10-01-14 EDC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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EDC Minutes October 1, 2014 Page 4 of 6 and that in the event Council decides not to move forward, there would need to be some follow- up discussion at the December meeting in terms of how to fill out the 2015 work plan. C. State of the City Report Chair von Holtum commented on the good turnout for the State of the City event. Council Liaison Werner thanked Associate Planner Bachler and City Planner Streff for coordinating the meeting and taking care of the issues that came up at last year's State of the City event. City Administrator Klaers commented that at Tuesday night's Q&A, most questions were regarding transportation issues and that there were no questions in regards to TCAAP. He then gave a brief update on upcoming road construction projects. Commissioner Huninghake indicated he felt it was a good idea having someone from MnDOT at the event because of the traffic issues. Commissioners Erickson and Huninghake commented that delivering the invitations to the businesses was a nice touch as opposed to mailing the invitations. It was the consensus of the Commission that the event went very well and that another State of the City should be held in 2015. 4. UPDATES A. TCAAP Update Associate Planner Bachler provided an update on recent City Council action related to TCAAP, stating that the Council has had two meetings with Gateway Planning, the sub -consultant on the TCAAP master plan, and are working on the zoning regulations for the TCAAP redevelopment project. He stated that City and County staff, as well as the City's financial consultants, have been meeting with commercial developers to review the draft document and that the developers were invited to attend a couple of Council work sessions to provide comments to the City Council. He further stated that on September 8, representatives from Anderson Companies, and Cushman & Wakefield/Northmarq attended the City Council work session and discussed the flex office space that will be located along the western side of the spine road. Associate Planner Bachler mentioned that Council has concerns about the area being dominated with warehousing uses and that more focus be put on manufacturing and hi -tech industries that offer higher quality jobs. He went on to explain that the feedback received from the development community at that meeting was not to focus on limiting the amount of space used for warehousing, but be more focused on the design of the building requiring developers to put in place a well -designed building with ceiling heights a maximum of 20 feet in height.