10-23-24 EDC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – JULY 31, 2024 3 Commissioner Williams wondered if the goal is to speak to the business owners, rather than employees. Commissioner Bonine pointed out that is why a pre-visit phone call could be helpful. Commissioner Gronquist agreed stating the proper contact name, email or phone number could be requested in that initial call. Commissioner Bonine pointed out that you could follow up with a phone call telling the owner that the flyer was dropped off and request they look at the information and complete the survey. Commissioner Gronquist stated that the timeline of September and October would be ideal but there is leeway if someone needed to extend into November. Commissioner Bonine agreed. Senior Planner Fransen highlighted some of the dates on the timeline, noting there were opportunities for informal meetings where staff time and quorum allow, to check in on how the process is going and for redistribution of the lists, if needed. Community Development Director Jagoe suggested commissioners come prepared with their calendars at the August meeting to discuss scheduling for future EDC meetings. Commissioner Bonine thought the August meeting would be collecting the kits to begin the in-person site visits. He didn’t think a September meeting is necessary as there won’t be any new business and commissioners’ time might be better spent completing the site visits. Chair Cupery agreed. Commissioner Williams asked if everyone is comfortable using personal email and wondered if there were any open meeting laws that would apply. Commissioner Bonine noted as long as a quorum is not reached it is fine. He reminded the group of the policy to not “reply all” to avoid any issues. Senior Planner Fransen offered that she could be CC-ed on email if the commissioners think that is helpful. Chair Cupery asked if there was a benefit to creating a general Gmail account that all commissioners had access to. Senior Planner Fransen cautioned each commissioner would have to open and read each email to know if it is a response from someone they contacted. Commissioner Bonine said he believes the majority of responses are going to be obtained through the in-person visits or the provided QR code. Commissioner Williams sought clarity if the commissioner making contact should leave a card even if they complete the question responses during the visit. Senior Planner Fransen said the plan is to have enough printed so each business could have one. Businesses could be directed to the website if they have additional information to share. There will also be business resources linked to the website. She noted staff will look into how we can track if a business responded so duplicate attempts aren’t required. This would also be an opportunity to reach back out to the business to thank them for completing the survey and ask if the business had anything they would like to discuss. A motion was made by Commissioner Gronquist and seconded by Commissioner Williams to accept the drafted timeline document. The motion was approved unanimously. Senior Planner Fransen began the discussion regarding the drafted business visit procedures. She highlighted dates, language and best practices included in the document. Commissioner Williams wondered if tracking who they spoke with would be important. Commissioner Gronquist noted there is no formal guidelines and that commissioners will probably discuss success rates at meetings and check ins but and they will establish their own best practices. Commissioner Bonine said the guideline to make three attempts, as he understands it,