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3.1. EDA DRAFT MINUTES (2 SETS) 07-16-2018 Special Meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, June 18, 2018 Members Present: President Tveite, Olsen, Westgaard, Ovall (5:22 p.m.), Wagner, and Blesener Members Absent: Commissioner Provo Staff Present: Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy, and Executive Secretary/Deputy City Clerk Jessica Miller 1. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the special meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by President Tveite. 2.1 Tax Rate Comparison Ms. Ziemer presented a tax rate comparison for 14 peer cities. The EDA discussed the report. Commissioner Blesener asked if the city’s tax rate is where it should be. Ms. Ziemer indicated the tax rate has actually dropped as a result of the net tax capacity. President Tveite explained looking at tax rate alone is not a good picture because there are a myriad of other things that go in to looking at tax rate and levy, including how cities operate. 2.2 City Addressing Procedure Mr. Leeseberg presented information on addressing and map abbreviation for Elk River. Commissioner Blesener questioned the process for when a developer comes in with an idea. Ms. Othoudt stated typically certain staff including economic development, environmental, utilities, planning, and building will meet with the developer to discuss the idea or project and identify how to proceed. Mr. Leeseberg indicated staff can come back for further explanation if the EDA still has questions. 2.3 Review Goals and Strategic Plan  Strategic Plan 2016-2020 Economic Development Authority Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 June 18, 2018 -----------------------------  Current Goals and Performance Measures 2018  EDA Developed Goals – May 25, 2018  EDA Developed SWOT Analysis – May 25, 2018 The EDA discussed prioritizing the EDA goals set at the last meeting. Identified Goals by Year 1 The EDA felt goals 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 as listed were similar and should be combined in to one goal relating to customer service. Commissioner Blesener suggested a statement in the Strategic Plan informing people of the mission and goals. He would like people to feel like they were assisted by the city all the way through the process. Commissioner Westgaard indicated there is no step by step process defined for people who don’t work with development all the time. Ms. Othoudt stated she ran across a developer pamphlet she can look at updating for distribution that may be helpful. President Tveite noted the guide should include realistic timeframes explaining to people the process takes time and why. Commissioner Blesener likes the idea of having a guide. Ms. Othoudt indicated she will work on putting something together. Commissioner Wagner questioned if the city could assign a project manager to people when they come in. She noted staff could alternate the position. Ms. Othoudt indicated if the project has a public financing component economic development assists and if not, planning assists. Consensus of the EDA was to combine the following goals in to one. 1. Clarify current city process for initial meetings with developers. 2. Identify three ways in which our process can be better. 4. Improve communication. 5. Articulate the process of how to get things done. 6. Improve our customer service. Identified Goals by Year 3 Commissioner Blesener stated he likes the SWOT goals and suggested they be included in Year 1 or Year 2 goals. Commissioner Westgaard believes it should begin with the Strategic Plan. Commissioner Westgaard questioned if goal 7, increasing land inventory, means the city owns all the land. Ms. Othoudt explained she would like to see some formal agreement in place with land owners such as a first right of purchase or for the city to assist in marketing their property. She noted the best way to approach this will have to be researched. President Tveite stated staff should evaluate what works best noting it may be a different process for individual property owners. Economic Development Authority Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 June 18, 2018 ----------------------------- EDA consensus was to identify land options possibly partnering with landowners to get more land in the city inventory. Identified Goals by Year 5 Commissioner Blesener indicated if economic development is successful with the year one and year three goals it may be beneficial to capitalize on the synergy and keep going with those goals. President Tveite noted the implications from the Corridors of Commerce project for Highway 169 should be included in all year one and year 3 goals. Ms. Othoudt indicated staff will bring back action steps for the goals at a later date. 2.4 EDA Marketing Discussion  Budget 2018  Lead Forensics  Tracking Spreadsheets Ms. Othoudt distributed handouts for marketing/advertising, conferences, projected projects, and website information for the EDA to review. President Tveite indicated he appreciates when the jobs information is included in the breakdown. Commissioner Wagner questioned if any projected projects have come from marketing efforts. Ms. Othoudt outlined a few examples including Stream Data Center, another data center not listed, and CDI. 3. Adjournment There being no further business, President Tveite adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority at 5:29 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller. Dan Tveite, EDA President Tina Allard, City Clerk Meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, June 18, 2018 Members Present: President Tveite, Commissioners Olsen, Westgaard, Ovall, Wagner, and Blesener Members Absent: Commissioner Provo Staff Present: Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy, City Attorney Peter Beck, and Executive Secretary/Deputy City Clerk Jessica Miller 1. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority was called to order at 5:34 p.m. by President Tveite. 2. Consider 06/18/2018 Agenda Moved by Commissioner Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Olsen to approve the June 18, 2018, agenda. Motion carried 6-0. 3. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Wagner to approve the following consent agenda: 3.1 EDA Minutes  May 21, 2018, Regular  May 25, 2018, Special 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. Motion carried 6-0. 4. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. Economic Development Authority Minutes Page 2 June 18, 2018 ----------------------------- 5. Public Hearings There were no public hearing items. 6.1 Modification to the Jobs Incentive Microloan Policy Funded by State DEED Money Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. Moved by Commissioner Blesener and seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to approve a modification to the Jobs Incentive Microloan Policy as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 6-0. 6.2 Propose Date for EDA Budget Workshop Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. EDA consensus was to hold a special EDA budget work session on July 16 at 4:30 p.m. 6.3 Director’s Report Ms. Othoudt presented her director’s report. Ms. Othoudt mentioned she would like to set up a future work session to review and discuss the business incubator policy. President Tveite asked Ms. Othoudt to send out a couple potential dates to the EDA. 6.4 Attendance Policy Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. She indicated Council would like feedback as to whether special meetings should be included as part of the board and commission attendance policy. Commissioner Wagner explained the Planning Commission was in favor of not including special meetings as part of the policy. She stated she agrees special meetings should not be included in the policy as it can be difficult to accommodate last minute meetings with work and family commitments. Commissioner Blesener concurred. President Tveite indicated he has mixed feelings. He feels like special and regular meetings should be treated the same. He would like to see the policy track some form of excused and unexcused absences. Commissioner Ovall concurred. Economic Development Authority Minutes Page 3 June 18, 2018 ----------------------------- Commissioner Westgaard explained defining excused and unexcused can get challenging. He stated everyone has unique circumstances and it can be difficult to draft a policy to cover everything. He felt if members volunteer to serve on a commission it is expected they attend and participate. EDA consensus was to recommend removing special meetings from the board and commission attendance policy language. 7. Other Business There was no other business. 8. Adjournment There being no further business, President Tveite adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority at 5:55 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller. Dan Tveite, EDA President Tina Allard, City Clerk