHEET AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. 3.4. REVENUE/EXPENDITURE REPORT AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF REPORT. 3.5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Commissioner Provo abstained. 4. Open Forum No one was present for open forum. 5. Call Public Hearing for March 11,2013, for Disposition of EDA Property—Outlot A, Northstar Business Park • Ms. Fischer presented her staff report. Economic Development Authority Minutes Page 2 February 11,2013 Commissioner Westgaard questioned if the public hearing should be opened since it was 11111 noticed at the last EDA meeting.Ms. Fischer stated that 10 days required published notice has not been met so the public hearing should not be opened. Commissioner Provo abstained because he is interested in purchasing this property. MOVED BY COMMISSIONER DWYER AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MOTIN TO CALL FOR A PUBLIC HEARING FOR MARCH 11,2013,FOR DISPOSITION OF EDA PROPERTY- OUTLOT A,NORTHSTAR BUSINESS PARK. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Commissioner Provo abstained. 6. Consider DTED Forgivable Loan Program and Application Mr.Wilfahrt presented his staff report. He stated that the policy requires that in order to qualify,businesses must be industrial,manufacturing,or technology based. He explained that it has been brought to his attention that a couple of the businesses that are looking at the program would be excluded based on those requirements. He suggested looking at possibly expanding the policy to include businesses that fall within the Business Park and C3 uses. Commissioner Dwyer stated that C3 includes a large piece of commercial that hasn't been discussed and he is not prepared to add that large of an area at this meeting without having first discussed it. Commissioner Motin stated that the EDA Subcommittee has not discussed including C3 or Business Park.He added that the Subcommittee specifically discussed including industrial, manufacturing, and technology uses in the policy. He stated that he is not in favor of • expanding the policy to include C3 or Business Park unless it is a C3 use that falls within industrial,manufacturing,or technology. Annie Deckert,Decklan Group- stated that she believes that it would make sense for all permitted uses in the Business Park district to be eligible for this loan. She added that if one of the goals of this program is to sell city-owned lots,then that would make sense since almost all of the city-owned lots are zoned Business Park. Commissioner Motin disagreed. He stated that only one of the goals of this program is to sell the city-owned lots but he doesn't feel that professional office fits the loan program. He believes it should remain industrial,manufacturing, technology based. President Tveite indicated that he would like to stick to industrial,manufacturing,and technology based businesses,at least at the onset of this policy. He explained that the EDA Subcommittee has not had a chance to discuss the addition of the C3 and Business Park. He suggested keeping the policy as is and review the requirements later if the program is not widely used as currently outlined. Commissioner Westgaard concurred. Commissioner Motin questioned the job requirements listed under Section VII. He stated that the policy states that the applicants have a minimum of two years to hire jobs. He would like the EDA to have discretion on setting a timeframe on a case by case basis. He also discussed the requirement to retain jobs for one year. He questioned if that should be two years. Mr.Wilfahrt stated that initially discussion was held on the applicant having to retain the • jobs for two years but after some of the manufacturers indicated two years would be a Economic Development Authority Minutes Page 3 February 11,2013 • deterrent,it was changed to one year. He stated that the EDA and Subcommittee have discretion on this requirement as well. Commissioner Motin indicated he would like it clearly stated in the policy that the EDA and EDA Subcommittee have discretion over job hire timeframes and retention requirements. President Tveite explained that he agrees that one year job retention may be more appropriate due to potential economy shifts, two years could create issues. Commissioner Dwyer concurred. MOVED BY COMMISSIONER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER DWYER TO APPROVE THE FORGIVABLE LOAN PROGRAM POLICY AND APPLICATION AS PRESENTED WITH THE ADDITION OF LANGUAGE ALLOWING THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SUBCOMMITTEE AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY DISCRETION TO SET JOB HIRE TIMEFRAMES AND JOB RETENTION REQUIREMENTS ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Commissioner Provo abstained. 7. Authorize National Development Council Training Courses Mr.Wilfahrt presented his staff report. MOVED BY COMMISSIONER MOTIN AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PROVO TO AUTHORIZE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CLAY WILFAHT TO ATTEND TWO • NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL TRAINING COURSES. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 8. Announcements There were no announcements. 9. Adjournment There being no other business,President Tveite adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority at 6:03 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller. Dan Tveite,President ( Tina Allard,City Clerk