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Members of the Arden Hills Economic Development Commission (EDC) have been working on the plan they developed last March following the informa- tion received through the Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) program. One project involves completing regular visits to City businesses in order to let them know the City supports them and to find out about any issues causing concern. They are also interested in any plans for growth so they can offer assistance in finding op- portunities within the City limits. According to Commission member Liz Johnson, new businesses are attracted to areas that already have a vibrant business base, in addition to the residential sector, to make use of their services. the role oF the economic development commission 4 Businesses continued from page 3 One of the projects of the Arden Hills Economic Development Commis- sion is to foster communication between the City and the businesses located here. In part, the EDC accomplishes that goal when Commission members pay regular visits to business sites. Recently, Com- mission member Liz Johnson stopped at aspectLED. Located at 3735 Dunlap Street North, aspect LED is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of high quality light emit- ting diode (LED) products. Owner Steve Nielsen, who founded the company with his wife Beth in 2014, says that the idea for this business was born during the process of building an energy-efficient home. The Nielsens ran into issues with a simple request to install recessed lighting. The builder did not have an immediate solution for the request as conventional recessed lighting requires more space than the ceiling allowed and also creates exces- sive heat, making it impractical in this particular application. Steve and Beth put their creativity to work, and the result is a technology-driven manufacturing business whose website describes it as “focused on driving down the cost of LED lighting, while producing top-quality products.” Customers are both residential and com- mercial and have included Marriott, Dis- ney, Wells Fargo, BP, McDonalds, Boeing, NASA, and Microsoft, just to name a few. If you’re looking for a new opportunity, aspectLED is hiring for several positions. Benchmarks---a review of City Council Action November 28, 2016 Approved Planning Case 16-023 for two variances: a 5 foot variance to the lot width and a variance to the requirement that minor subdivisions comply with all zoning requirements based on the findings of fact and the submitted plans within the November 28, 2016, Report to the City Council (5-0). Approved Resolution 2015-033 for a Mi- nor Subdivision at 1401 W County Road E in Planning Case 16-023, based on the findings of fact and the submitted plans, as amended by the two (2) conditions in the November 28, 2016, Report to the City Council (5-0). Approved the PUD Development Agree- ment, Phase 2, based on the November 14, 2016, City Council consideration of Planning Case 16-024 (5-0). Approved a transfer from the General Fund to the PIR Fund of $565,121 (4-1 McClung opposed). Approved a budget adjustment for 2016 for a transfer from the General Fund to the PIR Fund in the amount of $565,121 (4-1 McClung). December 12, 2016 Approved Resolution 2016-040 for Com- prehensive Plan Amendment (4-1 Holden opposed). Approved Ordinance 2016-011 to rezone the 427 acre TCAAP property (4-1 Holden opposed). Approved Ordinance 2016-012 to amend the TCAAP Redevelopment Code (TRC) as Section 1380 of the Arden Hills Zoning Code (4-1 Holden opposed). Approved publishing a summary of Ordi- nance 2016-011 and Ordinance 2016-012 (5-0). Approved a 4.7% Levy Increase (3-2 Grant and McClung opposed). Aspectled Approved the 2017 Final Budget 2016-038 (5-0). Approved the 2017-2021 CIP Budget (5-0). Approved the TCAAP Park Improvement Memorandum of Understanding (5-0). Approved TCAAP Option Agreement with Alatus Arden Hills LLC for City Purchase of Civic Use Land (5-0). December 19, 2016 Approved a contract with William Joynes as the City Administrator for the City of Arden Hills effective January 3, 2017 (5-0). Approved to appoint Dave McClung as Commissioner to the Joint Development Authority (3-2 Holden and Grant opposed). Approved to appoint David Grant as Commissioner to the Joint Development Authority (5-0). Find out more about this growing company and its products aat www.aspectled.com. continued on page 5