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06-15-2020 EDA MIN\- \-. Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, June 15, 2020 President Dan Tveite, Commissionets Garrett Christianson, Matt Westgaard, Nate Ovall, Jennifet Wagner, Jeff Harnvig, and Charlie Blesener None Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy, and Deputy ClerkJessica Millet t. 2. 3. 4. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk Rivet Economic Development Authority was called to order at 5:33 P.m. by President Tveite. Pledge of Allegiance The EDA skipped the Pledge due to the meeting being held viaZoom. Consider Agenda Moved by Commissionet Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Ovall to approve the agenda. Motion carried 7-0. Consider Consent Agenda Moved by Commissioner Blesener and seconded by Commissioner Harnvig to apptove the following consent agenda: 4.1 Minutes. May 18,2020, Regulat ' May 18,2020, Special ' June 3,2020, Special 4.2 Check register as outlined in the staffreport. 4.3 Balance sheet as outlined in the staff teport. 4.4 Revenue/expenditute report as outlined in the staffreport. Motion caried 7-0. \-, Economic Development Authority Minutes June 15,2020 Pa'ge 2 5. 6. Open Forum No one appeared for Open Forum. Public Hearings There were no public hearing items. Chamber of Commerce Business Suryey: Concern #l l' #15 Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. Concern #11 EDA/HRA loan processes ate cumbersome. Can they be simplified and exoedited? Ms. Othoudt indicated she researched other cities and each city has their own programs tailored to fit their goals and objectives. She asked for feedback and guidance on how applications and policies can be simplifred to be less cumbetsome. Commissioner Blesener explained he believes the comment v/as comparing out process to the open market and possibly banks whete the process is not as complex to apply for more money. He noted these comments are based on perceptions from the focus group. He added he believes the EDA did a good iob on streamlining the recent COVID loan ptogmm application and policy. Commissioner Ovall suggested having a different application fot each type of loan program as some of our applications may be onetous for small loans; however, more information is required for tax increment and tax abatement. He also suggested structuring the progtams to be mofe lesponsive and empowering sAff to do more review and approval intemally rather than having special meetings or making the applicant wait for the next meeting for approval. He would like to see updates and reports provided to the EDA. Commissioner Westgaard concurred with some of Commissioner Ovall's points. He recalls discussions dudng the listening sessions whete businesses felt that due to the complexity of the applications it was flot worth their time to complete. He noted often the city is the conduit to state and federal financing and we should be doing what we can to help local businesses take advantage of the funding. Commissioner Wagner indicated some of the documents required seem excessive and she questioned if we really need personal financial statements fot all proprietots, pafiners, and guarantots for a micro loan application. She stated we could look at getting rid of those requirements if they are not required. She added she would like to see the applications available as online forms. She noted she would like to get dd of the blue background on the policies and applications as she has heard cornments about poot print quality. Ittt rr 7.t 1 Economic Development Authority N{inutes June 15,2020 Page 3 \-. \-. Ms. Othoudt explained many of the required attachments are used as part of staffs underwriting and for the Joint Finance Committee to thoroughly review each application. She noted she has feedback from previous applicants she can share with the EDA in the future. President Tveite indicated the balance between helping businesses and being good stewards of taxpayet dollars can be tri.ky. He explained staff and the EDA must do dus diligence and make investments wisely. He questioned if staff could obtain various loan applications ftom a bank to compare applications. Commissioner Ovall indicated he doesn't think our applications are out of line but he would like to see the application based on tlle program and the loan amount. He stated he envisions a flowchat and depending on the fesPonse, the applicant may need to provide additional information. He stated the information can be a lot for staff and the finance committee to review and encouraged staff to focus on only obtaining the necessary and core information. Consensus was the tax increment financing and the tax abatement Programs may require a more complex application but some of the other loan applications may lend themselves to simplification. President Tveite indicated review of these programs and applications should never be finished and staff and the EDA should constandy be reviewing policies and trying to improve and make the processes more efficient. Commissioner \X/estgaard commented the only way to know if we met the criteria is to ask for feedback again. Mr. Portner suggested having the attorney review all progtams and applications and redline what must be kept in the policy and come back for review of the discretionary language fot the EDA to consider. EDA consensus was to move forward with Mr. Pottner's suggestion. Condition #15 The perceived notion the agenda of a staff membet can influence the wav the citv nrocesses and intemrets an application. Shouldn't it be a collective effort, or comrnon goal. for staff and enttepreneuts to build and grow the business communitv in EIk River tosether? Mr. Portner explained staff intelptets written policy on a ftequent basis and if they have questions, they bring it to Council. He asked fot clarification on how this can be construed as having a personal agenda. Commissioner Westgaard indicated during the listening sessions someone btought up city policy versus staff perspective. He added this issue does not only pertain to the EDA but to other departments as well. He stated he believes the divide may be between policy making and communicating the ordinance or statute requirements. ?0ttRt! El \-. Economic Development Authority Minutes Jwre 15,2020 Page 4 Mr. Portner stated staff typically seeks guidance from resPective outside agencies to interpret policies if there are questions. Commissioner Westgaard indicated building codes leave a lot to interpretation and the difference between what the code actually says and staffs view on how it should be done can be perceived as a persoltalagetda. Mr. Portner questioned what can be done to claify the interpretation when there is a question with the code. Commissioner Wagner stated she hears the most concerns with inspections and building code issues. She explained it is clear from the listening sessions that residents and developers want to abide by the ordinance and building code. She believes the problem is often a communication issue and she believed 980/o of these issues could be solved by good communication with a customer service approach. Commissioner Westgaard indicated attitude and approach are one part of it but being good stewards of taxp^yet dollars is anothet. He questioned if the customer is the taxpayet or the new applicant or business is the taxpayer. Commissioner Wagner explained it doesn't mattef who the customef is and she believes attitude and lack of communication is what gets developers and others on the phone to the Council asking if this is how they want people doing wotk in the city to be treated. She has concerns with residents or developers being told one thing when they apply at city hall and being told something else once the application is processed. Commissioner Christianson stated he believes this may come from the back and forth that is sometimes involved with resident/developers and the city. He added it would be better to provide people with all the information up front. Mr. Portner indicated plrying devil's advocate if people waflt to build up to code then everything should be built to code when the inspectot goes out. Commissioner Christianson suggested explaining to people why something needs to be done a certain way to help them understand. President Tveite explained he does not believe being a good steward of taxpayer dollars and being courteous are mutually exclusive. He stated staff should always act professional and courteous and if not, it should be a taining ot discipline issue. He added by being courteous that does not mean staff should capitulate to everything the developer is requesting. Mr. Portner indicated the city has a high standatd of professionalism and at times when issues with saff are brought to his attention, he took appropdate action. He questioned if there is a way to get the specific feedback on these issues to see if they have been addressed and questioned what process can be put in place to be sure of a quick resolution when issues come up. ?0ttlt! lI 1 \- Economic Development Authority Minutes Jtne 75,2020 Page 5 Commissioner Ovall questioned if we could obtain feedback after every loan processed. He suggested a post pfocess questionnaire for the aPplicant to oudine what worked and what did not work for the process. He indicated he would welcome some form of simple ot more robust feedback handled by each department . or by human resources or communicadons. He believes generally city staff acts professional, but it gets lost in bureaucr^cy ^fld some of that falls back on the EDA and Council as policy makers and he believes getting back to the basics will help. 7.2 Propose Date for EDA Budget Workshop Ms. Othoudt presented the staff rePort. The EDA consensus was to schedule the EDA budget workshop for Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. 7.3 Director Report Ms. Othoudt presented her director report. 8. Adjournment There being no further business, President Tveite adjourned the meeting of the EIk Rivet Economic Development Authority at 6:39 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller. F.--a---Fil..Q Dan Tveite, EDA President ?OTTRTI EI Tina Allard, City Clerk