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4.1. DRAFT EDA MINUTES (2 SETS) 08-19-2019 Meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, July 15, 2019 Members Present: Vice President Jennifer Wagner, Commissioners Garrett Christianson, Matt Westgaard, Nate Ovall, and Charlie Blesener Members Absent: President Dan Tveite Staff Present: Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy, and Katie Porath 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 5:36 p.m. by Vice President Wagner. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider Agenda Commissioner Westgaard requested adding Item 7.5 to discuss the Chamber of Commerce survey. Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Christianson to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Commissioner Ovall and seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to approve the following consent agenda: 4.1 June 17, 2019, Regular EDA Minutes. 4.2 Check register as outlined in the staff report. 4.3 Balance sheet as outlined in the staff report. 4.4 Revenue/expenditure report as outlined in the staff report. Motion carried 5-0. Economic Development Authority Page 2 July 15, 2019 ----------------------------- 5. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. 6. Public Hearings There were no public hearing items. 7.1 Public Art RFP Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. Commissioner Ovall made a note that sections 5L and 5M of the proposal should read 2020. Commissioner Blesener made the following suggested corrections:  Page 3, Item 1, eliminate the word “sculpture” to illustrate that any type of art medium would be welcomed. Perhaps it could be referred to as an “art installation”.  Page 3, Item 4 the word “assumption” should be plural at the end of the first paragraph.  Page 5, Section B, subsection d states “Provide an explanation of how the public survey influenced your choice of project submittal”. He suggested the survey be included as part of the RFP for those who were not familiar with it.  Page 5, Section D, references Section 2. This seems vague. Ms. Othoudt responded that it was likely this was in reference to Section 3, Part 2 instead and she will make the correction.  Page 5, Section G mentions the total cost of the project but this cost does not include future maintenance costs. This should be clarified. Moved by Commissioner Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Ovall to approve the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Public Art Installation. Motion carried 5-0. 7.2 Beautification Award Ms. Eddy presented the staff report. Ryan Hardin and Tamara Ackerman, representatives from the Beautification Committee, spoke about their nomination of The Bank of Elk River – School Street Office at 846 Freeport Ave for the Beautification Award. Moved by Commissioner Blesener and seconded by Commissioner Christianson to approve the recommendation from the Beautification Committee and recognize the recipient. Economic Development Authority Page 3 July 15, 2019 ----------------------------- Motion carried 5-0. David Black, Retail Branch Manager from The Bank of Elk River accepted the award. 7.3 Marketing Update Ms. Eddy presented the staff report. 7.4 Director Report Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. 7.4 Update on Customer Survey Commissioner Westgaard gave on update on the survey conducted by the Chamber of Commerce. In May, the EDA had discussed if there was latitude to facilitate action. Commissioners Wagner and Westgaard met with Executive Director Debbi Rydberg to pull tangible information. Two focus groups are scheduled for July 30 and 31, 2019 to talk about key issues and to address shortcomings, processes, staff, and interactions with the business community. The group should have an update for the commission at their September 2019 meeting. Commissioner Ovall thanked Commissioners Wagner and Westgaard for their involvement and appreciates their initiative. He is hoping for more robust results and feedback. 8. Adjournment There being no further business, Vice President Wagner adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority at 6:00 p.m. Minutes prepared by Katie Porath Jennifer Wagner, EDA Vice President Tina Allard, City Clerk Special Meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, July 15, 2019 Members Present: Vice President Jennifer Wagner, Commissioners Garrett Christianson, Matt Westgaard, Nate Ovall, and Charlie Blesener Members Absent: President Dan Tveite Staff Present: Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy, and Records Specialist Katie Porath 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 4:30 p.m. by Vice President Wagner. 2. Consider Agenda Moved by Commissioner Wagner and seconded by Commissioner Ovall to approve the July 15, 2019, agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 3. Consider Agenda Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. The EDA discussed their 2020 Budget and Goals. Commissioner Ovall felt there was an awkward structure for performance measures. He wondered what is being measured and how they are tied to goals, objectives, and tasks. How can the EDA document return on investment? Commissioner Blesener added that performance measures are tasks not goals. Commissioner Ovall stated the commission does not really have performance measures. Should the commission create measurable statistics that can be tracked and broken down? Vice President Wagner asked if Elk River has seen the economic growth that it assumed to see and if it is on track with neighboring communities. Would it be helpful to have a growth measurement as part of the goals to compare our development with neighboring cities? It may be helpful to also track business retention after a BR&E visit has been made. Economic Development Authority Page 2 July 15, 2019 ----------------------------- Commissioner Ovall agreed that one performance measure is the number of BR&E visits that are being done. Commissioner Blesener commented that BR&E visits are important for business and retention, but what is the connection between these businesses and the EDA goals? For example, what role could a particular company have in the expansion of Green Collar jobs? Can the commission promote expansion and direct businesses toward niches instead of staying in silos. Ms. Othoudt stated that performance measures keep everyone on task and are updated annually. She could include information such as the number of building permits in Elk River and surrounding communities and where the city stands in commercial and industrial development in comparison. Commissioner Ovall said that some measures are driven organically and some by initiatives of the EDA. For example, if the city should learn about activity in a different part of the country that might correlate with a business in Elk River they could make the connection. In a few years that business may have an office in Elk River and that is a reason to spend money on conferences and education for staff. He wonders if the city is tracking the correct data. Commissioner Westgaard asked, what do we want to be? Do we want to be a Rogers with a high percentage of distribution centers? If not, what is the point of tracking this type of information? The city should determine what their focus is and try to attract that type of business. Commissioner Blesener asked if it would be possible to have a work session to brainstorm some of the commission goals, such as creating Green Collar jobs. This would demonstrate that effort is being made even if there is not progress in this area. Ms. Othoudt talked about improving the strategic plan. Vice President Wagner agreed that it would be a good idea to look at this since there will be so many changes with the infrastructure and new developments coming in. Commissioner Ovall asked if the strategic plan development would be facilitated. Ms. Othoudt suggested having the strategic plan facilitated including community input. The previous strategic plan was created by staff. She outlined an example of a plan as well as possible price. Mr. Blesener said that he was familiar with organizations where each department did their own strategic plan vs one that is developed by the organization. It made more sense for the largest entity to initiate it. It would be good to examine what is happening in the country as well as Minnesota and the North Metro area. The EDA should describe their ideal future, make that their results statement, and then plan how to make it happen. Economic Development Authority Page 3 July 15, 2019 ----------------------------- Commissioner Westgaard said that the council revisits their comprehensive plan every seven years. Now that the city has new value drivers in the form of transportation improvements it is even more important to revise it. Ms. Othoudt confirmed the comprehensive plan is required to be updated and the EDA supports the comprehensive plan. It is important to have this plan for growth, especially with the 169 Redefine and Active Elk River projects starting soon. A comprehensive plan is a community engagement piece. Commissioner Ovall asked about the goal to expand wetlands. Is it a new goal to grow and enhance our wetland bank? Commissioner Westgaard agreed with Commissioner Ovall on ways to determine goals. How should goals be measured, by percentage or by a certain number of additional properties? Commissioner Blesener said that the EDA’s role should be to plant seeds, promote and encourage growth, to “matchmake” businesses with opportunities and ideas. Commissioner Westgaard agreed that the city does not need to be the owner of the land to help promote the land use and zoning of it. Commissioner Ovall asked what type of calls we are getting on what properties? What type of properties are we short on? Are people wanting larger or smaller sized properties or unhappy that some are awkwardly shaped? He would be interested in knowing what type of gap we have that needs to be filled with a certain size building and business. Commissioner Westgaard agreed that this could be determined through a survey of the market. What are people looking for? Vice President Wagner returned to the idea of developing a strategic plan. Would the $10,000 proposed placeholder amount be enough to finance a strategic plan that could be $40,000 or more? Is the goal of the EDA to continue doing what they have been doing or do they want 2020 to look different? Is a strategic plan the impetus to that change? Commissioner Westgaard felt staff needs to attend shows and conventions in order to stay connected to existing businesses, not only look for new businesses. He feels it is important to develop a strategic plan but it may have to wait until late 2020 after the city’s comprehensive plan has been completed. Ms. Othoudt offered a suggestion to shift balance amounts from the wetland bank to cover a well done strategic plan. Commissioner Blesener asked about the last time the wetland bank funds needed to be used. Economic Development Authority Page 4 July 15, 2019 ----------------------------- Commissioner Westgaard stated some of the money in the wetland bank may be needed for Active Elk River development. Commissioner Blesener clarified that this strategic plan would only be for the EDA and not the entire city. Commissioner Ovall felt it was important that a strategic plan was created and supported shifting money into completing it. Vice President Wagner asked Ms. Othoudt about a reasonable expectation on the cost of a strategic plan. Ms. Othoudt felt that $50,000 was a good amount to obtain something that had long term benefits. Vice President Wagner asked about firms in the Minneapolis area that did these strategic plans. Ms. Othoudt suggested having a site selector company do the plan because they are in tune to the marketing. The plan should include getting community input. The commission determined to leave do a strategic plan every five years and leave the $10,000 in the budget to pay for a future plan. This plan would be paid for with a one-time funding from the reserves. Ms. Othoudt will go out for proposals from companies who can complete a strategic plan. Vice President Wagner felt the commission did not need to revise their goals. Commissioner Westgaard asked about the budget item for legal fees. He feels past years trends have been higher and doesn’t want to undercut our budget. Vice President Wagner suggested averaging out the past three years and making it $6,000. Vice President Wagner questioned the line item on the budget for International Economic Development Council (IEDC) certification. How does this training benefit staff and the city? Commissioner Ovall asked if the EDA is the deciding factor in approving training requests or does the city also approve training requests. He would recommend some sort of formal documentation be submitted after training to outline how the training has benefited the staff member and the EDA. Economic Development Authority Page 5 July 15, 2019 ----------------------------- Commissioner Westgaard agreed that documentation would be helpful in explaining why training is beneficial to the EDA. Ms. Othoudt made a note to prepare post training documentation. Vice President Wagner asked if the budget discussion could be continued on the next meeting in August. Commissioner Blesener asked about the difference between sponsorships and ads. He agreed that having a short meeting prior to the August EDA meeting would be helpful to finalize budget discussions. 4. Adjournment There being no further business, Vice President Wagner adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority at 5:33 p.m. Minutes prepared by Katie Porath. Jennifer Wagner, EDA Vice President Tina Allard, City Clerk