02-12-07 Minutes for Approval - Laserfiche WebLink

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Economic Development Plan or Business Retention Program in place,this information was not • available until the EDC recently pulled it together. Ms. Wolfe stated that the City clearly did not have a very good comprehensive list of businesses. The generation of the business list was the biggest initial impact of the EDC's work and a side benefit was that it could be used for fundraising purposes. This list was used to send out invitations for the upcoming business luncheon and as undelivered invitations were returned,the business list would be updated. Mayor Aplikowski stated that the City did not have the extensive knowledge it does now. She thanked the EDC members who used their own resources to gather this information. Ms. Barton stated that one of the purposes of tonight's meeting was to hear the Council's questions, concerns and/or comments about the plan. Ms. Barton further stated that this plan was projected over a five-year period. Certain things would be started in year one whereas others would not take place until the fifth year. The costs associated with implementing this plan were outlined in the proposed budget. City Staff and the EDC members want to bring this plan back for Council approval at a regular Council meeting in the near future, so the implementation of the plan in 2007 could be appropriately budgeted for. Ms. Wolfe stated that this was a comprehensive plan and was proposed to be implemented over the next four to five years. The time constraint was with trying to finalize the budget to have a proposed budget at the November Work Session, and preparing for truth in taxation and the final levy, which are in December. If there were going to be cost items implemented in 2007, staff • needed preliminary direction to include them in the 2007 budget. If additional discussion was needed for the long term plan,we could continue to have them,but there was a need to talk about what items the Council was comfortable with that could be moved forward and budgeted for. Councilmember Grant asked what the final product of this plan was. Mr. Kunkel stated in regards to the Red Fox/Grey Fox area, if nothing was done with this plan,this area would be extremely deteriorated 15 years from now. Arden Hills residents would hold us accountable, one way or another, for what was not done. If done properly, this property could have a vitality and life that we could be excited about. We could see new businesses that not only serve our residents in terms of the services they provide,but employment of a significant nature as well. Also, an opportunity that could exist through a development plan would be working with the existing businesses to determine growth and where new businesses were if we wanted to retain all those businesses. It would be a strategic decision. We would probably not fight to retain every business that existed in Arden Hills,but we could strategically look at how the City could grow economically. Councilmember Grant asked if the northwestern quadrant of Arden Hills was seen as a redevelopment area and if so,what it would be designed for. Ms. Wolfe stated it would have to be done in phases. The first piece would be assessment, looking at strategic decisions and making them. The simplest answer was to be proactive instead of reactive, and possibly avoid the position of trying to quickly react because businesses were starting to leave the City. A proactive step could perhaps be trying to identify ahead of time factors that may prompt • 2