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<br />Commissioner Frethem recommended the City’s website point to the Rice Creek Commons <br />page and vice versa. Director Perrault reported this action was taken last week. Ms. Swenson <br />reported the main website for the development going forward would be <br />RiceCreekCommons.com. <br /> <br />Chair Wicklund explained he has heard from the public that they would like transparency when <br />it comes to public input and community engagement. He suggested the JDA consider holding an <br />open house on the property. <br /> <br />Commissioner Frethem indicated she did this last fall and stated it was not safe to have people <br />walking around on the property, but van guided tours could be conducted. She noted a virtual <br />tour of the site had been created as well. Director Collins reported this event was extremely <br />well attended and noted vans could be used again. <br /> <br />Commissioner Reinhardt recommended the virtual tour of the site be placed on the Rice Creek <br />Commons website. Director Collins stated she could add this to the website. <br /> <br />Commissioner Reinhardt commented on community engagement and questioned if a third <br />party would be brought in to assist the JDA with this. She discussed how a consultant (Goff) was <br />brought in to help Ramsey County address the Purple Line. <br /> <br />Commissioner Frethem anticipated it would be challenging for the JDA to manage community <br />engagement on their own and a consultant would be able to assist with gathering feedback. <br /> <br />Commissioner Reinhardt stated members of the public spoke tonight about the importance of <br />community engagement. She explained the benefit of having a third party involved in <br />community engagement would be to lay out a plan, provide facts to the public while gathering <br />quality information from the public. She believed community engagement was a specialized <br />skill, especially on controversial matters. <br /> <br />Chair Wicklund stated he understood the County has experience working with third party <br />consultants for community engagement. He asked for a high level overview on what a more <br />technical community engagement plan would be for the JDA. <br /> <br />Director Collins explained there were two different areas of community engagement that would <br />have to be considered by the JDA. She indicated there was communications associated with the <br />project status and this would be an appropriate roll for Goff to undertake. She suggested <br />community engagement events be structured around specific themes and that if a third party <br />consultant was brought in, that they be an expert on the specific theme. <br /> <br />Ms. Swenson commented on how it would be important for the JDA to be clear on its goals for <br />public engagement. <br />