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02-22-2021 CCM EDA HRA JOINT SPECIALMembers Present: Members Absent: Special Meeting of the Elk River City Council, Economic Development Authority, and Housing and Redevelopment Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, February 22, 2021 Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson (via Zoom), Mike Beyer, Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner EDA Commissioners Charlie Blesener and Dan Tveite, HRA Commissioners Dennis Chuba, Nate Ovall, Jayme Swenson, and Larry Toth EDA Commissioner Jeff Hartwig Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Economic Development Coordinator Colleen Eddy, Planning Manager Zack Carlton, and City Clerk Tina Allard I . Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Mayor Dietz. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consent Agenda Moved by Councimember Wagner and seconded by Councilmember Beyer to approve: 4.1 Fire Station #3 bid category #5A, Steel Supply to Distinctive Iron in the amount of $382, 956.25 Motion carried 5-0. 4. Joint Meeting with Economic Development Authority and Housing and Redevelopment Authority Downtown Vision and Goals Each board called their meeting to order. Mr. Carlton discussed parking: what is public versus private; and perceptions about walking distances comparing the downtown to a Walmart lot. He discussed the City Council Minutes February 22, 2021 Page 2 Mississippi River Connections and Comprehensive plans and their guidance for the downtown core area. Commissioner Blesener led the public forum. Mr. Portner read submitted statements as shown in the official record. Aaron Smith, 212 Northfolk Avenue, questioned the future of Highway 10 and its effect on the downtown. Mr. Carlton stated it is not in MNDOT's plan to make any changes in the near future. He said the initial plans were developed years ago by the city and noted minor improvements are scheduled this summer. Debra Wieland, 19601 Hudson Circle, stated she has lived in Elk River for a year and is a transplant from the City of Victoria. She stated she would like more business options and to see the river better utilized. Jeff Anderson, 1227 Main Street, stated he has lived in Elk River for a year and is located a few blocks north of downtown. He would like to see the waterfront utilized, enhanced public access, extension of the park, and pedestrian accessibility from downtown to Lion John Weicht Park. Marty Flanagan 13793 212`' Court, stated he has offices all over the world including London and it costs more to rent downtown Elk River than in London. He stated he tried hard to get an office downtown, but space is very expensive and high compared to other areas. He suggested economic development assistance. He checked rents before the meeting today and it costs double to be downtown versus Highway 169. Lance Lindberg, 18621 Simonet Drive, stated his family has been here since the 1950s. He stated he worked in downtown for many years and still patronizes the many events and businesses. He has talked to a lot of people and doesn't hear anyone saying we need to do anything. He said don't do something just for the sake of doing it but to have reason behind it. He expressed having enough parking with large scale redevelopment. He also expressed concern for how long development would take and still maintaining access to the current businesses, noting Granite Shores and Jackson Place were very disruptive and places went out of business. He said there is not a push from locals to change the downtown. Mayor Dietz started he heard from many businesses about parking being a concern and asked the public in attendance what they thought. Deborah Leedahl 323 Jackson Avenue, representing the Downtown Elk River Business Association (DERBA) expressed group comments as follows: ■ There is enough parking, but more education is needed about parking. Perception is there is a lack of parking. The lot behind Kemper Drug is P 0 1 E A E 6 e r NATURE City Council Minutes February 22, 2021 Page 3 empty most of the time except for Farmer's Market event days. Better signage for accessibility is needed. ■ Some development/redevelopment to keep downtown thriving. ■ Not a need for high density housing and suggest having it located outside the core downtown area (the few blocks where the businesses are mostly located, not what the city considers downtown). ■ Additional amenities for park users such as public restrooms and water fountains, so they are not using nearby businesses unless they are customers. • More community events such as a Thanksgiving parade, 5k races, and winter fireworks. ■ A traffic study to consider changing Jackson Avenue to a one-way to provide more convenience to businesses. ■ Would like downtown to be a destination and not a cut -through for traffic. ■ Marquee signage listing the businesses. ■ Better accessibility over Highway 10 such as a pedestrian bridge. ■ Destination businesses and for businesses to be able to take advantage of the river, such as canoe/kayak rentals. ■ Boutique hotel or use of old houses (bed & breakfast). ■ Use of what is currently downtown for infrastructure and not necessarily adding new buildings. • Maintaining the current charm. Ms. Leedahl, speaking personally and not for DERBA, said she would like to see everyone work together and to have building consistency, such as historical information or a placard about the building or business. Councilmember Beyer asked Ms. Leedahl to explain DEBBA because many don't know about it. Ms. Leedahl explained DERBA noting there are about 100 members with 10-20 active businesses. Leo Dombrovski, 834 Xenia Avenue, stated downtown is a diamond in the rough, noting it is currently very vintage and people like it. He expressed concern with accessibility for walking and biking, noting it is dangerous to cross the highway. He stated a parking ramp and hotel are not a good fit. He suggested more events. He said the City of St. Cloud installed a ring road to attract more people, but it killed their downtown. Michele Cole, 515 3' Street, expressed the need for more accessibility from the north side of the highway. She stated more walking friendly and no hotel. Vicky Stevenson, 19850 Watson Circle, stated more parking is needed for the summer activities. She stated it's a nightmare to safely navigate the area and would like a spot to grab a takeout order quickly. She stated there is a need to get people who park on the north side of the highway to the south side. She stated you can't stop development and growth but can protect it and make it beautiful. P0WEOEO 01 NAYUREI City Council Minutes February 22, 2021 Page 4 Paula Granlund, 220 Morton Avenue, suggested keeping the core downtown vintage, noting a lot of character has been lost with the removal of the old creamery and courthouse buildings. She suggested moving the Farmer's Market to the Highway 169 parking lot (currently Ashley Furniture) She stated the Granite Shores and Jackson Hills developments took away from the old downtown. Caroline Hattell, 19601 Tyler Street, stated she used to live in Colorado and is new to Elk River. She noted there are several towns in Colorado that have gone through this same development experience and may be a good resource. Commissioner Blesener implement a popcorn exercise asking the audience to shout out one to two words describing elements they'd like to see for downtown, which is listed as follows: ■ History ■ Museums ■ Brick buildings, lots of them ■ Unique architecture ■ River views ■ Outside bars ■ Lots of trees ■ Walkability ■ Coffee shops ■ Attraction/draw/hook ■ Unique independent business owners. Niche ■ Currently a lot of space available. Fill this first. • Events: Scarecrow contests. July 4 parades ■ Christmas decorations ■ Dock ■ Town square Ms. Leedahl stated she heard many comments tonight about events we don't currently have which is untrue, so she asked how people are hearing about what is happening downtown. Most people raised their hands for the newspaper with a few for social media. The Council and commissioners thanked everyone for their thoughts and comments. Councilmember Christianson discussed the question (from a survey conducted a year ago) about whether Elk River is an exciting and active place and how the results were mixed. He stated the dialogue must continue and collaboration is needed. Councilmember Wagner stated she looks forward to continued engagement, noting it is the best way to develop for the best outcome when there are many diverse opinions. She noted there are many challenges to overcome, such as the river/highway/railroad/safety. She stated the current tagline for the downtown is Discover the Charm and the hope is people will park and take time to walk around. She stated the downtown wants to know how to connect better. She stated the Council is here and can be reached anytime. She also asked the public to continue to stay informed and engaged. rP 0 1 E N E O B Y INATVR J City Council Minutes February 22, 2021 Page 5 Councilmember Beyer echoed Councilmember Wagner's comments and noted he is a 15-year resident of Elk River. Councilmember Westgaard stated he appreciates the input and guidance, noting it is "your" community and how do you want to guide it. He stated accessibility is crucial. Commissioner Tveite noted he is a 30-year resident, and it is important to keep downtown viable. Commissioner Toth expressed his thoughts as noted in the record. He stated there is a need to have a combination of old and new and be respectful of each of them. He stated downtown needs to be a place people want to go rather than must go. Commissioner Ovall stated, as a banker, he deals with viability and business models noting it is a balancing act with what is wanted versus what we can get. He noted most businesses don't need another loan to get by, but rather need the traffic, incentive programs, and grants. He stated he is interested to hear more about how people feel about this. He noted the city has pools of money that is tax levied and available, but we may need to look at different methods to utilize those funds more effectively. Mayor Dietz read off a list of business no longer existing in the downtown. He stated maintaining parking is essential and businesses survive by having spaces. He suggested making small improvements to the parking lot with amenities to make it look better and help with the not enough parking perception. He noted the city has spent a lot of money for additional parking. He likes the vintage aspect and cautions we don't need to make changes just to make changes without reasons. He stated DERBA has a lot of excellent suggestion to make the downtown more attractive and relevant. He is not in favor of disrupting businesses as they've had a very difficult time over the last year due to the pandemic. He questioned if there were businesses that would like to make improvements, noting the city can assist with this. He stated the parking lot north of Highway 10 is one of the most unused properties and before building a pedestrian bridge, we would need MnDOT's plans for Highway 10. He stated the city is making attempts to try and draw more people downtown. He loves when its crowded and is heavily invested in downtown. S. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk Tina Allard, City Clerk at 6:30 p.m. P011RE0 0r NATURE]